How many REs have you bought without a trial first?

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TritoneAddiction
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09 May 2018

It's not the smartest thing to do but I think most of us have done it at some point. Sometimes it's just more fun to take a chance. :D

Maybe you've made an impulse buy on a sale?
Maybe you thought the demos were enough to convince you.
Maybe you've regretted some while others became instant favorites.

For me:

Chip64. I liked the concept. It was pretty cheap. It's alright but a little buggy.
Disperser. Listened to the demos. Took a chance and it's been one of my favorite REs ever. Use it all the time.
Faturator. Saw a youtube video where someone used it and I liked the result. Turns out I didn't like the distortion as much as I thought. I only use it for the haas effect nowadays, which is pretty much never anyway. I would say I regret buying this one.
Softube FET Compressor. This was way to risky considering the price (199€), but after watching several videos with it I was convinced it sounded great. At first I considered it a big mistake. I couldn't find a place for it in my tracks. It's still far from my favorite RE but I've found use for it here and there at least. But I wouldn't pay 199 for it today.
Crapre2. It was 9 bucks on april 1. It looked absolutely horrible so I had to get it. :D Surprisingly useful I must say. I like this one.
Nautilus. I didn't have many synths back then. Saw a simple synth for 9 bucks. Why not I thought. Let's buy it and make a track with it and that's what I did.
Last edited by TritoneAddiction on 09 May 2018, edited 1 time in total.

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guitfnky
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Joined: 19 Jan 2015

09 May 2018

happens more often for me than I'd like to admit. :lol:
TritoneAddiction wrote:
09 May 2018
Faturator. Saw a youtube video where someone used it and I liked the result. Turns out I didn't like the distortion as much as I thought. I only use it for the haas effect nowadays, which is pretty much never anyway. I would say I regret buying this one.
Softube FET Compressor. This was way to risky considering the price (199€), but after watching several videos with it I was convinced it sounded great. At first I considered it a big mistake. I couldn't find a place for it in my tracks. It's still far from my favorite RE but I've found use for it here and there at least. But I wouldn't pay 199 for it today.
this is so funny to me, because I had almost the exact same experience with both of these. Faturator is a regret, for sure (I may be the only RE I've actually forcefully removed from my computer). FET Compressor I use all the time, now, but I almost never touched it at first, and didn't like it much then.
I write good music for good people

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O1B
Posts: 2037
Joined: 26 Jan 2015

09 May 2018

limiting it to just INStrUMENTS...

HAMU.... I loved the videos - but - Reason Control has gotten better for me.
PolySix and MONO - no regrets.... Monster sound.
PitcheBlende - Real World Control is better for me.
Mercury ARP - same a above.
Red70 - Interesting sounds ... It catches my eye in the menu so it comes out once a week or so. .. and it has 2 scopes.
Step Boom Bass - Monster, still.
Revival - got it for the FX and Rotary... less use for it now.

I think the theme is size for me...: too much screen real estate... less usage...

come th think of it, Red70 ... (love that Master Tune knob)
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ltbrunt00
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09 May 2018

I have trialed every RE before purchasing. Usually do to the RE's released right when I don't have the immediate cash to buy them. There is only one RE I wish I could return but that is a different story.
Reason, Nuendo, Studio One
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aeox
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Location: Oregon

09 May 2018

The only RE I bought without using the trial so far is ZFO-2. It's something that didn't really require trialing because it's function is pretty obvious just by looking at the parameters and gui.

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motuscott
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09 May 2018

I regret nothing. The Poke has often pulled me in with his manuals and wry sense of humor, Selig is a total straight shooter, Kuassa let's just call me a fanboi.
Who’s using the royal plural now baby? 🧂

scratchnsnifff
Posts: 1423
Joined: 21 Sep 2016

09 May 2018

I only trial if I have rent due. I haven’t really trialed before purchasing except with the more expensive extensions like expanse or predator

I usually can tell if I’ll have a use for something by the video or by reading the info
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zero01101
Posts: 39
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

10 May 2018

holy crap; out of 146 rack extensions i own, according to my spreadsheet which my wife will never see i trialed only 28 of them :|

specific "i must have this immediately" entries that stand out:
- little LFO
- resampler
- yoko
- g8
- a-series 1/2
- carve
- kHs one (it was on sale, ok, geez)
- selig leveler back in my day when it was called the curve get off my lawn

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TritoneAddiction
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10 May 2018

zero01101 wrote:
10 May 2018
holy crap; out of 146 rack extensions i own, according to my spreadsheet which my wife will never see i trialed only 28 of them :|
That's pretty crazy. But still there is something exciting about not knowing exactly what you've bought imo.
But I usually go the safe route with the trial first, otherwise there would be A LOT of REs in my rack collecting dust at this point. That's for sure.

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ravisoni
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Location: Las Vegas

11 May 2018

Never trialed anything best I can remember. I've always put a price on an RE that I feel it's worth (to me), and wait for a sale. Learned my lesson the hard way after buying synchronous full price back then. Not sure if that's pro-developer behavior, but they need to make money, and I need to save money. How are you btw?
Haven't heard from your music in a while.
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TritoneAddiction
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11 May 2018

ravisoni wrote:
11 May 2018
Never trialed anything best I can remember. I've always put a price on an RE that I feel it's worth (to me), and wait for a sale. Learned my lesson the hard way after buying synchronous full price back then. Not sure if that's pro-developer behavior, but they need to make money, and I need to save money. How are you btw?
Haven't heard from your music in a while.
I think anytime Propellerhead release a new RE we have to consider whether or not it's likely that they will be included in Reason further down the road. I wouldn't be surprised if all the A-list stuff gets included in Reason at some point in order to compete with other DAWs.

I took a needed break from making music. I just wasn't motivated anymore. I'm slowly getting back to it. But I'm gonna need to take another approach to making music for a while. I'm gonna take a more relaxed, playful approach and only do music when I feel like it. Not gonna force things. Discipline has its place but not right now for me.

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miscend
Posts: 1955
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11 May 2018

Some people have way more money than sense. Anyway I bought some early OchenK stuff that I hardly use without demo. But I’ve changed my ways and become very frugal. I won’t buy without demoing first. And even then I will wait until it’s on sale. I waited a year or more until I got the Legend.

With VST plugins I mostly buy second hand. There are very few VSTs that I bought full price.

I’m all ready and set for May Madness!

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TritoneAddiction
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11 May 2018

miscend wrote:
11 May 2018
But I’ve changed my ways and become very frugal. I won’t buy without demoing first. And even then I will wait until it’s on sale. I waited a year or more until I got the Legend.
Makes sense, except for waiting a year to get Legend. :D A full year without Legend. There's just no excuse for that. I don't care what the price is. :)

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Ahornberg
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11 May 2018

none

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adfielding
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11 May 2018

None, to my recollection. I always figure if I can't make time to try out a RE first, then do I really need it?

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Ixus
Posts: 283
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

11 May 2018

I rarely buy RE's, but sometimes I get an urge. For me its most of them since I dont own that many but got the synthetic bundle which was on a sale and I didnt really feel like trialing all of that stuff. I just felt like getting a rack boost!!

Other than that bundle I have bought maybe 5 in total and Im pretty sure i trialed just 1 or 2 of them.

I watch and listen to demos and that usually is enough for me!

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Oquasec
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Joined: 05 Mar 2017

11 May 2018

I usually just read the manuals for em a few days to a week in advanced before gettin em.
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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sublunar
Posts: 507
Joined: 27 Apr 2017

11 May 2018

I've never trialed and RE that I've then purchased. I trialed The Legend and for whatever reason ended up buying Vk2 instead. I bought the Mastering rig and the subsequent update and a handful of other RE's that I didn't trial first. I listened to the examples on the prop shop but that's about it.

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cognitive
Posts: 177
Joined: 25 Apr 2018
Location: Los Angeles

11 May 2018

I have purchased probably the majority of my REs without trialing, based on features, sound samples, UI, reviews, etc.

Some were part of discounted bundles, like the Backline Rig, and for others, I usually waited until a sale to pull the trigger on a new piece of virtual gear. And then some, I was guilty of an impulse buy based on shiny new cool factor and introductory pricing.

Considering I have a LOT of options now based on those purchases (and what's already in Reason), some REs get less use than others, but I am at minimum "satisfied" with most all of my RE purchases. And some 3rd-party REs are simply stunning and have become "must haves" for me, such as The Legend or eXpanse. Those find their way into pretty much every project now.

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Re8et
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12 May 2018

I just got cling player. Live viewer, cool design, useful.
BZR-1 chaos signal
Elementary logic gates
TM-1 multiplexer
Divisor
Randrome
Titus BBD delay
I do not remember if i tried out eXpanse nor the Legend nor Nostromo

The last three I never wanted to trial because of disproportional addiction they would cause on my mind, but ultimately
failed to resist... when the good offer presented itself

I was buffled on the cling player, but I decided to give it a go-go. The viewer could get some updates, buy now and you will sponsor the devs getting some cup of coffes, that might get there somehow. Thats how I see it.

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Micha1973
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13 May 2018

All the Korg Sythns :D
Music Is My Life
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Reason 12 sounds better :essentials:

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chimp_spanner
Posts: 2908
Joined: 06 Mar 2015

13 May 2018

Nothing. I always, always demo. Although, I mis-read this title as "how many REs have you bought" and counted them. Apparently trialling hasn't made me any more careful or sensible haha. 219, minus whatever was free and about 5 on subscription. Yikes.

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abeonis
Posts: 84
Joined: 06 Nov 2015
Location: Spain-France

13 May 2018

I am a new player with DAWs. So, I first spent some time reading forums and identifying what REs (or anything else) were used by my list of selected experienced members. Now this strategy will change as soon as I become more confident on my new skills.

For instance, I noticed that chimp_spanner uses an HP Envy J130ea. I have no time to reinvent the wheel.
Windows 10 64-bit | Reason 9.5 | Live 10 Suite + Push2 | Intel i7 8700K | 16 GB RAM | Scarlett 6x6 | Arturia MiniLab MK II | 2x Novation LaunchControl XL

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Rick75
Posts: 30
Joined: 05 Jan 2016

13 May 2018

Everything - I've never demoed anything yet. Never needed to!

When I'm interested in a new RE people on here normally buy it ahead of me and if there's a consensus that it's cool I will normally pony up.

I don't really have a problem with RE's not fitting into the music I make because I'm interested in producing all genres so it's never the case that I buy something and then worry about when or where to use it.

Perhaps if I was worried that there was a heavy overlap between a new exciting RE and something I already had, I might consider firing up the demo but that's not happened yet. :)

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TritoneAddiction
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Location: Sweden

16 May 2018

I'll add the new Synth Bundle from Noise Engineering to the list of non trialed bought REs. :)
These are the kind of REs I find exciting to take a chance on.

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