2022 Black Friday Deals

[jim1960]

Leapwing Audio is offering 40% discounts on their plugins. I own StageOne, their width and depth plugin, and I think it's fantastic.

Warren Huart did a review of some of their plugins.

[jim1960]

SoundToys has plugin prices reduced up to 80%. Their much loved EchoBoy plugin is marked down to $49. Many would argue it's the best delay plugin out there.

[gmel555]

Jim, thanks for your responses to my question re mics. I hadn't run across the mini K47 before but after a quick dive on them they are kinda interesting.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by gmel555

Jim, thanks for your responses to my question re mics. I hadn't run across the mini K47 before but after a quick dive on them they are kinda interesting.

You're welcome. I have no experience with them but if you reach out to DupleMeter and Rudy4, I'm sure they'd share their experience with that mic.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by gmel555

Those who have shopped Black Friday for studio gear in the past...have you seen price breaks in recent years for mid & mid-upper level microphones? In the past week or two I saw 10% off Austrian Audio deals which came & went. There's also 10% off Pearlman & AEA, and discounts on some Lauten, etc.. Based on recent years should I expect more deals are coming? THX.

With the exception of the ADK 3-Zigma line of SDCs, it doesn't seem that there are ever any significant deals on the mics I've been looking for. In fact, with recent component shortages new mics Ive been searching for haven't been overly available and used ones were at crazy prices. So, I gave up looking for a great deal and got a new pair of Senn MKH30 figure-8 mics for just a bit under normal street price.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

With the exception of the ADK 3-Zigma line of SDCs, it doesn't seem that there are ever any significant deals on the mics I've been looking for. In fact, with recent component shortages new mics Ive been searching for haven't been overly available and used ones were at crazy prices. So, I gave up looking for a great deal and got a new pair of Senn MKH30 figure-8 mics for just a bit under normal street price.

A tip, for what it’s worth…
Creating a relationship with someone at one of the bigger sellers can result in good deals anytime of the year. For example, I make quite a few purchases from Vintage King and I purposely only deal with one person there.

I know some people are uncomfortable asking for a deal but it’s worth getting over that discomfort. For example, about a year and a half ago, I decided to sell my UA X16 and move to an Avid Carbon. One dilemma with that move would be going from 16 channels on the X16 to just 8 on the Carbon, so I decided to also purchase a MOTU 16A at the same time. That would bring an additional 16 channels bringing up to 24. Sweet.

I called my guy at VK and asked him to put together a package for me. He did and what should have cost me $5969 wound up costing me $4923. That’s more than a thousand dollars that stays in my pocket.

Now there’s not always room to haggle. Some products have more wiggle room than others, but if you don’t ask, the store will always be happy to charge you full price.

As a general rule, I tend to not ask for discounts on the small things but when I’m making a big purchase, I ask every time and I expect to save 10-20% when I do and, because I’ve created a good friendly relationship with that one person at VK, I don’t really have to fight for the discount. He’s happy to give it to me and get a nice easy sale.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

it doesn't seem that there are ever any significant deals on the mics I've been looking for. In fact, with recent component shortages new mics Ive been searching for haven't been overly available and used ones were at crazy prices.

There were some great deals before the pandemic, that I wished I had not procrastinated on. I thought those deals would always be there. As they had come around on Black Friday for two years in a row. With the shortage of parts, labor, and price increases those days are gone. Lesson learned. If you see something you want at a great price don't wait.

Originally Posted by jim1960

A tip, for what it’s worth…
Creating a relationship with someone at one of the bigger sellers can result in good deals anytime of the year. For example, I make quite a few purchases from Vintage King and I purposely only deal with one person there.

I know some people are uncomfortable asking for a deal but it’s worth getting over that discomfort.

Now there’s not always room to haggle. Some products have more wiggle room than others, but if you don’t ask, the store will always be happy to charge you full price.

I’m making a big purchase, I ask every time and I expect to save 10-20% when

Jim1960 is so very right (as usual I might add). It does no harm to ask politely.
I have not bought that much stuff, but I have asked very politely and gotten a 10% to 15% on all of the 4 brand new big ticket items that I have ever purchased. ( Items that you are not suppose to get any discounts on=but I did). And that was from Three different sellers.

If you also develop a good relationship with the product company you are interested in...(.by asking questions to make sure that it is the product you want)= Well, you might just be surprised...they might tell you of a dealer that has too much inventory and can offer a better discount that normal. Sometimes the company itself offers a direct sale at a lower price. That does not happen very often as their existence depends upon their dealers. So supporting their dealers is mandatory. But on rare occasion a company will offer you a direct purchase. I don't ask,...they just offer to help in some very rare instances.

Point being...if you do not seek, you will not find. No harm in seeking. Often it is in the way you ask, using politeness & respect.

Some companies offer Discounts to first time purchasers. Soundpure offers up to $200 off your first purchase. That was very helpful for one of my purchases.

[jim1960]

I forgot to mention that if anyone wants me to connect them with my guy at VK, I'm happy to do it and get the ball rolling for you. Just PM me and I'll pass along his name and number.

Edit: So this is embarrassing. I sent someone to my guy at VK only to find out my guy left VK. It must have been recently because I bought something from him only 6-8 weeks ago.

[jim1960]

Modartt Pianoteq is on sale for 25% off. Pianoteq is hands down my favorite piano software. The pianos are incredibly realistic and very much customizable. Another big bonus that because the pianos are physically modeled rather than sampled, they are extremely easy on the cpu. For anyone looking for a brighter pop/rock sound, the K2 is the one you'd want.

Customizability (not sure that's a word) depends on the level you buy. Here's a chart that explains the difference.


Here's a very indepth review...

[jim1960]

For any EZ Drummer users in the group, you can upgrade to EZ Drummer 3 (from EZ1 or EZ2) for $99 over at Best Service.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by gmel555

Jim, thanks for your responses to my question re mics. I hadn't run across the mini K47 before but after a quick dive on them they are kinda interesting.

Just a quick note to say that the Roswell Mini K47 is the mic that I keep set up for anytime I want to record. I don't have a ton of LDCs, but the Mini K47 is the most musical LDC that I own.

A couple of its high points; it doesn't have that upper end peakiness that's almost the defining feature of the sub-$300 LDC mics in general, and you can use it without needing to load it in a shock mount every time you use it. There's something about the way Roswell mounts the capsule that makes it a whole lot less prone to transferring any bumps to the capsule. A pop filter is still necessary...

It just works and nothing stands out. Some might say it's "boring", but that's not how I describe it. I think of it as being honest.

If I ever get around to doing any serious recording (my intention, of course!) I'll use the Mini K-47.

I'd love to try some of Roswell's other offerings, but I'm a bit on the "frugal" side.

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by jim1960

...if anyone wants me to connect them with my guy at VK....Just PM me and I'll pass along his name and number.

PM sent, thanks. (and thanks to Rudy as well!)
Glenn

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

I just ordered this from Sweetwater:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...rolled-plug-in

Thanks for the tip, so did I!

[Cocobolo Kid]

Pianoteq is my favorite piano software too Jim, and by a long shot. I use several of the Pianoteq pianos, and they are all fantastic. I have a Kawai VPC1 88-key Virtual Piano Controller that works great with Pianoteq.

Celemony has some fantastic prices on Melodyne right now. I just upgraded to Melodyne Studio 5 for only $49. My last update cost $149.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Cocobolo Kid

Pianoteq is my favorite piano software too Jim, and by a long shot. I use several of the Pianoteq pianos, and they are all fantastic. I have a Kawai VPC1 88-key Virtual Piano Controller that works great with Pianoteq.

Celemony has some fantastic prices on Melodyne right now. I just upgraded to Melodyne Studio 5 for only $49. My last update cost $149.

The Kawai is very nice. I have an M-Audio Hammer 88. No bells and whistles to speak of but the keys are full-sized, weighted, and solid as a rock. A buddy of mine whose been a keyboardist for 30+ years told me my Hammer 88 feels as close to a real piano as he's ever played. He also went out and bought Pianoteq after I let him play around with mine for a while.

Thanks for the heads-up about the Celemony sale. I'll make a post.