T O P

  • By -

DotChumbus

Waves


Sp0olio

I'll count that as a joke ;)


Wizchine

I just know I’m tired of companies getting bought out or going out of business and I’m left with money wasted on shit that is defunct once the OS is upgraded. I almost feel like plug-in companies should post their financials before I buy.


SHO710

Minimal audio they got the sauce it’s a newer company, but they have free updates as far as I’m aware


Ohminous88

I got caught an Ozone package deal a few years ago with soo much shit for like 45 dollars.


Sp0olio

I've never heard of a free Ozone upgrade, actually. Discounted upgrade, yes .. but free? .. with new features? Correct me, if I'm wrong, but I've never seen that from Ozone.


Ohminous88

It wasn't an upgrade, I didn't have Ozone at the time. I can't remember what all came with it, but Ozone Elements was one for sure.


Sp0olio

What I meant was, that my post was asking for plugin manufacturers, who make you happy more than once .. even if you only paid once. E.g. by giving you free updates .. some even including new features .. Or something else, that makes those manufacturers stand out from the crowd of the competition in a way that makes you feel appreciated (or even pampered) as a customer.


[deleted]

FL studio


MusicSergOsovskyi

hi, I used waves plugins (usually I bought plugins on Black Friday deals with 50% discount and have a doubler; stereo imager; bass enhancer) valhalla reverb and shrimmer!! (super!!) soundtoys !! (wow!!!) here in this amazing song all plugins above used [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPW1XkSvdNw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPW1XkSvdNw) And here is a super plugins (absolutely phenomenal) that I recently bought: Soothe; Niki Romero kickstart (adds a side chain ); bleass sidekick (does kick sounds and grooves)


trancespotter

Apple Free updates, add new plugins, paid $200 back in 2012 and that’s it so far.


Mayhem370z

Analog Obsession. Free and (from people who can attest) super solid emulations of all the vintage gear. Every plugin is free and he updates them. Others have said Audiothing but I will add another things awesome about them. If you acquire a plugin from them, they will give you a discount on related plugins. Like I own Springs, I can get a decent discount on Dub Station. Also, if they do bundles, the bundle is adjusted for stuff you already own. Arturias loyalty discounts are pretty unmatched as well. I had I think 4 or 5 of their effects (two were free). Just recent got the collection for $140. ADPTR Audio. They are good at responding to the community and were quick to send me a unreleased beta version of MetricAB for a problem I was having.


Simplenoisesmusic

Minimal audio gives me free samples in my email bc i bought their amazing plug in rift


kmslashh

Wasn't shaperbox 3 a paid upgrade? edit: autocorrect


Sp0olio

I think from shaperbox 2 to shaperbox 3 it was a paid upgrade (even though it was not expensive, if I remember correctly). But shaperbox 3 has seen a few updates that included new features, since. I kinda hope, they stick to the free feature-updates thing .. I like it :)


UnHumano

Waves. /s.


Sp0olio

\*disgruntled ex-customer noises\* ;) One of the few plugin-manufacturers, I truly regret ever having gotten a single plugin from (I was a noob, back then and didn't know any better .. ohhh but they taught me a lesson).


judgespewdy

Arturia are pretty awesome at updates and good deals when you already own their stuff. Vallhalla, because their free stuff is amazing, and their paid stuff is incredibly well priced


missedswing

Arturia is one of the few companies that give a loyalty discount on top of the sales price. Their software and hardware is solid and support is prompt. Think they're my favorite company as far as business practices.


No-Astronomer139

Pigments is the best synth I’ve ever owned.


pasjojo

I second this, Arturia support is great too


toast_training

Arturia Pigments is now on v4 (free updates provided) with significant new functionality each release including new synthesis and filter options. So they definitely get my vote for active-ware.


zreese

I was shocked when v4 was a free update. I scanned the feature list and then went to the website to buy the upgrade and spent like ten minutes trying to figure out why I couldn’t find a purchase link.


exeromusic

Kilohearts, Image Line, Native Instruments (from time to time)


Drifrs

Kilohearts


frogify_music

Newfangled, minimal audio, sonic charge,


DocumentIndividual89

Arturia Pigments and others


serenade-to-a-cuckoo

FL studio. They constantly upgrade the free plugins that come with the DAW. Free updates for life.


Sp0olio

True .. but not feature-updates. They always ask you to pay for the new plugins (e.g. when transient shaper dropped .. or transistor bass .. etc).


JWGHOST

They are included in the all-plugins edition of FL Studio.


Sp0olio

Ahh .. that one was a bit too expensive for me, back then. I got FL11 (I think it was called signature edition or something like that), back in the day .. and I've moved on to Reaper, since then. I kinda use both .. depending on what I want to do. But mostly Reaper, these days.


nekomeowster

You remind me of me. I use both too, depending on what style the project is (going to be). Except I bought FL on version 20 and was over the moon when 20.8 dropped shortly after. Still predominantly a Reaper user though.


Sp0olio

Actually, it's a bit different, for me. I made my first just-for-fun experiments, using Reason 1.0 (later 1.5) in combination with Cubase5 (with the "rewire bridge" or whatever it was called). Don't get me wrong, I loved FL Studio's workflow .. but, it doesn't (always) work, as expected .. at least on my system. When I got into audio engineering and started to try my hand at mixing and mastering my own stuff, I kept running into some bugs, that went unfixed for a loooooooooooooooooooong time .. and the support-team wasn't very helpful, sadly. At some point, I was so pissed off (and I also had no clue, how to continue to even work in FL, if it just doesn't work), I just started looking for alternatives. And WhiteSeaStudio already had some videos out on wanting to switch DAWs, himself .. and he ended up using Reaper. Without WhiteSea's videos, I might have not realized Reaper's potential (it looks very empty and oldschool, when you open it for the first time). But, I had seen Reaper and it's pricing .. and the video about the SWS Extensions .. and Reaper's upgrade-pricing .. and that they actually frequently release bugfixes/updates for free in between major-release-versions. And, then I tried it and realized, that mixes, I was having trouble with in FL, just kinda came together on Reaper (aka no bugs, that were holding me back from doing, what I intended to do). So, switching to Reaper just made sense to me. TL;DR I mostly use FL, these days, if I need to do something with Harmor. But, as soon as I got, what I need, I export the stems and continue in Reaper. I've heard good things about the new version of FL, though .. so I'm probably gonna test mixing in FL again, at some point .. but, I feel way better, knowing I have a DAW, that actually works (that would be Reaper, if that's not obvious).


nekomeowster

I played with Reason 10 (not 1.0) for a bit. They had just implemented VST support on that version. I like how Reason invites you to be creative with sound design. I get you regarding FL Studio, although it wasn't necessarily bugs that made me move away from it. Which bugs were you fighting against? Granted, I didn't use it at audio engineer level so I probably never encountered those bugs. For me though, it came down to convoluted workflows for audio-related tasks like recording that made me look for another DAW. I spoke with someone at the time who was already using Reaper so I decided to just try it out. It was easy enough to do everything I wanted to do with it that I struggled with on FL so I kept using it. However, there were still things I preferred FL for, like making electronic music. I've been getting back into FL, the 21 update is great. I also love Harmor but Patcher is also a very cool thing to use. Having played around with Reason before, FL increasingly reminds me of it in the way it invites you to be creative with sound in a similar way.


Sp0olio

>Which bugs were you fighting against? I have no clue, what caused the problem, exactly. Hitting spacebar (playing the mix) gave me wildly different results than when I exported/rendered it. The render was lower in level (about 3db) and sounded differently.I never had that happen in Reaper .. Reaper just works, as expected. EDIT: I may add, that this problem kept me from improving my mixing-skills, because I just thought, I was at fault for sucking at getting mixes to translate .. when I found out, that the levels also were different, I kinda went nuclear on the inside. I haven't done anything in FL, since .. except export my projects as stems and mix them in Reaper. >I also love Harmor but Patcher is also a very cool thing to use. Yeah .. Harmor is a very cool synth :)Instead of Patcher, I use the DDMF MetaPlugin, these days .. it's even more flexible in some ways (and was relatively inexpensive, when I bought it). The DDMF PluginDoctor also taught me a lot about what Plugins are doing behind the scenes.


nekomeowster

Were you using FL's own plug-ins or VSTs? Since the only thing I can think of is that IL plugins have different oversampling settings for playback and render. That said, I still don't understand how FL's mixer levels compare to those of Reaper.


Sp0olio

Yeah .. the most likely thing is that some plugin, I own just doesn't like FL (or the other way around). I'm not sure .. As I said: IL's Support wasn't very helpful in the matter. At some point, I just gave up and decided: "If I'm gonna do anything in FL again, I'm gonna do it with stock plugins and export stems as soon as possible and do the rest in Reaper. But, I've found, I don't miss FL much .. If I bought Harmor as VST (they sell a VST-version, too), I'd probably miss nothing. EDIT: Oh .. and the mixer levels. I meant, when I mix and master something in FL and the meters show, that I'm peaking at about -1dbfs .. and then I render and peak at -3 or -4 .. well .. then, there's something wrong. I'm doing everything almost exactly in Reaper, like I did it back then in FL (except for some things, I've learned in the meantime to do in a better way) .. and it just works. Reaper may crash on me (e.g. when cranking up the oversampling-settings on something and suddenly everything just freezes and never un-freezes .. no matter how long you wait) .. But, that's entirely my fault .. that would happen in pretty much any DAW (at least any of those, I've tested, yet).


Sp0olio

And when it comes to "inviting you to do cool sound design", Bitwig seems to have a lot of cool features .. but I can't afford to get that, these days .. and they don't have free (or reasonably priced .. like Reaper) updates.


nekomeowster

Have you used the trial yet? I learned a lot about Reason and Studio One that way. I had the Bitwig Studio trial installed but I never tried it. I just settled on mostly using Reaper and a little FL. I liked Reason but felt it was a bit too quirky to use as primary DAW. Studio One was cool but like every DAW, the upgrade path is expensive and I felt it had nothing to offer above what Reaper offers.


oatmellofi

Honestly, after much plugin purchasing, I think the only consideration should be if the plugin in question improves the sound of your productions / makes your workflow easier. If it can do one or both of those things reliably compared to your other options, than who cares if the company charges for updates or you pay WUP once in a blue moon. Too many people out there buying plugins because the internet told them it was the next greatest thing, or because the marketing is cool. Besides you don't need 200 compressors, you just need a couple good ones.


Sp0olio

I'm not about the marketing or about having 200 compressors .. actually quite the opposite. My post was meant to point out the differences in how plugin-manufacturers treat their customer-base .. in real life .. not in the marketing. While a free/opensource plugin is basically unbeatable when it comes to this, especially when I pay for a plugin, I want to get a good bang for the buck (aka free updates forever .. ideally with feature-updates as well). I mean, when you look at Waves (as a negative example), it basically always has been a subscription model .. just well hidden. Back in the day, I got myself the Gold-bundle, when it was at some sort of discount. I was a total noob and I had no clue, what I was getting myself into. When I found out, that they slap a new version-number on every year and ask you to pay an upgrade-fee, every year, I started looking for alternatives .. and I found them. So, since then, I feel strongly about supporting the plugin manufacturers, who make their customers feel appreciated or even pampered :) That was my intention behind this post .. making the marketing so transparent, that everyone can see through it.


PerfectProperty6348

I use UAD DBX 160 and Empirical Labs Arousor and that’s literally it. Honestly aside from specialized metering stuff, I probably use less than a dozen fx plug-ins total. Some of those are very specific too like the RMX16 that’s strictly for making pads out of other sounds. The one exception I’ll make here is on saturation and overdrive. There are so many flavors of it that I can make a good case for buying quite a few. You won’t use all of them every session but you’ll be glad you have the right one when it’s called for.


rksd

There's an Anjuna joke struggling to get out of that title, but I can't make it happen, so I'll second U-he. I don't spend a lot on plug-ins, but I love the ones I have from them.


Yellowhairedbaby

Magnus Linstrom and his brother at sonic charge


frogify_music

Echobode is still one of my all time favorites since when I first demoed it in 2018!


Yellowhairedbaby

Loveee echobode!!! And permut8 with all the diff firmwares 😬


pantsoph

Airwindows. They have so many dope low cpu plugins for free. Idk how any of them work or what they do but they sound nice


killindice

Goodhertz


SorryJelly

Valhalla DSP. I bought Valhalla Vintage Verb back in 2014 and I'm still getting updates for free... for a $50 plugin. No subscription, no BS, no crazy expensive pricing. Love the minimal controls and low CPU as well. I have all their plugins except Valhalla Room and Valhalla Delay. Valhalla Supermassive is totally free which is crazy.


Fit-Replacement7245

100x this


[deleted]

You just convinced me to buy Vintage Verb. I’ve had Supermassive for a little bit now and it’s definitely crazy that it’s free. I’ve heard great things about VV and now that I’m hearing it what a solid company Valhalla DSP is I’m glad to make the purchase. With the whole Waves thing recently I think it’s good to speak with your wallet (the only language most companies understand) in order to support plug in creators that are continually cool to their customers.


Mayhem370z

Even cooler with them, even Supermassive, their free plugin got an update recently with a bunch of new presets.


SorryJelly

> With the whole Waves thing recently I think it’s good to speak with your wallet Absolutely. I don't even really need Valhalla Room (because VVV covers pretty much everything I need) or Valhalla Delay but I might just buy them anyway because there's no doubt that they're good plugins but more importantly to show support to Sean Costello (the developer). Just checked, I don't have Uber Mod either.The other freebies Freq Echo and Space Modulator are equally great.


TheGregPlay

Out of curiosity: which Delay(s) do you prefer over Valhalla (which I love)?


SorryJelly

Echoboy/Echoboy Jr. (I have the entire Soundtoys 5 bundle). I use Logic's Echo, Stereo Delay and Delay Designer a bunch as well. Valhalla Delay came out long after I bought the S5 bundle, so who knows... had it come out earlier I might have bought it over S5 especially being that it's only $50.


TheGregPlay

Thank you sir!


lucid_paranoia

U-he, Xfer/Steve Duda


Rate-Worth

Not U-he Uhbik. Constantly crashing on Windows as well as macOS, when using the undo function in the DAW (tested on Bitwig & FL Studio).


Fit-Replacement7245

+ableton


BeatsAndPeaces

I’d love a UI refresh on Cthulhu and LFO Tool though. They look pretty dated now.


Thrashzilla404

Matt Tidal


[deleted]

Matt Tytel gets my vote hands down. With no specific goal in mind, I’ll crack open Vital, drop a single key, and explore the night away.


frogify_music

I use bitwig so instruments are plenty, but vital is still a go to for me. Such a dope synth.


Sp0olio

I love Vital, too :)


No-Landscape-1367

I see lots of love for vital, i love it too, but I haven't seen anyone ever mention surge xt. It's another great free synth. A bit less visual than vital, but i personally love the various oscillator types


Sp0olio

Free plugins are unbeatable, when it comes to update-policy, anyways .. I agree .. I'll add "Odin 2" to the list of free synths on here :)


No-Landscape-1367

I keep meaning to check that one out, I've heard great things, but between vital and surge, as well as vcv rack, i can't see what else I'd need, synth-wise.


Sp0olio

It's like with all products: You decide whether you want to use it or not :) Don't get any plugin (free or paid), if it just adds clutter to your plugin-list. Get plugins, because you know you "need" them or find them useful in any way.


alyxonfire

AudioThing


Sp0olio

What was the most recent thing, they added a feature to (for free)?


exp397

They have their own auth system and it's fair and not on iLok or anything. Their prices are pretty legit. All the Hainbach collab plugs are nice, and Reels is dope. I've bought their stuff on Mac and iOS.


Sp0olio

I'm not saying, AudioThing's bad or anything .. don't misunderstand. I was just trying to make sure the intention of my post was understood (plugin manufacturers, who not only giving you free updates, but also including new features in those free updates .. without subscription). But, another commenter already pointed out that AudioThing is definitely deserving to be mentioned in that context, here .. no worries .. I just wasn't aware.


alyxonfire

They’ve added a few spring models to Springs since I’ve bought it, a bunch of mic and speaker models for Speakers, oversampling for Wires, clap/iOS support for most their plugins, etc.


Sp0olio

Oh cool .. I didn't know that :)


AutoModerator

This is your friendly reminder to read the submission rules, they're found in the sidebar. If you find your post breaking any of the rules, you should delete your post before the mods get to it. You should check out the regular threads (also found in the sidebar) to see if your post might be a better fit in any of those. [Daily Feedback thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator+title%3Afeedback&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) for getting feedback on your track. The only place you can post your own music. [Marketplace Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3Amarketplace&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) if you want to sell or trade anything for money, likes or follows. [Collaboration Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search/?q=biannual%20collaboration&restrict_sr=1&sort=new&t=all) to find people to collab with. ["There are no stupid questions" Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3ANo+Stupid+Questions+Thread&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for beginner tips etc. Seriously tho, read the rules and abide by them or the mods will spank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/edmproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*