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Post by bluesholyman on Feb 13, 2024 10:23:51 GMT -6
....compared to purchasing the ones you want/need a la carte?
I personally do not care for the software subscription model as an end user, but being a software engineer most of my life, I get the appeal for those developing the product...get more juice from the squeeze.
Have you found plugin subscription models, where you get everything for a monthly fee worth having, or would you prefer to buy the plugin once to use forever (within tech limits of planned obsolescence). I am whole-heartedly the latter camp. I don't want to pay for the whole buffet if I am just wanting bits and pieces of it. And, if I was ever not wanting to pay for the subscription, I'd still want to use the plugins I have already used.
I consider that maybe there is something I am missing by not drilling a "plugin hole" in my wallet, so I wanted to ask ...
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Post by aremos on Feb 13, 2024 10:44:38 GMT -6
Do you find plugin subscriptions worthwhile?
NO!
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Post by chessparov on Feb 13, 2024 10:52:01 GMT -6
I always worry it could end up like my monthly Scrabble Subscription.
I finally canceled it, after a spell.
First things seemed OK.
Not even a word.
Then came the threatening letters.
Chris
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Post by drumsound on Feb 13, 2024 12:13:16 GMT -6
If I only mixed records I might be more inclined to have some subscriptions. But the way my world works, I might mostly do tracking sessions for a few weeks with different artists, and those times it would feel wasteful. Plus, I rarely want everything from anyone. I have the entire SoundToys bundle, because I got a great price because I owned a few of their offerings. I'm 100% sure I've not used every plugin in the bundle.
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Post by svart on Feb 13, 2024 12:28:26 GMT -6
NO.
I use tons of high end softwares at work and they're all subscription. I HATE it. they cost tens of thousands of dollars per year and we almost never get a good ROI on them. We never get adequate support that is supposed to come with paying the extortion fees to use the softwares. Updating the licenses is always a hassle too.
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Post by drbill on Feb 13, 2024 13:10:35 GMT -6
For me personally - no.
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Post by theshea on Feb 13, 2024 13:14:40 GMT -6
no. i try to limit my plugins and learn the ones i use. i have bought a few and am not using them. i regret having bought them.
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Post by smashlord on Feb 13, 2024 13:18:59 GMT -6
Depends on the sub.... Plugin Alliance is a good value. There are a ton of plugs in their Mega bundle and they add to it all the time.
UAD Spark is almost @ a point of being a decent value.... they are still shy on sheer number/variety of plugs, but its getting better. Since I personally don't want to buy what amounts to an expensive dongle to run their plugs, especially considering it will be obsolete in a few years, the sub is attractive.
Waves= not a good value
With PT, I've gone through enough OSX updates that broke one version or another where I am more than happy to pay the sub knowing I can always have the latest version where (hopefully) bugs will be ironed out. If you buy it at the right time of year, its not a bad deal.
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Post by Tbone81 on Feb 13, 2024 13:31:22 GMT -6
Short answer: No
Long answer: Subscriptions can seem like a good value when calculating them in isolation. But it’s never just one subscription, it’s all of them together that pile up and start costing quite a bit. I tried it once with the Steven Slate everything bundle. After a year I was only using 2-3 plugins so I cancelled it. I bought the few I really wanted at discount during a black Friday sale and I’ve saved a lot of money over the years on that. As a small business owner me and my wife have quite a few software subscriptions and we end up paying about $200 + for it all. It adds up, Chat GPT, website, domain names, email service, photoshop, canva, etc etc at some point it’s really eating into your bottom line.
It’s worth noting that I’m never chasing the plug-in deal of the month. Every year I buy 2-3 important plugins during Black Friday but I don’t need (or want) a million plugins. I’d rather have a few nice options in each category (eq, compression, reverb etc) and move on with my life.
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 13, 2024 13:43:52 GMT -6
No: prefer to do my homework and buy when price is right .
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Post by Johnkenn on Feb 13, 2024 13:56:56 GMT -6
Depends on the sub.... Plugin Alliance is a good value. There are a ton of plugs in their Mega bundle and they add to it all the time. UAD Spark is almost @ a point of being a decent value.... they are still shy on sheer number/variety of plugs, but its getting better. Since I personally don't want to buy what amounts to an expensive dongle to run their plugs, especially considering it will be obsolete in a few years, the sub is attractive. Waves= not a good value With PT, I've gone through enough OSX updates that broke one version or another where I am more than happy to pay the sub knowing I can always have the latest version where (hopefully) bugs will be ironed out. If you buy it at the right time of year, its not a bad deal. This ^^ But it's a conundrum. I've avoided it for the longest time. I did Spark for a couple months because I wanted Cap Compressor and Sound City. Ended up getting those in a UA deal, so I canceled. I thought I'd use a lot of the stuff I didn't own in Spark (Distressor, Wurly, Opal, several others...) but I think I might have opened them once. So, it's definitely true that a lot of the bundles are shit I'd never use. Since my Silver Bullet demo ran out before I got a chance to demo, I've done the 30 day PA Mega trial. It would be nice to have about like 10 of those plugs. The PA Download Assistant helper plug won't load on my computer for whatever reason, so I've just downloaded a few plugs from the bundle manually...and they're cool...but here's the conundrum: should I just buy the one plug I wanted (for $140) or pay $149 per year and get 180? IDK. Oh - the really nice feature of the PA mega deal is if you pay $149, you can pick out three per year to receive perpetual licenses for (I think that's right?) So that would totally be worth it. You pick the three you want, stay for a year and then cancel. The slate bundle might be cool seeing how I have the SSL bundle with it...but again - how many do you use and is it worth renting? MAybe the key is to just pick one bundle and run with that. Because these can add up and be death by a thousand cuts. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Feb 13, 2024 13:59:07 GMT -6
Short answer: No Long answer: Subscriptions can seem like a good value when calculating them in isolation. But it’s never just one subscription, it’s all of them together that pile up and start costing quite a bit. I tried it once with the Steven Slate everything bundle. After a year I was only using 2-3 plugins so I cancelled it. I bought the few I really wanted at discount during a black Friday sale and I’ve saved a lot of money over the years on that. As a small business owner me and my wife have quite a few software subscriptions and we end up paying about $200 + for it all. It adds up, Chat GPT, website, domain names, email service, photoshop, canva, etc etc at some point it’s really eating into your bottom line. It’s worth noting that I’m never chasing the plug-in deal of the month. Every year I buy 2-3 important plugins during Black Friday but I don’t need (or want) a million plugins. I’d rather have a few nice options in each category (eq, compression, reverb etc) and move on with my life. I will say this is an excellent way to have long term demos. There have been sooooo many times I demoed something and then either forgot I had it or the 14 days sat weird in my mixing schedule. (if that makes sense...) A year gives you a ton of time to suss out which ones you should actually invest in. |
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Post by niklas1073 on Feb 13, 2024 14:18:21 GMT -6
I mean… I do not mind paying for Adobe subscription, keeps me up to date constantly, but that is my bacon, my income, my profession. And in that context a subscription feels basically for free. So I am not categorically against subscriptions at all. But plugins… since it’s not my actual income… vice versa it’s a major economical drain for me 🤣, subscriptions feels so wrong. It almost feels as a pressure to have something on subscription I don’t max out on daily basis, or have a client paying for it. So that’s why I don't do subscriptions or even frequently updatable/yearly cost upgrade plans like waves etc. So I can totally see the appeal for subscriptions for pro’s… but not for me
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Post by bluesholyman on Feb 13, 2024 16:30:03 GMT -6
The PA Download Assistant helper plug won't load on my computer for whatever reason, so I've just downloaded a few plugs from the bundle manually...and they're cool...but here's the conundrum: should I just buy the one plug I wanted (for $140) or pay $149 per year and get 180? IDK. Oh - the really nice feature of the PA mega deal is if you pay $149, you can pick out three per year to receive perpetual licenses for (I think that's right?) So that would totally be worth it. You pick the three you want, stay for a year and then cancel. You've made a couple good points above. I tend to buy single plugins when they hit 90% off, which is a common occurrence for PA. For now this is a winning strategy for me. Someone else mentioned that subs look free when you use them to make money, and I totally get that when they are required for your core income - Adobe is a great example of the subscription prison that you gladly pay to stay in. With PA, I tend to keep an eye on plugins that are interesting and it eventually goes on sale. |
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Post by doubledog on Feb 13, 2024 16:42:27 GMT -6
nope. I bought the plugins I wanted (and sometimes more than I needed) and will continue doing so. If I was just starting out then maybe I'd consider a subscription but now I'm already invested.
btw, what really pissed me off was when Avid wanted me to sign up for a sub... but I would have to forfeit my perpetual license to do that. WTF? maybe I don't really understand the definition of perpetual...
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Post by nicksteinborn on Feb 14, 2024 2:38:02 GMT -6
I had Slate for a couple years and bailed for Plugin Alliance. I've slowly been acquiring plugins with my vouchers every year and I think it's about time to bail. They keep adding so much that it's kinda impossible to keep up with. I'm also grandfathered in at $180/yr vs $250 or whatever it is now and that tempts me to stick around.
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Post by mcirish on Feb 14, 2024 6:48:45 GMT -6
No subscriptions for me. My tastes in plugins change over time, but I still need access to earlier projects that have old plugins. I don't want to have a subscription to get back to where I was already. I only buy plugins at this point.
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Post by geoff738 on Feb 14, 2024 13:17:27 GMT -6
No. But I am old and cranky about some things. I generally like to own stuff rather than rent it if possible.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by thirdeye on Feb 14, 2024 20:27:51 GMT -6
Only sub I have now is PT Studio on my laptop for editing when I'm not at the studio. We had PA Mega Subscription for a couple years. It was very useful to figure out what plugins in the bundle we preferred. After all the "pick 10' and special deals/vouchers, was able to get the "All PA" bundle last year for $499, so cancelled the subscription. This was right when the Silver Bullet MKII plugin was released, so I was happy to get that as well.
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Post by thehightenor on Feb 15, 2024 11:43:03 GMT -6
I’m not saying.
There’s industry spies on forums.
If they think I’m a dedicated fan - the price might go up!
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Post by chessparov on Feb 15, 2024 11:48:18 GMT -6
I'm only a part time Spy.
But still very secret.
So half the time, I don't even know what I'm doing.
Chris
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Post by Johnkenn on Feb 15, 2024 12:03:58 GMT -6
It takes me a while to either decide to implement a plug into my workflow or just realize I’m not using it…so, subs allow me more time than 14 days (feels like half of them end up screwing up and lapsing after one or two times using) to figure out whether I’m really going to use them.
I can already tell I’m not going to use more than like 3-4 from the PA sub. And I gotta be honest - I really hate that you can’t break stuff out from the rack. Just feels clunky. I like some of the ssl fusion stuff…but idk about keeping all of this stuff.
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Post by notneeson on Feb 15, 2024 13:08:05 GMT -6
It takes me a while to either decide to implement a plug into my workflow or just realize I’m not using it…so, subs allow me more time than 14 days (feels like half of them end up screwing up and lapsing after one or two times using) to figure out whether I’m really going to use them. I can already tell I’m not going to use more than like 3-4 from the PA sub. And I gotta be honest - I really hate that you can’t break stuff out from the rack. Just feels clunky. I like some of the ssl fusion stuff…but idk about keeping all of this stuff. PA sub uses a rack? Kinda like the Soundtoys thing? Did not know that. |
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Post by Johnkenn on Feb 15, 2024 13:16:08 GMT -6
It takes me a while to either decide to implement a plug into my workflow or just realize I’m not using it…so, subs allow me more time than 14 days (feels like half of them end up screwing up and lapsing after one or two times using) to figure out whether I’m really going to use them. I can already tell I’m not going to use more than like 3-4 from the PA sub. And I gotta be honest - I really hate that you can’t break stuff out from the rack. Just feels clunky. I like some of the ssl fusion stuff…but idk about keeping all of this stuff. PA sub uses a rack? Kinda like the Soundtoys thing? Did not know that. Doh...that was free association. I just randomly started talking about the Slate sub. |
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Post by Dan on Feb 15, 2024 21:22:58 GMT -6
I agreed with John. I’ve tried several and only used a couple of plugs. PA, I’ve only used the Neold u73v76 on anything released. I like the pro audio dsp dsm a lot but never have gotten a chance to use it on a mix. Bx rooms was cool but never used it.
Kush? Nothing but I own the Goldplate and some of them sounded cool. McDSP? Nothing. SSL I never liked any of the plugs enough to try the sub. I remember liking the X-Verb but that’s discontinued. Slate? Same as SSL.
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