Subject:Studio Necessities 1.0

Posted by: DKeenum

Date:9/14/2004 6:56:29 AM

I just saw this announced over on kvr-vst.com. I just downloaded the demo and haven't tried it yet, so I don't know how good it is. But at least it's a DX effect, and it's only $50.00. It's a suite of 5 dx effects:

StudioVerb, a high quality reverberation simulator
StudioModulator, comprising a phaser effect and time-delay modulation effects such as flanger and chorus
StudioEQ, a six-band full parametric equalizer with peak and shelving filters
StudioDynamics, a versatile dynamic processor
StudioDelay, a multi-tap delay effect

www.acondigital.com

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: plastique

Date:9/14/2004 7:09:42 AM

yikes !
before you shell out those 50 bucks you should look here and see/test how directx-
plugins IMO (TM) should be in this price range . Demo also available .

http://www.thelotron.com

I'm not affiliated with them in any way .

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:9/14/2004 7:32:54 AM

I'm looking to upgrade mainly the reverb from the sony plug-in effects, so I'm looking at paying at least $150 just for the reverb. That's why $50 looked promising. $99 also looks good. I'll try it.

I think my main problem is that I want waves quality for very little money. Eventually I'm going to have to spend some cash for quality... but I'm resisting!

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:9/14/2004 9:49:42 AM

I haven't heard the thelotron plugins, but I'll give them a whirl, they look pretty good if looks means anything. Maybe another one you might want to try out is the Sonic Timeworks plugins. I have Waves Trueverb and I always choose the Timeworks 4080L Reverb over the waves. It's less of a resource hog over the waves plugins and sounds better to me. Price: $149

www.sonictimeworks.com

Another good reverb with some cool 3D room adjustments is the Cakewalk Audio FX3 reverb. $79

If you're looking for a great package with everything, I would suggest trying the Cakewalk Sonitus FX suite that has the FX's listed below. I purchased these when they where originally made by Ultrafunk and found all of these plugins to be very good. Ultrafunk's plugins where purchased by Cakewalk and just got rebranded. Price: $299
www.cakewalk.com

fx:compressor
fx:delay (with tempo sync)
fx:equalizer (parametric)
fx:gate
fx:modulator
fx:multiband (compressor)
fx:phase
fx:reverb
fx:surround
fx:wahwah

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:9/14/2004 10:22:47 AM

Thanks Rde. I've just been to cheap to buy the Sonic Timeworks Reverb. I guess I'm going to have break down and do it. The cakewalk pack looks good, but I'm guessing that the Sonic Timeworks Reverb is better. What's your opinion?

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: Jessariah

Date:9/15/2004 3:03:02 PM

I use the Sonic Timeworks verb, EQ & mastering compressor. Love them all.

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:9/16/2004 12:02:42 PM

"I'm guessing that the Sonic Timeworks Reverb is better. What's your opinion?"

I'm actually leaning more towards the Cakewalk Sonitus Reverb. They're actually very simular sounding, where I'm finding I prefer the Sonitus Reverb a little more. The Sonitus Reverb also has more adjustment controls than the Timeworks. That may be a good thing or bad thing depending on your preference. If you're into tweaking controls then you might prefer the Sonitus reverb. If you're into a simple user interface then you might prefer the Sonitus reverb.

If it was a choice of purchasing the Timeworks Reverb for $149 vs the entire Sonitus package for $299, I would definately hold off and go with the Sonitus package. All the FX's in this package are top notch in my opinion. The multiband compressor is really nice and so is the EQ, not to mention the compressor. The compressor has some nice Vintage compressor presets like the DBX 165, Urei 1176, Neve 33609, and Teletronix LA2A. Also there's a nice Panner plugin, with autopan presets, a nice Stereo Delay with individual adjustments for the Left and Right channels. Definately a step-up from the Sony plugins with pro quality sound. The GUI also looks very professional. Right now these are probably the plugins I reach for first, except for my TC works reverb, that's probably still my favorite sounding plug reverb. It's the reverb that sounds the closest to my Lexicon PCM 90...so sometimes it gets under used since I'll turn to the hardware first.

Legal Disclaimer
1. Opinions may vary
2. No offense intended for disagreeing viewpoints
3. Advice comes free of charge and is therefore exempt of any legal litigation due to the exact correctness or misinterpretation of information contained within.
4. This message contains information, which is not privileged or confidential, or exempt from disclosure under applicable law.
5. The author of this message is in no way affiliated with Sony Pictures Digital Media Software or any other subsidiaries of the Sony Corporation.
6. Any viewpoint expressed may or may not be the viewpoint of Sony Pictures Digital Media Software.
7. If any user is offended by the information expressed within, please use the "ignore this user" button located next to the authors name to avoid any further offensive subject matter.

:-) Red

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:9/16/2004 2:26:00 PM

Thanks. Now I've got more to think about, so I have an excuse to not act!

BTW, I used that "ignore user" button a couple of times this week. Pretty cool!

Edit: Cakewalk sells the Sonitus:fx reverb downloaded for $49.00. Is this what you are talking about? Its part of the suite, or sold seperately.

http://store.yahoo.com/cakewalkdirect/soredo.html

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:9/17/2004 6:30:59 AM

That's the one, I'm not sure if they offer a demo but, if they do I would definately try it out to see what you think. It looks like Cakewalk added automation to the plugin also....hmmm...now I might have to see about an upgrade.

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:9/17/2004 9:09:28 AM

I think I'll go get it. $49.00 is do-able!

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:9/17/2004 9:45:30 AM

I can't find an updates page for the Sonitus plugin pack. Do I have to repurchase the entire pack to get the automation parameters for $299? I can't even find a upgrade offer available to previous owners of the Ultrafunk:Sonitus pack.

I did find this statement on their updates page:
"IMPORTANT NOTE: Registered users of SONAR 3 Producer Edition & Ultrafunk customers with Release 3x of the Sonitus:fx plug-ins do not need to upgrade. No changes were made beyond updating the UI to include the Cakewalk logo. All functionality remains the same."

It seems this statement is in direct contradiction with this statement located on the SAME page:

"Sonitus:fx is a series of professional audio processing tools for digital audio editing, sound design, games, multimedia, film or studio work. These plug-ins have been enhanced with DirectX automation, and can be use with SONAR, Home Studio, Project5 or any application supporting DirectX or VST."

Where's my FX automation I have Ultra Funk version 3.0? Time to send Cakewalk an email.

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:9/17/2004 11:22:41 AM

I saw the same messages.

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: RasKeita

Date:9/19/2004 9:07:23 PM

I use Ambience Reverb and find it's excellent...

http://www.smartelectronix.com/~magnus/

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:9/20/2004 4:48:53 AM

It's a VST. What wrapper do you use? Any problems with it?

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:10/17/2004 5:57:46 PM

Well I finally bought the Sonitus:fx REverb. I it nice and smooth, especially for $50.

Rednroll,
In the read me doc that comes with the software, the release is called the 3d update with a date of 6/3/2004. So I guess there has been a recent update. Thanks for the advice.

Edit: I also bought the AWIDA Reverb with the group buy. I really liked the plates. I hope this sets me for reverb. Otherwise I'll have to spring for the Timeworks.

Subject:RE: Studio Necessities 1.0

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:10/18/2004 10:13:13 AM

Dkeenum,
I'm glad you like the reverb. Can you use automation in Acid with the plugin?

I went to cakewalk's website and couldn't find a tech support link, so I could email them the issue of not providing an update. I searched...searched...and...seached. Finally, I posted in their forum with the problem and got some responses from users, and most agreed this was a problem. One user posted a techsupport contact info for me, which is supposedly available "somewhere" on their website, but not easy to find. I would think it would be located under their "support" selection on their main page......but good luck finding any kind of contact information there. Anyways I contacted that support via email, and got a reply back within 5 days, which entitled "this is a SALES support issue, please contact our sales support". The original message I sent was in their reply, but all scrambled around and encrypted, so an easy cut and paste of my question couldn't be done. I sent the message using their support message sender, so the original message couldn't be retrieved from my sent box. So I had to rewrite the message and contact their "Sales support", which they didn't even include in their reply message for me. At that point I was just fed up.....I guess I contacted their "tech support", and they couldn't even forward my message to their "sales support" or provide me a "sales support" contact information. F**K Cakewalk, you're the last person I will ever refer one of their products too, no matter how good it is. I guess the only reason I recommended it anyways is because it was originally made by Ultrafunk, which is a respectable company.