You're the best beta tester R2R has for now, so better shut fingers a little to not provoke the sicilian rage on his heart

 

I am trying to wrap my head around some very esoteric information about these plugins from what has been said here so far about sample rate and audio quality. So am I reading it right? These plugins fail to perform at various sample rates due to versioning? I work at rates from 96K-192K and none of the processing ware I use has issues following whatever sample rate I have set for the particular project being worked at the time. I very RARELY ever use oversampling on anything. So if I am understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, what is being said here is that these AA plugs are sample rate version dependent? As in you need a separate/specialized version of a plugin say if you work at 96K as opposed to 192K or 48K?

 

Ash Ultra is one of the latest AA Hyper 3 tech plugins. I tested the R2R version in studio one 6.5 and the cpu hit is lightweight, no spikes so far. The GUI is also snappy compared to their older plugins.

 

The bigger concern many people have are the ones downloading Trial Versions and then modifying those. They are not installers for the full "paid" versions and so they have some restrictions. They seem to be not very consistent from one plugin to the next, because they are so analog.

 

An update for Giancarlo 4 hrs ago...

 

Good lord r2r has striped down the security wich was cpu hog... but still... some of these plugs you can only use 3 instances when buffer is set yet to create or record...

hum.... I got the picture you have to use the LZ version when recording then switch etc...

But... that's all a lot of manipulation

let's see if I come up with a master plan for using thes plugs like a pro
PeaceR

 

There is one thing any developer may miss that is concerned about people who distribute software for free, aside from the fact it is not being sold.

MANY people who never heard of a specific piece of software not only hear about it, they get to try it out without restrictions. While certainly there are people who never buy anything and leech, there are many people who buy a product if they use it all the time and intend to make money from it. I am not admonishing anyone for their choices, it just is that way. Hackers often facilitate more sales for a developer because they do actually get the product out there to a wide network. They indirectly do a form of marketing for the developer. Not necessarily the best kind, but it is marketed nonetheless.

 

Apparently, and you probably knew it was coming sooner or later, there is a distro out of most of the already released R2R AA plugs in a "installer format". That is to say, someone has taken the R2R versions and make them one-click "installable" along with uninstaller information as well for easy clean up if needed...

The thing I find rather disturbing from reading the comments here is the mentioning of various plugins sounding bad at x,y,or z sample rates. Is that just the way these AA plugs are designed, or is it the cracks causing this behavior? I have never before encountered plugin processors that were sample rate dependent or that "sounded bad" at a certain rate as opposed to other sample rates. If this is typical of acustica stuffz (especially trial versions) I'm kind of wondering what all the fuss is about regarding acustica?

 

Last edited: Nov 23, 2023

As a legit nebula and aqcua user since Nebula 3, you'll save yourself a lot of misplaced frustration if you understand that these plugins are not designed to be low latency, or for input recording. The LZ versions are after-thoughts. These are designed for mixing and mastering and are still relatively cpu intensive compared to most algorithmic or ABC modeled plugins.

 

My understanding is that the Aquarius app checks the signature of the Acustica plugins.
It doesn't check non-Acustica plugins. How could it?
I know this for sure because I've been using the Aquarius app since 2019 alongside cracked non-Acustica plugins/software for years. Never had a problem

Is it possible R2R has been cracking the trial versions of Acustica plugins instead of the full versions?
One thing I know after being an Acustica customer for a while is that the trial versions are sometimes different. E.g. they have less bug fixes and optimisations

The LZ versions are actually more CPU intensive, in favour of lower latency.
Yep LZ is an after thought for me too, I usually "hide" them in studio one.

 

Last edited: Nov 23, 2023

85% of my stuff is legit. To be clear, I simply have not cleared off that which I do not use. This place is a great sounding board for anyone who wishes to see if they are going to use something all of the time. I do not have CPU issues with an 11th Gen i9 and 128GB RAM and 60TB of HDD space, 12GB being nvme. I do not use Nebula. Far too time consuming to get what I want in a hurry - for me. Many other Softube and other products do the same thing with much less fuss and many are equally as respected. I am not saying Acustica is not as good, it is. It is not my cup of tea. I tried out the recent plugins and set a path in my DAW to a separate location. Did not like them and deleted. For many of them , I have SSL software and HW that does it better.

 

So it's possible these "trial versions" are somehow only made to run at specific sample rates? For real? IF that's true then acustica has a very wacked business model.

 

Giancarlo should really just shut up... He not only says 'too much' (much of which is bullshit), he also is drawing more attention to the fact that Acustica products have been cracked. The truth is that Acustica products are still very niche, and most of population who purchases his products probably would be clueless about R2R's exposé.

But the fact is, that he keeps talking about it, saying dumb shit to his paying customers like: "we'll ban you", then back pedals, trying to justify objectively bloated code, and talking about how they are unaffected by piracy, etc...

Dude is just throwing more gasoline on the fire every time he makes a "statement". Acustica makes some great products (albeit they abandon just as many), but Giancarlo seems to be very immature and insecure, by the way he responds to things.

Honestly, he should probably thank R2R, as piracy can act as free promotion for various products. Ever heard of FL Studio?

 

Last edited: Nov 23, 2023

At this point I wonder why R2R don't make their own plugins.

 

A great big fucking yawn to all of this bickering and bullshit.

Things have been cracked by R2R. That's that.

Download stuff, or don't download stuff. It is that fucking simple.

Stop bickering like children over something that no-one forces you to use.

 

You have to understand that the dynamic convolution AA uses is based on 'sampling' real-world gear. This, in simplified terms, means sending audio through the gear and recording and analyzing the output in a very sophisticated and time-consuming process. Much like when you use a sampler, changing the sample rate of a sample will distort/add artifacts, and thus, for the purest signal, it's best to use whatever sample rate was used when the sample was recorded. It all makes perfect sense when you realize what the AA approach consists of and why it doesn't make much sense to compare it to algorithmic code.

Fwiw, the exact same applies to the now industry leading guitar amp convolution system NAM, which has sample rate specific programs (mostly 48k) because it uses a very similar method of capturing real-world gear.

The actual sound of the plugins for some is as good as it gets when it comes to analog emulation in the box. And that 'some' includes many big name A-list engineers. But, as with everything, ymmv.

 

The Emperor's new pumpkin.
Just sayin.

 

I have tried them on windows 7, and i didint get the gui without the dll files places on system32 (no files were replaced there). I tried amber and the pump and they work and amber sounded great to me. The knobs were somewhat laggyish but usable. I will install the rest at a later point

 

Who says that?
I have never believed the fairytale of the pimply 14-year-old who, from his bedroom, hacks the complicated protections of a large software house. The R2R team know too much about coding / engineering to be outside the software business: in my opinion the cracks are often the result of an inside job. In this case, someone from the Acustica Audio staff is probabily an undercover R2R Team member

 

Ah ok. It makes better sense now I guess.