Have you ever uninstalled/reinstalled a plugin out of frustration?

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groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

04 Jul 2020

I bought Acustica Audio Gold on sale recently. And it's driving me crazy trying to decide if I made a mistake, or whether I should embrace it.

So here's the question: Have you ever bought a plugin, and out of buyer's regret immediately uninstalled it. Then re-installed it the next day, then uninstalled it. Repeat 2 more times. Which plugin was it for you?


TLDR:
Ok, my first thought when I got it was, "oh my goodness, I'm going to get that 3D/sheen/warmth sound that only a $20k console could bring" (after all, Acustica Audio uses a form of impulse-response to give you the real sound of hardware)

But an hour later, I got frustrated because I couldn't quite coax an amazing sound out of it. A/B didn't sound different to me (it just sounded like EQ curve had changed). So I uninstalled.

The next day, I was thinking "wait, I've made a mistake. Let's give it a chance". So reinstalled.

But a few hours later, I realized that I'd been spending hours just PLAYING with this thing and not making music. The workflow is so bizarre (you can't sweep an EQ like you would with any other VST), instead you can only pick specific EQ curves that they provide. And it adds a ton of latency. And there's a delay of several seconds when you move a knob before you hear it. And the UX is confusing, that it's even hard to tell sometimes whether an EQ is engaged. And the compressor is hard to get a good pumping sound out of. ...So I uninstalled again.

But next day, I'm thinking "well, maybe I'll just put it on the master bus just for it's PREAMP simulation, and that's how I'll use it. I.e. just to give my final mix an amazing "sheen/3D" sound of a real console. And when I put it on the bus, I definitely hear SOMETHING that it's doing. But I just can't decide if that something is GOOD or musical. ...So I uninstalled it again.

So that's where I am right now. This plugin isn't making my music-making fun, so I think I know the right answer for me at-least: Just give up on it. I want my studio to be FUN and get me making music, not play with plugins to try to coax a good sound.


Anyway, just thought I'd share my story. I actually don't KNOW whether Acustica Audio Gold is good - like you can see above, I kept going back and forth.
But I've never had a plugin make me uninstall/install this many times. My wife told me today that I've been grumpy around the house for the past few days, and I look real tired. Who knew a plugin could bring stress? :)

groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

04 Jul 2020

Ok, I'm going to go reinstall it again. It definitely is doing something interesting...

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MrFigg
Competition Winner
Posts: 9124
Joined: 20 Apr 2018

04 Jul 2020

Oh yes!!! Pod Farm Platinum. I think...it’d be great with a Vox amp. Install it and try it then uninstall it. Then wow! An Echorec. Install it try it and uninstall it. Then hmmm....maybe the Vox was actually ok. Install it try it uninstall it. Etc.
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NDKay
Posts: 287
Joined: 04 Jul 2018
Location: Suite 11

04 Jul 2020

If we expand that to music apps in general i can remember one thing....

... MAGIX !

More than a decade (nearly two) ago i bought some "Magix Music Maker".
Installed it - just got frustrated - deinstalled it. About a week later the same story. This continued for some years, cause i really wanted to get something "out of my money". No, i did not do that every week... but every once in a while trough "that years". Then once again "the time had come".... i hold the CD in my Hand - think of "our history" - and all of a sudden my hand holds the CD "very" tightly.....

Ooops, there had been a installation CD for the longest time. :oops:

:lol:
This is a SmartAss. Really nothing more than that !

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MrFigg
Competition Winner
Posts: 9124
Joined: 20 Apr 2018

04 Jul 2020

I’ve had the DNA Labs Romplers installed and then uninstalled a hundred times. No negativity. Just saying.
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groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

04 Jul 2020

NDKay wrote:
04 Jul 2020
If we expand that to music apps in general i can remember one thing....

... MAGIX !

More than a decade (nearly two) ago i bought some "Magix Music Maker".
Installed it - just got frustrated - deinstalled it. About a week later the same story. This continued for some years, cause i really wanted to get something "out of my money". No, i did not do that every week... but every once in a while trough "that years". Then once again "the time had come".... i hold the CD in my Hand - think of "our history" - and all of a sudden my hand holds the CD "very" tightly.....

Ooops, there had been a installation CD for the longest time. :oops:

:lol:
Out of curiosity, what was it about Music Maker that you didn't love? (I've always wanted a tool to help me write baselines, so just wondering :))

NDKay
Posts: 287
Joined: 04 Jul 2018
Location: Suite 11

05 Jul 2020

groggy1 wrote:
04 Jul 2020
Out of curiosity, what was it about Music Maker that you didn't love? (I've always wanted a tool to help me write baselines, so just wondering :))
It was not my first music app, my first had been the "Rave eJay" if someone remember that thing :lol:
Mostly i "played around" with the "Techno eJay2" and this one had a small "synth sample creator", so i had already something to "make bass lines" ;-)

I wanted to "step up" ( which in backsight sounds hilarious :lol: ) but it was not only unstable (crashing not just once), there was audio problems all the way. When i got through to "something" and exported it, there were noisy and crackling parts in it ( No, it was definitely not a DEMO Version, but yes - it behaved like one).

I was a teenager at that time, so it could have been my fault ( + there was one computer for the whole family and everybody installing and deinstalling something), but i know i was not the only one having problems with magix. Some installed it and never had "big" troubles with it. Other ones just got "freaked out" :crazy: .
This is a SmartAss. Really nothing more than that !

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