It is 3:30 in the morning and I can't sleep so I might as well write a small revue of my incredible experience with Quinto Sardo, the name behind the face of SKnote, a developer of both software and hardware tools for the audio industry. As many of you well know, I had asked the community for some feedback as to how to spend the birthday money that my dear sister Julia so thoughtfully gifted me, and the name SKnote come up. I was vaguely familiar with the company but had never used any of their plug-ins, and so I did a little research to find out about user's of the brand's experiences and happened to find out that Mr.Sardo backs up his software with a no questions money-back guarantee. I visited the site and saw these amazing words...

"We don't want to deal with unsatisfied customers. If for any reason, you are not satisfied with the product, send an email within seven days from purchase, asking for a refund."

I bought three plug-ins, Disto, STA-level (the promised review pending) and Strip which of course is a channel strip. I however had an issue with the gui with Strip. I am currently in need of taking medication that slows me down considerably in both body and mind and found navigating the gui to be a bit tough going and one which prevented me from flowing intuitively. I prefer not thinking while working but rather feeling my way through. I wrote an email to Sardo after giving myself some time with Strip because I liked the way it helped me mold the sonics of my voice and acoustic guitars while tracking, but I just couldn't find that flow which I desperately crave to remain in the moment. After spending a few hours with Strip I dispatched an email to Sardo explaining my predicament and asked him if I might "exchange" the channel strip for one of his reverbs. Well, 26 hours later I received this reply;

Ciao, wow, so glad you like these toys :D
Sure, no problem at all! You should find it done in a few minutes ;)

That my friends is astounding, astonishing, delightful and stupendous. I am awed that a software developer can stand as proudly as he does next to his product and back up his obvious love of his work as well as his faith in the honesty and goodness of his customers. I for one will be spending my hard earned cash and sending it on over his way when my needs arise. SKnote has to be one the best bangs for the buck out there, their prices many notches below the high quality that they deliver. They also offer hardware which I certainly will be buying. I particularly am interested in their mic pre/opto compressor to use while tracking guitars and vocals coming after my 1176 clone to keep their signals steady and ready for mixing. I highly recommend SKnote for the quality they offer, their down to earth pricing as well as their top shelf and human customer service policy. You are guaranteed a win-win with them as you just can't lose. Period.

http://www.sknoteaudio.com/wp/index.php/software-products/

 

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 23, 2016

@superliquidsunshine
Welcom aboard.
I've got Disto, DDD, Mattertone, Rev250, SoundBrigate and Strip (the last one for free). GTS39 could be the next toy.

@subGENRE
The SKNote site and the WebShop. There is a forum too.

 

I've owned all these plugins since the beginning. So I cannot say better than @superliquidsunshine.
They are in my top tools. Ok some still got some 'lil bug (better to use the vst versions anyway)
Quinto is a great guy who loves things well done, just check what is doing with hardware ;-)
Glad you 're enjoying guys!

 

Done.

 

Just a shame that his forum is full with messages 'I emailed but never got a response' and similar.

Be careful with SKNote. His stuff is generally awesome and specially for the price, but you might have a lucky week where you get a response or you get a unlucky month where the owner seems vanished and doesn't respond to anything. It's a one-guy company (as far as I know) and he's doing hardware and software. Creating the stuff, fulfilling orders, R&D, administration and support is too much for one guy. Let alone his italian behaviour in certain tasks .

The sound is clearly there and it's awesome stuff. Just don't expect support. If you get it, he's very generous. But it might be 'a busy year' and you won't get a hold of him. Since his stuff is generally priced around 30 bucks, it's hard to be disappointed though.

Owners of his products for some time are not really happy with the practise of promising bug fixes (or promising 'something', whatever it is) and then being silent. Let's say he promised a certain fix 'in the coming weeks'. After 2 months, you get a new plugin announcement with a beta release, but nothing of the promised update weeks ago. Then you'll get another 'yeah doing it now' and then it's silent again. And then he launches his hardware line and goes on all kinds of expo's and is gone for a few months.
.. if you want the new plugin or that new hardware line it's awesome.. if you've been waiting on that update for the older plug you're thinking "WTF dude'.

That kind of stuff happens (or has happened) a lot. So 'good service' is indeed intended, the guy just seems to swarmed with work and too distracted with ideas to get a hold on things.

Once again, for the price of his plugs, I'm NOT complaining. Even if a switch doesn't work or the metering is weird it's more often than not worth it. Things like his console emu, tape emu, renditions of distressor's, dbx 165's or shadow-hill stuff is there with the best of them and it cost generally less than 50 bucks without any dongle sh*t. Hidden little gems they are but sometimes you will have to put up with the way the guy runs his business .

 

got an jBridged old StripBus on every channel/track possible...

 

told you that you won't regret buying these... I bought 70% of his plugins... and I'm a happy customer... never had troubles

 

I own Disto, and even though it's not as pleasing sounding as UAD Ftaso, it's ten times cheaper. You gotta learn how to tame that beast, though. It's easy to go overboard with it as it has a narrow sweet spot. No complaints or bugs here.

 

I only got to play with it for a little while. I hear you about the sweet spot. I have only gotten as far as throwing a drum buss at it and liked what I heard, finding sounds I could get from it it that one context. I haven't yet even unzipped the verb that I downloaded in lieu of Strip, but I like the little bit of time that I spent with STA-level on my voice. I find the metering to be a little wonky. Like always it's best to play by ear, but a visual reference is important at times too. The meter doesn't seem to react as I think it should, although since it is a kind of slow reactor to events maybe it is alright after all. The verb comes out later.

 

My friend, how are you doing with the STA-level? Does it have what it takes to be a two-buss compressor?

Peace to you, my friend.

 

I haven't tried it out in that capacity. I hadn't time today to play, but I will give it a try tomorrow and let you know. I still have to muster up a few tests for Jaymz of acoustic guitar and vocals. Buenos Dias Amigo!