EastWest Grammy Sale – Up to 80% Off!

[LinkedMusicians]

Save an Extra 10% with Code SAVE10 at Audio Deluxe. Check the prices between the two stores — and use the discount code — to find the best deal. Audio Deluxe also lets you earn and use their loyalty cash — Deluxe Bucks — and choose a free plugin with your purchase.

https://eastwestsounds.sjv.io/qz74Ab

https://audiodeluxe.com/collections/eastwest?sca_ref=9905602.8KvuZSaQ9x

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[fretman]

So (and I’ve mentioned this before), I have an issue with EastWest. I love their pricing and variety of ensembles, but each time I’ve used them I hear background noise. Granted, so far I’ve only attempted to use solo instruments in sparse arrangements and the noise is quite noticeable. I couldn’t use any of their instruments (except their Gypsy castanets, which are great). I hesitate to invest anymore into EastWest, even though I always seem to be attracted to them. I’m thinking their use case is for solo instruments to be part of the full orchestra thing going on which would bury the background noise.

On the other hand, I’m getting the gist that professional composers don’t use EastWest but more expensive packages from the likes of Cinesamples, Spitfire, or Orchestral Tools (I’m a big fan of Marc Jovani’s tips). So maybe I should cut my losses and re-approach all this? Do those other products have noticeable background noise, too?

On the 3rd hand, I’m currently just a casual orchestral user. I’m a wanna be orchestral composer but, so far, haven’t put in the effort to learn to do that well. It’s a dream of mine. But having a bad experience with Eastwest so far, I hesitate to pursue that dream with them.

Does anyone have any thoughts or insights on this?

(Peter, feel free to move this to another topic/thread if it makes more sense over there).

 

Studio One, Windows, RME UFX, Yamaha MSP7

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[LinkedMusicians]

@fretman I think those are really helpful insights. They also could be useful in a section I’m contemplating adding that lets us review developers, but for now, it makes sense to have it here (plus, the tool we use to break off comments from threads is presently not working).

I personally don’t have much experience with EastWest libraries. I only own a couple of their libraries. But the point of LM is for us to honestly share our thoughts, experiences, and opinions, and I think you’ve done that very well here. I think your experience and concerns are well expressed and add value.

I’m thinking that my friend @thor — who composes music for video games — might have some insights  on this topic.

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1

[lang]

With the recent news of Native Instruments (NI) entering preliminary insolvency in Germany, I’ve become increasingly cautious about developers with high fixed assets. Personally, I think we should be careful about investing heavily in EastWest and VSL right now.

My reasoning is based on what looks like a desperate push for cash flow to offset their massive studio overhead:

The Studio Liability: Maintaining legendary spaces like EastWest Studios and Synchron Stage is a huge financial burden. In a post-NI insolvency market, these high burn rates are a major red flag.
EastWest’s Price Spiral: Their constant “all-time low” sales suggest a prioritize on immediate cash flow over long-term brand value.
VSL’s Aggressive Update Fees: I’m particularly concerned about VSL’s recent monetization strategy. They seem to be repeatedly charging existing users significant fees—often well over €100—for “updates” to their legacy products and entry-level libraries (such as the Smart and Big Bang series). It feels like they are squeezing their loyal install base, including those on “affordable” tiers, for substantial cash repeatedly, possibly to fund the maintenance of the Synchron Stage.

If a platform giant like NI is failing, can these high-overhead developers survive without constantly squeezing their customers? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

4

[LinkedMusicians]

On lang said

With the recent news of Native Instruments (NI) entering preliminary insolvency in Germany, I’ve become increasingly cautious about developers with high fixed assets. Personally, I think we should be careful about investing heavily in EastWest and VSL right now.

My reasoning is based on what looks like a desperate push for cash flow to offset their massive studio overhead:

The Studio Liability: Maintaining legendary spaces like EastWest Studios and Synchron Stage is a huge financial burden. In a post-NI insolvency market, these high burn rates are a major red flag.
EastWest’s Price Spiral: Their constant “all-time low” sales suggest a prioritize on immediate cash flow over long-term brand value.
VSL’s Aggressive Update Fees: I’m particularly concerned about VSL’s recent monetization strategy. They seem to be repeatedly charging existing users significant fees—often well over €100—for “updates” to their legacy products and entry-level libraries (such as the Smart and Big Bang series). It feels like they are squeezing their loyal install base, including those on “affordable” tiers, for substantial cash repeatedly, possibly to fund the maintenance of the Synchron Stage.

If a platform giant like NI is failing, can these high-overhead developers survive without constantly squeezing their customers? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You raise some very good and strategic points.

There have been major disruptions in the industry, largely due to a massive drop in the pricing of pro-level sample libraries and effects plugins, which has dramatically lowered margins for developers (whereas hardware makers have seen a drop in demand). Combined with the fact that even the companies we consider major players in the sample developer space are small so we don’t even know whether they’re in the black or in the red, and it makes it very difficult to navigate these times. Because of that, unlike large public companies, we don’t know the financial conditions of these companies; consequently, we’re flying blind to a large extent when making large purchases from developers.

One might see the safest strategy is to go with the larger players with parent companies with deeper pockets (e.g., Spitfire). However, I still don’t think that’s enough to ensure stability, as parent companies may lack patience when an acquired company begins performing poorly, whereas a founder may be a lot more likely to stay committed and maintain a long-term perspective.

I think the massive drop in the pricing of sample libraries is major disruption for the industry and it certainly can cause shakeups in the industry. Sample and effects plugin developers have seen their margins shrink dramatically in recent years. As even the larger players, like NI, are not large businesses (they’re literally a small business by US standards), it’s pretty difficult to know what kind of financial shape these companies are in. I don’t think there is any clear answer for how to navigate these times. But seeing any company go into bankruptcy/insolvency proceedings does give one pause and consider what happens if a product we depend on — or the activation we depend on — stops working. Now, I don’t think that’s going to happen with NI/Kontakt — and if there is an activation issue, it won’t be permanent — because Kontakt is so popular and has such a large ecosystem that it’s a very valuable asset. But I can absolutely see that more niche product lines from NI will likely be casualties.

As far as the state of EastWest, I have no idea. I know that since I posted about NI, a popular developer emailed me to thank me for the posts. Developers are, rightfully, concerned, but most are unlikely to want to publicly comment because they have concerns and they know that their customer base has concerns too. Kontakt developers know to tread carefully at this time.

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5

[jude77]

Peter, your insight into issues like these are invaluable to the rest of us. I had assumed that most of the major players (NI, VSL, OTS etc) were fairly large stable businesses.  More and more I’m starting to see that many are small and maybe only one person, or a small group of people.

As to the whole Kontakt news, I wish NI would put out a public statement.  Does their silence say anything to you one way or the other?

2

[LinkedMusicians]

On jude77 said

Peter, your insight into issues like these are invaluable to the rest of us. I had assumed that most of the major players (NI, VSL, OTS etc) were fairly large stable businesses.  More and more I’m starting to see that many are small and maybe only one person, or a small group of people.

As to the whole Kontakt news, I wish NI would put out a public statement.  Does their silence say anything to you one way or the other?

Except now every AI tool has figured out my identity. Seriously. I wanted to keep that from search and AI, but I see that AI tools hadn’t done that.

The silence conveys nothing special. Consider that the German court has appointed Dr. Torsten Martini, he’s from a law firm, to oversee all of this. He determines what he believes is the best way forward for Native Instruments. It could be selling off all of the parts of the company to other companies or just selling off some parts and continuing operation of the other ones. That assessment takes time. He’s also tasked with ensuring the day-to-day operations continue as smoothly as possible, restructuring the organization, and handling legal obligations.

I’m sure that NI will be making a public statement soon to attempt to ease customer concerns. They are most likely going to communicate to parrtners — including developers and retail partners — and then channel partners, including their various retail distributors next, and then communicate out to the public. Although I don’t know how transparent they’ll be. But I would expect a public statement within the next couple of days.

FREE: Kontakt Libraries, Synth Presets Loops & Sound FX

TOOLS: Mixing Problem Solver, Songwriter's Toolbox, , QuickGuides, Gear Reviews, Mags & Podcasts 

2

[fretman]

This deal has another 24 hrs left to it. I’m still tempted by the pop brass. The best deals at the moment appear to be (in ascending price for me):

• AudioDeluxe use code “Save10” expires TODAY: $134 – deluxe bucks
• JRRShop use code “forum”: $133
• PluginBoutique w/free plugin (FireEQ today, maybe something else tomorrow?): $149
• BestService earns 4.47 BestCoin: $149 – existing BestCoin

 

 

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by LinkedMusicians.

Studio One, Windows, RME UFX, Yamaha MSP7

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