KVR Audio

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:40 pm

In a nasty bout of end-of-saleitis, I picked up Total Studio Max 3.5 for about £60. What can you do.

I didn't think Sampletank and its many many sounds would hold much for me, and indeed they don't. Many are perfectly fine, but with so many better alternatives it just takes up a lot of space.

There are just a few banks - barely a handful - that might be worth keeping around. From googling I think I know the answer to this but just in case - is there any way of just keeping the few banks I'm ever likely to use?

(Btw, pleasant surprise of the bundle was the Hammond B3-X, I thought I didn't need another Hammond, but I was wrong. It's bloody brilliant)

EDIT - meant to say, what I really want is a nice clean browser with just the stuff I want in it.

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:18 pm

Yes, if you know your way around SampleTank libraries you should be able to remove the instruments and samples files. Make a full back-up first, just in case.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:01 pm

This may help:
https://cgi.ikmultimedia.com/ikforum/vi ... 12&t=21716

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:08 pm

DarkStar wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:18 pm Yes, if you know your way around SampleTank libraries you should be able to remove the instruments and samples files. Make a full back-up first, just in case.

Thanks, it seems to have worked (thanks too Examigan). The folder structure is all over the place from one product to the next, but I collated everything I needed, kept it into its own inconsistent subfolder locations and now only those 5 banks are visible at the top of the menu and the database has been rebuilt. HD space reduced from 300gb to 17gb.

Everything else is on a removeable HD just in case.

Cheers!

tdm71 · Post by **tdm71** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:42 pm

How much bloat is in the Max? I had a chance last night to buy it for $70 and still didn’t pull the trigger for the same reason.

I’d rather have a great product at a good price than a good product at a great price (thanks Warren Buffett for the advice)

plexuss · Post by **plexuss** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:49 pm

tdm71 wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:42 pm How much bloat is in the Max? I had a chance last night to buy it for $70 and still didn’t pull the trigger for the same reason.

I’d rather have a great product at a good price than a good product at a great price (thanks Warren Buffett for the advice)

It depends on what you already have. I wanted the Tascam tape machines. That alone, on sale, was more than the price to upgrade to Max so for me it made sense to get Max. The rest is gravy. For me, what seems most useful are the Tascams, the new TRacks reverb, some of Sampletank, Hammond and I am sure there is more once I dig into it. The whole Max download was about 400GB. I grabbed it all to avoid IK's time limit on downloads and put it on a random 500G 2.5" drive I have laying around for backup.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:15 pm

I am very happy with the upgrade. $70 for Mixbox, Sampletron 2, the Hammond, Tape machines, Modo drums, and Amplitube 5 Max and more.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:33 pm

Totally agree with plexuss. I think the word bloat is over-used. Same with Komplete. What is bloat to me isn't to someone else, so it's not really bloat. It's only bloat if it's no use to anyone. All that bread and butter stuff in A4 is no use to me at all given what else I have, but if you're starting out there's some really decent stuff there.

I got the whole TS3.5 / Tonex upgrade deal. All in all, just over £100 with some Jam Points. For that I have some more good stuff in Amplitube, and Tonex. None of the rest is essential for me, but there's a few nice to haves like the Hammond and the Fame reverb, I quite like the Cinematic Percussion, a bit of the mallet stuff.

Given all that, it was a fair price for me.

Lbdunequest · Post by **Lbdunequest** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:34 pm

I have Studio Max 2, but for some reason im not eligable for Max upgrade. Oh well, more money in my bank account.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:57 pm

Lbdunequest wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:34 pm I have Studio Max 2, but for some reason im not eligable for Max upgrade. Oh well, more money in my bank account.

Are you sure? I had Total Studio Max 2 also and was offered the upgrade.

Here's what is shows when I checked into it again:
Total Studio 3.5 MAX (MAXgrade from any MAX product) $/€199.99 $/€99.99

Lbdunequest · Post by **Lbdunequest** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 6:39 am

Examigan wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:57 pm
Lbdunequest wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:34 pm I have Studio Max 2, but for some reason im not eligable for Max upgrade. Oh well, more money in my bank account.
Are you sure? I had Total Studio Max 2 also and was offered the upgrade.

Here's what is shows when I checked into it again:
Total Studio 3.5 MAX (MAXgrade from any MAX product) $/€199.99 $/€99.99

Yep im sure. 99 eu upgrades are greyed out and if i try to select message appears that i dont qualify.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:11 am

I'd write to their support as that seems kinda strange.

Lbdunequest · Post by **Lbdunequest** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:22 am

Examigan wrote: Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:11 am I'd write to their support as that seems kinda strange.

Im not planing on buying the upgrade so not going to bother

niterateaudio · Post by **niterateaudio** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 12:23 pm

noiseboyuk wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:33 pm Totally agree with plexuss. I think the word bloat is over-used. Same with Komplete. What is bloat to me isn't to someone else, so it's not really bloat. It's only bloat if it's no use to anyone. All that bread and butter stuff in A4 is no use to me at all given what else I have, but if you're starting out there's some really decent stuff there.

I got the whole TS3.5 / Tonex upgrade deal. All in all, just over £100 with some Jam Points. For that I have some more good stuff in Amplitube, and Tonex. None of the rest is essential for me, but there's a few nice to haves like the Hammond and the Fame reverb, I quite like the Cinematic Percussion, a bit of the mallet stuff.

Given all that, it was a fair price for me.

That's a pretty decent deal. Was ToneX a separate upgrade purchase? I don't see it included. Unless I am missing something.

Unfortunately, I am not eligible, as I own most of TS from buying various items in group buys. IMO, this is a major problem with IKM product positioning. The group buys make you ineligible for upgrade pricing. So you sort of wind up sitting on the side lines with owning 90% of different items in the bundle and you can't get the remaining 10% unless you pay full price for it individually. IKM need to really address this.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Wed Jan 11, 2023 1:32 pm

niterateaudio wrote: Wed Jan 11, 2023 12:23 pmThat's a pretty decent deal. Was ToneX a separate upgrade purchase? I don't see it included. Unless I am missing something.

Unfortunately, I am not eligible, as I own most of TS from buying various items in group buys. IMO, this is a major problem with IKM product positioning. The group buys make you ineligible for upgrade pricing. So you sort of wind up sitting on the side lines with owning 90% of different items in the bundle and you can't get the remaining 10% unless you pay full price for it individually. IKM need to really address this.

Yes, it was 2 deals - 1 upgrade from Amplitube 4 max to TS 3.5 max, then another 50 bucks for Tonex.

And yes, those piecemeal deals aren't as great as they first seem, are they?

SampleTank 4: thinning the herd