VST: The Division Bell

Want to be in VST business also in the future? Here’s what you have to consider.

During the summer weeks there were – and still is – some sales worth noting. The Native Instruments summer sale was a big disappointment as is their app release update frequency, but I shall return to this subject later. Here are some random pieces of sample libraries and instruments I picked up from the sales:

1. Smokers Relight Deux was 20 percent off on Loopmasters. Excellent groove tool pack.

2. Lost Tapes Vol. 1 on Time + Space. To be exact, this marvelous vintage pack was not on sale but worth every dime.

3. Some Samplephonics libraries from their 50 percent off-campaign (Vintage Keys/Slice Machine, Funk and Soul Guitar, Brushed Grooves).

I also installed the Trial version of Waves Abbey Road REDD console plugin, which was indeed interesting, but under my current financial situation it was too expensive even with discount. Then again, this plugin used to cost 349 dollars: now the offer is 99 dollars. The real market price for a plugin like this would in my opinion be more like 29 dollars.

As for the coming releases, I have indeed interest in the IK Multimedia iLoud speaker since I lack a well-crafted mobile reference speaker. The speaker in question is now in pre-order, but before my own finances settle or I go temporarily insane, I have decided to pass. Had they a 10-percent off pre-order discount, I would be in however.

Also, I found the new High Heelz Vocals 4 pack by Diginoiz quite intriguing, perhaps against my preconception (think about Jaws 4). For 15 euros it offers in my opinion quite a bit, and the singer sounded actually quite good.

But the topic says Division Bell, doesn’t it? By this I refer to the current situation on the VST market. With the tablet work environment kicking in, companies like Native Instruments are now re-evaluating their strategies for the coming year. My prediction is that those remaining in the old scheme of releasing semi-expensive, 8DIO-style libraries for workstations will see their strategy fail. Those who put out quality app instruments and well-produced, mid-price sample libraries for Maschine and other hardware groove platforms will in contrast see their business take off.

The key here is in the end simple: deeper integration between the software and the hardware. Why should I want to play a mandolin strummer on my keyboard when I can control strumming on my iPad on the go?

Also, one cannot put aside the question on piracy in all this. It is only realistic to argue that for those who really want a certain sample library or virtual instrument, chances are that they can get a copy of it without paying. This phenomenon has only increased during the last year or so to the extent where even the largest vendors have basically their whole back catalogue online as torrents for taking.

This is again one more reason why hardware is the key here instead of any iLok. If a user purchases certain hardware, he or she is bound to invest in the respected software also – preferrably original software with all features.

In contrast, overpriced symphony library vendors and plugin makers will continue to experience increasing fall of revenue since the hobbyists go for more cost-efficient solutions. I call this phenomenon the Waves factor. Waves waited for ages before they finally noticed that their product prices for 30 megabytes of code are simply mindless. Today they are more reasonable but still way too high. Hence the tendency for people to turn to alternative means for obtaining the products in question.

The Division Bell will start ringing soon. My bet is that the app version of the instrument with in-app purchases will be a hit, and the 12-gigabyte deep-sampled 399-dollar boxset will be on discount before Thanksgiving.

Plugins: overpriced commodities?

Let’s cut right to the chase: the price of most VST plugins is in no relation to VST instruments. So are the instruments too cheap or the plugins too expensive?

When it comes to buying VST instruments, I often apply the same rule I use in shopping for example apples: I check the origin, the quality, and the price. However the weight of the bag must be in some relation to the price tag suggested. If a nine-gigabyte library of grand piano sounds from one vendor cost as much a fifteen gigabytes from another company, the instrument itself must have something special in it.

Anyone who has worked with VST plugins know that their price is often very expensive compared to their weight: an average plugin download is some 40-50 megabytes only, but the price tag is equal to ten gigabytes of instrument samples. Yes, they are two separate product categories, but the code and algorithms included in them have distinctive similarities. After all many of today’s VST instruments include in themselves lots of features from separate plug-ins: EQ, compression, reverb etc.

This is why I think the plugins cost so much: it is only a decade or so ago when they were by and large applied by professionals only, and even today the pros are still the most important clients for many of the vendors. Hence the habit of putting a ‘pro price’ tag on them (whether or not also the pros have paid too much for them I leave to general discussion).

Of course also plug-in manufacturers have realized the potential of home mixing: a whole new target group is making music in their respective home studios now. And to be fair, the plug-in prices have in general come down from their most outrageous peak.

But let’s do some research here. Waves Audio has come up with a new product concept by putting out ‘signature plugins’: software allegedly used by a famous music producer. This is of course merely a marketing strategy: I am willing to bet anything that for example J.J. Puig or Eddie Kramer didn’t once have the actual software tailor-made for them that is now sold by taking advantage of their reputation. Or do you really think Brett Favre wears his signature Wranglers only?

It is also ironic that famous music producers would publicly admit that all their skills can be encapsulated in or reduced to a bunch of ones and zeroes. But this is not the main issue here: we were supposed to talk about plug-in prices. A J.J. Puig signature plugin costs 100-150 dollars each, and according to Waves online store there are six different Puig plugins available. So if a home mixer would like to purchase all of them, he or she should put in a hefty 700 dollars: enough for purchasing some of the lushest VST symphony orchestra libraries around – most of them equipped with tailor-made mixing options of their own.

But when it comes to price, neither a seven-hundred-dollar VST library nor a plugin pack of similar cost are sensible choices for hobbyists. Using freeware plugins then again is: there are tons of different mixing freeware – some of them of excellent quality – around.

If you take a look around at any professional studio, you understand why a hundred-dollar plug-in does not sound peculiar: everything else there is even more expensive. But when it comes to bedroom studios, this is usually not the case. The most valuable thing for hobbyists is using common sense, and at least mine says no when someone tries to sell me fifty megabytes of code for 100 dollars.