Gearslutz related post

Basically P.A. came out with a 10 plugin rent-to-own offer (29$ per month, for 29 months) and the cool fact is they ditched the iLok protection for plugin obtained this way. It was time!

 

Around 84 bucks a plugin as average value (29*29/10) after 29 months.
I don't know what to think about this model : on one side, it is not expansive for big plugins.
On the other side, it is the usual "loan" problem : you are projecting yourself in the future... whereas the whole world is more and more insecure.
Remember : 29 months is 2 years and 5 months :D Very long, in today world. See how many plugs are released each week...

 

I wish they did a Pick 5 for $15 per month. I love the Rent to Own concept. Easier for me to rationalize the investment over time. Love Slate plugins but the fact I don't own them just leasing them rubs me the wrong way.

 

dont know where you get your information from ? PA dont use ilok for an very long time , they are using their own PA activations system since many years .

 

ilok sucks and is meant to be cracked

 

My bad, dunno why I was convinced they used iLok. Then this makes me wonder why they putting so much weight on the "no iLok" claim!

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2018

Yes you are right, i own somes plugins no ilok here P.A call this the Pick-Pack >> https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/pick-pack.html

 

I always felt averse to supporting Plugin Alliance in any way. Their prices are plain ridiculous. And IIRC they charge a ridiculous license transfer fee that's on par with ilok or worse.

 

Totally agree plus the owner developer is an absolute condescending moron to people. I watched him several times over the years foulmouth people on FB and soon as anyone constructively asks a question he cuts them down with non technical BS and he has the usual hanger ons that click like to anything which helps to boosts his ego.

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2018

Very a-la Slate guy.

 

Plugin Alliance customer for several years here. Actually I never had any Plugin Alliance iLok license. That must have been before my time... In the last years however, they didn't have iLok protection.

 

I think it's over priced for what it offers, I already have Slate and Eventide on monthly stand by if I ever need them , That along with the plugs I already own, even a few P.A. ones! I would pass on this if I were any of you guys, it's simply not worth it compared to what else is being offers on a subscription base. For that kind of cash I would suggest the McDsp bundle over this although the Softube package is also nice. I have all 4 , less than for the price of my monthly weed habit

 

Last edited: Feb 21, 2018

The $15 you are referring to is billed monthly BUT at annually discounted price versus the $25 billable monthly BUT can be paused or canceled at any time, I prefer that one myself 'cause I do not always need any of those plugs for a project but if a Client comes along and says he used this or that, if it's not already one of the ones I have I can get so close they do not notice

 

I don't think slate, softube or McDsp do rent to own like PA or Serum. I think endlessly renting for never owning your plugs is a big rippoff imo.
With PA you can pick 10 plugins at 300$ each, pay for all of them 29$ every month for 30 months and then you own all of them definitely. So that's a 70% discount if you pick only 300$ plugs, which I did.
Rent to not own the plugs are really bad investement imo.

 

You are correct, they do not offer a true rent to own like P.A. is trying to offer up but lest all be honest here, 29 months just to pay off 10 plugins..??? Whereas with the others I get at least twice the amount of plugs and all NEW products as well as any updates and i can pause\cancel anytime. I only pay for what I use when i use it

 

It's a bit expensive, I agree. It's a good deal only if you make a package with 300$ plugins. Since the last year I've bought every cheaper PA plugs I wanted when they discounted them, lately I got two for free because PA gives you monthly voucher once you reach a certain amount of plugins already bought. They make discounted plugins every month and they do huge discount at every major holydays. And I think we only pay for major version updates for some products, which with PA happens quite rarely, they fix bugs but in minor upgrades that are free.
All in all I'll have the 30 plugins (I already have about 20) I wanted from them in 30 months with at average 60-70 % discount.
Same goes with MCDSP, I'd rather wait and get plugs when they discount them massively (lately on JRR they did a few 70-80% discount on ML8000 limiter and on the AE600 dyn eq) and then own them, it's a matter of patience and monitoring a few sites.
All I mean is if I spit a few bucks every month I'd rather own things at the end of the road, and I prefer when it's the case. The rent to not own are good opportunities, imo, to discover plugins with no limitation, even for a couple of months, long term it's probably a more costly option.

 

i'm thinking about going for it. think about it...if i get the 3 channels strips, that's $900 right there!

i'd pay $841 dollars total over 29 months for all 10, so i'd basically pay for 3 plug-ins and get 7 free.

 

Last edited: Feb 24, 2018

Exactly. And the 7 others can also be 300$ plugs. You'll pay the same fee. The dearVR stuffs can be good (dearVR pro normally goes for 350$), or the bx products (their new sweet delays bx 2500, or bx digital or bx dynEQ2 for example which are both excellent), the Opticom XLA 3 (incredible compressor, also worth 300$) and the Millenia TCL2 (also 300$ comp), but also the black box HG-2 (which is 250$, and it's really dope) and for example - to stay in the disto/sat area - for example the Vertigo VSM3 (300$)....
So that's 7 seven additional plugs - aweome plugs I should add - worth around 2000$ for 0 additional fee.
Paying over 29 months for the bundle is also actually a nice bonus. If they offered the same 900ish $ bundle but I had to pay full price at once it would be another story.

 

Will these coexist with versions from the sister site?

 

Way back, I used to chuckle at all the people having iLok issues while I DL'd warez all day. (radium etc)

Today, I own iLok 2 and have not had a single issue with it in three years. ILok 3? the usb keys are relatively cheap.