Current Launch v2 - A new instrument platform by Minimal Audio

[MrJubbly]

That's a ridiculous explanation, to me- it's not like they reduce the cost of All Access based on what you own.

The initial launch of Current revealed what Minimal Audio are all about ... Greed!

Up until that moment, they barely put a foot wrong, Rift was amazing and all their subsequent effect plugins were well received.

But as they revealed with their unveiling of Current, all of their previous releases were effectively intended all along as a butter-us-up "trojan horse" for their "work horse" synth Current, with its heavy push to the subscriber / preset spamming business model.

Minimal Audio, remain perhaps the biggest disappointment to me personally, regarding new up and coming plugin developers in recent history. They started out so promising, but it was apparently all a façade, a ploy for what they themselves, through their own recent business practices and admissions reveal they actually are today (and apparently were planning to be, all along).

[Koldunya]

However on the subject of the factory presets, Current's factory presets are truly abysmal

I cannot stand the presets, I cannot like any of them. They're also SUPER LOUD because velocity has to be manually mapped to the main output and they've just decided that's a feature, now, I guess. And a TON of high end jamming a spike into my ears.

Presets are the biggest weak spot for me for Current, hands down.

[collider]

I think the GUI looks great.

[dune_rave]

Now I checked Current - this synth is not for me. I don't like the factory sounds or any sound i can found in it. And I don't see much important new feature in v2, i have the same opinion that was with v1 last year.... Maybe I will like v3 - see you next year!

I feel you. It's a capable decent synth. Albeit I loathe its "busy" cluttered-looking user interface.

Even though I bought and still own a perpetual licence for v1 of Current after its re-launch, I find myself never really using this synth. And instead prefer using the much cleaner, clearer and uncluttered UI of Phase Plant. which I use much more often (although, that synth also has poor factory presets).

However on the subject of the factory presets, Current's factory presets are truly abysmal. All style over substance with extremely limited suitability for most musical genres. When I initally went through the factory presets after installing Current, I found myself deleting between 80% to 90% of the presets, which is unheard of for me, for any other synth I've ever had. And I only delete a preset if it's clear that it's something I would never use in any project I make. Since I'm a bit of a hoarder by nature, and so keep even fringe use-case sounds, just in case they might be useful once in blue moon. Not with Current's presets ... straight in the trash can.

It's clear Minimal Audio's approach is to try to wow people with, "look at all of these wacky sound designer type effects our synth can make ... Sign up to our All Pass subscription service now, to access another bajillion unusable sounds!" Rather than taking the more useful approach of u-he / Gforce / Dune, etc. Whose synths are actually made for musicians in mind.

Current is a powerful and very capable synth for creating your own sounds from scratch, if you can live with its gaudy, flashy, cluttered UI. Although, I much prefer Phase Plant's clean and user friendly workflow and UI myself.

yeah, you have the same feelings about this. horrible presets and phaseplant is better.
the presets are showstopper for me because i dont want to build a sound from 0.
but the synth with such capabilities can be good, i just dont find any usecase for it...

[zeph]

That's a ridiculous explanation, to me- it's not like they reduce the cost of All Access based on what you own.

The initial launch of Current revealed what Minimal Audio are all about ... Greed!

Up until that moment, they barely put a foot wrong, Rift was amazing and all their subsequent effect plugins were well received.

But as they revealed with their unveiling of Current, all of their previous releases were effectively intended all along as a butter-us-up "trojan horse" for their "work horse" synth Current, with its heavy push to the subscriber / preset spamming business model.

Minimal Audio, remain perhaps the biggest disappointment to me personally, regarding new up and coming plugin developers in recent history. They started out so promising, but it was apparently all a façade, a ploy for what they themselves, through their own recent business practices and admissions reveal they actually are today (and apparently were planning to be, all along).

Be careful guys!

This crowd tried to hoodwink us into a trap to to rip us off.

Now there pricing, again doesn't make sense.

[plexuss]

Wow. Tough crowd...

[Stan Navi]

Current is my one of the go to synths. It sounds great with sound palette, other my synths don't offer or offer the longer path to it. Visual design is pleasure to work with.

[swilow11]

Just seems amazing that subscribers who jumped on board in the middle of MA's bait and switch fiasco get rewarded by...not being able to buy the synth outright at the reduced price that people who haven't been loyal customers for a year get. I know, it's clearly stated as a condition of All Access but its a shitty condition. I've cancelled my sub and will basically not purchase from these guys again. They're dodgy af and are clearly thinking short term- I doubt they'll be in business for too much longer and by their actions, I think they would agree.

[zeph]

Just seems amazing that subscribers who jumped on board in the middle of MA's bait and switch fiasco get rewarded by...not being able to buy the synth outright at the reduced price that people who haven't been loyal customers for a year get. I know, it's clearly stated as a condition of All Access but its a shitty condition. I've cancelled my sub and will basically not purchase from these guys again. They're dodgy af and are clearly thinking short term- I doubt they'll be in business for too much longer and by their actions, I think they would agree.

There you go then. Bunch of con men!!

[noiseboyuk]

I'm not in the market for Current 2, but as a casual observer I find the sales policy utterly baffling and opaque. The Q&A on their website is hopeless. I get that there is a subs thing where you can access everything. There seems to be a credits system where you can then own the basic plugin outright after x months. Then you can stop subscribing but then you won't get access to everything any more, only - presumably - a core library. So these people - and presumably those who bought outright like in this sale - will have this shop inside the plugin masquerading as a browser where most stuff won't work? You have to pay for expansions too? How much are they? If you used to subscribe and used, say, 100 expansion presets, what happens to those? Can you use them in new projects? If not why not? Can you somehow download them all before you stop subscribing? If you can, why can't permanent license holders have similar access? AAAAARGH!!!!

By this point any small amount of interest I had in it has long-since evaporated. It seems such a complex and impenetrable model.

[biberact]

I trialed Current yesterday and I'm absolutely amazed by it. It's very powerful and so much fun to work with.
They obviously put a lot of thought into this synth. It's probably the most user-friendly experience I ever had with a software synthesizer.

[db3]

There was a thread on GS from Minimal announcing the V2 release, which had similar discussion to here, which seems to have been deleted. Bit odd.

[swilow11]

I trialed Current yesterday and I'm absolutely amazed by it. It's very powerful and so much fun to work with.
They obviously put a lot of thought into this synth. It's probably the most user-friendly experience I ever had with a software synthesizer.

That's just it. It's a wonderful synth that is easy to use and has basically all the features one could really need (besides the reverb which is....something). But there has just been about a year of confusion about everything except the synth. I have All Access and have for a year and it's still not clear what will happen to wavetables/samples/presets that are not in the factory library but I've downloaded and used after I buy the synth outright. I think it's intentionally unclear- they are monetising the sunk cost fallacy. I think it's intentional because they've never really clarified this.

Coupled with the absurdity of not being able to purchase the synth with store credits at the current discount. They are alienating loyal subscribers so they can make a short term gain from new perpetual license holders.

They already have my money. I'm not asking for it back. I can't spend it anywhere else. They've banked it. How does it create any issue for them to offer the discount to subscribers- they can't lose the money they've already got.

It's just bizarre.

[biberact]

That's just it. It's a wonderful synth that is easy to use and has basically all the features one could really need (besides the reverb which is....something).

The reverb is definitely Currents weak point. I had to tweak the diffusion and diffusion filter values a lot to get acceptable results. They should really put some more work into it or maybe add a few new algorithms.

But there has just been about a year of confusion about everything except the synth. I have All Access and have for a year and it's still not clear what will happen to wavetables/samples/presets that are not in the factory library but I've downloaded and used after I buy the synth outright. I think it's intentionally unclear- they are monetising the sunk cost fallacy. I think it's intentional because they've never really clarified this.

Coupled with the absurdity of not being able to purchase the synth with store credits at the current discount. They are alienating loyal subscribers so they can make a short term gain from new perpetual license holders.

They already have my money. I'm not asking for it back. I can't spend it anywhere else. They've banked it. How does it create any issue for them to offer the discount to subscribers- they can't lose the money they've already got.

It's just bizarre.

I understand your concerns. I would never buy subscriptions for DAW's or audio plugins myself. I prefer to own stuff.

I considered buying the Kilohearts subscription at some point but after reading the terms on their website it turned out that the subscriber rewards that you earn during the subscription can not be combined with coupons or promotions. So is that not the same issue that you have with the Minimal Audio subscription?

[plexuss]

I've been using Minimals effects since they launched. I have them, except the reverb and compressor. I just tried Current out. It's a very nice sounding synth. I think it's a top tier synth. However, I can't justify buying it on sale because I have other synths too similar to it (Rapid, Vengeance, Phase Plant, Falcon, Equator). If I was more flush with $ I'd pick it up. I would never subscribe however as I ahve no interest in subs. So, I'd say it's a really nice sounding synth, with excellent features and lots of possibilities. I think the GUI and UX are ok, although I dont fixate on that aspect usually. I'd recommend it and I plan to buy it in the future.