Soundtoys 5 bundle - is it worth it?

[keyman_sam]

Summer sale puts upgrade to 165$. The only thing interesting to me is the tremolator. Is there anything else like that?

What are your thoughts? I already have waves gold pack (havent installed due to installer issues), izotope music prod bundle (high on cpu), and NI Komplete.

Ironically, I mostly stick with default plugins from Cubase or reaper. Should I get in on this? Or should i first learn the others?

I dont have a rhythmizer as such except maybe reaktor's ensembles. But I don't know if it comes close to this.

[DJbrimLo]

My thoughts on the Bundle. I will tell you why I upgraded. I got it because from time to time I get session from other Producers/Engineers. And sometimes they have plugins I do not have. So I try to "catch 'em all" when I can. #PunIntended but seriously it helps a lot in this profession when accepting a session from someone else and being able to hear it as they worked on it. Even if you are going to change it to your favorite or preferred plugin later. Number 2 reason I got the upgrade was because I don't see the harm. As my wife says, in a very joking manner, "it's not drugs or strippers." Plugins and using/playing with them are like my '62 mustang in the garage. Go out, twist a wrench a few times. Start it up. Turn it off and go in the house. And lastly.... 18 plugs for $165 is less than $10 a plug. not a bad deal for some quality plugs than many hobbyist and professionals alike swear by.

With the Waves Installation issue, what is the concern? I literally just made an offline installer for my Waves Plugins Yesterday. I keep a backup of all of my plugin installers from different brands just in case I ever have a major issue with my computer.

[Richard deHove]

I got Echoboy in the sale and then got the offer to upgrade to the full package. The only plug from the package I thought I was really interested in was PhaseMistress, but Alterboy is loads of fun and I think I'll find use for Microshift. I was surprised that PrimalTap found an immediate use too - and then there's a load of other plugs waiting for a day of lazy doodling. That's good value for the upgrade price imo.

I also discovered that I had an old iLok account from years back (maybe the original Korg Legacy when it was dongled?). Authorization was much faster and easier than NI's products.

I believe there's meant to be some resize issue with the rack in Reaper, but I don't use that many effects to even get as far as the rack.

[tshear23]

Yes.

[jens]

The Tremolator is probably my least favourite Soundtoys plugin. If you want classic tremolo, I think it doesn't deliver - it might be my inability to tweak it properly, but I couldn?t get it to sound nearly as good as (say) my Malekko Trem or my Guyatone Flip Vlintage Tremolo - not even close...

[Spip]

Ironically, I mostly stick with default plugins from Cubase or reaper. Should I get in on this? Or should i first learn the others?

I dont have a rhythmizer as such except maybe reaktor's ensembles. But I don't know if it comes close to this.

Just get it, you can't go wrong.

Two things to think about :

Maybe that some features are already in plugins you already have. (Reaktor alone should be good to do everything...) but Soundtoys plugins have a unique sound that I didn't find elsewhere.

And next, with the bundle you have all the fields covered in one place. And above all, you can mix them within the rack.

[Jax Pok]

You get a load of fun to use effects that are full of character. Two of the Soundtoys guys used to work at Eventide and programed the H3000.

[keyman_sam]

Thanks for the response folks. I've told myself if I finish a song or some musical work by tomorrow I'll get it.

Gotta keep the song:plugin ratio atleast above 1.

[jimtao]

Hurry up and get it!

[Mister Natural]

I'm tempted too but . . .
love my EchoBoy & already have LAB and Little uShift
just can't see anything else here that I really need

[ftech]

Yes.

That was going to be my one word answer too!
I bought the bundle because I love Phasemistress, I use it all the time, but Microshift and Radiator get a real work out here as well.
Even if you only used half of the bundled plugs you'd still have a fine collection of great sounding FX.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Just got the bundle yesterday. Here's my review:

Tremolator - i got to say, this tremolo is absolutely incredible. I never experienced anything like it, and i tried every tremolo plugin in existence. 10/10 without reservation. I rarely mark a 10! You can do patterns and tons of steps per pattern as well as every conceivable sync time, but what sets it apart is you can draw the shape with as many dots as you want, and then you can smooth it (or make it like a gate), and simply click on steps to enable or disable. Perfect product.

Phase Mistress - a bit disappointing, it has no bass preservation (like uhbik bass sanctuary, other good phasers have a high pass of some kind on the signal actually being phased), so it's useless for anything with bass in it, as it increases the bass dramatically near the peak of the cycle. BUT, it has tons of emulations and sounds lovely on synths and keys. 6.5/10

Filter freak - meh as always. You put the drop after it and it really shows how bad it is. Also there are no resonance volume compensated models, so i really don't like it. I guess the 1% cpu vs the drop 10% means something in this case. 2/10

Radiator - amazing ability to increase presence and punch, as well as volume, whilst actually lowering the energy the sound is using in the sound field. But don't worry, this isn't a limiter of any kind, rather a very high quality pre amp saturation algorithm. 9/10

Decapitator - Very nice distortion overall, especially fantastic on bass. Mixed on drums but ok on most sources. 5 different distortions modes as well as hp and lp with one push "bumps", i.e resonance peaks. This allows quite a nice bass boost whilst cleaning up the low end. The extra push mode is too harsh for most source. The mix knob really sweetens the plugin though.8.5/10

Echoboy - Very disappointed there is no resonance on the HP and LP filters, and to get a crazy overdriven feedback sound is not that easy even when cranked. Tk sounds much better, and logic tape delay still just kills everything when overdriven. All those models, yet none of them sound as good as the single in TK or logic, just IMO. The groove and shuffle add something unique, so 6.5/10 overall. Usable and useful, more as a standard tricked out delay rather than a special FX one.

Devil loc deluxe - I can't find this flavour of compression with any other plugin. It's just crazy on certain drums and bass sounds, and even vocals. I have tried 100's of compressor plugins over the years, and this is truly unique. Elysia mpressor, kush ubk, eventide omnipressor and ssl mic comp on the duende drumstrip, would be closest "crush" competitors, but just don't have that flavour of the D lock. 9/10. A GR meter would have given it a perfect score.

Primal Tap - so much fun, automating the multipliers and the time as well as the freeze function. Can also be used very well as a bread and butter. Once again, the driven feedback disappoints me, as does the lack of resonance on the filters (like everything soundtoys bar filterfreak). 8.5/10

Panman - it's probably the best auto panner i have used, but it took time to get used to it.. the drawing mode is very tiny and fiddly, and it's tricky to get a smooth cycle.. the preset shapes don't make any sense.. even at maximum smoothness, it goes gently to one side then jumps to the other, and that's with a preset sine.. it's off kilter, and thus, annoying as it has to be manually fixed and presets saved. Regardless, as far as auto panners, ultimately it can do what you need. 7.5/10

Microshift - the first doubler since waves that has probably finally overtaken it for my number one spot. Even though the waves, and izotope nectar doubler, both have a lot more control over the modulation, the soundtoys microshift just sounds so lush, there is something, a certain quality to it, that the other doublers just can't sound like imo. Actually, it seems to sound so great on everything, that you have to be careful NOT to put it on everything lol, as there goes your mix! Simple as pie to use, with results. 9.5/10

Crystallizer - honestly, i am not a fan of this for applying it to rhytmic things such as drums. Try as i might i barely ever get a usable result. However, on instruments and pads, is where it shines. It's capable of creating some beautiful, magical soundscapes. Ultimately, it really needs more control over the rhythm section.. perhaps they could add a pattern generator to it like the tremolo for example. 7.5/10

Little alter boy (the only little without a "big" alternative currently) - hilarious fun.. you are either into the robotic kind of special fx it does on vocals, or not. Decent quality formant optional pitch shifter with relative semitone snap or shift click fine tune. Instant Cher mode, as well as robotic mode (everything is the same pitch basically, it's a lot of fun). I can't wait to see what the big brother brings. 8/10

Effects rack - great idea, i wish it had undo, and i wish you could hide the fx window on the right (which you can), but STILL be able to add fx in the main window (which you can't). Still, terrific idea that saves inserts and has a global, automatable wet/dry. Really disappointed little alter boy can't be used in it, as that would have added an extra element of craziness (none of the littles can, but it only matters in the case of alter boy as it doesn't have a bigger counterpart). 8.5/10

I won't review the other littles as they are just cut down of the bigguns, and all worthwhile, bar perhaps little primal, as it misses way too many features. Devil lock, little radiator and little microshift are all very good one trick ponies that do their job with minimum of fuss.

The major bugs all seem to finally be fixed with 5.04 here. Stable, light on cpu.. Good plugin pack really. Not worth the full price, and TBH, the indi prices are far too high, but on SALE, it becomes worth it to either buy one or two or the whole thing.

Overall Bundle score: 8/10
ps i wish they hadn't dropped speed, as it would have been useful especially in pro tools to use when time resizing clips, as the avid algos are no good.

Hope that helps.

I'll definitely keep the bundle this time round.

Cheers

[Richard deHove]

Great review, although the jury is still out for me on PhaseMistress. I'm a huge phaser fan. Little Rock doesn't quite do it for me. So far PM seems like the answer. Funnily enough for an old effect there's almost nothing on youtube about it...

[sidrat]

I was on the fence but decided against the upgrade. Even though the price was good ($135 for me), I think my money is better spent on the Eventide plugs that I don't already own. And, since the H910 is on sale til the end of the month, I'm going to go that route.

Thanks for your review, TheoM - you made me feel better about my decision.

[EvilDragon]

(maybe the original Korg Legacy when it was dongled?)

That was Synchrosoft...



One thing to note is that most of Soundtoys plugins introduce latency, which is kinda weird for some (why does a delay need latency, or a phaser - it's allpass filters, or a chorus - it's a modulated delay?)...