Good investment??

[Tyrs]

Hi,
I'm considering to buy the total fx bundle and I have two questions.
First - are there also promotions for bundles? E.g. half the price promotions like for single plugins?
And second, what measures are in place to ensure the future of Meldaproduction? I mean the best benefit of buying a Melda bundle is, that you get regular plugin updates and that you get access to all new plugins belonging to a particular bundle. But what I have noticed so far is, that there is only one developer, namley the high respected Vojtech but what in case Vojtech will not be willing to continue the developement of plugins anymore? Do we have any guarantee for the "lifetime Updates"?

[Hexspa]

I think the bundles go on sale occasionally but don't quote me.

Vojtech is about my age - I'm 37. Assuming the normal life span is 78 then you should get around 41 years of upgrades.

But don't quote me.

[HSum]

Vojtech is about my age - I'm 37. Assuming the normal life span is 78 then you should get around 41 years of upgrades.

Additionally assuming the family planning is done (e.g. not many more children), assuming the development for a certain OS will not suddenly be stopped (I'll think of Mac devices here), assuming the bundles do not introduce sudden backward incompatibility or plugins getting discontinued, assuming the company does make profit and will exist many more years.

I personally never invest in a company for what it might become but for what it is. Like FL's lifetime free policy - it's nice to have but I didn't buy it for getting new plugins in the future guaranteed or begin able to use it all the time everywhere. Lifetime free stuff should always be taken with a grain of salt.

[zacha]

Lifetime free stuff should always be taken with a grain of salt.

Look, I think Melda stuff is pretty great, once you get the hang of it. Lifetime updates are also great, and part of the reason I buy the plugins. And I’m pretty happy with what I have (not least the surprise free MSpectraldynamics LE that just got added to a bundle of mine.)

But since that’s also part of the reason people like me buy the plugins, and it’s also part of the marketing copywriting, it’s definitely a fair thing to examine, and “taken with a grain of salt” doesn’t really cover it.

While it is realistic to say “for the lifetime of the company”, that’s never what a claim like that seems to be saying in the copy. (Not just for Melda, it’s an unstated issue with lifetime warranties elsewhere.)

That said, I’d look at Exponential Audio, which seems to have mostly been focused on one person until they sold to iZotope where the plugins seem to be puttering along nicely. If something happened to stop Vojtech continuing development, the plugins, and the lifetime updates, could live on happily with a new owner.

[Tricky-Loops]

When my mother died in 1989 at age 35 because of the second stomach cancer, I stopped believing that average age might be 78.

The only guarantee in life is death.

But keep in mind that you can still use Melda plugins even after the developer has died. And there might be someone who overtake the company like in the case of Nomad Factory!

[crystalmsc]

Too many things are unpredictable, but Vojtech has proven himself with a very stable and consistent updates for many years. Also very responsive and responsible for bug fixes and sorting out problems, often instantly. Showing that he's a very responsible person with great attitude. That would be more than enough for me. I own lots of other products with way less than appropriate treatment compared to Melda. Based on the time tested and proven experience, I believe if nothing extreme happened, he will have a rescue plan for his awesome creation. At least my sixth sense told me that, such a good soul must stay much longer

[Tricky-Loops]

That's true, we even could convince him 7 years ago to make a better GUI (framework) which is even some sort of customizable now.

But guarantee, there isn't any in life.

[Tyrs]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys. I will watch out for some discount on the bundle and until then maybe Vojtech himself will give some insight in his MP future plans

One more question regarding the regular plugin updates - is Melda adding new features to the plugins at all? I don't mean make up like new GUI or bug fixing, I mean really new functionalities. Some plugins seem to quite old, can one expect, that they will be reworked in a while? Or is Melda releasing additional plugins instead, e.g. another compressor with some modern features?

[SneakyBeats]

I think bundles are -50% once or twice a year? Black friday maybe?

Generally software is a bad investment. Unless the work you do/create with it brings you money. If you bought a pile of 303s or Yamaha CS80s when they cost next to nothing, it's a good investment. If you buy a ton of Serum licenses now, it's a bad investment.

Melda plugins are worth the money, support is great and tools are great..... But as an investment..

[Tricky-Loops]

At least the bundles are getting bigger...

When I bought the CreativeFX bundle 7 years ago, it might have been around 10 plugins or so. Now there are 35!

The plugins are updated regularily but I don't know how many new features he adds.

On the website he writes "lifetime updates - may change in the future", so he should say something here about his plans...

[WasteLand]

"We provide free-for-life updates for all of our products. This means that you will never need to pay to upgrade our software! We may cancel this unusual offer at any time, so take it while you can." but it is stated for years, i think.

i am almost have the MCompleteBundle, waiting for the sale.. for the upgrade, with plugins/discount i already have.

EDIT: i have the MCreativeFXBundle + MFreeFXBundle (bought..) + 16 plugins, including MSoundFactory and MDrummer + MXXXCore (nr. 17..). an investment yes. but the possibilities i get, for sounddesign, and of course sometimes for more normal stuff. the strength of even a "simple" plugin can be big..

[GusGranite]

Well there’s always the buyer’s mortality to think of also! Sure, make good investments but get the value out of your plugins today rather than tomorrow.

Melda plugins are amazing. And I say that while loving some of the ‘opposite’ emulation style plugins by Acustica, Plugin Alliance, Fuse Audio etc.

The Melda updates and free added plugins to the bundles is the icing on the cake for me.

[mevla]

After getting several Melda plugins, I bought the Complete/Total bundle while it was at 50%. At that time MSF wasn't there. Notwhitstanding the regular updates along with some new/MB plugins, the arrival of MSF for free was a very nice "gift". Such a synthesizer for free while I bought the bundle at -50%. I did not make the financial count as I'm sure Vojtech gets his due but it surely gives a very nice feeling of getting new plugins for free, moreover when it's a 'monster' synth.

And that's from a Linux user.

About the lifetime updates, I see it as if they were - and actually they are - tools. They work today on the system I use and if it's needed I have no problem in keeping the same system for making music while I can dual boot another more current OS, once again, if need be for other purposes. When I get tools from the hardware store, it's to use them. 3 years later there'll be a brushless, better, version of a reciprocating saw but will I be getting it ? Very probably not.

As for plugins I'm out of the buying loop now. I was for some time, getting plugins and sound sets and samples, but now I have everything I need. I can't say I won't be getting anything new in the future, but it surely will have to be impressive for me to pay attention. Except of course of any new plugins that I get for free from Melda. Still wondering about this 'recording revolution' ...

There's so much to know and so much to experiment with and so much to put in use with the actual plugins/tools I got that I have for years of learning, which is fine.

Cheers.

[dakkra]

One more question regarding the regular plugin updates - is Melda adding new features to the plugins at all?

Yes, in fact not too long ago Vojtech added companding to the saturator. What a wonderful addition. But yes, Vojtech also releases new plugins to fill in new features. He does a bit of both. I'm lucky to own a license for MXXX, which means I usually get access to all the new toys and features he adds.

[Nspace]

Well there’s always the buyer’s mortality to think of also! Sure, make good investments but get the value out of your plugins today rather than tomorrow.

Haha That's the first thing I read when first saw the "lifetime upgtrades" phrase, after all MeldarPoduction is _ upgrade after upgrade _ improving its life expentancy.

I think bundles are -50% once or twice a year? Black friday maybe?

Well, regularly nope. Last time it was back at 2019 for the 10th anniversary. You probably won't have to wait 9 years for that to happen again. I might be mistaken but that discount is not regular, or disclosed as such...

At least the bundles are getting bigger...When I bought the CreativeFX bundle 7 years ago, it might have been around 10 plugins or so. Now there are 35!

Melda has consistently provided large loyalty support for those who believed and bought early. This is something quite rare on the industry, that instead relays in charging its clients,. At Melda income comes from the exppansion of its customer base plus from the continuous creation of new plugins and effects, and now libraries.

One more question regarding the regular plugin updates - is Melda adding new features to the plugins at all? I don't mean make up like new GUI or bug fixing, I mean really new functionalities. Some plugins seem to quite old, can one expect, that they will be reworked in a while? Or is Melda releasing additional plugins instead, e.g. another compressor with some modern features?

Novel features, pioneering optimizations and some of the best technologies around have been implemented incrementally. Partly because all plugins use of a common kernel.
Just check the Features list of the simplest MEqualizer, the free one. The basal features are shared by all the existing plugins, also consider that it was 2/3 smaller 10 years ago.
IRs generation was included at most effects in the past update and the ongoing Beta brings several upgrades, some important MIDI ones.
Read about Vojtech's trail and background, he is an optimizer extraordinaire, and it shows.

That said, different new functionalities usually come in the shape of new plugins. The way to retain paid access for those is to invest in Bundles, these get the functionality-wise related new plugins added for no extra cost.
Also, and understandably so, once you update your acquired plugins into a bundle you cannot get them back into separates, plus reselling them have an important % cost calculated from the MSRP price. Besides, not many would probably want to get rid of such excellent and future-proof tools...

*EDIT: improved clarity