Re: U He Zebra VST VSTi V2 5 WORKiNG READ NFO
Sacha Weakland
Apples and oranges.
There are far more advanced and better sounding modulars for desktop.
Then the price with all IAP for the iOS Gadget is not far away from the macOS version where everything plus all Gadgets as AU,VST,AAX (and soon NKS) are included.
Some apps are indeed cheap if you really get the same options like their desktop counterparts.
But in general iOS apps are not really cheaper since a lot VSTs offer so much more where you would need several apps. Also you get a lot free stuff as VST which would cover a lot ground, even before you have to spend a penny.
So after some years of using and buying for all these OS and devices i see it simply like this:
You get what you paid for....sometimes more, sometimes less!
But that is also a problem. People wont pay the same for iOS apps, even if they would get the same options.
But like said, sometimes (not always) its just an illusion that iOS apps are cheap compared to plug-ins.
I know its not liked saying it here but i dont find that is a good thing at all for the music market.
I would prefer higher prices and more "pro" tools instead of all the tiny apps which can count a lot after some time too. But the app store makes the rules.....
I still vote for an own "pro" app app store.
In a nutshell, it's the app economy. Developers have to price their apps for the market they're serving if they want to sell. It's not just music apps, either. You can buy productivity apps and games in the app stores for much less than their PC/Mac equivalent.
VST Plugins can be used in professional grade DAWs on powerful computers that have none of the limitations of iOS.
Also the truth of the matter is there are many free vsts available for the desktop that are every bit as good as what you have to pay for on iOS, so the reality is that the PC world is a lot cheaper than iOS if you want it to be.
@telecharge said:
In a nutshell, it's the app economy. Developers have to price their apps for the market they're serving if they want to sell. It's not just music apps, either. You can buy productivity apps and games in the app stores for much less than their PC/Mac equivalent.
I agree. Apple "killed" it with their App Store on the mobile devices. Interestingly, on the macOS App Store many of the Big Name developers are missing, refusing to compete in that market, i guess for exactly that reason, and a refusal to pay 30% to Apple.
True, but there are no really triple AAA games on mobile platforms. I mean kind of Mass Effect. And yet some people spending more on casual fremium app games via IAP.
Oh. its a clever market......
which ones ?
I have a very good one (Creamware Scope) based on PCI cards, that does some 'better' sounds than the Model15 (if you consider general sound processing), but certainly NOT regarding that specific Moog model.
(I'm really picky with sound and didn't detect any flaws yet)
PPG in IOS can easily compete with DIVA/Zebra VSTs and (to my greatest surprise) the IOS DRC synth has a stunningly similiar tone to that DSP hardware mentioned above.
P900 f.e. (mac only). Reaktor 6 blocks (but you have to tweek yourself). Run that at 96khz.
In general there are awesome synths for iOS indeed but i still find a lot of the desktop ones much better like Dune 2, Zebra , Repro-1, Spire whatever...
You are right that the Model 15 might be the best for an analog Model 15 (i dont know how a real one should sound). But i can create the same patches with P900 which has more filters to choose and has a lot more juice in the low end with resonance full on (great for drum sounds). But it might be less "accurate" since it uses the "better" Minimoog modelled filter instead of the "thinner" Model 15 (they really loose out fast with high resonance here).
But it might be a matter of taste too since i find Diva better than most of the iOS stuff.
And its not like its a giant difference anyway....with FX its another thing. There is see a big gap in iOS.
But the other thing is that i also get all the automations, endless instances dragn drop more easy sharing of samples sources and whatever.
Of course all this could change. But i dont think so if developers cant charge more for apps in the future.
And of course there is not really a bad sounding synth these days.
A great side effect is that i will get Zebra 3 for free and maybe Repro-5 too (or for a very affordable price).
We all know that developers cant give us custom upgrade paths and other special sales, offers, bundles for loyal customers. These things are much better in the plug-in world plus that you can resell most of your stuff if you dont want it anymore. So i see it also as investment
Like said, its a total different market.
I dont care really about the OS or devices but just about developers and tools itself. I still wish i could get my favorite iOS apps for a windows multi-touch device and could buy that from the developers itself.
But like a lot developers for desktop tools dont offer iOS apps there are reasons vice versa.
In a perfect the prices would meet somewhere in the middle and i just buy from the developer and get it for all available OSs.
I also think if iOS music market should grow and apps getting more complex and getting bigger and so on we see a slowly increase in prices. Once trapped you will pay the same (or even more) at the end.
Look for all the free stuff you get for windows (and mac too of course).
But its also feels sometimes indeed weird that you have to pay much more for the same.
So sometimes the plug-in world is cheaper, sometimes iOS and sometimes they are equal.
But from things developers posted here it doesnt seems they sell 100 times more (maybe just the famous one).
Otherwise they could sell plug-ins for the same and get 100 times more customers.
There is no such big market yet.
Another thing is you get 100s or 1000s of patches with most plug-ins while iOS apps working around that via IAP.
At the end its all the same.
Well maybe an app that now sells under 100 copies might not sell any if the price was 10 times higher. You dont need everyone to sell even one copy of an app and you can still divide average music app sales by 100
I think only developers who offers tools for both platform can answer that.
Not sure if anyone is willing to say something and speak about it here open.
But for sure big companies look at iOS for the future. We already have a lot of them here. Mostly still tiny apps or derivates and ports from their plug-ins.
For midi controller apps and a few special synths i could even see a bigger market here.
But we all just speculate about this and no one knows really how it will go.
I just dont feel save on iOS yet.
Also piracy on iOS is possible as we know. Maybe not like on Android or windows......but that will increase too with a bigger market.
First reason:
iOS apps are NOT that useful and powerful and integrated in DAWs like VST-Plugins. If you are a serious (or a not-so-serious) Producer or Musician then VST Plugins are more versatile. If you look to the full eco-system, VST (with a VST-DAW) gives you much more opportunities - for example hardware etc. pp. We cant expand the HD (until it perfectly fits to our needs).
I dont think i am the only one. I will never pay 100 or 200 Euro for a VST plugin. For me this is like throwing away money - after some years the OS of my computer changes and i cant use my VST plugins anymore. I just cant afford to pay so much money for VST plugins. Sorry. I may spend 330 Euro for a Korg Monologue, but this is hardware. It will work in 10 years - i can sell it then, and i maybe only loose 50 percent of its worth.
Third reason:
iOS economy is quite different. Marketing is different. Income situation and cash flows are different. About 70 percent of the iOS sales directely goes to the developer. This is much more than selling VST Plugins with Thomann - or do enough marketing to get expensive VST plugins sold. With iOS economy (and a plugin which maybe has a typical price of 2,99 or 4,99) customer are willing to try out.
Fourth reason:
Usually customer cant download and try out demo programs in iOS economy. Lowering the risk for the customer then only has one working solution: Lowering the prices. Additionally: iOS devices and software more or less have lots of "gadget feeling" in oppositon to the "serious use feeling" of a Mac or PC. This "feeling" influences prices, too.
Oh, and maybe there is a market for a luxus version of an iOS app. Patterning in expanded special edition for 150 Euro, for example. I just wont buy it. But maybe there are people who would buy a more expensive luxus version as a thankyou for the developer. As far as i know it is quite more common - in these cases - to just buy anything, what the developer/team has produced.
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