Bargain Center: discussion, gossip, etc.

[SolarAxix]

Question for the deal gossip group:

Are Plugin Alliance vouchers worth anything?

My reasoning is they are not worth anything because it’s almost always the case (with rare exception) that:
1) every product goes on sale
2) the sales often have a dedicated voucher code to achieve the sale price (like SOMA-2999) or the sales have low prices with sale-specific vouchers like “MEGA-75-OFF”)
3) you cannot stack your voucher with these sale vouchers.

So, in the end, the only use a voucher has is if you want to buy something at a ridiculously inflated “fake” price that nobody pays because they know the plugin will drop from $499 to $29 next month.

I ask because I see someone trying to sell a PA $250 voucher in the buy/sell sub and it made me realize I don’t know if these vouchers have any cash value at all.

I'm not sure where this particular $250 voucher came from, but in the past, as part of the MEGA subscription which is now called the MEGA XXL, you would get a $250 voucher that could be used for anything on the PA website (not including EXT items), even if they are on sale. Those particular vouchers were worth something from that perspective since you would wait for a big sale and capitalize on getting the most plugins for $250.

That being said, in August last year, the $250 vouchers as part of the MEGA XXL subscription were replaced by a Pick Any 10 plugin voucher that allows you to get any 10 plugins with a few exceptions (EXT and a few external plugin companies not participating). Anyone that hadn't redeemed their previous $250 vouchers were converted to the Pick Any 10 voucher. I had a $250 voucher that I hadn't used and it was switched to the Pick Any 10. I think these new vouchers are a bit better since they can be used anytime so you don't have to wait for a sale and can be used on newly released plugins that haven't gone down the the $29.99 sale point yet. I'm just waiting to have 10 plugins I want before I use mine.

That being said, I don't know the specifics for the $250 voucher being sold. If they can be used on sale items, it's probably not a bad deal, though not quite as good as the Pick Any 10 voucher IMO.

[escalona]

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/t ... exversions
Google is your friend
I got the SE first and I had somehow a limited amount of downloads. For $49 I was able to purchase Tonex (not Max) and I was able to download more (haven't reached a limit yet, but also I have lost interest... this thing needs many updates until I can use it regularly)

Just to be clear (based on the link you provided) do you mean you had the CS version and bought the SE version?

No, I got the SE version somehow free (I really don't know how/why... I found it in "My Products") and a few weeks ago I upgraded some things and got ToneX (the one between SE and Max) for I think $49 ?
It sounds good but it's not usable at the moment (unless you put it inside Amplitube I guess... but then I rather use TH-U)

[Uncle E]

Although I realized XO covers a lot of it if not all while also giving you the ability to load any sound from your one-shot sample libraries, which DD doesn't.

XO was the alternative I thought of, too. Similar sounds and less fiddly. DD's Humanize functions seems cooler than most because of the sounds being broken up into different components, but if you have to set that manually for every single component of every single sound, that's going to get annoying fast.

[Uncle E]

It sounds good but it's not usable at the moment (unless you put it inside Amplitube I guess... but then I rather use TH-U)

What's not usable about it? I was actually surprised by how capable it is, I wasn't expecting it to have the effects slot and separate cabinets. FWIW, I'm not using it inside of AmpliTube.

[GreyLion]

It sounds good but it's not usable at the moment (unless you put it inside Amplitube I guess... but then I rather use TH-U)

What's not usable about it? I was actually surprised by how capable it is, I wasn't expecting it to have the effects slot and separate cabinets. FWIW, I'm not using it inside of AmpliTube.

I think you can't have any efx inside Tonex other than the included compressor and the reverb that has five algos and minimal controls. It looks like a lot of the different profiles are modelled with different drive pedals, but I don't see any controls for the pedals.

So, no delays, flangers, phasers, etc. The only one I really care about is delay, since I like a little slapback on most tones. So, for me at least, it feels incomplete, but not broken. You just have to add other efx as needed.

There's a possibility that I've misunderstood something here, since I've only been playing with this thing for a couple of hours so far. I do think it would be nice to have an insert point or two, but that would defeat IK's purpose of encouraging you to use it inside Amplitube and thus spend money on effects there.

Escalona may have other thoughts on this, of course.

[Uncle E]

Yes, you're right, I see what you mean. Maybe my expectations were super low in that regard, I thought it was only going to be an amp emulator and didn't expect it to have any effects at all.

[GreyLion]

Yes, you're right, I see what you mean. Maybe my expectations were super low in that regard, I thought it was only going to be an amp emulator and didn't expect it to have any effects at all.

I think that's probably a pretty reasonable expectation for the $35-$49 that SE is being sold for now. I certainly don't feel ripped off. But it was $149 until recently, and the more expensive versions presumably don't include efx either, just tons of more tones.

Once you pass $100, you're competing with Neural, Axiom, etc. Different set of expectations. I think there's been a paradigm shift over the past few years, where that kind of money is expected to buy more than just great tone, it should include all sorts of bells and whistles. Just IMHO.

The capture thing is what gets hyped, but, really, how many of us are going to actually use it more than a few times, if at all. I've got wayyy too many ODs, distortions, and fuzzes, which might be fun to capture, but I've also got wayyyy too many similar vsts.

So, anyhow, I do think this is a great deal and a worthy addition for a guitar player for $35, even if you do need some add-on bits. Which we all already have.

[Uncle E]

True. IK products are priced to be discounted. Personally, the sounds are right up my alley, whereas the only Neural DSP that's made for the kinds of sounds I use is the Tone King.

[escalona]

It sounds good but it's not usable at the moment (unless you put it inside Amplitube I guess... but then I rather use TH-U)

What's not usable about it? I was actually surprised by how capable it is, I wasn't expecting it to have the effects slot and separate cabinets. FWIW, I'm not using it inside of AmpliTube.

I think you can't have any efx inside Tonex other than the included compressor and the reverb that has five algos and minimal controls. It looks like a lot of the different profiles are modelled with different drive pedals, but I don't see any controls for the pedals.

So, no delays, flangers, phasers, etc. The only one I really care about is delay, since I like a little slapback on most tones. So, for me at least, it feels incomplete, but not broken. You just have to add other efx as needed.

There's a possibility that I've misunderstood something here, since I've only been playing with this thing for a couple of hours so far. I do think it would be nice to have an insert point or two, but that would defeat IK's purpose of encouraging you to use it inside Amplitube and thus spend money on effects there.

Escalona may have other thoughts on this, of course.

No, it's exactly that. You answered better than I could have.
Also... no tuner, really?
You just have to use it inside Amplitube, there is no other way.

[BBFG#]

True. IK products are priced to be discounted. Personally, the sounds are right up my alley, whereas the only Neural DSP that's made for the kinds of sounds I use is the Tone King.

IMO, if you're buying IK-M at a discount, you're still paying too much.
I only consider their software products during one of their regular "dumps".
And there's more than one online site that eventually gives something of theirs away.

[Uncle E]

Also... no tuner, really?

I put my phone up to the speaker and use the iStroboSoft app.

As stupid as that sounds, it works great!

[GreyLion]

Also... no tuner, really?

I put my phone up to the speaker and use the iStroboSoft app.

As stupid as that sounds, it works great!

Gotta agree with Escalona, though. I always have a couple of Snark Super Tights on hand, but there should be a tuner in every amp sim.

[escalona]

Also... no tuner, really?

I put my phone up to the speaker and use the iStroboSoft app.

As stupid as that sounds, it works great!

Lol... With all due respect, Uncle E., it sort of reminded me of this...

[Vleker]

True. IK products are priced to be discounted. Personally, the sounds are right up my alley, whereas the only Neural DSP that's made for the kinds of sounds I use is the Tone King.

IMO, if you're buying IK-M at a discount, you're still paying too much.
I only consider their software products during one of their regular "dumps".
And there's more than one online site that eventually gives something of theirs away.

Imo they have some pretty good products if they are able to work out the flaws. They can be very buggy and crash occasionally for me. I've reported a bug in MODO Bass once and got a confirmation of it. It was never fixed though. Instead they released MODO Bass 2 which is acts weirder for me.

[Uncle E]

Lol... With all due respect, Uncle E., it sort of reminded me of this...

LOL!

I’m turning 50 this year. I’m set in my ways!