Fall discounts have gotten hard to track, with most makers offering some discounts around now. But here is a select running list of some of the most exceptional deals.
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Perfect Circuit
I’m almost afraid to even head in here; there’s just so much nice stuff on sale at Perfect Circuit, plus a 10% discount on non-sale items. There’s an especially beautiful modular collection. For instance, how about Instruo’s Lubadh Tape Emulator / Looper V2.0 (pictured above).
Sweetwater
The US retailer has their usual massive Black Friday sale sorted by category (just in case you want to buy a sax instead of a mic). Some deals are great, some just include handy accessories. Let me try to pick the best:
I’m going with:
Intellijel’s flagship Cascadia synth system is $350 off, or $1799.
$200-450 off Roland Aerophone Pro wind instruments (surprisingly steep discounts there and – yeah we need more of these and fewer keyboardists, speaking even as a keyboardist)
$600 off Nord Grand 88-key stage instrument. (It’s a thing of beauty.)
Roland SH-4d synth for $399 is a steal.
Guitar Center
Well, yes, they have an awful lot of guitars for some reason. (Can’t quite put my finger on it… which is also typically what happens when I stumble around for frets.) But Guitar Center has a full range of pro audio and live sound deals, too, worth comparison shopping. (Pioneer DJ are doing their own Black Friday sale, but I am struck by how much cheaper it’d be to assemble a Denon rig now – blasphemy as that may be.)
I’m just going to call attention to that ARP 2600 M. There’s even a blemish option for less.
They run through December 4, with up to 50% off items and various coupons and doorbusters:
Soundtoys
Soundtoys doesn’t do discounts very often – this is the one. And they’ve brought back academic pricing for this sale. Students and educators get a full, non-expiring license with verification for US$99. Soundtoys bundle, individual effects, and upgrades are all deeply discounted.
Discounts available from Plugin Boutique
and Soundtoys
See past Soundtoys coverage on CDM: https://cdm.link/tag/soundtoys/
Expressive E hardware and software
If you just want to pick up some software, Expressive E has up to 50% off their software plugins for MPE controllers. That means you can use them with any MPE controller, not just Expressive E’s own Osmose – so Linnstrument, Push 3, etc. are all fair game.
That includes the Noisy 2 expressive synth, which uses acoustic and analog modeling for a uniquely organic sound. At €89.40 during this sale price, it’s one of the most compelling soft synth buys of the season. Sure, there are other instruments with MPE support, but Expressive E did really build the instrument around that.
They also have their Osmose expressive keyboard at up to 30% off – so 1259,30€ refurbished, which puts it in the price range of a lot of conventional keyboards without any expressive control. And it’s become truly one of my Favorite Things of 2024.
https://www.expressivee.com/this-is-black-friday-28
Ableton
Black Friday is usually the only time to get an Ableton discount (apart from upgrade offers and so on). The surprise is, it’s a full 25% off Live 12, Push, upgrades, and all packs. That’s even 25% off rarely-discounted Push hardware, so 25% off both Push standalone and Push (controller) through Tuesday. (Pricing on the just-released Move hardware is unchanged.)
Universal Audio plugins
Act quickly on this one as it ends November 30. But Universal Audio has their biggest sale of the year on. They’ve got hardware discounts, too, but I suspect it’s the plugin sale that’ll catch a lot of eyes, with up to 85% off.
There’s also UAD SPARK for a year for $99, which I think is a no-brainer if you don’t already own their plugins. That collection is simply exceptional, including all the hardware models and compressors and whatnot you’d expect but also some quite nice synths (PolyMAX and Opal), models of UAD Sound City, Capitol Chambers, and Hitsville Reverb Chambers which I adore, and more.
And if you prefer to own, there are some nice ones at $39 or less. Plus you get a Pultec for free with purchase.
See that and some bundles over at Plugin Boutique (including a nice exclusive or two), or dive into the UA store.
Arturia
It’s 50% off the flagships over at Arturia – that’s V Collection X, FX Collection 5, Pigments 5, and Analog Lab Pro. So now is basically the best time to pick up a bundle if you don’t have one, and $99 on Pigments is pretty appealing.
Discounts available from Plugin Boutique and Arturia.
And don’t miss the tutorial and free presets I did for audio input in Pigments 5.
Applied Acoustics Systems
Our friends at AAS also make this the time they do significant discounts. I’ll just say it again – if you don’t have the full Modeling Collection, get it. $199 for all the modeling stuff is wonderful. Multiphonics CV-2, one of my favorite software modular, is also available on its own for $79 with three expansion sound packs (all of which you can learn from and modify, since they’re patched on the modular).
Available from AAS and Plugin Boutique.
Isotonik Studios
There’s been some exciting, exciting stuff happening over at Isotonik Studios and I’m way behind in catching up with Darren and co – stay tuned. But suffice to say they’ve got a massive sale on and they’re also doing 12 weeks of free giveaways – still time to get in on that for another eight weeks, just by signing up for their email list. Right now the giveaway is a free guitar tone pack from PerforModule.
Also, that extreme-colored site that had for a while has been totally overhauled with one that will be much easier on your eyes. In case you were scared off last time.
Check the full Black Friday lineup
Playtronica
Playtronica has a 60% off sale through the 1st of December. That includes their delightful kits, which I imagine could make a fun gift.
Moog
Just one offer here, but it’s lovely. Moog’s heavy, wonderful Mariana bass synth is now $39 instead of the usual $99.
https://software.moogmusic.com/store/mariana
AudioThing
Everything at AudioThing is on sale, for discounts up to 70%, including various superb collaborations with Hainbach. I actually need to catch up writing up some of this stuff.
https://www.audiothing.net/plugins/
VCV
VCV Rack is best known for its free and open-source edition, but the paid Pro license – and many premium modules – can be a worthy investment. VCV Rack Pro is on sale now, and the entire selection of premium modules is discounted, including those from VCV and third parties, at 10-40% off. It could be a good time to stock up on some extra software modules for the (northern hemisphere) winter.
Check VCV and sort the Library by premium. Through December 1.
Audio Damage
Audio Damage has 50% off absolutely everything – code BLACKCELEBRATION. Absolutely one of the longest-operating, most trusted names in plugin development.
Baby Audio
Okay, I could really quickly wind up in the trap of listing every audio developer, but Baby Audio deserves special mention as they’ve got Super VHS for just $9.99 (among various other discounts and bundle sales). It’s actually one of my favorites from them, capable of lots of unique coloration and saturation, not just retro effects. Oh and if you were complaining about Transit 2 pricing, it’s also on sale.
Available from Plugin Boutique and Baby Audio
Eventide
All of the bundles are great, but especially the H9, Elevate Mastering Bundle, and Anthology collections. The H3000 just got a lovely new UI refresh, too, which it needed – more on that soon. Actually if you pick up the Anthology and Soundtoys, I think you have more or less the entire history of the H3000, since you’ve got the folks still at Eventide and the founders of Soundtoys.
Or on a budget, just pick up the H910 Harmonizer or Blackhole at deeply discounted prices. Those are two of my favorite effects of all time, and I recently tried to replicate the sound of the H910 for my sound production class and… yeah, it’s not easy to do, so we wound up just playing with the official Eventide software plug-in, which is pure magic. You can convincingly put it on almost everything and make it better; it’s the MSG of audio.
See Eventide bundles page or Plugin Boutique
No discount, just tree planting
Sonic Charge and Magnus Lidström have an interesting alternative approach. Their Black Friday tradition is to plant 25 real trees in your name for every Synplant 2 copy sold through midday Saturday. (They’re working with Ecosia – you do want to check reputations, and this is one of the better ones; see Euro News. Of course just one synth manufacturer I know of is planting directly, and that’s Liquid Sky Collective in Portugal.)
https://soniccharge.com/synplant
And yes, probably that plug-in / iOS app / even Eurorack module you had your eye on…
So one reason not to include everyone is, if they’re a software developer, there’s a very good chance they have a discount now, including on the App Store.
Bah, humbug – not everyone observes this holiday!
It’s not my business to tell people how to run their business. I can observe what different parts of the industry are doing, though. And there are lots of developers who definitely don’t do Black Friday discounts, instead setting low prices that they retain throughout the year. Two prominent examples – Sinevibes and Valhalla. (And Valhalla did just add new modes to ValhallaDelay, so they can get your attention that way.) A lot of developers also have told me they’re not a big fan of reseller stores, either. It’s one to watch, and since I know some CDM readers are also developers, if you’re ever curious to do a round-table or something, I’m up for it.
Updating this list with more shortly…but not with too much!
To everyone not in the USA – well, this strange twist of the US retail calendar is giving you discounts, too. But maybe this will help you understand what this is all about. Or not.