KVR Audio

frejahel · Post by **frejahel** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:01 am

Hi,

I'm looking to buy my first set of plugins. I'm eligible for academic discount at Fabfilter (I can get their total bundle for €360) and Soundtoys (their academic bundle includes the native effects bundle + devil-loc deluxe for $250) and then there is the huge discount for the Waves Gold Bundle today (which is the reason I'm writing this post in the first place).

I'm mainly into industrial, experimental and cinematic music, and so far I have my mind set on Fabfilter, especially the creative bundle, which I have tried and loved, especially Saturn. I also own StudioOne 2 and Ableton Live 9 Suite as well as Valhalla Room; so far I'm using the latter as well as the reverb included in StudioOne, The Glue, the included compressor and saturator in Live + EQ8 and I've been happy so far while drooling after the FabFilter creative package. Also, I'm pretty sure I will buy Valhalla Übermod very soon.

Should I go for the Waves Gold Bundle deal today or continue saving up for the FabFilter bundle? The SoundToys bundle is much cheaper than Fabfilter, is their package a better value for the money? Is there anything I can gain by going for the Waves Gold compared to what I have today and considering that I'm more into plugins with lots of modulation and or tweaking possibilities?

Thanks and I'd appreciate some thoughts and comments.

werp · Post by **werp** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:22 am

Watching this with interest..just received the waves gold bundle offer myself.
Bump, ooh!
That was fun.....

an-electric-heart · Post by **an-electric-heart** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:25 am

You should go for T-racks deluxe, it's the best bundle out in my opinion... but of the ones you listed probably Fabfilter. Or you could try something like Izotope alloy, I was looking at the "plugins discount" site before, they had an Alloy and Ozone bundle for pretty cheap.

Oh and when I think "Fabfilter bundle", I think this bundle:

http://www.fabfilter.com/shop/mastering-bundle

... not the creative bundle.

frejahel · Post by **frejahel** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:47 am

The Fabfilter mastering bundle seems nice (although will I get more out of it than with the plugins I already have and use?), but is to me not as much instant gratification and experimental fun as the creative bundle. Of course, I realize I'm comparing apples and oranges a bit here when I ask for comments on the Waves bundle.

I should mention also that my monitors are broken at the moment and I only have a pair of studio headphones available... so I can't really extensively demo either

BDeep · Post by **BDeep** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:52 am

If you've got your mind set on Fabfilter, get that. Buying plugins (IMHO) isn't a completely rational process, you'll regret it if you don't.

apart from that, I think the Waves EQ's and such are great, but the creative effects from Fabfilter are miles better. Soundtoys are obviously good, but you'll need an iLok (which is why I haven't tested them) and they don't provide regular tools such as EQ, compressor etc.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:01 am

Personally, I'd go for SoundToys, but I never quite got on with the FF stuff. Its good though, just not gritty enough for me in some way. ST does the 'classic' bread and butter effects (delay, distortion, filter) about as well as anything, but if you prefer FF go that way.
Waves Gold has an interesting spread of creative effects (pitch-y, delay-y stuff), though the rest of it is more mundane (ie dyamics and EQ), but its not as strong on the bread and butter (eg a good filter) as ST.

I'd suggest you also demo the Uhbik bundle, though, which is cheaper than any of them. To me its like the complement to SoundToys, does most of the same stuff, but with a different edge.

frejahel · Post by **frejahel** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:08 am

Thanks for your very interesting comments. Very much appreciated.

Right, there is the Uhbik bundle as well which seems absolutely exquisite! Since I have The Dark Zebra, I'm already a big fan of U-He. I should demo this bundle.

rob_lee · Post by **rob_lee** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:11 am

whyterabbyt wrote:Personally, I'd go for SoundToys

These look amazing plugins mate i just had a look on their site BUT wow they are very expensive. I suppose you get what you pay for though.

Rob

BDeep · Post by **BDeep** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:17 am

Oh, and something to be aware of. Today's deal on Waves Gold is very good, however, they have sales very very often. With a little patience a similar deal will happen.
In other words, don't let it seduce you to hasty decisions you might regret later on.

lnikj · Post by **lnikj** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:18 am

Be aware that the Sound Toys bundle requires an iLok key which may or may not bother you (it does me!).

If you are after creative stuff rather than mixing/mastering I would go Fabfilter or Ubhik of those mentioned. The Ubhiks may well be the choice for your industrial/experimental tastes.

frejahel · Post by **frejahel** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:19 am

rob_lee wrote:
whyterabbyt wrote:Personally, I'd go for SoundToys
These look amazing plugins mate i just had a look on their site BUT wow they are very expensive. I suppose you get what you pay for though.

Rob

The native bundle is heavily discounted compared to buying them one and one and you can get this package for $495 (and about half of that with academic discount) which I think is more than a fair price.

So far I have managed with software without iLok, which bothers me a bit, but if the plugins are sufficiently good, I could put up with it

.

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:29 am

BDeep wrote:Oh, and something to be aware of. Today's deal on Waves Gold is very good, however, they have sales very very often. With a little patience a similar deal will happen.
In other words, don't let it seduce you to hasty decisions you might regret later on.

I almost choked on my coffee when I saw that price..can't do that deal right now, but hope they repeat it.

lnikj · Post by **lnikj** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:30 am

If you go for a bundle with an academic discount you might want to check out what happens later, when you are no longer entitled to the discount, if you want to upgrade in the future. YMMV with different developers.

BDeep · Post by **BDeep** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:34 am

bluedad wrote:
BDeep wrote:Oh, and something to be aware of. Today's deal on Waves Gold is very good, however, they have sales very very often. With a little patience a similar deal will happen.
In other words, don't let it seduce you to hasty decisions you might regret later on.
I almost choked on my coffee when I saw that price..can't do that deal right now, but hope they repeat it.

Sure, it's a steal, if it's what you're after. Just saying that you should be a little careful with those deals if you're not sure what you want.

wesleyt · Post by **wesleyt** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:34 pm

I think FabFilter is the best starting point. I have almost everything but the Pro line, and I want them. Twin is wonderful, and I use Saturn and Volcano all the time. I also have Uhbik, and they are wonderful

Choosing the first set of plugins (Waves, Soundtoys or Fabfilter)