Requires iLok 2 key: http://www.slatedigital.com/products/the-monster/

Wait until tomorrow for the activation though:

"Dear Slate Users,

Today we made company history. For the first time ever, we had so many simultaneous downloads of our Monster plugin that we crashed the iLok servers.

If you've already redeemed your Virtual Mix Rack license then you do not need to redeem the license again. Just install your updated Virtual Mix Rack plugin (version 1.6.3.1) and you'll be good to go.

For those of you unable to register your license, we sincerely apologize for the delay. The iLok team is currently working on repairing this issue as we speak and are currently estimating about 2-3 hours for completion. We'll send you an email once we receive confirmation that iLok servers are back up and running.

Thank you for your overwhelming support!
- The Slate Digital Team"

 

Nice.

Just out of curiosity, anyone here using the Slate Digital stuff? How does it compare to UAD?

 

not even close

 

monster is pretty weak sorry

 

Slate sounds glassy and very flat. No depth, no color and no character. I would rank them behind Waves. If you like the Waves sound you will love the "Slate Grate".

 

what are the plugins that you feel best?

 

...and yet despite everything I've just read, many 'great' sounding tracks are being mixed with them...

Decide for yourself who's right...you might just be surprised.

 

Imo waves,slate,uad...you can not go wrong with these plugins if you know what you are doing.
And then there is acustica....

 

happy owner of uad hardware spotted

without kidding, uad feels old next to slate's stuff except for the tape stuff.
when I read this comments I always get a feeling nobody tried these plugins side by side.

Same thing with waves, they get slandered all the time but nobody can beat their 1176.

have u tried a real 1176 ? waves probraly didn't nailed this compressor but acoustica does not even come close.
this compressor should chew almost every input level.

and saturation aside, only waves cla comes close for that matter.

with Acustica I need a magnifying glass to find the sweet spot

 

I own UAD and Slate. IMHO, they're different. Just different. They will shine on different sources. Slate's winner for me is the VBC. Their VCA model is uncomparable to any other thing. If I don't get the love I want from UAD on a given source, I turn to Waves CLA, and then I remember I have Slate. However, it's just personal preference.

 

Always nice to have a free plug-in! Some good examples: Slate Revival+Trimmer, Eventide UltraChannel, SoundToys 'little' tools (although I bought all their stuff in the meanwhile), Adam Szabo Phazor (Virus emulation), CamelAudio CamelCrusher, Plug & Mix Degradiator (like their FB page for a free one), Xfer Records tools, Valhalla Space Modulator etc.

About UAD .. I had around 25 UAD tools but sold everything because I didn't use them as much as I thought I would. And I didn't like the dsp limitations/latency issues with my Satellite Duo (Quad was too expensive at the time, nowadays Apollo seems better). Also compared them carefully to a lot of native/Logic stock alternatives and IMO there's nothing that you can't do without them. Of course, the special processors like Fatso are unique but I'm now satisfied with Sknote Disto (which is only $40 btw). And yes, they all provide something extra with harmonics, character, transformers etc. but I never used the hardware so I don't care if it's an 'almost' copy. These tools are for real mix engineers and people with enough money to spend on music stuff and stay up2date with their new releases. But that's just my opinion.

About Slate .. I tried a lot of them (not the latest VMR releases though). Bought the VMR with the first 4 modules and VCC (when it still was the first release, later upgraded to 2.0) but at the end I wasn't THAT satisfied so I sold them. Similar reasons as mentioned above. Maybe their newest tools are better. Don't know.

Point is, there's just too much and it's too expensive if you can't make a living from it. So you get creative and stick to the tools that are now in your shortlist. When things change it's always possible to go back and make new investments but the question remains: do you REALLY need it? (that's just a question in general of course) ;-)

 

It ain't "free" if it requires a prorietary device (= iLok2) to be able to use it…

 

Anyone managed to get this registered on there ilok account. Mine keeps saying serial number not recognised.

 

As you can see above, they crashed the iLok servers. Probably in few days will be restored. Keep trying once every day.

"For those of you having trouble registering The Monster, I wanted to update you that the iLok servers are still experiencing issues for redeeming The Monster licenses. The guys at iLok are working to resolve this issue vigilantly. I’m very sorry for the delay and will update everyone when we’re back up and running."

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 5, 2016

The redeem function is working again now. Basically, you get the same redeem code for Revival as well as Monster which are both "free" modules of the Virtual Mix Rack. And then you still have to download the whole VMR Package Installer and select the ones you want– similar to Softube.