Instrument Expansion Pack Upgrade Offer Worth It?

[Chingy]

Hello,

Long-time Logic Pro user here - going to get PT9 most likely once the Mbox 3 Pro comes out. There is an upgrade offer for the Instrument Expansion Pack for $249 going on and I wanted to check if it was worth it?

In terms of what they offer and what I currently own:
Structure - Kontakt / Battery
Strike - Addictive Drums / Battery
Velvet - currently no true replacement, PianoTeq has some electric pianos
Transfuser - currently no true replacement, might be looking into FXpansion's Geist
Hybrid - Lots of software synths and an Access Virus TI

Are the instruments in this pack worth it based on what I already have?

Thanks for the help!

[wizprodux]

Do it!

[tonepad]

I'm Not so keen on the exp pack compared to what u already have. For instance I've had Strike from day one and I do not like it... Sounds great but a royal pain to use... I finally went with Superior drums 2 and dig it. I've always like the demo of Addictive drums too which is also way easier to use vs. Strike. So just on that alone I'd pass on the exp pack.

[Chingy]

Originally Posted by wizprodux

Do it!

Care to elaborate why? :) What are the benefits / good things about the expansion pack based on what I already own?

Thanks!

[carlone]

For $299 I'd get it (I got it for a lot more).
All the AIR instruments work much better with Pro Tools than most any of the others on your list.

Once you get used to Strike (didn't take me long) it can be a very useable drum kit and it's easy to program variation simply using the mod wheel.

Velvet is great (alone worth more than the $299).

[sunburst79]

Well If you opt for the Expansion Pack you could view the 200.00 saved as dropping your PT9 upgrade price to 49.00 - thats one way of looking at it.

Velvet makes me smile every time I use it. Pretty much worth it just for that IMO. The rest of the stuff is just icing on the cake.

Last I knew you could download Demos of Velvet and Hydrid so you might want to check them out before dropping the coin. The full versions of STRIKE and Structure are too large to download demos of.

[Chingy]

Originally Posted by carlone

All the AIR instruments work much better with Pro Tools than most any of the others on your list.

This is a bit concerning - could you please explain? Do the plugins I mentioned not work well in PT? How so?

[nst7]

Those plugins work fine in Protools for many people. Just make sure you have the latest updates.

I would say get it, mainly for Hybrid. It's awesome, and it's normally $249 by itself. It's a great, versatile synth, giving you lots of analog sounds, as well as more modern sounds, PPG wave type stuff, etc. I wish they would sell it for other DAW's because it's unique.

I would get it just for that, even if you never use anything else.

By the way, since you have Kontakt, I would also recommend upgrading to Komplete 7, which is also well worth it.

[msat]

Originally Posted by Chingy

Hello,

In terms of what they offer and what I currently own:
Structure - Kontakt / Battery
Strike - Addictive Drums / Battery
Velvet - currently no true replacement, PianoTeq has some electric pianos
Transfuser - currently no true replacement, might be looking into FXpansion's Geist
Hybrid - Lots of software synths and an Access Virus TI

Are the instruments in this pack worth it based on what I already have?

Thanks for the help!

NO.

Structure - might have a few nicer patches compared to Kontakt
Strike - Depends on style and I don't know addictive drums. But usualy you can never use the built in patterns for what you need. and samples sound a bit cheap.
Velvet is ok but who's using those pianos these days anyway? I'm sure you can find something similar in what you have.
Transfuser - has a few nice loops. I don't know Geist, and again it depends on your style.
Hybrid is a nice analog synth but Virus is better.

[carlone]

Originally Posted by Chingy

This is a bit concerning - could you please explain? Do the plugins I mentioned not work well in PT? How so?

Avid's VI RTAS plug-ins just seem to work better in Pro Tools that some of the other plug-ins that either use RTAS wrappers or were ported from VST. Nothing to be alarmed about - Avid's states that their VI's (namely Structure) are optimized for Pro Tools.