Focusrite Plugin Collective

[Cancel Culture Club]

Every second plugin uses libraries which put stuff in System32. It's really pretty common, and nothing which should alert you.

No they don't and no they shouldn't. That's why my security suite stopped it from writing to the System 32 folder.

This is for a simple EQ. It should not have to write anything to the system 32 folder.

But I've disinfected my system of the whole Acustica mess so no longer a problem for me.

Once again I do thank Focusrite for their continuing generosity as they've given us some real gems in the past but this one is just not for me.

They are super standard libraries and they act like a framework. They are obviously never used by anyone unless you look for it. But they are the original files, redestributable from Intel. They are completely harmless. System 32 is the suggested path for them. Your security possibly don't want we overwrite things with hacked ones. But you could check they are the original ones.
We have been doing it for 14 years, this is the very first time someone complains

Then warn people before you install them secretively.

I have hundreds of plugins and none of them require installing to the Windows directory.

[heyheycnv]

Useless set of plugins for me.
GUIs = pain in the ass that waste your time. Clicking sounds as you move through the models. Manual is pointless. The preamp vst is offering no noticeable coloration with any model except getting fuzzed on one of the tube settings as I drove the input. The EQ sounds nice but I already have broad musical EQs like the PSP27 or Boz that sound as good/better and are not a total headache to work with. Not even going to bother with the compressor.

You want "vintage" gear start with Fuse and save your hd space. Over a gig for this....jeez.

[ralfrobert]

You want "vintage" gear start with Fuse.

+1

Fuse stuff is great and very reasonably priced. Regular sales. Furthermore, Ray Dratwa is a very nice person and helpful as far as support is concerned. And ... the plugins do not completely eat up your CPU.

[Acustica Community]

Useless set of plugins for me.
GUIs = pain in the ass that waste your time. Clicking sounds as you move through the models. Manual is pointless. The preamp vst is offering no noticeable coloration with any model except getting fuzzed on one of the tube settings as I drove the input. The EQ sounds nice but I already have broad musical EQs like the PSP27 or Boz that sound as good/better and are not a total headache to work with. Not even going to bother with the compressor.

You want "vintage" gear start with Fuse and save your hd space. Over a gig for this....jeez.

The console emulated for Cream2 is very rare and there are only a few units in the world. The Preamp "C" has a particularly amazing tone.
One of the main differences with the regular "algo" plugins, is that our plugins load samples of the actual hardware, so when turning the knobs the plugin is loading vector files. If your CPU is not powerful enough, and you don't have an SSD drive (which makes the samples load faster) one recommendation is to set the buffer size in your DAW to 1024 or 2048 ms.
So what you get, unlike other plugins is the quality, depth, the sound of real hardware.

[Aloysius]

Thanks for the gift!!!

[MogwaiBoy]

A great gift - thank you! I have a bunch of Aqua's, but not Cream... so, lucky me

It's really painful to scroll through filter and pre-amp models though, that's my only gripe from a usability point of view. Is there an easier way than holding the button and dragging?

[Razzia]

I was pretty excited to hear about this. Got a handful of aquas and love em. Thanks

[GusGranite]

Really hoping this comes across for Novation customers as well.

[bermudagold]

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/acustica-audio-cream

According to this thread either
1. kvr members have much broader and deeper experience than music press?
2. Music press has broken ears?
3. Music press runs secret supercomputers provided by NSA?
4. Music press is on AA payroll?

So many questions....so little time

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

I would exclude 4

[Qkimat]

A great gift - thank you! I have a bunch of Aqua's, but not Cream... so, lucky me

It's really painful to scroll through filter and pre-amp models though, that's my only gripe from a usability point of view. Is there an easier way than holding the button and dragging?

Use mouse wheel. Works much better for me.

[ChamomileShark]

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/acustica-audio-cream

According to this thread either
1. kvr members have much broader and deeper experience than music press?
2. Music press has broken ears?
3. Music press runs secret supercomputers provided by NSA?
4. Music press is on AA payroll?

So many questions....so little time

Or 5., members here have come to more or less the same conclusions?

It sounds great, but it says

"Line and Mic let you select one of 24 (Line) or 12 (Mic) input channels, all sampled all the way to grouped output, the idea being to load Cream onto every channel of your mix and set each to its own channel for authentic console colouration. This might be something that’s viable with the Cream Preamp plugin, but the full channel strip may well prove to be preclusively CPU-heavy. "

"The inevitable convolution-parameter change lag is as irksome as ever, and the miserable thumbwheel-style control used to switch between EQ and preamp types is one of the worst GUI elements we’ve ever come across"

It doesn't mention the website issues or installation process which appears to be the other main gripes in this thread.

[Acustica Community]

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/acustica-audio-cream

According to this thread either
1. kvr members have much broader and deeper experience than music press?
2. Music press has broken ears?
3. Music press runs secret supercomputers provided by NSA?
4. Music press is on AA payroll?

So many questions....so little time

Or 5., members here have come to more or less the same conclusions?

It sounds great, but it says

"Line and Mic let you select one of 24 (Line) or 12 (Mic) input channels, all sampled all the way to grouped output, the idea being to load Cream onto every channel of your mix and set each to its own channel for authentic console colouration. This might be something that’s viable with the Cream Preamp plugin, but the full channel strip may well prove to be preclusively CPU-heavy. "

"The inevitable convolution-parameter change lag is as irksome as ever, and the miserable thumbwheel-style control used to switch between EQ and preamp types is one of the worst GUI elements we’ve ever come across"

It doesn't mention the website issues or installation process which appears to be the other main gripes in this thread.

You can load only the Cream2PREs on multiple tracks instead of the entire channel-strip to save CPU for that console effect. We have producers who use more than 40 Acqua instances in their projects with no need for a supercomputer.
We also provide 30-day trials so you can test the plugins in advance, I know this is not the case because it is offered for free, but generally many people started with one of our free products and recognize the quality of the products and then become regular.

[Acustica Community]

Also, most reviews are quite old and for the previous version, Cream2 has been updated less than a year ago with many improvements (Core16).

[Raksha]

I have just tried this briefly on a drum bus, after downloading this morning. But holy shit! This is a great piece of software! Serious vibe it has, the compressor beeing the greatest standout so far. Unfortunately, my wife just came back after beeing away for a while, so I will have a couple of days in musical limbo... But on monday, when she goes back to work, I will give this a real spin. I suspect this will be one of my top go-to tools. Thank you so much FR and AA for this generous giveaway