
MEMBER BENEFITS INCLUDE:
- FREE Giveaways
- Members' Only Content
- Email Alerts for New Deals & Freebies
- Input on New Site Features
![]() |
| 1. Click on settings in the top right menu. 2. Click on your Account Settings in the middle of the screen. 3. Click the link for the Forum Digest. 4. Select any Forum Daily Digests you want to receive. |
Forums › DEALS › Virtual & Physical Music Gear Deals › All Audio Plugin Deals in One Spot – Which Do You Think Are the Best?
I already own The Orchestra (full version) and think it’s fantastic, but The Orchestra Essentials for $29 and EastWest Symphonic Orchestra for $59 get my pick for the best Black Friday deals of the bunch from Audio Plugin Deals Black Friday sale.
What do you think are the best deals of the bunch?
https://audioplugin.deals/ref/384/
FREE: Kontakt Libraries, Synth Presets Loops & Sound FX
TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, , QuickGuides, Gear Reviews, Mags & Podcasts
Code CM2025 to get an extra 15% just for today
https://audioplugin.deals/apd-shop-cheat-sheet-2025/ref/384/
The code didn’t work e.g. with Harmony Bloom, so I suppose it’s only for this selection, which is still a majority. Drops down MonkeyC Rewind to $21.
@mustakatu The coupon does not work with everything.
“The Cyber Monday BASE PRICE + Extra 15% Off code has been EXTENDED.
You now have until Thursday at midnight (PST) to grab these deals before they disappear.”
FREE: Kontakt Libraries, Synth Presets Loops & Sound FX
TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, , QuickGuides, Gear Reviews, Mags & Podcasts
Vivid Strings bundle at $49 + discount is a good deal.
“Sorry, coupon “CM2025″ is not applicable to selected products.”
Re: Vivid Strings
Just be mindful of this: https://linkedmusicians.com/forums/topic/apd-deal-7-vivid-strings-bundle-by-pulse-audio-49-was-249-2/#post-1000039756
@linkedmusicians Just noticed your remark. Thanks, I didn’t know about that prohibition. I’m aware how it’s there & I don’t have any stake. It’s just that there’s so much info in there, being how many people are conversing there. Also, personally, I had some interests on this library at the beginning (when it started with its first section), so I’m sharing my final feeling of this library.
Of course, looking at the monetary amount alone (before & after), it’s a deal all right.
@swijaya It’s fine to summarize what the poster stated. As I recall is was that the Vivid Strings library wasn’t very good, right? A warning not to buy it.
BTW, to cynics who wonder if I’ll shill for a retailer or sample library developer when we have affiliate links, look no further than this. When I have enough information that I don’t think a developer’s libraries or plugins are good, I won’t post them OR I’ll post them with a note sharing what I know. Of course, that’s not going to help a store sell that product, and I’ll be totally transparent that as a marketing professional, I’m well aware that my habit of being outspoken like that may end some affiliate relationships — which are the only thing really helping me pay for the site at this point. But I would rather shut this site down than be censored. If I think that a sample library or plugin isn’t good, I’m going to write that and I want every member to feel comfortable sharing that too — as long as we’re all respectful, it’s healthy and it helps people make decisions when we share our knowledge and experience, even when it’s, “Hey, I don’t think this product is really very good.”
In the case of Vivid Strings, I did consider buying one of the libraries when it was first released. But Audio Plugin Deals was so light on sharing the background of creating the sample libraries that I suspected that they’re licensing them from a developer and repackaging them. I suspected it could have been from Aria, which has a reputation for making less than good sample libraries (which is also the reason that I am hesitant to post sales for Aira stuff when APD has them and if I do post a sale for a product that I suspect or know isn’t very good, I’ll write that, and, of course, APD or any other retailer or developer doesn’t appreciate that, so it’s not great for the relationship, so I’m more prone just not to post sample libraries and plugins I think there’s strong evidence are not very good — like Aira’s string sample library). But since the Vivid Strings product line has come out, I haven’t seen much discussion or anything positive about it, so I’ve stayed away.
If anyone here has it, please share your thoughts — positive, negative, or somewhere in between. It would be valuable to get insights from a regular user as opposed to an influencer promoting products.
FREE: Kontakt Libraries, Synth Presets Loops & Sound FX
TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, , QuickGuides, Gear Reviews, Mags & Podcasts
Vivid String was created by Pulse Audio, before being sold to the current seller. It was sold by section (as it’s created), the first one was Violin 1, which made very good impression to users.
I’m not clear on what’s happened during its course, but the original developer(s) (which were very responsive & engaging) are not behind the product anymore; while the earlier sections got bug fixes & improvements along its way, latter sections didn’t have the same handling.
In summary, buyers will get mixed qualities among the string sections. If that’s acceptable, then go for it.
@swijaya Pulse Audio and Audio Plugin Deals as well as VSTBuzz, Music Software Deals and a developer I forget the name of, are all owned by the same guys.
FREE: Kontakt Libraries, Synth Presets Loops & Sound FX
TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, , QuickGuides, Gear Reviews, Mags & Podcasts
<p> @swijaya Pulse Audio and Audio Plugin Deals as well as VSTBuzz, Music Software Deals and a developer I forget the name of, are all owned by the same guys.</p>
<p>The official LinkedMusicians account</p>
<br>
It seems to me that the original Pulse Audio was once independent (but I won’t risk my neck on this).
Anyway, I still say that early-released sections have better quality/playability than the others.
<p> @swijaya Pulse Audio and Audio Plugin Deals as well as VSTBuzz, Music Software Deals and a developer I forget the name of, are all owned by the same guys.</p>
<p>The official LinkedMusicians account</p><br>
It seems to me that the original Pulse Audio was once independent (but I won’t risk my neck on this).
Anyway, I still say that early-released sections have better quality/playability than the others.
Pulse was developed by VSTBuzz. It was never independent.
This would be a clever signature if I could think of one.
“BTW, to cynics who wonder if I’ll shill for a retailer or sample library developer when we have affiliate links, look no further than this. When I have enough information that I don’t think a developer’s libraries or plugins are good, I won’t post them OR I’ll post them with a note sharing what I know. Of course, that’s not going to help a store sell that product, and I’ll be totally transparent that as a marketing professional, I’m well aware that my habit of being outspoken like that may end some affiliate relationships — which are the only thing really helping me pay for the site at this point. But I would rather shut this site down than be censored.”
That paragraph is one of the main reasons I check this site daily. Integrity seems like a shrinking commodity these days and it’s deeply refreshing to find it. A+, Peter.
swijaya is absolutely correct. Pulse’s Vivid Strings started out strong but as was mentioned, there’s a few bugs lingering and I have no faith that the current owners will iron them out. Doesn’t seem to be in their MO or DNA to do so. As people discuss on VI Control, the issues are mainly with few vibratos. There might be some other quirks as well.
However, especially at/or below $49 (individually they were $25-29 when they were released), I think it’s still peculiar enough, different enough and workable enough string library if someone already doesn’t have enough of them. Mileage may vary of course.
Just do a quick opinion/video search and know what you’re getting is “as is” without future development. I’m sure the package will be cheaper and cheaper in the future as well.