Best plug in bundle for under $1,500

Gygaxian · Post by **Gygaxian** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:46 am

So what do you think?

I'm looking for a good plug in bundle of instruments.
One stipulation: it has to have some sort of drum module( like battery or stylus)
Native Instruments?
Stylus and their stuff?

any one wanna help out?
I'll be using it in Logic 7, Ableton, Sound Forge and Cubase.

Thanks everyone.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:00 am

Reason

Gygaxian · Post by **Gygaxian** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:02 am

other than Reason . . . sorry. I forgot to put that in there.

futureproof · Post by **futureproof** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:07 am

stylus RMX for drums/perc

Gforce Minimonsta

between those two and the plugs that come with logic I'd imagine you will be squared away.

just out of curiosity..why are you using Logic, Cubase, and Live???

You must have a lot of time on your hands dude....not to mention some deep pockets.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:16 am

futureproof wrote:stylus RMX for drums/perc

Gforce Minimonsta

between those two and the plugs that come with logic I'd imagine you will be squared away.

just out of curiosity..why are you using Logic, Cubase, and Live???

You must have a lot of time on your hands dude....not to mention some deep pockets.

why not? i mean the cross-hair in logic is awesome, and the Excel comparisons with Ableton are just mind blowing. and how about how cubase's transport control looks like it flies the enterprise..

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:28 am

futureproof wrote: just out of curiosity..why are you using Logic, Cubase, and Live???

You must have a lot of time on your hands dude....not to mention some deep pockets.

Yeah - and I'm even more curious that you are using Logic 7 (mac only) and Sound Forge (PC only).

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:33 am

Reaktor 5 and Kontakt 2 - you'll be set for life. The user-library for reaktor just hit ensemble number 2100!

I'd steer clear of Stylus.

Gygaxian · Post by **Gygaxian** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:53 am

I knew as soon as I listed my apps that I would get some questions. lol.

Each program has its own uses for me, and I'll leave it at that.

I would love for both soundforge and logic to be cross platform, but alas . . . .

Why should I steer clear of Stylus?

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:46 am

I find Stylus severely limited in:
1) Its raw sound - it's over-processed, much of this processing is eq/distortion, which could easily be added after the fact, but here it's burnt into the wavefiles, so you can't touch it - very limiting.
2) Its editing. You can't really set up a drum kit in there. It's more or less just a rompler - so 90's

3)Choice of sounds. I don't know, I just don't like the sounds all that much to begin with. Now, if I could get in there and tweak it up (like you can with our SoundWrecks product, btw

) it would be different scenario... but you can't.

You can import ready-made kits in kontakt, but you can also tweak it up, if you want. I like that.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:48 am

to me stylus just isn't inspiring. I've had it quite a while and I've never used it once in a song. I keep opening it and thinking "yeah great, you guys make good sounds... now what plugin am I going to use in this song...?" it just never seems to fit. great sounds. completely uninspiring.

thats just me though I'm sure other people have used the hell out of it.
go with some analog stuff like waldorf attack. or microtonic for like 70 bucks.

futureproof · Post by **futureproof** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:03 am

Machinate wrote:
I'd steer clear of Stylus.

I wouldnt

futureproof · Post by **futureproof** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:07 am

Machinate wrote:I find Stylus severely limited in:
1) Its raw sound - it's over-processed....

I know what you mean...I hardly use any of the full beats that come with it. I usually just choose a hihat loop and then program my own beats or choose a loop that has some cool sounds and make my own beat using those sounds. Ive never regretted buying it once I started doing that.

headquest · Post by **headquest** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:19 am

I don't know about whether getting a "bundle" is necessarily the way to go... alhough it involves a tad more research, hand-picking specific instruments may be the way to go.

Having said that, the AAS Modeling Collection Bundle is tempting:

http://www.applied-acoustics.com/

For drums the other alternatives not yet mentioned are

Linplug RMIV: http://www.linplug.com/Products/RM_IV/rm_iv.htm
fxpansion DR008: http://www.fxpansion.com/product-dr008-main.php
fxpansion BFD: http://www.fxpansion.com/product-bfd-main.php
fxpansion GURU: http://www.fxpansion.com/product-guru-main.php

Personally though I find Ableton's Impulse ideal (although sometimes using two or three instances of it), and I love Reason's ReDrum module. The new Reason Drums 2 looks simply awesome:
http://www.propellerheads.se/remote.cfm ... isplaymain

Other stuff I would consider (and in fact, I AM considering these!):

Linplug Albino 2: http://www.linplug.com/Products/Albino_2/albino_2.htm
which is simply STUNNING!

Camelion5000: http://www.camelaudio.com/cameleon5000.php
which is "Additive" synthesis - fantastic sound quality

and all of these four, especially MiniMonster:
http://www.gforcesoftware.com/ViewCateg ... nstruments

Lastly I should say though that I consider Reason to be the starting point for any software instrument collection. Compared to Reason I find many VST instruments to be buggy and ridiculously CPU intensive (the ones I listed are all OK, but some of the NI stuff, Spectrasonics and IK multimedia... oh dear!!).

Without Reason's NN-XT you will obviously also need a full-on Sampler. Other than Kontakt, the MOTU Mach5 comes highly recommended and is cross platform:

http://www.motu.com/products/software/m ... dy.html/en

I hope this all helps

amo · Post by **amo** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:28 am

Hi,

for synths, I would give my vote to AAS stuff, then Arturia synths emulations are quite nice sounding, and the korg legacy is interesting too....
Best,
amo

futureproof · Post by **futureproof** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:59 am

headquest wrote: Without Reason's NN-XT you will obviously also need a full-on Sampler. Other than Kontakt, the MOTU Mach5 comes highly recommended and is cross platform:

http://www.motu.com/products/software/m ... dy.html/en

I hope this all helps

Personally, if I was in the market for a sampler I would definately wait for the vsti version of Directwave to come out. From the videos Image-Line has on their site Directwave looks super-intuitive, actually SAMPLES, and can even "auto sample" your VSTi's