Regrettable Impulse Buys

[zephonic]

With the proliferation of affordable, downloadable plug-ins and VIs I have found myself succumbing to the temptations of instant gratification more and more. This has got to stop. Stuff I've bought and downloaded so far:

 

* Garritan Steinway Basic - $100. Not great, but it's okay for the money. Sounds good when used with a weighted keyboard, tweaked velocity curves and not too little onboard reverb. Do not regret it, although I will need to get something better soon.

* PSP Easyverb - $69. Hmph, considering their reputation, I expected a little more. Sounds okay as a third reverb or so, on par with the Alesis Midiverb or something like that. I would not buy this again.

 

* GSI MrRay73 MkII - 50 Euro. Bought this, only to find that two days later NI put up the Scarbee Rhodes for 80 euro. This thing sounds alright and lively in isolation, but I find it hard to make it fit in the mix. Not gonna buy this again.

 

* Steinberg HalionPlayer - 129 Euro. Not a download but an impulse buy nonetheless. I was without my keyboard and needed some bread&butter sounds in a hurry. Thought this was the successor to Hypersonic. Not. And a lot of the bonus content that came with it (Vienna Symphonic stuff), can not even be played back. And Steinberg customer support....oh well...

 

* Yellow Tools Piano - 20 Euro. Piano and EP sounds for their Independence Free player. I was impressed by the free content and decided to see what the pianos sound like. It does not even work. And although customer support replied the next day, they have yet to find a solution for it (2 weeks now). Not gonna buy this again.

 

These purchases have all been made over the last 9 months or so, and I have learned two important lessons. #1: demo the stuff first. Not just for 30 minutes (like I did with MrRay), but a couple of days or longer. If you can't demo it (like with the large VI's) find another way to check it out.

#2: Professional stuff costs real money. Don't waste your time and money buying something because it seems good value.

 

Now, what about you guys?

[ksoper]

Groove Agent. What a waste.

 

btw, Zephonic, do you feel as though the Garritan complete Steinway would be worth the money? I mean, do you get a sense from the basic version that they are going in the right direction?

[DanS]

With me it's more a question of finding the time to use all the software I've bought. Spectrasonics just put out another bunch of free patches for Omnisphere & Trilian, and I haven't even checked out the last update yet!

I made a decision about a year ago that I was done buying software and upgrades to the stuff I own.

So far I've stuck to it.

[Jim Alfredson]

I like Groove Agent 3 a lot and used it all over my solo disc.

 

Can't really think of any impulse buys I wasn't happy with.

[ksoper]

Guess I ought to clarify--Groove Agent 1. Did a couple of things with it but lost interest quickly. Went to reinstall it in a newer computer to use as a click/rhythm reference track and the newer dvd drive wouldn't recognize the installation disk. Tech support said I needed to install it from an older drive. Had to put a cd drive halfway into an external drive case and firewire it into the newer computer. I told the guy, "You realize that it's easier to install a crack than the purchased program." He said quietly, "Yes."

[DanL]

Red Sound Darkstar.

[zephonic]

Groove Agent. What a waste.

 

btw, Zephonic, do you feel as though the Garritan complete Steinway would be worth the money? I mean, do you get a sense from the basic version that they are going in the right direction?

 

The sound quality is very good. It is just not a very involving player's experience. Right now I lean more towards EWQL Gold pianos, based on their demos and SK's praise. but I'll need a faster computer first.

 

 

[RABid]

The new Korg Wavedrum. The sensitivity is poor. The output volume is low. The sound selection is limited. If I had it to do over I'd get a second Handonic instead.

[PianoMan51]

Demo, demo, demo.

 

I've been looking for a quality piano VST in MONO for live performance. Apparently nobody uses M-S for recording samples. Then researched Truepiano (no mono) and Pianoteq (yes, a "mono setting to eliminate phasing!")

 

Demoed the Pianoteq. Mono is worse than miserable. Turn on Mono mode, the piano image moves way back, and the phasing turns way up. Must be a feature.

 

Demo, demo, demo.

[Meisenhower]

Got married . . . . whoops. That wasn't as much of an impulse buy, as it was an impulse sale . . . . of my soul. Just kidding.

 

I bought an Access Virus TI keyboard (at a great price) and thought I would use it a ton on a project I was working on. It got used once and sat in it's case for a year unused.

 

I should of made due with my Prophet 5 softsynth and Minimoog instead of buying the Virus. I did sell it for what paid for it, but that was a pretty good chunk of change that was tied up and sitting in a box for a year.

 

I've also made impulsive Hammond purchases, but those are never regrettable, just space problematic.

[Steve Force]

I regret not getting a loud enough Cowbell.

[Synthoid]

Alesis Ion - Great little synth and fun to tweak, but haven't had much time to spend with it. Also, disappointed with on-board effects.

 

Kurzweil K2661 - Wanted to see what all the hoopla was about regarding Kurzweil. Didn't really need another workstation... especially with a tiny display screen.

[zephonic]

I totally forgot about Goliath. Bought that online when it was on sale ($250 incl. iLok & shipping). After some struggles to get it to work properly (with good support from EW), it has become a valuable asset. Money well spent.

[drawback]

GEM RP-X - nevermore will I let myself be overcome by KC GAS

 

M-AUDIO ProKeys 88SX - Why do so many product marketing departments use the acronym SX? Because it sounds like "sex." I think it actually means "sucks."

 

 

[Mogut]

Bee's Knee's organ set for Motif XS, only 35$ bucks but still impulse. Bottom line, dont use organ patches from motif

[Bobadohshe]

Bee's Knee's organ set for Motif XS, only 35$ bucks but still impulse. Bottom line, dont use organ patches from motif

 

How does it sound though for someone who DOES use the organ patches on motif? I'm curious.

[Bill W]

Hmmmmm....lots of stuff over the years but these jump to mind right away.

 

Korg M3 - Just couldn't get into the sound of it.

 

Wusikstation - See above explanation

 

The Grand - Never worked without crackles/pops. The box is still in my closet.

 

SM Pro Audio V-Machine - Great idea but way underpowered.

 

Kurzweil PC3 - I bought it thinking I'd have the best of all worlds (ROMpler, B3 and VA). It had a few good sounds, but nothing I couldn't get out of my Fantom with a little tweaking/sampling. Sadly, the Hammond emulation (KB3) was very disappointing compared to my CX-3 and VK-8M.

 

 

 

 

[Mogut]

Bee's Knee's organ set for Motif XS, only 35$ bucks but still impulse. Bottom line, dont use organ patches from motif

 

How does it sound though for someone who DOES use the organ patches on motif? I'm curious.

 

Well there's just no dynamics to it. I suppose its on par with any other patches from non-emulator boards. I have been using motif since 2002 and have been dissatisfied with the organ patches, even more so when emulator boards became the trend.

 

Demos can be found here CLICK

[marino]

I'll stay away from this thread... a few years ago, in a very similar one, I mentioned a certain expensive sampled piano, only to have the developer himself catch it, and decide that I would have been a good target to exercise his aggressive side...

 

 

[GDP]

Bee's Knee's organ set for Motif XS, only 35$ bucks but still impulse. Bottom line, dont use organ patches from motif

 

How does it sound though for someone who DOES use the organ patches on motif? I'm curious.

 

I have used "Organimation" with the Motif and been quite happy (until I got my NE3) The cool thing about it is that along with Jazz, Gospel, Rock, etc, patches, you get component voices (Each drawbar alone, percussion sounds, vibrato/chorus settings).

 

By using component voices you can create your own custom drawbar settings using performance mode on the Motif. For this feature I have favored Organimation" over "Bee's Knee's".

[DanS]

I'll stay away from this thread... a few years ago, in a very similar one, I mentioned a certain expensive sampled piano, only to have the developer himself catch it, and decide that I would have been a good target to exercise his aggressive side...

 

He flayed into someone over at the Roland forum a few months ago, because he "thought" the guy was insulting his samples. Never apologized for his outburst either. He's still just as psychotic as ever.

[marino]

Oh... thanks for the "update"...!!

 

 

[Bill H.]

Keyboard-wise, a Prophet 600 that I got a few years ago. Somehow I forgot that it was 20 years ago when I really needed it. Now how did that happen?

 

I goofed around with it here at the house for a few weeks, marveling at it's authentic analog sound and filter resonance (which is pretty sweet) but haven't turned it on in over three years. The good news is that I can probably sell if for more than I paid for it, and I really should.

 

The absolute worst impulse buy I've made recently was not musically related. It was a Sony Webbie camcorder, which takes top prize as the worst piece of electronic equipment that I've ever purchased. It's just a horrible camcorder and has made me vow to never buy anything just because it has a good brand. I bought it simply because it's a Sony.

 

Edit: Let's try 27 years on the P-600. My sense of time has gone totally whack-o now that I'm getting senile.

[kanker.]

Softsynths make the impulse buy so much easier. When buying hardware, because the price is generally so expensive, I would (generally) spend months looking at a piece before buying. Better make damn sure I dig it before plopping down a couple grand. Logic was probably the closest to a software "impulse" buy I ever made. I bought it for the softsynths, specifically EVB3 and EVP88. Even still, I had checked out a few online demos of folks playing those specific synths first. Not as hands on as I would like, but still....

 

In retrospect I spent more for Logic Gold with just a couple of softsynths included than you can get Logic Studio for today. It was a hell of a deal for what was included back then - it's that much so today.

[Gary75]

I bought my girlfriend a new iron for Christmas one time, always regretted it.

 

Oh you mean musical purchase! Not really although when I was 8 my father had a choice of organ to buy from a local club. A Lowrey Deluxe Holiday, or a Hammond C3.

 

Don't ask.

[WheelHead]

Groove Agent. What a waste.

 

btw, Zephonic, do you feel as though the Garritan complete Steinway would be worth the money? I mean, do you get a sense from the basic version that they are going in the right direction?

 

The sound quality is very good. It is just not a very involving player's experience. Right now I lean more towards EWQL Gold pianos, based on their demos and SK's praise. but I'll need a faster computer first.

 

 

I have the Garritan Steinway Pro Version, Ivory including the Italian Grand, True Pianos and tried Pianoteq among other things. They keep working on this all the time for improvements (Garritan). 1.04 is out now and another release 1.05 will be soon. Owners are quite pleased with the updates if you read the forums. The basic version of the Garritan is limited with no 24bit samples. Even the 16-bit Pro samples are different, labeled "high quality".

 

All subjective. YMMV I tend to want to play the Garritan Steinway Pro and True Piano that has a different sound and you can get a 'popish' (for lack of a better term for now) sound with. with lower bandwidth while Ivory is also excellent though I favor the Garritan. The Garritan has a firm, recognizable Steinway 'tone'.

 

I find the Garritan extremely expressive, though I am using high-end D/A converters.

 

Waiting for an update to Pianoteq where I will probably buy it (4) though I am disappointed Pianoteq is really not complete unless you buy the Pro version making it a de-facto LE. Pianoteq demo I had some issues with and forget about getting the same settings/sound as Hugh Sung. Whatever settings he is using he is not sharing but sounds great when *he* plays it. (piano settings). I gave up though I could spend more time. Oddly, the last time I looked on his webpage Pianoteq was hard to find if there while he promotes it. (???)

 

It is obviously not just the piano but your audio-train and speakers, also.

 

W