A mild grumble+warning about IK Multimedia & Amplitube 5 Max

[[Nathan]]

There's a bit of a "oils ain't oils" about IK's packages. You buy Max and discover that it does not include the things you most wanted. Then they spam you to get you to upgrade to something like "Max 2" and eventually "Max Max" no doubt. The strategies resemble mobile phone company contracts after a while. Just tell 'em you're all maxed out.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I stumbled upon this thread (very interesting BTW) trying to find out what would be in the Amplitube 5 Max package. Actually more like what wouldn't be in it.
I have Amplitube 4 and downloaded the Amplitube 5 SE package that IKM put in my account but was immediately turned off by everything being locked and not really that usable.
That being said, I see on their site right now that the Total Studio Max package is on sale for $150.00 which contains Amplitube 5 and a shit ton of other stuff. Seems like a no brainer but......... what's the catch?? I want to be sure as there are no do-overs.

Any advice / thoughts / disparagements, greatly appreciated

You’ll get a ton of stuff for $150, it’s a pretty insane deal for what you get vs what you pay. You might not get all of the most recently released stuff, and it’s not always easy to see exactly what is included vs what isn’t. If there is anything you particularly want, double check if it’s in there.

If you own none of it already, then it’s a great deal. If you own 99% of it already then you usually end up paying the same price for the last remaining bits as a new customer would for everything. Lots of companies operate like this. Just be warned if something comes out that you want that your options will not represent the same value as offers like this.

I actually think the quality of many IK plugins is better than they get credit for, but they have some long standing bugs that don’t seem like they’ll ever get fixed. Their customer service and support is generally pretty poor - you can file bug reports, logs, video demonstrations and steps to recreate the bugs and they’ll gaslight you or ask for more proof of it, or try to send you in a loop as opposed to fixing it. They’re generally quite stable but you just have to keep an eye out for goofiness, especially when using different sample rates or if you need latency compensation to line up correctly (like when something is bypassed).

IMO the products are largely better than the service/overall experience, so while you get good value with the products it’s the other areas that suffer. Another thing to consider is so much of IK’s product line is them copying products from other companies. Say you want a Manley Vari Mu, or 1073, or 1176 or LA2A, you can get officially licenced versions from UAD.

 

[JiveTurkey]

@JiveTurkey?

 

[Frodebro]

I successfully made it through 2024 without buying a single IK Multimedia plugin. Long may it continue!

The only new software in my world in 2024 was Fractal updates, so that doesn’t really count. But 2025, hoo boy. Native Instruments got a good chunk outta me already for both software and hardware.

 

[DaleCohee]

You’ll get a ton of stuff for $150, it’s a pretty insane deal for what you get vs what you pay. You might not get all of the most recently released stuff, and it’s not always easy to see exactly what is included vs what isn’t. If there is anything you particularly want, double check if it’s in there.

If you own none of it already, then it’s a great deal. If you own 99% of it already then you usually end up paying the same price for the last remaining bits as a new customer would for everything. Lots of companies operate like this. Just be warned if something comes out that you want that your options will not represent the same value as offers like this.

I actually think the quality of many IK plugins is better than they get credit for, but they have some long standing bugs that don’t seem like they’ll ever get fixed. Their customer service and support is generally pretty poor - you can file bug reports, logs, video demonstrations and steps to recreate the bugs and they’ll gaslight you or ask for more proof of it, or try to send you in a loop as opposed to fixing it. They’re generally quite stable but you just have to keep an eye out for goofiness, especially when using different sample rates or if you need latency compensation to line up correctly (like when something is bypassed).

IMO the products are largely better than the service/overall experience, so while you get good value with the products it’s the other areas that suffer. Another thing to consider is so much of IK’s product line is them copying products from other companies. Say you want a Manley Vari Mu, or 1073, or 1176 or LA2A, you can get officially licenced versions from UAD.

Thank you for your response! I understand what you are saying about customer support. I had an issue with version 2 of Arc Studio and while IKM was slow to non responsive, I did manage to corner a rep at the NAMM show and after sending videos and files and a bunch of emails got a free upgrade to the next version. Not a comforting experience really.

I am looking for Amplitube primarily so I suppose all the other stuff for the same price is a great deal. I use an UAD interface so have those plugins. I have watched some of the videos pointing out gain staging issues where properly achieving emulation of some of the amplifiers in the package requires a ton of input gain to get there resulting in clipping and other artifacts. I guess my main question is this: for $150 is there a better package out there for getting great in the box guitar sounds?

 

[Orvillain]

Does anyone know what you DON'T get in Total Studio 4 MAX???

@MirrorProfiles ??

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Does anyone know what you DON'T get in Total Studio 4 MAX???

@MirrorProfiles ??

Best bet is to check this and compare to their product pages/most recent releases. It's a faff, but its likely the only things missing would be the most recent things). At a glance, it doesn't have T-Racks 6, for instance. Beggars belief why they'd sell you an older version of one of their main product lines when a new one is available.

Total Studio 4, the ultimate collection of authentic sounds and gear

Total Studio 4 music production software bundles provide a range of top guitar, mixing & mastering, virtual instruments, effects, and presets, giving you all the tools needed for your music projects.

www.ikmultimedia.com

 

[Orvillain]

Here's what I don't have from Amplitube and T-Racks.

Amplitube missing bits:
5 stomps:
oil can delay
power wah fuzz
x-vibe
x-space
x-drive

3 amps:
Mesa Boogie Mark V
Mark IIC+
Triple Crown

5 cabs:
1x12 California Tweed
2x12 California Tweed
2x12 Road King
4x12 Road King
4x12 Road King Vintage

t-racks missing bits:
The T-Racks 6 software

3 EQs:
EQ PA
EQ PG
Master EQ 432

2 Dynamics:
Dyna Mu
Joe Chiccarelli Vocal Strip

3 Reverbs:
Sunset Sound Studio Reverb
Fame Studio Reverb
The Farm Stone Room

1 Metering:
Full Metering

1 Delay:
Space Delay

5 Other:
Leslie
Tascam 388
Tascam Porta One
TEAC A-3340S
TEAC A-6100 MKII


I'm not really that arsed about their synths and sampletank stuff to be honest.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

oil can delay
power wah fuzz
x-vibe
x-space
x-drive

I never use these. X series stuff sounded absolutely shite to me.

Mesa Boogie Mark V
Mark IIC+
Triple Crown

Mark V is pretty cool. IIC+ is OK, Triple Crown is almost there but some weird power amp/resistive load type stuff going on.

5 cabs:
1x12 California Tweed
2x12 California Tweed
2x12 Road King
4x12 Road King
4x12 Road King Vintage

Some of these 4x12 cabs are way better than people realise. Remember to toggle to the bottom speaker in the 4x12's as you get some variations

3 EQs:
EQ PA
EQ PG
Master EQ 432

API EQ's are fine, but why bother when UAD exist? The Sontec 432 is really good actually.

2 Dynamics:
Dyna Mu
Joe Chiccarelli Vocal Strip

Not into those kind of signature channel strip type plugins so never used the JC plugin. He's a great engineer so I can't imagine it's too bad. Dyna Mu is good, but again, why bother when you can use UAD (the Pulsar emulation is good, and Softube did one with NI as well). Slate FG-MU gets pretty close as well.

3 Reverbs:
Sunset Sound Studio Reverb
Fame Studio Reverb
The Farm Stone Room

Haven't used the Farm but there's good stuff in the others. Just IR based really but its nice having the chambers/plates/springs etc too.

1 Metering:
Full Metering

One of the better metering plugins out there, I forget about it too much tbh.

1 Delay:
Space Delay

I like this one more than I care to admit. But I still just go to UAD or Arturia first, all much of a muchness.

5 Other:
Leslie
Tascam 388
Tascam Porta One
TEAC A-3340S
TEAC A-6100 MKII

Leslie is fine if you don't have something like this. I dig UA Waterfall more though. Tascam and TEAC stuff is fine but why bother when they have modelled more high fidelity tape machines. Cool for a more lofi thing I guess but it depends how much value that is to you.

 

[Richard_G]

@Orvillain: Besides the missing T-Racks 6 (you do get T-Racks 5 Max v2), I know that you don't get Pianoverse Max, if that's interesting for you. (I bought Pianoverse Max on sale separately after I bought Total Studio 4 Max). I can't guarantee that not more is left out.

 

[Orvillain]

Nah. I'm gonna leave it. They almost suckered me in with a deal. But since I own most of everything I actually care about, it just isn't such a deal after all.