Questions for those who bought the IK Multimedia's Total Studio 3.5 MAX at 199.99

[noiseboyuk]

I mean… their “TOTAL STUDIO MAX” bundle should include the latest of everything.

That's what I'm telling you - it doesn't. There's newer effects too that aren't included.

There's various upgrade options at various points. I imagine Studio Max 4 will be along at some point that gets it all up to date.

[DarkStar]

^^^
Indeed.

As with many other manufacturers, the contents of bundles sold by IK Multimedia are selected when the product is first released (November 2021). Related products released after that date are not added to the bundle. I would expect that if there is a Total Studio 4 MAX is announced it will include those later products.

[ecasasmusic2]

Total Studio Max 3.5 includes everything but these:
- Some of the latest Syntronik models.
- Some of the latest Sampletank libraries.
- Some of the latest Modo Bass and Modo Drums models (but the software is up to date, not an old version)
- The new Stone Room reverb (but every other effect and rack is included)
- ToneX (only free version included).

[woodsdenis]

I mean… their “TOTAL STUDIO MAX” bundle should include the latest of everything.

That's what I'm telling you - it doesn't. There's newer effects too that aren't included.

There's various upgrade options at various points. I imagine Studio Max 4 will be along at some point that gets it all up to date.

I saw the deal splashed across the usual forums, I suppose IK never said it included everything up to date BUT I suppose that is what the industry norm is with these kind of packages. Lesson being always look into what is on offer. Their plugins are very good, I did get the mix box which is great.

[lightsfadelow]

Well seeing what isn't included I'm not at all sad... specifically, all the latest software versions are included, there are a few newer libraries that aren't. And then there's Tonex, which I'm not that interested in. And one reverb. S'all good. That's still a ton of value for $175 or so (with available discounts off of $199).

I was worried more that I wouldn't be able to use MODO Drums and Bass at all because the versions at the time that 3.5 MAX came out were not Apple Silicon compatible, but that's not the case. It sounds like I'll get the latest software for both and there may be some expansions that aren't included.

I'm essentially swapping Sonarworks Sound ID Reference (purchased at $209) for ARC 3, getting back about $10, and everything else in the MAX bundle came along for free. (And Sound ID Reference, for me, is still in its Amazon return window.)

[DarkStar]

^^^
Yes, you get updates to the products included. You do not get products released after the bundle contents were set.

[tuzemec]

Is there an easy way to just download and back up the "sounds"?
It really irritates me that I have limited time to do that.

[DarkStar]

You have 180 days to download them (after which a Reactivation Fee will get you another 180 days for all the libraries). Or, you can go to your User Area / My Products and download all the individual sounds installers from there.

[tuzemec]

You have 180 days to download them (after which a Reactivation Fee will get you another 180 days for all the libraries). Or, you can go to your User Area / My Products and download all the individual sounds installers from there.

Huh... missed the User Area "sounds download " button somehow. Thanks!

[lightsfadelow]

I'm on a Mac Studio running Ventura and Product Manager crashes when trying to install sounds. So I downloaded each and every sound .dmg file via Safari from the My Products area to install manually. Now I have all of them, so I'm good, right?

Wrong. Many of these installers also crash almost instantly when running. I suspect these failures are what is causing the Product Manager to crash.

What I'm discovering is that it appears to be older installers that are crashing. Anything that has a folder that says "SampleTank 3 Sound Content" crashes. Anything that has a folder "SampleTank 4 Sound Content" installs. Similarly, the Syntronik 1 installers crash, and the Syntronik 2 installers succeed.

Anyone experience this and find a way to get the older installers to work?

Failing that, it looks like there's an installer and a sound content folder in each .dmg. Is there a proper way to just copy that content into its final destination? What goes where? This seems to be true for SampleTank individual expansions and the MAX content installers as well as the Syntronik installers as well. (This is, of course, the bulk of the Max content.)

Additionally, do I even need the Syntronik 1 libraries? It seems like there's a 99, Blau, Bully, DCO-X, etc. installer for Syntronik 1 and 2. This doesn't solve my Sampletank issue, as I do believe there is unique ST3 and ST4 content, but I can at least save the hassle of worrying about any of the Syntronik installers that don't start with SYN2_.

[lightsfadelow]

UPDATE: While this doesn't fix the problem with individual installers, it appears that IK Product Manager does install the content itself (unlike the apps/plugins, where it just launches their own installers). If you give Product Manager "Full Disk" access in Privacy & Security, it can install all the content without issue. This is (apparently) the way.

[lightsfadelow]

Question for those who know... I have content available for download that may be overlapping and I want to know if I need to download and install all, or I can just go for what seems like the "most MAX" version.

An example is this: in the Sounds tab of Product Manager, there are the following items to install:
1. SampleTank 4 CS
2. SampleTank 4 SE
3. Sampletank 4
4. Sampletank 4 MAX
I assume I only need to install, #4 above, right?

Similarly, there are the following Syntronik items:
1. Syntronik Deluxe
2. Syntronik 2
I assume that Deluxe is the v1 version of the product and everything I need is available in the Syntronik 2 download, which appears to also download all of the individual synth sound sets (listed individually as well). So I only need #2, right?

Then there's
1. Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE
2. Miroslav Philharmonik 2
I assume I only need #2?

Just wanting to make sure it's not that the "most MAX" version only has the delta content above what's in the lower version.

The same could be said of the available software. For example:

I assume I want to only install Syntronik 2 the app/plugin, and not Syntronik. And I assume I only want to download MODO BASS 2, not MODO BASS, and it should know I have access to all the MODO BASS 1 instruments... yes? It's a little confusing that they include both versions for these and not for, say T-Racks or Miroslav or ARC or AmpliTube.

[rogue85]

Hi!
Please tell me which version of Sampletron 2 is included in Total Studio Max 3.5.
I hope it is the latest 2.0.4 with all updates.

[plexuss]

Hi!
Please tell me which version of Sampletron 2 is included in Total Studio Max 3.5.
I hope it is the latest 2.0.4 with all updates.

Welcome to KVR.

I bought TS MAX 3.5 a couple weeks ago. I just started Sampletron 2 up for you and here is the version screenshot 2.0.4 M42E (22F20):

Screen Shot 2023-01-25 at 2.59.49 PM.png

[plexuss]

Question for those who know... [snip. see content earlier]

Yes all your assumptions are correct from what I can tell as well. I had the same question and looked into it a little as well and installed some of the lesser tier products to see. I didn't do a full audit but determined the same as you and thats what I went with. I also owned Modo Bass 1 and Syntronik 1 also TRacks so I was aware of some of the differences.