The Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2018 thread

  • Waves has a new de-esser and it's free!


    Sibilance – Transparent Vocal DeEsser Plugin | Waves


    Powered by Waves’ innovative Organic ReSynthesis technology, this transparent vocal de-esser removes harsh vocal ‘s’ sounds faster than ever before, with exceptional quality – allowing you to make your vocals brighter without harshness.


    Thanks to its Organic ReSynthesis engine, Sibilance allows precise identification of unwanted sibilant sounds such as ‘s’ and ‘sh’, resulting in smooth, glitch-free, effective de-essing which maintains the timbre, duration, and natural resonance of the original vocal sound.


    Unlike most de-essers which act like narrow-band compressors, Sibilance uses Organic ReSynthesis spectral filters to identify undesirable bursts of sibilant energy, then completely separates the nuances of sibilance from the vocal signal, leaving the rest of the signal untouched.


    Once applied, Sibilance’s unique method of separating sibilant parts from the raw vocal signal allows for otherwise extreme processing on the vocal track, such as aggressive EQing to drastically brighten a vocal.


    With simple yet powerful controls, Sibilance takes only seconds to set up: Insert it on a vocal or voiceover track, and simply set the threshold and range controls to dial in the perfect amount of ‘s’ reduction.


    Whether tracking or mixing, on vocals or voiceovers – get an ideal vocal sound fast, reliably and effortlessly.

    • Clever, fast, powerful de-esser specifically designed for vocals and voiceovers
    • Smooth, glitch-free removal of harsh ‘s’ sounds like never before
    • Separates the sibilant parts of the vocal without changing the vocal’s original tone
    • Easy-to-use threshold and sensitivity controls
    • Innovative sibilance detector powered by Waves’ Organic ReSynthesis technology
    • Sibilance detection graph to help you visualize the amount of ‘s’ reduction
    • Variable range modes: from wide to split-band processing
  • Toontrack now offering 40% off EZ Drummer 2.


    Unfortunately, there’s not a discount on SD3 but a pack to ‘add value’. I’ll keep an eye open as they’re announcing deals each day but, if they’re announcing a freebie to sweeten SD3 then I have doubts they’d then offer a % discount later in the week.

    I've had EZD 2 for quite some time and recently bought SD3. I haven't had the time yet to get comfortable with it and switch over, but I can say with enthusiasm that EZD 2 is an outstanding songwriting helper. If you don't need all the horsepower of SD, you can go a long way down the road with EZD.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I've had EZD 2 for quite some time and recently bought SD3. I haven't had the time yet to get comfortable with it and switch over, but I can say with enthusiasm that EZD 2 is an outstanding songwriting helper. If you don't need all the horsepower of SD, you can go a long way down the road with EZD.

    totally agree, Chris - I’ve had EZDrummer 2 for a year or two and it’s used on everything for me. I like the interface and the ease of making subtle changes throughout the song to build tension without having to go crazy with midi programming.


    Everyone keeps saying how good an upgrade SD3 is so therefore I’d love it. I just can’t justify over £220 for a crossgrade but, if the right bargain came up, I’d be on it pretty quickly :)

  • Thanks, Nicky. I have a lot of Waves stuff already but since it's free... :)

    Ahh... but this one's "special", Chris!


    I'm stoked that Waves offered this for free as I'd certainly have paid good money for it; it's not the usual throw-'em-a-bone offering most companies use as freebies to lure in customers.


    At least, that's what I've determined from reading about it. It looks fantastic on paper, and just what the doctor ordered for lil' ol' me.

  • Ahh... but this one's "special", Chris!


    I'm stoked that Waves offered this for free as I'd certainly have paid good money for it; it's not the usual throw-'em-a-bone offering most companies use as freebies to lure in customers.


    At least, that's what I've determined from reading about it. It looks fantastic on paper, and just what the doctor ordered for lil' ol' me.

    I wonder if it will play nice with previous versions of waves plugins. If I need to install Waves Central version 10 to get this - what will happen with the plugins I have in version 9? Will I need to update those (which will cost me a lot)? Gods I hate Waves' business model!

  • Oops! I didn't realise you'd pointed to it, AJ. The first email I received from Waves didn't show the plugin even after I clicked on the link, so I "assumed" it'd just be some useless, typical freebie. That must've been when you diligently gave the forum a heads-up on it.


    Sorry, and well done, mate. It looks like a beauty!

    I wonder if it will play nice with previous versions of waves plugins. If I need to install Waves Central version 10 to get this - what will happen with the plugins I have in version 9? Will I need to update those (which will cost me a lot)? Gods I hate Waves' business model!

    It's a crapshoot, Michael. For most folks, the transition to V10 when keeping some plugs at V9 went smoothly, whereas for others it was a nightmare. Even Waves tech support struggled for many hours with some peeps, remotely controlling their computers and often resorting to custom scripts to get things in order.


    It's up to you to determine whether or not it's worth taking the risk. The good news is that it perfectly-feasible; it's just that it could be a rocky road getting there.


  • That's a bit disturbing. I was thinking of buying Waves Gold, but I don't want to have any problems on account of upgrading and stuff. I'll stick to UAD and Isotope.

  • Waves cops a lot of criticism, and I was one of the chorus playing nightly shows at MOTUNation for many years. I swore I'd never be sucked into patronising the company.


    Here's the thing 'though:

    1) There stuff just works. Any DAW, any platform. Guaranteed.

    2) The above achievement is due to the WUP philosophy - guaranteed universal support for all plugins, regardless of age, funded via WUP when all other companies I can think of eventually drop support for plugins as popularity wanes and they figure it's not worth the development upkeep.

    3) Whilst the vast majority of their earlier plugins could legitimately be described as run-of-the-mill (at least they all worked and were stable 'though), as you might've noticed in recent years, ever more excellent emulations and even instruments have begun to emerge from the company. Examples might be Scheps Omni Channel and the awesome Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain, both of which I'd consider no-brainers at their current price points and utility.


    The trick I "preach" about WUP, and this maximises coverage time and minimises upgrade complications such as the ones Michael's wary of, is to:


    1) Renew coverage for all plugins at once, choosing the "on one machine" option, which caps the fee at $225 (I think - something like that anyway).


    2) Do this immediately after you've bought a plugin that you feel will be the last you'll be adding for a while. If not, wait 'til you've had your fill and then do this, but be sure to renew immediately-following the purchase. This way, all your plugins' coverage will extend to the same date as the freshly-purchased one, which is obviously the maximum-possible time from the date you buy it.


    3) Do all this only after Waves moves to a newer integer software version, such as from V9 to V10. You'll lose free 'phone-support coverage after a year, but all your plugins will still work flawlessly 'til the next integer update, the gap between which is usually many years.


    This Monkey Method™ ensures maximum coverage, minimal cost and avoids side-by-side complications such as the V9-next-to-V10 ones many have experienced. IOW, as of now, you'd be moving everything to V10 in one hit. No muss, no fuss, as they say in the classics.

  • OK, KB Covers is offering 35% off all covers for BF.


    Use the code: Black2018


    For those who don't know, these guys make super-handy covers for laptop and desktop keyboards that overlay all the handiest factory-defined keyboard shortcuts that your chosen DAW sports. Saves your having to remember them all! Use more than one DAW? Swap the cover! Easy, peasy.


    Audio & DJ - Keyboard Covers - KB Covers


    As examples, here're the Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools and Digital Performer ones, all in large-format keyboard flavour, but they're available for lappies too, as I said, and in US, ISO and Japanese configurations:


    Logic

    Cubase


    Pro Tools


    Digital Performer


  • Ahh... but this one's "special", Chris!


    I'm stoked that Waves offered this for free as I'd certainly have paid good money for it; it's not the usual throw-'em-a-bone offering most companies use as freebies to lure in customers.


    At least, that's what I've determined from reading about it. It looks fantastic on paper, and just what the doctor ordered for lil' ol' me.

    I've generally had good luck with all of the Wave stuff, so I'm always up for another tool in the bag!

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • totally agree, Chris - I’ve had EZDrummer 2 for a year or two and it’s used on everything for me. I like the interface and the ease of making subtle changes throughout the song to build tension without having to go crazy with midi programming.


    Everyone keeps saying how good an upgrade SD3 is so therefore I’d love it. I just can’t justify over £220 for a crossgrade but, if the right bargain came up, I’d be on it pretty quickly :)

    The big thing is that they revamped the SD UI to be more like EZD, tap to find, etc. Getting converted to SD is on my list of holiday time wasters. :)

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10