Every day I read desperate requests for warez not yet cracked, people would be able to kill grandma to get a working installer of these audio tools. here are some examples of the most wanted (with relative prices):

Oeksound Soothe 2 --- $219

̶S̶p̶e̶c̶t̶r̶a̶s̶o̶n̶i̶c̶s̶ ̶O̶m̶n̶i̶s̶p̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶2̶.̶6̶ ̶-̶-̶-̶ ̶$̶4̶7̶9̶ (Cracked)

Steinberg Cubase Pro 10.5 --- $552

Avid Pro Tools (1-Year of Updates + Support Plan Perpetual License) --- $599

ReFx Nexus 3 — $250

(source: Sweetwater)

My curiosity encouraged me to look for pricetags and after all they don't seem astronomical to me, if we compare for example with Waves Mercury Plug-in Bundle $ 3329 (already cracked).
Spending a few hundred dollars on an app or plugin that I desperately need can have its meaning.
The question is: do I really need it? Will my life change since I have it? Is Omnisphere mandatory or can I play my song with Serum anyway? Do I need ProTools or can I solve my problems with ableton?

Generally, it is better to desire something than to really have it, this is the concept on which consumerism is based

EDIT: uncracked plugin updated


More info on warez addiction here: https://audiosex.pro/threads/are-you-addicted-to-audio-warez.38322/

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 25, 2020

You are aware that NOBODY pays $3k for the Mercury Bundle anymore right? Or full price for any of Waves plugins?

 

90% off all plugins! door crasher limited time recurring year round sale! buy now!

 

..what am I missing here

I agree with "spending a few hundred dollars.." ..to make your dreams come true, though. If only couple hundred $$ would be enough to buy eternal happiness..

 

Correct: Omnisphere is cracked, list updated

The point is that if you are are an audiopro and you have a desperate need for a specific app it is because a customer has this request. But if you are a professional you will certainly not lack a few hundred dollars to invest in the software (It is also morally more acceptable).
If, on the contrary, you are a hobbyist producer then this need is totally irrational: any sound design need can be solved in another way with the millions of already released warez

 

At this point, it became a matter of "having it because I can have it or I'm able to crack it". 99% of the time people don't even use the Plug-Ins that they pirate. People already have a TON of Plug-Ins and TON of sample libraries just to use Nexus, Serum, RC-20, and the Lotus Flute in Omnisphere that's it. People just ask for more because they want to see the name of it popping in their DAW.

 

Thats my favorite time of the year every week!!

 

I think you'll find that consumerism is a non-starter if people don't buy the object of their desires.

 

I don't get why is everyone hunting and waiting for everything. If you really want it, buy it! It's your Buissness/Hobby or whatever, i'm legit Cubase User, why ? It's my Part in the Band. The Guitarrist paid for his Axe, the Bassist for his Wood so i did for my Studio. Whats the matter ?

 

It works for you, because I'm assuming you make money from those investments and the band. For many people starting out, or simply dabbling with music production for personal use, it's a heavy investment with no clear MONETARY return. I'd assume many people start off with cracks, and once they decide to pursue music production seriously, or start making money off it, they start paying instead of cracking. DECAP did a QNA a while back saying he did pretty much the same thing, and now we crack his packs! How the cycle goes...

 

Some of the world's most exquisite artists will never record their music due to poverty, the state of the majority of people globally. A mic, an old pc running xp and some headphones are still out of the reach of most people. Please have a thought for them.

 

"Most wanted"... rly?
pro tools - way more expensive than what you wrote - checking thomann: 5800 euro for hdx or 1058 euro for hd. You want one of these along additional hardware controllers for low latency recording and mixing various cinema format in high quality, not the crappy software, which is years behind other daws.

Nexus - again - factory content is mostly dated, you want additional banks. Still, I doubt there is anything special there, considering Nexus stuff is sampled.

Cubase - not sure - it's OK daw, but it's not 2009 anymore (when it was probably the best, but not anymore)... Imo, all old DAWs (including here stuff like Live, FL, Cakewalk, DP, Reason etc ) are inferior in terms of stability and are plagued with bugs compared to recent DAWs like Bitwig, S1 and Reaper (which gets updated like every week with bug fixes). (Imo, Steinberg screwed their popularity with that protection, most young people seem to be on dis-Ableton Live and FL these days.)

Soothe - what about that DSEQ plugin? Isn't it similar?

 

Last edited: Aug 25, 2020

Guilty as charged, lol. I just want to try plugins without the limitations of a demo. My go-tos have been in use for 5+ years.

Drum samples are the exception, because professional productions always tailor the drum sound to the song, and there are so many different combinations of tuning and micing.

 

Info: some people in the world hardly get 50$ a month.

For those who could pay for these, trying on a long time period can be an important point.

Of course any artist can live without these.

 

Absolutely, in fact I don't feel like condemning any warez user. However, I find this uncracked plugin obsession to be beyond logic

 

One could argue that you also have to pay for a guitar or piano if you want to learn that and you don't have a clear monetary return. Many warez haters would also argue that there is enough free stuff to not use cracks. But sure, I started out with cracked software and it's an understandable thing to do you want to use what the pros use. I personally think that even if you're not seriously making money with music you should buy some stuff if you can afford it.

 

Problem is not only the financial means to get these plugins, but the fact that they remain unliberated. iLok or eLicenser can screw you over, they can either accomodate your need for a new license or decide not to. If they go out of business and don't provide unlocked installers you will not be able to use your software after your iLok dies. That's the true benefit of warez in my personal view, that you gain security and long term stability of your workflow. And that's something that cannot be bought by simply buying the plugins.

 

UVI Falcon 2 -> €349
UVI Vintage Vault 3 -> €599 (I don't know if anyone would like to use it, since it's 200 GB)