Confused by plugin pricing (Brainworx)

[Random Guitarist]

I had/have a UAD voucher burning a hole in my virtual pocket and was tempted by the bx Masterdesk plug-in. It looked like it could be very useful for slapping lipstick on demos etc.

Because I have recently upgraded my music PC I also thought it would be good to check out the native equivalent. My jaw dropped when I found an newer native version was a third of the price of the UAD one.

What goes on?

And, are these BX plugins any good? The 3 for $50 deal seems suspiciously cheap?

Oh, and the Masterdesk plugin is great for the intended purpose. Not too many controls and easy to slap on a demo.

[Zukan]

PA always run sales and I have a ton of their plugins and some are top draw. This is the norm nowadays. You have to keep your eye on all the regularly run promos/sales and for a change keep the 'subscribe to our newsletter for deals etc' box ticked when creating an account/buying.

[Wonks]

BX are very good. I have quite a few. Not always the most intuitive interfaces, so read the documentation.

Native and UAD version of plugs generally start off at similar prices, but UAD tend to keep the price the same (might be a license condition) whilst the native version often comes down in price as time goes by, plus the normal sales and bundle offers.

Of course you should never buy any UAD plug outside of a sale/offer.

[Drew Stephenson]

Of course you should never buy any plug outside of a sale/offer.

FTFY

[Kwackman]

Of course you should never buy any plug outside of a sale/offer.

FTFY

True, (with the possible exception of Valhalla plug-ins which are seldom (if ever) discounted, but are at a decent price anyway) and as the learned Zukan said, sign up with Plug-in alliance to receive emails of their offers. You'll get an email everyday, at least!

[Drew Stephenson]

True, (with the possible exception of Valhalla plug-ins which are seldom (if ever) discounted, but are at a decent price anyway)

Also true, and this applies to TDR as well I reckon.

[Random Guitarist]

Thanks all, much appreciated, and no I have not bought a full price UAD plug-in in a very long time.

I do like the way I can put more of my existing UAD plug-ins into native processing now. Having more space for things like Ocean Way and capital chambers plugs on the dsp cards is nice.

But cheap decent plugins are nice too.

[muzines]

I would not buy any Brainworx/PA plugin on the UA platform that is available natively, personally, as you're just paying a lot more for the same code. All of that stuff on the UAD platform is old now, and can be had in PA sales for peanuts, or often free.

If you want Masterdesk, you can sign up with a PA account, and you'll get the original native version free. You can pick up the newer versions, if you want, for probably £10 or so maximum if you watch their regular/permanent sales.

PA stuff ranges from old/OK through to pretty good, and I have a bunch of them. All except the super new stuff (say, the last 6 or so plugins they released) can be had for around $30 or less, so if you take your time, you can easily grab the ones you're interested in inexpensively.

[sonics]

The current sale is yet another example of how little we now pay for excellent software. For example I notice that there is a choice of six channel strips in the sale. Any one of them (maybe two?) would be enough for an engineer. But six? And then there are dozens of other great tools. A golden age of software, IMO.

I've been using PA/Brainworx since the early days. Great tools.

[Random Guitarist]

Revisiting this thread to say I am a convert to some of the Brainworx plugins.

In particular I am really enjoying the bx_console amek strip.
It's feels so intuitive to use and I seem to be able to pull out a nice result very quickly. I bought a few different bx_consoles in an offer, but I have not got past this one yet.

Definitely my buy of the year so far.

[Drew Stephenson]

Yep, I bought their Console N a while back and it's now on pretty much every channel of every mix.

[muzines]

I like the PA channel strips too - faves are the SSJ 9000J, Lindell 80 and 50...

[tea for two]

I was just looking at Brainworx Amek 9099 emulation of Rupert Neve designed Amek 9098i Master Console.
Was $499 now $29.99.
All I can think of is they recouped their development costs so now can sell it at such a discount.
I couldn't afford it at $499.
I purchased all my plugins at sale special offers.

[muzines]

Was $499 now $29.99.
All I can think of is they recouped their development costs so now can sell it at such a discount.

It sounds like you're not familiar with how PA works. Ignore the full prices, they are only there to make the sale prices more attractive. Brand new plugins are usually in the $100 to $150 range (les loyalty vouchers), and everything makes it's way down to the usual sale prices of $30, sometimes less.

On top of that, there are loyalty vouchers you get once you start purchasing which takes the prices down further.

The Amek channel strip is nice, but it's worth $30, their usual sale price, which can really be regarded as their "normal" price (PA basically have almost constant sales), and don't pay more than that for it.

No one looks at PA list prices, they are meaningless.

[tea for two]

Was $499 now $29.99.
All I can think of is they recouped their development costs so now can sell it at such a discount.

It sounds like you're not familiar with how PA works.
No one looks at PA list prices, they are meaningless.

Aaaah
I'm just not familiar lol.

[sonics]

And just when Waves announces yet another "Buy 2, get 2 free" deal PA counters with "Buy 2, get 1 free". It's all a game to sell us software we know we don't really need!

[Random Guitarist]

It's all a game to sell us software we know we don't really need!

Amen to that, it's so easy to think that I should pause on the current project and evaluate the other console emulations to pick the 'best'. Stupid, because we need to finish the current project, but easy.

[Martin Walker]

Like everyone else here, I've never bought a Plugin Alliance plug-in at its almost laughable 'list' price.

Looking at the Plugin Allliance folder on my PC, it currently contains 45 items (all bought at sale prices)), and frankly I've given up looking at their sale items (arriving by email every single day), apart from waiting for a few newer releases to drop to £29.99 from several hundred pounds.

[sonics]

Their system has been easy to "work" from the start. The vouchers and specials can often be combined so plugins cost nothing! My target price is a minimum 90% discount. They're mostly excellent tools, although some are rather subtle and/or superfluous IMO!