Why do some vendors attract this? I haven't ruled out the possibility that some of it is self-made – how better to stay in the public eye than have a sockpuppet or two stir up controversy?
Having said that, I've seen people go to extreme lengths in some of these threads and they appear to have no connection (nor love) for Slate in particular. One I recall (at GS, not here) was a "mastering engineer" and analogue fetishist who posted a comparison of a Slate compressor against NI's free Supercharger, claiming Slate's was broken and even if it wasn't it was no good. It did seem that way until you realised that said "mastering engineer" had carefully lopped off the beginning of the sample in order to make the claim. As Roy Castle used to say before launching into a trumpet solo: that's dedication.
In t'other thread, ghettosynth argues (not unreasonably):
But is it the marketing? Spectrasonics' own marketing is, to my mind, quite different to that of Slate. Steven Slate does like to get in the faces of the analogue purists with his shootouts, so that's one thing that might get the more extreme reactions. OTOH, Spectrasonics don't do a lot on social media at all but anyone who opens a thread "should I buy Omnisphere?" has a lot of reading and burning-piano gags in front of them. Why do true believers latch onto some vendors and leave the others alone?ghettosynth wrote:I don't think that you can completely discount the relationship between aggressive marketing techniques, and who that attracts, and what I would identify as something of a cult like following. You see the same kind of behavior surrounding Spectrasonics "fans."
I'm not saying that everyone who likes Slate, or Omni, are attracted by the marketing, but I do think that the marketing both attracts and repels distinct groups that are something like oil and water. Those who view it as religion feel compelled to defend it, and those who are repulsed by it feel compelled to attack it. In between there are people who have legitimate praise and legitimate complaints which become elevated to bifurcated extremes by the religious.
And yes, the thread title is clickbait.
