FL Studio options

[GSO]

if you're gonna do stuff on OCR what's the best version of FL Studio to get: Producer Edition or Signature Bundle?(I have a $200 budget)

[big giant circles]

Depends, what kind of music do you want to make? Looks like the Signature bundle is a bit of an upgrade from the former XXL bundle, which was bloated with largely crappy plugins.

Google shows a result where if you qualify for an educational discount you can get the Sig bundle for <$200, I'd do that.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/654799-REG/Image_Line_10_10173_FL_Studio_9_Signature.html

Basically, the Sig bundle is pretty good for what it is and what it includes (and definitely way better than the XXL bundle it replaced), but again, the true value really depends on what kind of music you want to make. If you're looking to do regular electronic stuff, the bundle's not bad. If you're looking to get more into pop/guitar/rock/orchestral/jazz, or pretty much anything else that's not electronic I'd get the Producer edition and put the other money in a piggy bank for some good 3rd party plugins.

[GSO]

okay so now that's out of the way, what are some good 3rd party plugins?

[big giant circles]

again, depends. What's the primary style you're shooting for?

[GSO]

Like katethegreat19, I mostly do acoustic work.

[big giant circles]

Are you recording live instruments like Kate, or are you wanting to sequence virtual instruments to sound like real instruments?

[Zephyr]

If you`re doing mostly acoustic work of any kind I`d recommend just plain producer edition, XXL and Signature are a lot of money for very little more that would be of use to you. However if you`re planning to do a lot of mastering, Maximus could come in handy.

[Nabeel Ansari]

If you're mainly looking to do acoustic work like recording audio and aren't as interested in synthesis, sound design, and sampling, the producer edition might be a better option. However, SB edition contains Maximus, which is like Zephyr said (good for mixing/mastering). It (maximus ALONE) normally goes for $190 on the Image-Line shop; I don't know what the educational discount is (or if there is one), but even if it was half the price, the combined cost of producer edition ($119) and maximus ($85 if half price for edu discount) would be $205, which is $25 more than the SB. SB includes maximus and other stuff all for $179 (at edu discount). If you're not eligible for edu discount, however, I don't think you can get much more than producer edition on a $200 budget.

EDIT: Math/Shopping blurb set aside, the Signature Bundle is a better deal, unless you don't want Maximus and prefer cheaper 3rd party plugins, in which case you have $80 after buying producer edition.