Softube Modular

[TheHelioSequence]

I have been spending a little more time with Modular this week. Really happy with the sound, but really unhappy with the lack of a patch browser. In fact... any changes I made to the presets (when saving in place) were overwritten the next time I opened a new session. Can't use patches made in Pro Tools in any VST Daw either. I e-mailed support and they seemed to indicate it wasn't a priority/important. Bummer.

[fmr]

I have been spending a little more time with Modular this week. Really happy with the sound, but really unhappy with the lack of a patch browser. In fact... any changes I made to the presets (when saving in place) were overwritten the next time I opened a new session. Can't use patches made in Pro Tools in any VST Daw either. I e-mailed support and they seemed to indicate it wasn't a priority/important. Bummer.

This really sucks, IMO. After I saw the way thigs were working, I never opened Modular again. If I anticipated it would be like this, I wouldn't have bought it. Now, I am (desperately) waiting for Softube to rethink this.

[thetechnobear]

Kudos to Softube,
they have updated the installer, so now you can just update individual modules/products

and we get also get an update with a new module, they call it the Roli module, but its an MPE module, I guess ROLI sponsored development (!?) and works with other MPE devices (I tested it on a soundplane and eigenharp)


(the other modules had their versions bumped, but I dont know if they had any real changes or bug fixes)

hopefully now Softube have updated there installer, perhaps we will get some new modules, as I assume they will be easier to release.

[billcarroll]

WTF?

Download and install the Gobbler App to install Softube plugins?

https://www.softube.com/download.php

Gobbler is a horrible piece of trash at this point. Why in the world would Softube do this?

Hopefully I'm overreacting, but Gobbler has been a mess lately. Can they turn it around?

[thetechnobear]

WTF?

Download and install the Gobbler App to install Softube plugins?

https://www.softube.com/download.php

Gobbler is a horrible piece of trash at this point. Why in the world would Softube do this?

Hopefully I'm overreacting, but Gobbler has been a mess lately. Can they turn it around?

the why is easy... they need a distribution platform, especially if they are going to sell individual modules, the old monolithic installer, just wouldn't be viable.

why gobbler? who knows, must have been beneficial to softube ... perhaps because gobbler can link to iLok?

i had some issues with Gobbler, but hey I'm willing to give them a chance to improve, especially if it means softube can start releasing some more modules.

[Kindred]

Softube Modular is the only plugin I have ever had to uninstall because it just wouldn't work on my system. This is hugely frustrating because from what I was able to hear during the brief periods before it crashed Cubase, it sounded absolutely gorgeous (and is probably the single most attractive GUI I have ever seen).
The problem is linked to the lack of a patch browser, because changing any sound using Cubase's internal patch brower results in an instant crash. Then, the icing on the cake was the fact that when I bought it I naturally used it in a few different projects. However, when loading any project where Modular was still loaded, Cubase crashes on load. To get access to my projects I had to uninstall Modular.
However each time Softube come out with a bug fix/update, I will try installing again to see if the issue is fixed. Which reminds me, Softube's system of creating a single, massive file for all plugins is an awful idea. I can understand how it happened - I imagine that someone had the bright idea to force users to download all plugins so that hopefully they see that they can install a new demo with a single click, which hopefully leads to increased sales. However this is what "team meetings" are for, so that others can say "erm, won't that lead to annoyed customers who simply need to install a 1-10Mb and won't look kindly at having to re-download a 1 gig file just to get access to a minor bug fix".
Until I discovered Nebula, Softube plugins formed a central role in my setup and among the various algo plugins they are still one of the best developers in terms of technical proficiency. I still use Drawmer sometimes when I am out of CPU headroom for loading Pink and it can get pretty close to Pink's sound in certain scenarios. However I look at this patch browser debacle, huge installer file debacle and now my first technical issue with Softube (Modular) and wonder whether they have a marketing person who can point out basic user experience stuff like this.
Meanwhile, I will try out each successive version of Modular to see if this issue gets fixed, as I would love to dive back into what has the potential to be one of the most "analogue" sounding soft synths available.

[thetechnobear]

Softube Modular is the only plugin I have ever had to uninstall because it just wouldn't work on my system. This is hugely frustrating because from what I was able to hear during the brief periods before it crashed Cubase, it sounded absolutely gorgeous (and is probably the single most attractive GUI I have ever seen).
The problem is linked to the lack of a patch browser, because changing any sound using Cubase's internal patch brower results in an instant crash.

works for me fine, Cubase 8.5/MacOS....

if your using windows, then check the new release 2.3.90
https://www.softube.com/index.php?id=2.3.90

Modular: Fixed an issue that caused the GUI to look random when loading presets in Cubase on some Windows machines.

Softube's system of creating a single, massive file for all plugins is an awful idea.

as detailed in my previous post ... they have now moved away from the monolithic download/install, you can now download and install individual products.

[elxsound]

WTF?

Download and install the Gobbler App to install Softube plugins?

https://www.softube.com/download.php

Gobbler is a horrible piece of trash at this point. Why in the world would Softube do this?

Hopefully I'm overreacting, but Gobbler has been a mess lately. Can they turn it around?

Hmmm... I had again, been considering picking this up, but I'm also not a fan of Gobbler. I don't need Modular. I love Heartbeat, so for that I'm not looking forward needing Gobbler for future updates.

Tough decision. Man I hate Gobbler.

[thetechnobear]

you dont actually need to use gobbler to download separate products.
you can go to the 'my downloads' page , once you are logged in.
(you just need to have gone through the registration process)

https://www.softube.com/index.php?id=mydownloads

if your using this you will need to use the iLok manager, which you dont need anymore, if your using gobbler (and dont have other iLok products )

[fmr]

you dont actually need to use gobbler to download separate products.
you can go to the 'my downloads' page , once you are logged in.
(you just need to have gone through the registration process)

https://www.softube.com/index.php?id=mydownloads

if your using this you will need to use the iLok manager, which you dont need anymore, if your using gobbler (and dont have other iLok products )

I was lost here somehow. Are you meaning that there are two protection methods for the plug-ins now? That Gobler thing and iLOK? Optional?

[thetechnobear]

no, iLok is the only protection system.
gobbler is just the distribution platform, BUT, with gobbler you can register you iLok account, such that when you download new products, they are already activated, so you don't need to also iLok manager.

just try it, I've tried both gobbler upgrade and separate downloads (on different computers) and both were fine.

[sqigls]

Softube Modular is the only plugin I have ever had to uninstall because it just wouldn't work on my system. This is hugely frustrating because from what I was able to hear during the brief periods before it crashed Cubase, it sounded absolutely gorgeous (and is probably the single most attractive GUI I have ever seen).
The problem is linked to the lack of a patch browser, because changing any sound using Cubase's internal patch brower results in an instant crash. Then, the icing on the cake was the fact that when I bought it I naturally used it in a few different projects. However, when loading any project where Modular was still loaded, Cubase crashes on load. To get access to my projects I had to uninstall Modular.
However each time Softube come out with a bug fix/update, I will try installing again to see if the issue is fixed. Which reminds me, Softube's system of creating a single, massive file for all plugins is an awful idea. I can understand how it happened - I imagine that someone had the bright idea to force users to download all plugins so that hopefully they see that they can install a new demo with a single click, which hopefully leads to increased sales. However this is what "team meetings" are for, so that others can say "erm, won't that lead to annoyed customers who simply need to install a 1-10Mb and won't look kindly at having to re-download a 1 gig file just to get access to a minor bug fix".
Until I discovered Nebula, Softube plugins formed a central role in my setup and among the various algo plugins they are still one of the best developers in terms of technical proficiency. I still use Drawmer sometimes when I am out of CPU headroom for loading Pink and it can get pretty close to Pink's sound in certain scenarios. However I look at this patch browser debacle, huge installer file debacle and now my first technical issue with Softube (Modular) and wonder whether they have a marketing person who can point out basic user experience stuff like this.
Meanwhile, I will try out each successive version of Modular to see if this issue gets fixed, as I would love to dive back into what has the potential to be one of the most "analogue" sounding soft synths available.

and, um, what is your system?

[Kindred]

Softube Modular is the only plugin I have ever had to uninstall because it just wouldn't work on my system. This is hugely frustrating because from what I was able to hear during the brief periods before it crashed Cubase, it sounded absolutely gorgeous (and is probably the single most attractive GUI I have ever seen).
The problem is linked to the lack of a patch browser, because changing any sound using Cubase's internal patch brower results in an instant crash. Then, the icing on the cake was the fact that when I bought it I naturally used it in a few different projects. However, when loading any project where Modular was still loaded, Cubase crashes on load. To get access to my projects I had to uninstall Modular.
However each time Softube come out with a bug fix/update, I will try installing again to see if the issue is fixed. Which reminds me, Softube's system of creating a single, massive file for all plugins is an awful idea. I can understand how it happened - I imagine that someone had the bright idea to force users to download all plugins so that hopefully they see that they can install a new demo with a single click, which hopefully leads to increased sales. However this is what "team meetings" are for, so that others can say "erm, won't that lead to annoyed customers who simply need to install a 1-10Mb and won't look kindly at having to re-download a 1 gig file just to get access to a minor bug fix".
Until I discovered Nebula, Softube plugins formed a central role in my setup and among the various algo plugins they are still one of the best developers in terms of technical proficiency. I still use Drawmer sometimes when I am out of CPU headroom for loading Pink and it can get pretty close to Pink's sound in certain scenarios. However I look at this patch browser debacle, huge installer file debacle and now my first technical issue with Softube (Modular) and wonder whether they have a marketing person who can point out basic user experience stuff like this.
Meanwhile, I will try out each successive version of Modular to see if this issue gets fixed, as I would love to dive back into what has the potential to be one of the most "analogue" sounding soft synths available.

and, um, what is your system?

PC, 4790k, 32gb RAM, Samsung Evo SSD, Cubase Pro 8.5, W10

To the extent that it is helpful in terms of identifying the issue, the crashes have a distinct RAM-ish feel - ie - the kinds of instant crashes that can occur when the system runs out of RAM. However, while Modular is by necessity a bit of a resource hog, at no time do I look like running out of ram with Modular loaded.

The only other clue is the fact that I can get Modular to work under one scenario only - start a brand new project and make Modular the first synth or plugin. So, for example, if I loaded Modular then, say, Reaktor, I am able to mostly change patches without a crash, even when I continue adding synths. However, if I instead load up the other synths and then Modular, it crashes when the patch is changed. So I created some brand new projects with Modular loaded first and all seemed to go well until I wanted to re-open the same Cubase project. Then any projects using Modular crash while loading. Fun times.

It has been a very expensive exercise because I decided to alleviate my Modular-based frustration by heading down to my local synth shop and buying Minilogue and Maschine Jam . Because Minilogue has absolutely blown me away, and without Modular's bugginess I wouldn't have bought it, I can rest easy. Anything from this point on will be cream.

[SoulState]

71 pages of flood, and no one single primer of sound.
That's a new record! lol.

[phoenixnick]

For some reason I cannot get the Rolling Stone's song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" out of my head.....but sometimes you can't always get what you want. I liked Softube's Modular and the chance of more modules in the future. But I didn't like having to have a "Gobbler" account, don't mind a "Softube" one, that's understandable. I decided to uninstall Modular, which was a great softsynth and cancel the Gobbler Account, this also cancels the Softube one as well.

Not quite sure why the Gobbler App/Account was needed, was there really a serious problem downloading/installing/activating their software? The previous way seemed no harder than everyone else's.

Disappointing though



Nick B