The Sound Board

I'm having a (well earned) lazy afternoon, congratulating myself on not spending any more money (so far).

Will be trying that Waves thing that does something shortly. But in the meantime I've been playing more with Spectralayers and it's so good. It's just fun to put in favourite songs and have it deconstruct them. It's defaults are great but the ability to then get forensic and move stuff from one layer to another is excellent - you can combine with their other tools like separating noise from transients from tonal to further refine. A fantastic toolkit and quite a playground too.

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Nov 28, 2025 12:59 pmWill be trying that Waves thing that does something shortly.

Ah right, it's a compressor /' expander.

I'm attempting to run my first-ever Meta/FB/Insta/Threads ad campaign. I was successfully phished once (no damage, I caught it in time). I'm already a StressBox.

soundbylaura wrote: ↑Nov 28, 2025 1:41 pm I'm attempting to run my first-ever Meta/FB/Insta/Threads ad campaign. I was successfully phished once (no damage, I caught it in time). I'm already a StressBox.

Blimey - into the pit! Good luck!

I hit the “learn more” button on StressBox, and got this:

“Enter the StressBox – a dynamics tool that shapes musical tension.
Turn right for aggressive compression that pulls the room sound forward and slams you with urgency and in-your-face energy.
Turn left for expansion that enhances transients, shortens reverb tails, and wraps your track in a tighter, controlled feel.”

In short, a compressor or an expander. Audio genius!

I did get myself some fun toys this month once the sales started... but I'm pleased to report that today (actual Black Friday) I'm spending no money and buying absolutely nothing. I used to be a big fan of "Buy Nothing Day" in my ultra-anti-consumerist youth and I'm happy to revisit that a little today.

Tempted by 3 things of almost the same price:

1. OT Glory Days
2. VBrass and Saxes (and maybe horns)
3. Spitfire Symphony Orchestra

…all around $300.

I don’t need any of them-talk me down off of this ledge. Thank you.

Lawrence wrote: ↑Nov 28, 2025 9:24 pm Tempted by 3 things of almost the same price:

1. OT Glory Days
2. VBrass and Saxes (and maybe horns)
3. Spitfire Symphony Orchestra

…all around $300.

I don’t need any of them-talk me down off of this ledge. Thank you.

Be strong. Save your money. You'll feel good about it.

This might be my lowest-spending year ever. I'm a 'maybe' on Sononym.

Of course, there are still 3 more days to go...

I forgot-those 10 UAD plugs for $100 deal is also calling out to me. Hmm.

Thanks for the pep talk, Laura. Btw, I might have gone for Cartoon Maestro as well, but I own one Project Sam library which happens to be Animator. I love it and it seems to cover much of the same ground.

I got nearly swayed by Abbey Road Two until I re-read the thread here. I don't want or need the 796 mic positions of Pro, Core is just 2 mixes (excellent) but they blow it by not having all the legatos. I always hate the choice of not-quite-enough vs far-far-far-too-much.

There is a nice bundle deal at Plugin Boutique of the Roland 808. 909 and Juno 106 lifetime keys for around £90, but having only just got the 808 a couple of months back that deal doesn't make sense for me either.

Audio Plugin Deals has Ye Olde EW Symphonic Orchestra for €59.

So far this year lacks those impulse deals of 95% off some respectable library from a respectable company that I don't really need, duly buy because it would be mad not to and never use.

Uh-oh, I find myself wavering over SSO again. £250 with the email discount.

PROS
Those new trumpets sound steller and everyone says they are as good as they seem. The whole sound is so cohesive. But the real thing that is pulling me are the fast strings. Fast string figures are consistently the thing that takes me out of people's fine contributions here - even the very best I find the illusion tends to collapse on this specific point and suddenly I'm not thinking about an orchestra but rather grid views and midi data. If SSO can fix this, is it worth the staggeringly reasonable price of admission alone?

CONS
I only rarely do orchestral these days and I don't see it changing. There would be a lot of work integrating it into the template.

WHAT DO I DO? I had a pretty good PRS quarter...

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Nov 29, 2025 2:36 am I got nearly swayed by Abbey Road Two until I re-read the thread here. I don't want or need the 796 mic positions of Pro, Core is just 2 mixes (excellent) but they blow it by not having all the legatos. I always hate the choice of not-quite-enough vs far-far-far-too-much.

There is a nice bundle deal at Plugin Boutique of the Roland 808. 909 and Juno 106 lifetime keys for around £90, but having only just got the 808 a couple of months back that deal doesn't make sense for me either.

Audio Plugin Deals has Ye Olde EW Symphonic Orchestra for €59.

So far this year lacks those impulse deals of 95% off some respectable library from a respectable company that I don't really need, duly buy because it would be mad not to and never use.

Also on the fence with the Abbey Road Two and not sure if I need the portamento and then I remembered Splice and they offer a 7 day trial, so am downloading now and give it a ride this weekend and then see if I purchase core/pro or not at all

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Nov 29, 2025 4:03 amWHAT DO I DO? I had a pretty good PRS quarter...

Oh dear. I caved. Turns out that email discount of 20% was on the RRP so it was £239.

I mean, ridiculous.

I'll post feedback on the SSO thread once I've had a play.

EDIT - after 5 mins, it claims to be downloading faster than my internet connection. That's pretty impressive. 1hr 20m all-in for 342gb.

Curious about your report, Guy, as I agree that the Trumpet sounds very good indeed. The rest of the orchestra though has a "sound" that for better or worse, I've heard so much in the last decade that I seem to have become nearly allergic. Comparing the overall orchestra sound to my Cinematic Series-only mockups, I do prefer the latter. Then there is the matter of the template...

But the eye does wander with that discount.

SSO is really excellent. I don't do much orchestral writing either but I really love the sound of that one, and it seems to just fit into productions easily (weird considering how much room is baked into it). I think it's worth having around, especially at that price... you have some great-sounding instruments when you need them.

Oh my. Just when you thought you were out...

This month (I think) East West's Voices of Passion or UVI's Model D FREE with any purchase.

SSL's X-Orcism II free if you sign up to their newsletter https://store.solidstatelogic.com/plug- ... -orcism-ii

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 2:47 am Oh my. Just when you thought you were out...

This month (I think) East West's Voices of Passion or UVI's Model D FREE with any purchase.

Where?

soundbylaura wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 9:26 am

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 2:47 am Oh my. Just when you thought you were out...

This month (I think) East West's Voices of Passion or UVI's Model D FREE with any purchase.

Where?

Oh sorry that would help, wouldn't it - Audio Deluxe.

That said, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong but lots of Voices Of Passion is horrible here. Legato patches aren't even monophonic, let alone have true legato transitions. They're just cheap-sounding polyphonic patches that sound circa 1987.

I'm running 50% off everything at Bunker Samples - and you save 55% if you buy one of the bundles!

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 10:09 am

soundbylaura wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 9:26 am

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 2:47 am Oh my. Just when you thought you were out...

This month (I think) East West's Voices of Passion or UVI's Model D FREE with any purchase.

Where?

Oh sorry that would help, wouldn't it - Audio Deluxe.

That said, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong but lots of Voices Of Passion is horrible here. Legato patches aren't even monophonic, let alone have true legato transitions. They're just cheap-sounding polyphonic patches that sound circa 1987.

2007-2008. Here’s the EW YouTube just for you, Guy!

Lawrence wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 4:43 pm2007-2008. Here’s the EW YouTube just for you, Guy!

Thanks Larry.

Well, I'm not doing anything wrong.

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 5:31 pm

Lawrence wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 4:43 pm2007-2008. Here’s the EW YouTube just for you, Guy!

Thanks Larry.

Well, I'm not doing anything wrong.

(Yep yep, that’s why !)

Lawrence wrote: ↑Dec 01, 2025 8:39 pm (Yep yep, that’s why !)

Gotta feel for those who paid 300 bucks back in the day. I paid 3 bucks (technically for United Plugins Widefire it says here - a harmonics-based widening plugin).

EastWest have come a long way...