ilovefuzz.com

Soundtoys has begun their holiday discounting. I recommend getting the Rack for $129, rather than the deluxe bundle. It's previously been as low as $99, but it's still a steal at that price. You can run 6 effects at once, and it includes the best plugins that Soundtoys offers.

https://www.soundtoys.com/ (also available at Sweetwater & Plugin Boutique)

For the uninitiated: Decapitator has 5 algos, including one modeled after the Culture Vulture (great for drums, string instruments, synths). Primal Tap is based on the Lexicon Prime Time 93 (Lanois). Crystallizer outperforms Eventide's Crystals IMO. It's less polished and seems to do a better job at emulating the vintage racks (Soundtoys employs former Eventide engineers). It's also got an advanced phaser, filter, tremolo, and the popular EchoBoy.

In my experience, running Rack is far better than trying to run multiple ST plugins in series. It's one of the best ways to do complex sounds without needing a lot of CPU. It works well for drum machines, synths, and really anything that you would you like to warp, warm, or scuzz up.

Plugin Boutique is offering a free gift with any paid purchase until November 30th. So spend $5-10 (or less) and you could have Eventide's Quadravox as one example.

Offer/instructions:

https://www.pluginboutique.com/articles ... day%20Gift

The Soundtoys EffectRack is awesome! Got it when it was $99, and use it all the time.
Love the Devil Lock Deluxe on drums.
The only ST-plugin I use often which isn't in the EffectRack is the Little Plate. My favorite reverb-plugin atm.

NI's sale is going on until 12/07. The 50% off sale includes 190+ products. Komplete is not discounted, but several items from Komplete are included in the sale.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/c ... ason-2020/

I recommend demoing their Crush package. I had put this one off until today. First impressions: Bite might be favorite virtual bitcrusher from the jump. It's got solid presets and a nice balance of features. I've previously used 112DB's Mikron Crusher & Jaws, as well as D16's Decimort, and Klevgrand's Degrader. None of these will probably disappoint you for the money, but Bite is likely to deliver the most immediate results.

The real reason I downloaded the Crush package was to try Freak, their AM/RM plugin. It sounds really fucking good with electric piano. I'm running UVI's Electric Suite into Freak, then into multiple delays---it's giving me a killer 1970s /rainy day soundtrack. I've been high on the Echobode for a while (only $44 reguarly), but the Freak paired with a delay is a fairly enviable combo.

Their effects should run in virtually any DAW, but most (all?) of their instruments will run in one of NI's free hosts. Some third-party developers only produce items for the full versions of Kontakt/Reaktor. They have some stripped-down instruments & keyboards, that run the gamut from vintage to modern---like their Pharlight granular vocal synth.

For anyone wanting a modular-inspired processing experience, there's Molekular. (runs on the free version of Reaktor) It's got a lot of ambient/experimental FX modules that can be blended, routed, and rearranged for gentle or over-the-top atmospherics. (without requiring any knowledge of modular workflow) Outside of Molekular, there's Unfiltered Audio's Byome/Triad. (more on those later)

Don't be discouraged by the Shimmer label. Shrike will give you all kinds of exotic swells and rhythmic dynamics. I've paired it with several instruments (vintage/modern synth voicings, piano, drum machines) and it delivers really unique textures.

It's $9 until the next Puremagnetik release (around 12/1). For BF, I expect a 50% off sale on individual plugins, as well as the Century Pass (regularly $400). The Century Pass is a one-time payment, that delivers sound packs, Kontakt instruments, and standalone FX plugins. There's a new FX plugin each month (delays, reverbs, various instruments & esoteric effects).

https://puremagnetik.com/collections/sp ... -modulator

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmpmW_a0DNQ[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmpmW_a0DNQ

Picked up Straylight from the NI sale yesterday and it's really cool. I feel like with the right knowledge and samples I could come up with something close to these sounds on my own for a bit cheaper but as a hobbyist who just wants easy access to these kinds of sounds it's exactly what I wanted it to be.

counttherings wrote:Picked up Straylight from the NI sale yesterday and it's really cool. I feel like with the right knowledge and samples I could come up with something close to these sounds on my own for a bit cheaper but as a hobbyist who just wants easy access to these kinds of sounds it's exactly what I wanted it to be.

Is that the only one of their engines you're using? I've looked that over, along with Arkhis & Pharlight, but an older Mac is holding me back. Otherwise I'd consider getting a bundle and using them all.

Have you tried LABS (free) from Spitfire? I'd say LABS + Puremagnetik's Partikl would get fairly close, or work smoothly as a complimentary part.

echorec wrote:

counttherings wrote:Picked up Straylight from the NI sale yesterday and it's really cool. I feel like with the right knowledge and samples I could come up with something close to these sounds on my own for a bit cheaper but as a hobbyist who just wants easy access to these kinds of sounds it's exactly what I wanted it to be.

Is that the only one of their engines you're using? I've looked that over, along with Arkhis & Pharlight, but an older Mac is holding me back. Otherwise I'd consider getting a bundle and using them all.

Have you tried LABS (free) from Spitfire? I'd say LABS + Puremagnetik's Partikl would get fairly close, or work smoothly as a complimentary part.

Yeah it's the only thing I have from NI. I'm really very new to these things with like 90% of my gear investment going toward guitar. But I happened to catch a video on straylight a few months back and was hooked. I had concerns about the spec requirements too but the demo seemed to run fine and I haven't run into any issues yet (2019 mac with an i5 processor though it "requires" an i7). I just like to make noise though lol and I enjoy the stock sounds a lot so I haven't used any additional effects or anything with it and running it by itself hasn't caused any slowdown for me. If it bogs my computer down in bigger projects or whatever I think I will still feel satisfied with it just as an inspiration machine.

I'm gonna look into those recommendations for sure.

Softube, Sugar Bytes, and Goodhertz have begun their main BF discounts.

https://goodhertz.co/order/ (save 35% until Dec. 1st)

https://www.softube.com/black-november (now until Nov. 30th) use BLACKWEEKEXTRA for a bonus 10% off. It doesn't work on the Volume 4 bundle, but it works on several individual plugins like Mutator & Modular.

https://sugar-bytes.de/products (auto-discounted, also available at dealers. I use Looperator, but haven't gone too far with the others. Obscurium is a generative sequencer, but I haven't learned to use it well enough to properly endorse it.)

Eventide's doing a discount on this H9 plugin bundle until the beginning of 2021. There are crossgrades/upgrades available. Ex: I've got Crystals, ShimmerVerb, and Rotary, so I qualify for $100 off at checkout. Anthology users may qualify for even more.

https://www.eventideaudio.com/products/ ... lug-series

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAHOSvTRdOc[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAHOSvTRdOc

About half of Klevgrand's offerings are discounted. A few, like Spinn, are not individually discounted, but there's a holiday bundle with Spinn included that is 50% off.

I recommend trying their free demos, if you're a desktop user. I grabbed Modley, Degrader, and Kleverb this morning, and I may still return for one of their utility plugins like Stark or Reamp. Their installation/activation process is hassle-free and their tools are quite accessible. They're easy and fun to use, while delivering solid sounds.

https://klevgrand.se/products

https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/kle ... -167579174

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_FmRqi97E[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_FmRqi97E

Puremagnetik's sale is underway until 11/30. Take 50% off with SAVE50 at checkout.

The best deal is the Century pass, which gets you downloads for life ($199 with discount). Individual plugins and packs are also 50% off. There's samples for Ableton/Kontakt users. There's several granular plugins and experimental reverbs. You're not going to be bored anytime soon.

https://puremagnetik.com/products/puremagnetik-century

https://puremagnetik.com/collections/free-plugins (free & discounted)

Here's a hefty update--

Audio Damage is 50% off at Plugin Boutique. I'm not sure if they're doing a direct sale this weekend or not.

Filterstation 2 is one of the smoothest plugin filters around and only 25 USD/EU right now. Their Moog-inspired 914 Filterbank & Axon 2 are also worth checking out.

https://www.pluginboutique.com/deals/sh ... han=APG004

D16 makes some really nice plugins (I have 12). Their 50% sale is good through December 1st.

https://d16.pl/ (also available in the US at VK/Sweetwater)

UJam's Finisher bundle is discounted through the 6th. I would rank them: Fluxx, Voodoo, Neo. I didn't love Neo. It was a bit like having a Zoom pedal with 2 knobs. You couldn't really do the desirable amount of tweaking. Voodoo is a new discovery. I thought it was a Hendrix-inspired program (laughs). I thought it was just a Univibe and dirt. It's actually 50 pre-linked chains like Fluxx. As the name implies, it's a finisher/secret sauce pedal. You get hand-selected algorithms, with a lot of the features hidden. It's your job to adjust the rate/depth/sub-settings to give your signals a final push towards completion. There's some really nice pseudo-random delay lines, reverbs, and filters in both Fluxx & Voodoo. I was about to grab Fluxx, while it was $50, but now I guess I'm in for the full bundle with Neo as basically a bonus freebie.

One really nice thing is they give you 30-day full trials---no fucking clicking, crackling, or signal cutouts. You can fully use the plugin and save your custom adjustments.

https://shop.presonus.com/UJAM-Finisher-Bundle

https://www.ujam.com/finisher/

UVI's reinstated their 30% off November special from earlier in the month. They make some unique plugins, utilizing prepared pianos, bowed pianos, et cetera. I like to use their kalimbas and vibraphones in modular-inspired chains.

https://www.uvi.net/store

Auto-discounted for 50% off at XLN (RC-20 Retro Color & more)

https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addic ... etro_color

Softube's full sale is underway. Tape at $39 is a great option for character & saturation. I'd say it's my favorite tape warmer (not an echo).

https://www.softube.com/products

I've been working on a reverb deep dive (software & hardware), but it's not ready yet. In the meantime, here's the Hyperspace.

It does interesting things that are really modern, while simultaneously not taking over the signal. It's much better at blending with instruments than nearly all of the pedals/plugins I've used. As far as modulated plates/halls go, it's hard to find the right balance. Too many offerings seem to go from 25% wet to 110% with just a slight nudge. I will say some of the factory patches began with undesirable pops & volume spikes. They were fine after the initial launch, but it wasn't something I enjoyed. Back on the positive side, there are 3 levels of randomization, so you can introduce subtle or more extreme parameter shifts. I recommend their free trial, while it's $100 off. Right now it's roughly 39 EU / $43 USD. Overall, the controls are really logical and smooth. Too many products are conceptually poor from a sound designer's perspective, but this one has a nice work flow. I'm not sure where I'd rank it with other reverbs, but it's certainly bringing something welcome to the conversation. Despite all the options available, it feels much more immediate and user-friendly than a lot of the 5-knob reverb pedals that cost me $200 and only delivered 2-3 sounds I really liked.

https://unitedplugins.com/Hyperspace/

http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info ... ts_id=3626

Fundamental, Volbot, Cosmosf series are -25% at checkout https://www.sonic-lab.com/pricingpurchase/