FINAL UPDATE: I decided to take off the part I talk about the subscription model. This is to keep this video useful for new users. If y'all want to talk about the new pricing I can make a new video when it officially comes out. Enjoy the video!
You're missing one MAJOR point comparing Kilohearts to Minimals subscription... KHS' sub model is rent-to-own!! Its basically an interest-free pay over time model. Once you've been subscribed for X months, you now own the perpetual license and no longer need to subscribe
Nice overview man. I like their stuff. But I won't touch anything with a sub-model. There are plenty of better value subs out there as you pointed out.
Yeah, I've always loved Minimal Audio's work. I was all about their samples before they ever released Rift. But this just isn't worth a long term subscription. But the worst part is all of my favorite creators saying in unison that they didn't know it would be subscription based. Not mentioning it to creators really appears shady on Minimal Audio’s part. Major mistake by them.
I feel like we all assumed it was going to be a regular product. They didn't stated beign subscription and I guess "we didn't asked". Still is a model I believe necessary to mention.
@@AlexReidStudiosyeah. The shadiness in appearance is on Minimal Audio’s side. Not on the side of Creators. My edited my comment to make it more clear 🙏🏾
Just wanted to quote the following comparison: I purchased all four effect plugins from Minimal Audio on day one and I am a loyal and satisfied customer. With the monthly subscription fee of 15,- I would pay 900,- in the next 5 years just to rent (!!!) Current. For the same amount of money I purchased the kiloHearts Ultimate bundle (399,-) and the whole Sugar Bytes bundle (499,-) some time ago. These are 24 (!!!) high quality plugins of all categories and the best thing : I own all this stuff forever! Even with the annual fee it's 600 bucks just to rent a single synth for 5 years... and I already paid for all the effect plugins. There is no justification for that!
@@AlexReidStudios Exactly. Rent to own is a great and consumer friendly option. I don't mind paying for major updates and even buy things I really don't need just to support the developer (like sample or preset packs), but renting without owning the product after some time is not an option for me. It's a damn rabbit hole. I just cancelled my Plugin Alliance subscription some months ago although I got a loyalty super special price (I think it was around 12,- for everything as long as I pay) and I had access to over 180 plugins. Compared to that Minimal Audio wants me to pay 10/15,- for a single synth workstation (I already own all their effect plugins)... that's like a slap in my face.
You don't need to think about value differently for subscriptions. Just calculate the monthly cost ×12 and then think what you can buy for 180$ every year. Phase plant is 100$ on sale for a lifetime license
Putting aside the sub-subject, I see a very good modern synth with very thorough control options, great interface and nice choose of oscillators. I'm packed good enough with hardware and software synthesizers to spend money for this one, doesn't matter sub or once. But I'm sure these guys made a good move within the industry with this one. Thank you for detailed explanation and for saving time.
Agree, but if so many companies do this is because it's working as a business model. I believe is a risky move, sometimes it works (Slate Digital for example), sometimes not so much (Waves Audio). So time will tell if it worked for Minimal Audio
@@AlexReidStudios yeah, and you're right that time will tell. I hope though that they are not getting many subscriptors so that they switch business model. It looks great and I really want it 😂😂 such a dilemma ... 😊
I just purchased PhasePlant on special and as others say, there are comparisons to be made here. The sub model is not for me. I do have the annual upgrade sub for Bitwig, but a DAW is a very different value proposition to a VST synth. So between Bitwig grid, CA Voltage and PhasePlant, this synth is a pass for me. But I do agree, this is s lovely sounding device.
Wont even look into mininal audios stuff anymore until they change the sub only model for this synth. Its a garbage business model made purely to milk money out of people forever. Rent to own, and perpetual license on this synth is the only thing that will make me consider doing business with minimal audio again.
@@AlexReidStudios It is profitable. Just not as profitable as making people pay their entire lives for a single synthesizer. 3000 dollars from a customer long term is a lot better than 300 in the short term.
The subscription put me off. Why can they not sell it. Also the annual cost for a VST synth is not cheap. There are many synths out there with all these features and some even free. Sales price of $99 would be about right.
Really hate the state of music software marketing nowadays. like it just makes me sad how good software is locvked behind silly pay schemes. most people can afford 5-10 a month. for a bit to rent to own something. companies should just do that. actually open offer to any music software company. you can higher me for a pittance to fix this. i dont even need a permanent job. just higher me for one month to redo your sales and marketing. i will do it for software.
Because of subs you cannot have everything from differebt brands, otherwise you'll need hundreds of dollars. We always laugh at Waves permanent sale, but it's a good low price system after all
@@AlexReidStudios i didnt use waves products, even before their subscription model fiasco. after i found out their updates cost money i was done with them. i legit think kilohearts has the best offerings on the market currently other than the near permanent sale. just lower the price so the rent to own people are getting a fairer shake, and people who do want to pay up front can know what to save for.
In my opinion they should rather make a sub like "get every of our products for $$" or "buy one of our product" making a vst subscription only is a bad move.
Thanks for watching! It is a very risky move by them. At the end developers are business too. If it doesn't work they might reconsider. If it works it will stay.
Companies greed of funnelling people into Subscription models with no perpetual license options could eventually end the home or hobbyist music producer because what they want is for you to subscribe to everything, own nothing, the greed is out of control, push back now people, end this crap for music producers of today, for music producers of tomorrow and those yet to be born.....🙏
I will never subcribe to a synth. Minimal Audio seems to have gotten greedy. I would not mind pay a hefty price for a synth this dope but I would never consider paying $15 a month for the rest of time.
I won't buy a subscription to this product for a few reasons - First, I do support subscription models for other products that have "virtually no competition" (Lightroom, Spotify.. ) , but Current is so similar to the many VST Wavetable/Granular synths that I already have (Pigments, Hive2, Zebra2, Vital, ZebraHZ, MassiveX, Serum, Padshop2). The second reason I'm not interested in Current is, I've been playing more with Ableton's Wavetable synth and find it to be much more accessible than any of the aforementioned synths. Ableton's Wavetable focuses on providing subtractive synth fundamentals (osc, filter, env, LFO) and leaves the already familiar and independent MIDI effects and Audio effects (arps, sequencers, reverbs, delays... ) as entities that can be added around the Wavetable synth. Most of these new "game changing" synths are bloated in my opinion.
That's why is a weird move. This synth is competing against a lot of big names in the field. Still time will tell if subscription worked for them or not
The subscription model means this is absolutely not on my list of synths to investigate. They are competing in a world of free synths and fantastic reasonably priced pro synths like Cherry Audio. There's no bloody way I'm getting another subscription for anything.
It's amazing, for me is definetly a new favorite, but as a reviewer I got it subscriprion free. So to be honest I would not subscribe despite the awesomeness
Maybe as a reviewer you could challenge them to offer a perpetual license. Subscriptions are out of hand and about either offering many options with value for 💰 or a rent to own situation. By the time we subscribe to everything out there, outgoing costs are eaten up and we’re stuck in an unfavourable financial situation. In this situation I feel it’s way out of touch and certainly not worth $1800 to use over the next 10 years! Please
Minimal just became Maximal (Profit) Audio , bye bye Minimal , you don't even own your own presets after the sub is over .... not even ... What a Mistake
Don't waste my fracking time talking about sub-based subscription products. Sick of it, very annoyed. Alex Mate, I respect your work, but please put in the title that you're reviewing a sub-based product. Great product, but people hate subs.... There are poor people, and young people trying to get into the industry. I'd rather know about a free or expensive plugin I can save for, than a subscription rip-off. Not everyone is rich! But keep up the good work, I like your bite-sized introductions to many products.
@@AlexReidStudios Yeah, sorry about my anger there. Was having a bad day, I didn't see the pinned not till after. I love your videos because they are usually under 10 minutes and pack in so much info. You funny dark Rabbit :) 💌🤟
FINAL UPDATE: I decided to take off the part I talk about the subscription model. This is to keep this video useful for new users. If y'all want to talk about the new pricing I can make a new video when it officially comes out. Enjoy the video!
You're missing one MAJOR point comparing Kilohearts to Minimals subscription... KHS' sub model is rent-to-own!! Its basically an interest-free pay over time model. Once you've been subscribed for X months, you now own the perpetual license and no longer need to subscribe
+Lifetime Updates
UPDATE: Minimal Audio decided to not make it subscription based. I recognize I like when a developer listens to the community. Share your thoughts!
Nice overview man. I like their stuff. But I won't touch anything with a sub-model. There are plenty of better value subs out there as you pointed out.
Yep, and I repeat, competition there is harder because people don't want to pay +$100 a month for every subscription
@@AlexReidStudios Indeed man. Having a lot of subs would cost you an arm and a leg. ;)
Yeah, I've always loved Minimal Audio's work. I was all about their samples before they ever released Rift. But this just isn't worth a long term subscription. But the worst part is all of my favorite creators saying in unison that they didn't know it would be subscription based. Not mentioning it to creators really appears shady on Minimal Audio’s part. Major mistake by them.
I feel like we all assumed it was going to be a regular product. They didn't stated beign subscription and I guess "we didn't asked". Still is a model I believe necessary to mention.
@@AlexReidStudiosyeah. The shadiness in appearance is on Minimal Audio’s side. Not on the side of Creators. My edited my comment to make it more clear 🙏🏾
@@AlexReidStudios I was actually even expecting an intro sale lol. Oof.
Just wanted to quote the following comparison: I purchased all four effect plugins from Minimal Audio on day one and I am a loyal and satisfied customer. With the monthly subscription fee of 15,- I would pay 900,- in the next 5 years just to rent (!!!) Current. For the same amount of money I purchased the kiloHearts Ultimate bundle (399,-) and the whole Sugar Bytes bundle (499,-) some time ago. These are 24 (!!!) high quality plugins of all categories and the best thing : I own all this stuff forever! Even with the annual fee it's 600 bucks just to rent a single synth for 5 years... and I already paid for all the effect plugins. There is no justification for that!
That's a great comparison. Both companies are amazing and Kilohearts does sell and rent
@@AlexReidStudios Exactly. Rent to own is a great and consumer friendly option. I don't mind paying for major updates and even buy things I really don't need just to support the developer (like sample or preset packs), but renting without owning the product after some time is not an option for me. It's a damn rabbit hole. I just cancelled my Plugin Alliance subscription some months ago although I got a loyalty super special price (I think it was around 12,- for everything as long as I pay) and I had access to over 180 plugins. Compared to that Minimal Audio wants me to pay 10/15,- for a single synth workstation (I already own all their effect plugins)... that's like a slap in my face.
You don't need to think about value differently for subscriptions. Just calculate the monthly cost ×12 and then think what you can buy for 180$ every year.
Phase plant is 100$ on sale for a lifetime license
That's true, but my point was that for subscriptions is necessary to think if what they offer is worth paying monthly
If you could drop video clips into the sampler and it scrapes the audio, that would be dope.
Putting aside the sub-subject, I see a very good modern synth with very thorough control options, great interface and nice choose of oscillators. I'm packed good enough with hardware and software synthesizers to spend money for this one, doesn't matter sub or once. But I'm sure these guys made a good move within the industry with this one. Thank you for detailed explanation and for saving time.
Agree, I really love it
Perpetual license is the future. The synth looks great, amazing even. But subscription will make them lose customers..
Agree, but if so many companies do this is because it's working as a business model. I believe is a risky move, sometimes it works (Slate Digital for example), sometimes not so much (Waves Audio). So time will tell if it worked for Minimal Audio
@@AlexReidStudios yeah, and you're right that time will tell. I hope though that they are not getting many subscriptors so that they switch business model. It looks great and I really want it 😂😂 such a dilemma ... 😊
Synthesizer could be the best synthesizer in the world. But subscription only? No thank you. I only buy perpetual license.
I do have a Phase Plant subscription. But you can actually buy Phase Plant and is 9.99
@@AlexReidStudios yes that is fair if you can choose. Phase Plant is usually 99$ on sale which is a very good price.
I just purchased PhasePlant on special and as others say, there are comparisons to be made here.
The sub model is not for me. I do have the annual upgrade sub for Bitwig, but a DAW is a very different value proposition to a VST synth. So between Bitwig grid, CA Voltage and PhasePlant, this synth is a pass for me.
But I do agree, this is s lovely sounding device.
yeah it's such a shame because I really would recommend checking it out
@Alex Reid as they have decided to make a perpetual license I have a question please: the sampler, can start position be keytracked?
I've beed disconnected today, they did?! Let me get home and check that keytracking question
@@AlexReidStudios it was just like 30 minutes ago :)
So after testing I believe you can't keytrack @@mattiasboden2329
@@AlexReidStudios ok, thanks for checking.
This is going to be cracked allot. Even people who like minimal audio would rather not sub.
it's a shame
Wont even look into mininal audios stuff anymore until they change the sub only model for this synth. Its a garbage business model made purely to milk money out of people forever. Rent to own, and perpetual license on this synth is the only thing that will make me consider doing business with minimal audio again.
Rent to own is an amazing model for people short on money. But I guess is not profitable
@@AlexReidStudios
It is profitable. Just not as profitable as making people pay their entire lives for a single synthesizer. 3000 dollars from a customer long term is a lot better than 300 in the short term.
The subscription put me off. Why can they not sell it. Also the annual cost for a VST synth is not cheap. There are many synths out there with all these features and some even free. Sales price of $99 would be about right.
Agree, Phase Plant has a subscription/selling model and it works great for them. Nowadays the competition for advanced synths is hard.
Really hate the state of music software marketing nowadays. like it just makes me sad how good software is locvked behind silly pay schemes. most people can afford 5-10 a month. for a bit to rent to own something. companies should just do that. actually open offer to any music software company. you can higher me for a pittance to fix this. i dont even need a permanent job. just higher me for one month to redo your sales and marketing. i will do it for software.
Because of subs you cannot have everything from differebt brands, otherwise you'll need hundreds of dollars. We always laugh at Waves permanent sale, but it's a good low price system after all
@@AlexReidStudios i didnt use waves products, even before their subscription model fiasco. after i found out their updates cost money i was done with them. i legit think kilohearts has the best offerings on the market currently other than the near permanent sale. just lower the price so the rent to own people are getting a fairer shake, and people who do want to pay up front can know what to save for.
In my opinion they should rather make a sub like "get every of our products for $$" or "buy one of our product" making a vst subscription only is a bad move.
I would understand if the subscription included all of their effects
No thanks. Serum is $189 for life long.
Crazy and suicidal choice. Insta turn off. They would not reconsider so not worth any interest. Thanks for your superb review as always:-)
Thanks for watching! It is a very risky move by them. At the end developers are business too. If it doesn't work they might reconsider. If it works it will stay.
I'll stick to Phase Plant the sub idea sucks. I dont mind paying for it with Arturia V collection 9 because ill own it...
Yeah, sucessful subscriptions offer a lot in return like vouchers and rewards
Companies greed of funnelling people into Subscription models with no perpetual license options could eventually end the home or hobbyist music producer because what they want is for you to subscribe to everything, own nothing, the greed is out of control, push back now people, end this crap for music producers of today, for music producers of tomorrow and those yet to be born.....🙏
That's why I love freeware developers. Vital is still my favorite synty
Subscription model sucks - “you will own nothing and be happy”, “you will eat ze bugs 🐞 “ Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum
Subscriptions need to offer a lot of value to be considered decent
I will never subcribe to a synth. Minimal Audio seems to have gotten greedy. I would not mind pay a hefty price for a synth this dope but I would never consider paying $15 a month for the rest of time.
Gree on that. that's what I mean by the relation of value and monthly fee
I won't buy a subscription to this product for a few reasons - First, I do support subscription models for other products that have "virtually no competition" (Lightroom, Spotify.. ) , but Current is so similar to the many VST Wavetable/Granular synths that I already have (Pigments, Hive2, Zebra2, Vital, ZebraHZ, MassiveX, Serum, Padshop2). The second reason I'm not interested in Current is, I've been playing more with Ableton's Wavetable synth and find it to be much more accessible than any of the aforementioned synths. Ableton's Wavetable focuses on providing subtractive synth fundamentals (osc, filter, env, LFO) and leaves the already familiar and independent MIDI effects and Audio effects (arps, sequencers, reverbs, delays... ) as entities that can be added around the Wavetable synth. Most of these new "game changing" synths are bloated in my opinion.
That's why is a weird move. This synth is competing against a lot of big names in the field. Still time will tell if subscription worked for them or not
The subscription model means this is absolutely not on my list of synths to investigate. They are competing in a world of free synths and fantastic reasonably priced pro synths like Cherry Audio. There's no bloody way I'm getting another subscription for anything.
Subscriptions are more competitive as people don't want to have many of those. There are many great plugin subscriptions out there
This synth looks amazing but I’m not going to get a subscription. I would’ve bought it in a a heart beat for perpetual licence
It's amazing, for me is definetly a new favorite, but as a reviewer I got it subscriprion free. So to be honest I would not subscribe despite the awesomeness
Maybe as a reviewer you could challenge them to offer a perpetual license. Subscriptions are out of hand and about either offering many options with value for 💰 or a rent to own situation. By the time we subscribe to everything out there, outgoing costs are eaten up and we’re stuck in an unfavourable financial situation. In this situation I feel it’s way out of touch and certainly not worth $1800 to use over the next 10 years! Please
@@deluxenz All reviewers are telling Minimal Audio what we think. Every user too. Time will tell
Minimal just became Maximal (Profit) Audio , bye bye Minimal , you don't even own your own presets after the sub is over .... not even ... What a Mistake
Subscription based is poop.
Don't waste my fracking time talking about sub-based subscription products. Sick of it, very annoyed. Alex Mate, I respect your work, but please put in the title that you're reviewing a sub-based product. Great product, but people hate subs.... There are poor people, and young people trying to get into the industry. I'd rather know about a free or expensive plugin I can save for, than a subscription rip-off.
Not everyone is rich!
But keep up the good work, I like your bite-sized introductions to many products.
Sorry about that, but they backed on that and they are relaunching soon without subscription, that's why I pinned a comment
@@AlexReidStudios Yeah, sorry about my anger there. Was having a bad day, I didn't see the pinned not till after.
I love your videos because they are usually under 10 minutes and pack in so much info.
You funny dark Rabbit :) 💌🤟
@@3DaveO No problem and thanks a lot :)