Still worth to buy Powercore MD3 and DVR2

[LightBlue]

I've used a Powercore for years (I'm on a PCIe card now). I've run it with C6 and C6.5 since those versions of Cubase came out, with zero problems.

I don't use DVR2 much, as I have other options and have other Pcore plugins taking up the processor space on the card. It still sounds very, very good to me though.

On the other hand, MD3 and especially Brickwall Limiter get used on everything I do. I've tested other options, but still come back to these for mastering duties.

[bigbongo]

I gave up on the MD3 / PoCo last year when I sold everything TC, the best I could find was Alchemist Flux which I think is quite probably the equal of the MD3; I don't find it anywhere near as immediate to use however but that's probably just me.

[thehightenor]

I just mastered a great album which was really beautifully arranged and recorded and nothing was going to be good enough for the little bit of limiting I did but the TC Brickwall Limiter in the MD3 package.

After all these years it's still my limiter of choice bar none.

I also find the Dynamic EQ, VSS3 unique and indispensable for mixing.

I have a stable mixing and mastering rig that uses a Powercore PCI-e and Powercore 6000 and will be keeping it working no matter what.

Going forward I will be keeping Powercore in at least my mix and mastering rig, even if that means building a separate system dedicated to composing.

I still find Powercore plugins unbeatable in a few key area's and I'm really grateful that so far TC have been keeping driver development going enough to get me to Windows 7 and Cubase 7.

[spaceman]

The reverbs ( VSS3, DVR2, and even the stock ClassicVerb ) are still up there with the best.

[ssl_ambition]

Thanks for the answers so far! I've tried many native plugins but somehow they can't compare to the Powercore stuff

Originally Posted by LightBlue

I've used a Powercore for years (I'm on a PCIe card now). I've run it with C6 and C6.5 since those versions of Cubase came out, with zero problems.

I don't use DVR2 much, as I have other options and have other Pcore plugins taking up the processor space on the card. It still sounds very, very good to me though.

Great. I just heard some rumours about this. Do you talk about 'other' hardware options?

Originally Posted by spaceman

The reverbs ( VSS3, DVR2, and even the stock ClassicVerb ) are still up there with the best.

Absolutely dig the DVR2. Many praise the Valhalla plugins which is good but to me they're simply not that good as the PC stuff.

Originally Posted by bigbongo

I gave up on the MD3 / PoCo last year when I sold everything TC, the best I could find was Alchemist Flux which I think is quite probably the equal of the MD3; I don't find it anywhere near as immediate to use however but that's probably just me.

Why did you sell it? Some people pointed me to the Alchemist Flux but I'm not sure if I would say they're equal althought the Flux plugin is very good.

Originally Posted by thehightenor

After all these years it's still my limiter of choice bar none.

Great! It's nice to hear that it also works flawless within Cubase 7.

[ssl_ambition]

Originally Posted by thehightenor

After all these years it's still my limiter of choice bar none.

Great! It's nice to hear that it also works flawless with Cubase 7.

[synthdogg]

I still love my Powercore FW, and agree with the above posts about the quality of the plugs. I've even tried some native versions of some of the plugs (Character & CL1B) and didn't like them nearly as much as the powercore versions.

My issue with buying plugs like MD3 and DVR2 is just knowing that you're going to lose them eventually as computers advance.....there will be no new versions to advance with you. (I'm actually pretty shocked that their still selling the plug-ins at full price....they're not exactly cheap) When Logic (and other DAWs I suppose) go 64 bit only, I'll either have to say goodbye to any powercore plug-ins, or keep an additional older computer around, and that just seems like a PITA.

I wouldn't mind getting a bunch of high-end TC plug-ins in the mean time if they were blowing them out, seeing that they're discontinued and all.....but I can't imagine spending thousands of dollars for some plugs that I won't even be able to use very soon.

[Ivorydom]

I own Powercore FireWire with Sonnox , MD3 and VSS3.
MD3 and VSS3 are still the best sounding plugins around in my opinion-period.
I have found no substitute for MD3 and VSS3 still sounds to me way better than the Lexicons PCM.
But to answer your question : no. I would not spend money on "dead " plugins. But would definitely send an email to TC asking them to port them to native format...

[ssl_ambition]

Originally Posted by synthdogg

I still love my Powercore FW, and agree with the above posts about the quality of the plugs. I've even tried some native versions of some of the plugs (Character & CL1B) and didn't like them nearly as much as the powercore versions.

My issue with buying plugs like MD3 and DVR2 is just knowing that you're going to lose them eventually as computers advance.....there will be no new versions to advance with you. (I'm actually pretty shocked that their still selling the plug-ins at full price....they're not exactly cheap) When Logic (and other DAWs I suppose) go 64 bit only, I'll either have to say goodbye to any powercore plug-ins, or keep an additional older computer around, and that just seems like a PITA.

I wouldn't mind getting a bunch of high-end TC plug-ins in the mean time if they were blowing them out, seeing that they're discontinued and all.....but I can't imagine spending thousands of dollars for some plugs that I won't even be able to use very soon.

But I assume you can use them within 64-bit Sequencers w/o problems, right?

[Ivorydom]

They all worked fine with the jBridge in Cubase 64bit. Haven't tried them on a Mac though.

[Animus]

Md3 is perhaps my favorite compressor of all time. It absolutely slams in non-mastering duties too. I love it on drums with ms processing. And of course I will keep †he Powercore alone for the Virus.

[bigbongo]

Originally Posted by ssl_ambition

Why did you sell it?

I sold it as I finally got fed up with taking hits from software companies discontinuing plugs [ NI have been the worst ] I bought the PoCo early on and had spent about £1500 on it with extra plugs and couldn't face being taken for a mug once more; I managed to get back £500-ish by selling it.

[synthdogg]

Originally Posted by ssl_ambition

But I assume you can use them within 64-bit Sequencers w/o problems, right?

I'm using it now in Logic with the 32 bit bridge, so yes....

...I'm under the impression through hearing rumors that future versions of Logic will be going 64 bit only though. I don't know how that is with other DAW's or if it's even true with Logic (though it makes sense as progress marches on).

I'm still pretty shocked that powercore plugs are still selling at full price, seeing that they're discontinued and soon to be obsolete and all.

[LightBlue]

Great. I just heard some rumours about this. Do you talk about 'other' hardware options?

I have the UAD version, which to me is pretty much the same and saves me some PoCo space for VSS3 (only have the 4-core PCIe card), which I agree with others, is still one of the best in-the-box verbs available.

I'm still pretty shocked that powercore plugs are still selling at full price, seeing that they're discontinued and soon to be obsolete and all.

I agree, although I'm still more shocked that a company can give up on such quality IP; I mean these plugs are still regarded as some of the best you can buy. My understanding is that they were having significant issues with the drivers (which ironically, they've been updating), whilst the plugs themselves have been extremely stable. I know that they've stated that the plugs can't be easily ported to native format, but I still find it a strange business decision to effectively give up on a product line that is renowned for its quality.

[ONDRAY]

Sorry to revive an old thread. But I'm thinking of picking up a used powercore x8. I've used the original powercore firewire for nearly 10years now, and even though the plugins are expensive, I've used the powercore MD3 and Brickwall on 90% of my work, they still sound the best, so I've got my monies worth. Thing is I want to run more PoCo plugins at a time and think I should upgrade to Powercore x8. Is it worth it.. hmmm

[mista min]

Originally Posted by ONDRAY

Sorry to revive an old thread. But I'm thinking of picking up a used powercore x8. I've used the original powercore firewire for nearly 10years now, and even though the plugins are expensive, I've used the powercore MD3 and Brickwall on 90% of my work, they still sound the best, so I've got my monies worth. Thing is I want to run more PoCo plugins at a time and think I should upgrade to Powercore x8. Is it worth it.. hmmm

I have two PCI MKii in my hackintosh and a FireWire Mini. If you can get the X8 for less than $500 it's worth it if you ask me since drivers are still being implemented. I currently am using the newest drivers (non-beta) with Mountain Lion an it's running rock solid in Pro Tools 10 and Logic Studio 9.

[ONDRAY]

Ya I'm running th previous to the latest driver on OSX 10.6 and works perfect, hence why I haven't updated.

Do tou know if I would have to buy all my PoCo plugins again if I were to buy the PoCo x8 and use my existing PoCo FW? Can I run the same license on both units?

[mista min]

Originally Posted by ONDRAY

Ya I'm running th previous to the latest driver on OSX 10.6 and works perfect, hence why I haven't updated.

Do tou know if I would have to buy all my PoCo plugins again if I were to buy the PoCo x8 and use my existing PoCo FW? Can I run the same license on both units?

If both units are connected to the same computer then all licenses from each unit will work. I use a Powercore MK 2 with a powercore elements? ( the one with no licenses and it works great).

[TNM]

i saw a power core system 6000 brand new for $800 includign ww ship and i am not joking. The amount of time i have kicked myself for not buying it is, well, alot.

I can never find a better denoiser than the one included with POCO,and the revers are stunning, the virus and powercore o1 synths are great and you can save a ton of cpu!

and now:

1) I hear that they are going to continue updating the software.. as evident with the most recent *official* release being only over a month old!

2) I now know they work in logic bridge! I never thought it did!

FWIW we are talking about full version of unwrap for example, every single verb in the system 6,000 bundle.. that was value like no other, and an 8 dsp powercore firewire included. Cheaper than buying just a license for one unwrap plugin alone for people already owning a power core!

I have managed to find open box ones or b stock for a grand, that is still amazing value for that package. I think the powercore is great! You get some terrific stuff out of the box, and you can totally ease the load of your cpu especially with verbs.

Ultimately what i will do is buy a thunderbolt chassis, and a cheap ass powercore pcie and a uad quad or octo, and start saving all my internal cpu for synths.

[blackcom]

Go with PCIe and NOT Firewire. Latest drivers are super stable.

IMO nothing beats MD3 and i've tried alot of multiband compressors. That thing just puts things in place and stabalize.

[TNM]

and included in the system 6000 package! the md stuff is absolutely superb, i remember it clearly when i demoed it when i had a mac pro with a pcie poco (now on '11 iMac with thunderbolt).

The firewire on mac works ok, i have used 2 different units at 2 different friends, both with macs, and it was fine. Maybe you mean windows in this case?


You do realise for the plugins you get for a grand, this firewire one might as well be bought anyway and use the plugins on a pcie card which you obviously can..

[MarkEd]

Hi,

Where do you guys find the PoCo 6000 unit(B-stock, whatever) for about a grand? Any tips on shops that sell em world wide?
Thanx!

[ssl_ambition]

Originally Posted by blackcom

Go with PCIe and NOT Firewire. Latest drivers are super stable.

I heard that firewire can cause problems (latency etc) with some Sequencers. Although I used the X8 without a problem but that was with a 32bit computer back then.