# IK Multimedie TrackS group buy vs Soundtoys 5



## cpaf (Aug 22, 2019)

Hi all, intermediate here looking to upgrade for more flexible software tools.

I'm considering either getting 8 plugins from IK Multimedia with their group buy at 150 dollars or getting the Soundtoys 5 Academic Bundle for 150 dollars.

I will use it for sound design, mixing and mastering all kinds of music and game audio.

I have Komplete 12 Ultimate and I don't feel it offers many effects (except replica xt) and mixing/mastering tools I will want to use in the long run. I do like guitar rig though. I use Cubase 10 Pro at the moment, but sometimes work in Live, PT and Reaper so that is why I don't use the plugins in Cubase much.

I own Eventide Blackhole which is fantastic and Izotope essential versions of neutron 3, ozone 8, nectar and Trash 2.

Now i am quite hesistant to Soundtoys because of the UI, it seems small, hard to use and read from - its all very black. But I know that many of the plugins are industry standard and awesome for sound design. What are your experience?

I am not that familiar with IK Multimedia and the plugins they offer but it is great value with the group buy - any recommendations?

Thoughts on which way a to go?

Much appreciated!


----------



## gamma-ut (Aug 22, 2019)

cpaf said:


> I have Komplete 12 Ultimate and I don't feel it offers many effects (except replica xt) and mixing/mastering tools I will want to use in the long run.



Why not? From a sound-design perspective, Molekular has a lot going for it. K12 added a bunch of more focused effects like Phasis that are more in line with what Soundtoys offers. There's a lot to like in things like Echoboy, but Replika XT does most if not all of it.

Crystallizer is perhaps the one thing that's not represented in K12U, though I've probably forgotten something obvious that's in Guitar Rig.

IK doesn't really do a lot of sound-design stuff: they are mostly mixing tools for EQ and compression. 

If you're already hesitant about Soundtoys from a UI perspective, then don't stress about buying it. You might as well leave it for now as there will almost certainly be a Black Friday sale on the bundle coming up.


----------



## X-Bassist (Aug 22, 2019)

Would def recommend SoundToys 5 over many others that I would recommend before 1K. Modo bass is the only thing from them that’s worth it’s price, even at discount. Where SoundToys sounds great (more warm and analog sounding that most others) and has an amazing set of presets with each plugin. Unlike what Gamma said above, I don’t think you can find the type of presets or the sound quility you get from ST. It’s like comparing U-He or Omnisphere to many other cheaper VI synths, the quality of the sound and what they do with it is a cut above. Together the Soundtoys collection are worth much more than the bundle price. And $150 is an amazing deal. Go for it before the price changes.


----------



## jtnyc (Aug 22, 2019)

Soundtoys 5 is great. There is so much there and at $150, it’s a steal for sure. I find the UI’s are just fine to work with. My experience with IK was with Amplitube and the in app marketing they do there was unacceptable to me, on top of the fact that I had better amp sims, so I abandoned using it. I have no experience with their mixing plugins, but have stayed away due to my bad experience with Amplitube. I use mostly Fabfilter for eq, compression, limiting type stuff and Soundtoys for delay, modulation stuff. Soundtoys also has great channel, tube, saturation plugs that get used all the time as well. With all that said, I do use the compressors from K12U from time to time as well as the Logic compressor. 

If your looking for mostly design effects Soundtoys is the way to go IMO


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 22, 2019)

I personally think that this Group Buy is not the best deal IK offers. Rather than get 8 plugins for the price of one, I think it's better to wait for a sale on T-RackS and then get 38 processors for $199. (I'm not sure what this would be for a student.) 

When you use IK presets for T-RackS and Amplitude (and they give out a lot of free ones by top producers) on T-RackS or Amplitude, many don't work unless you have ALL of them. The best deal with IK is their Total Studio, as that gets you not just Amplitude MAX but a lot of stuff that's not included in that. I'm waiting for Total Studio 3. It's kind of like Komplete for IK. 

I don't think that Soundtoys is the same as any set of plugins. I don't see overlap. They make very unique high-quality tools. You should try their free demo and see for yourself whether they are suited to the kind of music you make.

IK stuff is largely emulations of famous analog gear like EQs and compressors, etc. But they have some interesting mastering tools (like ONE) and their reverbs are really under-rated. You can demo all of them for free too.


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 22, 2019)

Tiger's take on the IK deal is spot-on. If I had to guess, I'd say a good chunk of income IK makes comes from people buying the same gear twice... the first time as an individual product, and then later in a MAX bundle. (Been there, done that.)

A group buy like the one they're running now is perfect for people who are only interested in a few select processors or amp collections, and are certain they won't need or want anything else IK sells. But if you want the very best deal, buy their various MAX bundles when they go on sale. You'll get many times more product for the same money.


----------



## GtrString (Aug 22, 2019)

I use the ampsims and the processors from IK as well as the Soundtoys bundle. Both are really great. To me, the IK stuff rivals Universal Audio’s offerings, only much cheaper. A bargain if you dont run an UA interface. Soundtoys are more specific tools, but the presets are great, and everything sounds great. You can’t go wrong with any of them, imo.


----------



## markd (Aug 22, 2019)

I mainly use T-Racks plug-ins for mixing and mastering. Their stuff sounds great to my ears - very warm, full and musical. Their GUIs are very easy to work with too. Their reverbs and compressors are especially nice. Keep in mind though, these two things:

1) their plug-ins are NOT really geared towards sound-design
2) their compressors don't support side-chaining (that might not be an issue for you)


----------



## Dewdman42 (Aug 22, 2019)

you might be right. Well anyway I did take the bait and basically bought one Amplitube collection and will end up with 8. Not a bad deal. It would have cost a little more to buy the Amplitube Max package which doesn't even include all the collections I got...but does include a few models that aren't in any of those collections...but in my view...still a decent deal and its splitting hairs about whether it would make sense to wait for Amplitube Max to go on sale. The current group buy is a good value...if you are wanting some IK stuff..

that being said, I think soundtoys is well known for sound quality. I don't use any of their stuff, but I know they are very well regarded by audio pros.

Despite all the annoying marketing ploys that Ik does.....ie..jampoints, gear credits...clever sales...etc.. somehow I have ended up with a lot of their stuff over the years...I think they make good stuff also in their own way. But it is true that they are very good at selling.


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 22, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> It would have cost a little more to buy the Amplitube Max package which doesn't even include all the collections I got...but does include a few models that aren't in any of those collections...



The current Amplitube MAX 4 only includes the plugins that have been released when it came out, which was some time ago. But when Amplitube MAX 5 comes out, it will include most or all of the stuff that came out since Amplitube MAX 4. So literally I think at some point you'll be able to get every Amplitube plugin IK sells for $100 more than this Group Buy. Maybe even some stuff that's not available yet like the new Brian May. 

But it is true that the Group Buy allows you to spread out over all IK products, not just one MAX bundle, and it has stuff like Lurssen and ARC. If you know exactly what you want, the Group Buy might make good sense. 

I've wanted Amplitube MAX and a lot of other IK products like Modo Bass, SampleTank 4, Modo Drum, Syntronik Deluxe, etc. but I'm waiting for Total Studio 3 to come out and go on sale. That's the IK Deal of Deals--but it only makes sense if you hold off on buying their stuff when it's released.


----------



## GtrString (Aug 22, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> y But it is true that they are very good at selling.



Actually, I think they suck at selling. Their system is full of hoops and unneccesary stuff noone cares about. Like the jam points. I have about 200, but it is still cheaper to buy their stuff at audiodeluxe, so I cant use it. Their registration manager and "custom shop" is archaic compared to NI and Toontrack, but their software sounds very good despite all of that. Their sales communication sounds like they target teenagers, so I think if they fired their sales dept., ironed things out and made some user friendly interfaces, that many more could discover the qualities of their software..


----------



## Dewdman42 (Aug 22, 2019)

hey I didn't say I "like" their sales process. I said they are good at it. Somehow I ended up with a lot of IK plugins, only 30% of which I ever use...and I'm as annoyed as your or anybody about their methods...but frankly...I think they are good at setting the sales prices just right...and so forth so that they basically never have anything such as a "no brainer" price on anything. Its also some kind of compromise..you get a good deal only if you have jam points, etc.. way too complicated, no argument...but still...that is good sales honestly if its generating them revenue.


----------



## Diablo IV (Aug 23, 2019)

Custom shop is your friend you can test anything IK for 2 days


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 23, 2019)

Diablo3 said:


> Custom shop is your friend you can test anything IK for 2 days



Yes. IK makes it really easy to demo their plugins.

The reason I haven't (yet) purchased the Soundtoys Bundle is that they only let you demo the entire bundle in one go. I downloaded the set, and got busy, and soon my demo time was over. It's a lot to expect that you can put 21 plugins through their paces at once, particularly ones as singular as the ones Soundtoys make.

Most of the very best plugin developers allow demos of their single plugins.


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 23, 2019)

There's something fishy going on. I was looking at the IK group buy page, and it reported about 30 participants were needed yet to reach the highest tier. After a few minutes of browsing their website, I noticed the counter had jumped to 1,999 -- only one more perticipant was needed to hit the tier. So I joined the group buy, but the counter didn't change. Over a half-hour later, it's still stuck at 1,999. Hmmmmm.....


----------



## Dewdman42 (Aug 23, 2019)

its been sitting just under 2000 all day. I think psychologically people just are waiting for it to hit 2000. IK should bump it by one and I bet a bunch of people will pull the trigger. It will happen today anyway.


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 23, 2019)

I think it's a deceptive marketing ploy to get people to think they're going to be the 2,000th participant. Even though the counter said 1,999 when I joined, I'm pretty sure I was more likely participant #1,972 or something like that. I would have joined either way, but this marketing ploy is annoying because I can't download all my free products at one time. I'll have to go back at a later time -- after the counter pushes past 1,999 -- to download my 7th free product.

An hour later, it's still sitting at 1,999. They probably have more like 2,100 participants by now.


----------



## Dewdman42 (Aug 23, 2019)

eh..I think you're making more out of it then it really is. probably just some internal web programming that is still catching up. I ordered my group buy before they added the extra add-on and I've been waiting two days to pick the Brian May pack. It'll come..


----------



## Eckoes (Aug 23, 2019)

OP I have both Komplete 12U and the entire Soundtoys bundle.

Don’t get me wrong, Soundtoys is incredible, but I think you can get most of what you need from the included FX in Komplete. 

Then again, $150 is a great deal for the ST bundle.


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 23, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> eh..I think you're making more out of it then it really is. probably just some internal web programming that is still catching up.



I'm not concerned about not receiving the 7th freebie. It will show up under my account eventually. I just don't like being needlessly inconvenienced so that IK can enjoy a burst of sales. The counter has been stuck at 1,999 for over two hours now. In my book, that's a deceptive practice. I would never in a million years operate my business that way. (Sorry... didn't meant to derail the topic!)


----------



## emid (Aug 24, 2019)

IK is miles away from ST to my ears. By using ST you will find "quality" in your mixes and from sound design perspective - top notched like everyone said. Modo and now IK's new drums are something I would always consider to buy. However, I am uninstalling demo of Amplitube. Not my cup of tea. Go for ST if you ask me; the deal is really good.


----------

