billf wrote:BobK wrote:For what it's worth, the Blue Tubes plugs got consistently good reviews - none of the writers trashed them like the guys over at Gearslutz did.
I don't know if it makes a difference, but the Gearslutz comments are from 2004, so maybe the Blue Tubes have improved since then?
Yes, they did. Those comments probably refer to the v1 or v 2of the Blue Tubes stuff. I have both the ver 2 and the ver 3 Blue Tubes plugs, and the v3 is a big improvement. So, yes, maybe those 2004 comments are about the prior versions.
Let me say, FWIW, that the EQ and dynamics plugs in Blue Tubes bundle are a solid "good - very good," and they use little cpu. Some are better than others, but there's many to chose from. But none had "wow" factor for me, like the newer Analog Mixing Tools and British Bundle plugs did when I demoed them last night.
Let's not forget the other plugs in this Producer Pack II bundle other than the Blue Tubes plugs. I also echo the sentiment expressed in another thread, for example, that the E Tube Tape Warmer (part of the Essential Bundle group of Nomad plugs) is really really great too.
And, the non-eq/dynamics plugs in the Blue Tubes bundle are really great -- Oilcan Echo is really great, as are the Chorus and Phaser.
Also, the Analog Signature plugs are pretty good, though not great, and for me have been a bit difficult to master getting quick good sound from. Have had to wrestle a bit more with those.
This would be a total no-brainer for me, IF I didn't already have all these plugs from my prior purchase from dontcrack in 12/09, except for the newer ones -- i.e., Pulse-Tec, Analog Mixing Tools, British Bundle, and MTone Eqs. So for me the decisions is whether to pay the $249 for these new ones -- still a very good value, but not as uber compelling as would be if I didn't have any of these.
My two-word recommendation to those who don't have any of these plugs yet and are wondering about this dontcrack special -- GET IT.