Mastering.....

[mcnelson]

The number of times I've used the bundled plugins that come with other DAWs comes pretty close to zero

Logic native one's sound rather good in my opinion (and other too).

I've never owned a Mac. But anyways, part of it is preference - it's very nice to have the plugins that you want and not ones that someone else has chosen for you. Another issues is the ability to swap a project from one DAW to another. The plugins that come with DAWs are generally locked to that DAW.

This is of course just my opinion. Some think that a DAW should come with plugins. I personally disagree with that and have listed my reasons.

Whilst I agree insofar as no one really buys a DAW primarily for it's accompanying plugins (and if they do I would question their reasoning), you can't help appreciate that certain DAW based plugins achieve infamy on their own. Logic users seem to cling to EXS24 for example; Tracktion is no different in this respect - look at the collective outrage over Finalmix being incompatible with T4, so much so that it was hacked into compatibility before being rewritten as Master Mix.

I don't think any DAW ships with zero plugins; there are certain bases that just need to be covered. Manufacturers have no interest in making their plugins available in other DAW's, hence why they tend to be specific - and ultimately the standards (vst, au, etc) bridge the gap (although the Reaper guys released the Reaplugs separately didn't they, so props to them).

I'm sure the proportion of consumers who want plugins bundled is far higher than those who favour choice, and ultimately, you still have the choice. The argument then just becomes a monetary one - do you want manufacturers concentrating on providing plugins when they could be providing updates to the DAW? Tracktion are trying to negate this with the Marketplace, I gather...and props to them for making their home developed plugins VST and cross DAW compatible.

I'm not sure I had a point? Carry on without me....

[lockheart]

+1 for Toneboosters, incredible plugins that represent serious value for money:
http://www.toneboosters.com/trackessentials/

20 EUR. Can't go wrong if you ask me.

Yes, that's interesting.

Do they charge VAT on North American orders?

[fedexnman]

Cytomic The glue is very punchy on drums.

I find it good on the Master Bus too . I prefer it to Mastermix . I think Finalmix and Mastermix sound a little different , I mainly used its presets , Finalmix was a deep plugin . I tried the new presets for Mastermix that were supposed to sound like Finalmix , but things just didn't gel for me . I like " the glue " its really easy to use for me and I like what it does to the sound .

[tovokas]

There are many options out there for mastering. I personally use Ozone, as it has all the pieces in one package: powerful EQ, stereo imaging, maximizer, exciter, etc. And it's always worked well with Tracktion for me. You can of course build up all these elements from individual plug-ins (many of them cheap.) Ozone alone costs 4 times as much as Tracktion. Tracktion's low price let's you go out and spend the money you would otherwise have spent on a bundled package on the solution that fits you best.

I liked Final Mix back in the day, though I haven't had a need to get and test the new version.

[mcnelson]

+1 for Toneboosters, incredible plugins that represent serious value for money:
http://www.toneboosters.com/trackessentials/

20 EUR. Can't go wrong if you ask me.

Yes, that's interesting.

Do they charge VAT on North American orders?

The Toneboosters website notes that questions about payment should be made to their processing service, "Avangate". On the Avangate website there is a question:"Why do I have to pay VAT?"

Avangate acts as a reseller of your products. According to EU regulations, all customers located within the EU are required to pay VAT unless they have a valid VAT ID, in which case they are exempt from VAT.
As per the new set of European Union regulations for VAT that came into effect starting January 1st, 2015, all of the purchases made through Avangate by EU shoppers will be charged a VAT rate according to the customer's country of residence or establishment. This rate may be higher or lower than the 21% Dutch rate previously in effect.
In addition to VAT adjustments, please be informed that sales made by Avangate to customers established in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland (outside of the EU) are subject to each country's VAT.

Reading this, as you're outside the EU I would suggest you should be VAT exempt - but there's no way for me to test this. Give it a go yourself and let us know what happens