Toontrack Music EZmix 2: Updated Mixing Plugin Announced

[skiltrip]

I might be stating the obvious here, but if anyone want to get in on the upgrade price, Sweetwater is still selling the first version for $69.99. So you can upgrade to version 2 for a total of $119 instead of $149 (Sweetwater price for EZmix 2).

[Wolfen667]

I find the idea of EZmix 2 very interesting

Anyway, I would like to know if it is useful only for the "creative" side of mixing (I mean to make each track sound good), or if it has also some functionalities for helping the sound enginner to do the mixing job, cutting the excesses of frequencies, adding some reverb so each track merges with each other etc.

[skira]

Download the demo and try it.

http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=135

[JoJoGunn]

Originally Posted by chrisso

You keep making a lot of sense, then spoil it with generalizations on 'pros'.

I don't know EZmix 2, but I've used the original a bit.
The original you are right is about pre-sets consisting of chains with limited tweakability.
But yes, you can tweak the pre-sets, it's just limited.
I don't think EZmix 1 was aimed at replacing a channel strip, or a dedicated reverb or delay. I often used it as i was completing a mix and had one or two sounds that just weren't working.
Sometimes throwing an EZmix compression pre-set on there created some magic, or a bit crusher with backwards reverb pre-set. It's cherry on top type stuff, not the guts of your mix.
With EZmix 2 they've obviously listened to customer feedback and allowed more flexibility.... tweakability. Also, a lot of the pre-release promotion is about amp modeling, so no doubt they are hoping EZmix 2 is used more in the body of your work than a quick pre-set fixer upper.

I agree - I also own EZMix 1. It is fine for what it is, and has also made it's way onto a few individual tracks on my finished recordings. I also own many of the the Waves Signature packs that sometimes get poo-pooed by many of the purists on the forums. I find all of them useful at times (the Waves stuff is a fair amount more tweakable though).
That being said, I also have some other excellent plugs that most people think highly of (UAD, Waves, Camel, McDSP, SoundToys, Etc), and know how to use them. They all can work given a particular sound/situation. Just like people now getting crazy with cheap/lo-fi mics, cassette recorders, etc. It's all valid if it works and gives you a sound you're happy with!
One of the things I've always enjoyed about recording music, is that the end justifies the means. IT'S ALL GOOD!!!
By the way, after checking out the Toontrack website, I believe that for 49 bucks, the additional features/sounds/etc. on the EZMix 2 are worth it for me to take a shot. I'll be upgrading mine early next week.

[skiltrip]

The first expansion for EZmix 2 is out... priced at a whopping $49. And if that ain't enough for ya, they jacked up the price on all the old expansion packs from $29 to $49. Ouch!

I think they are forgetting the primary audience for this plugin. Mostly non-pros, bedroom studios, personal project studios, etc. I'm sure some people with for-profit studios are using this, but chances are they already have a handful of plugins that they already are familiar with tweaking, and don't really need something like this. So the price points on these expansion packs are sort of priced out of range for their intended audience.

Hopefully they will wise up and bring the prices back down to earth. $19 for the older presets and $29 for the newer ones sound more reasonable to me. I realize the people creating these presets are legitimate names in the music industry (Chuck Ainlay for example), but at the end of the day, they are JUST a set of presets. Prices need to reflect this reality.

[sysexguy]

too limiting for professionals . . .

no judgement on the product here, it's a cool idea, not for me, I just thought that was a funny pun in the context of many threads on mixing these days.

Andy

[krautman]

Just upgraded to v2 last week. It's OK- I like the amp sims in Logic and Studio one way more.
Now they want me to buy "core" update. A week later...........should have been part of v2.......I'm insulted and pissed............no more $ to toontracks.

[shatz]

I think something like this would be great for beginners if it actually told you what it was doing to achieve the results. Kind of like a tutorial built into the plugin with the settings that are being used. This way one could learn off of it instead of just going to an easy fix. And then be able to tweak it from there.
I'll expect a royalty check if this implemented in someone's plugin. lol

[skira]

Originally Posted by krautman

Just upgraded to v2 last week. It's OK- I like the amp sims in Logic and Studio one way more.
Now they want me to buy "core" update. A week later...........should have been part of v2.......I'm insulted and pissed............no more $ to toontracks.

I have v.1 and have only received emails about the $49 upgrade to v.2

What is the core update and what are they charging?

[chrisso]

You get new pre-sets included with EZmix 2.
I just looked at the product page and it seems the 'core' pack is just a bunch of new pre-sets designed for EZmix 2 with real instruments in mind (guitar, keys, percussion etc).
I'll probably give it a miss.
I just upgraded and EZmix 2 has some great pre-sets.
As I always say, it's more of a multi fx box, than a tool for perfecting mixes.

[skiltrip]

Originally Posted by skira

I have v.1 and have only received emails about the $49 upgrade to v.2

What is the core update and what are they charging?

The EZmix 2 plugin comes with it's own set of "core" presets. But they just released a Core Expansion preset pack for EZmix 2, that includes additional presets. The problem is (for some people), they priced it at $49, which, for presets, in my opinion is quite a bit steep. And to add insult to injury, they jacked up the price on the old EZmix 1 preset expansion packs from $29 to $49. At $29 I thought they were a little high. The price was high enough to keep me hesitating when I had considered purchasing some of them. I ended up never buying any because of the $29 price point. Now that they are $49 across the board, I'm not touching any of them. I think most people will agree.

I made this point on the Toontrack message board...

"I realize that the producers behind some of these packs are legitimate music industry names, but at the end of the day, they really are JUST a set of presets. You're not buying any program code, you're not buying an executable program, you are buying some data parameters to feed into software that you've already purchased. I think the prices really need to reflect this reality. In my eyes, $29 was already a little steep. I feel $19 for the older preset packs and $29 for the new ones is a much more reasonable price point. And I would bet that the actual profit that comes in at those price points would be greater than it'll be at the current prices, because they will likely sell more than twice as much. If the preset packs were priced at $19/$29, I'd pick up at least 3 or 4 of them today. But at $49, I'm walking away. "

[skira]

Just saw that AudioDeluxe has decent discount prices on both EZmix2 and upgrades.

(They also have a today-only sale on any 3 toontrack ezx samplepacks for $75)

[Silas Holmes]

Originally Posted by skira

Just saw that AudioDeluxe has decent discount prices on both EZmix2 and upgrades.

(They also have a today-only sale on any 3 toontrack ezx samplepacks for $75)

Wow, that's a great deal. Thanks for the tip, skira!