Aether user reviews

Extremely disappointing — £60 wasted on unreliable AI-generated MIDI I bought Aether expecting a useful AI-powered music production tool that could generate MIDI from straightforward musical instructions. Unfortunately, my experience has been incredibly disappointing. I spent a considerable amount of time setting up the local AI model using Ollama, following the instructions and configuring the model to the recommended 32,768-token context length. Even after all that effort, the results were poor. I asked it to generate a simple four-bar chord progression, specifying the exact notes for each chord. It couldn’t even get that right. One chord contained the wrong note, changing the intended harmony entirely. When I tried asking it to correct that single chord, the result became worse. Repeating the original instructions produced further incorrect results. These weren’t complicated musical requests. They were basic, explicit instructions that I expected a product like this to follow reliably. What makes the experience even more frustrating is the additional cost involved in getting access to potentially better AI models. I paid $60 for the plugin, only to discover that using cloud-based AI involves separate API charges. In my view, these additional costs should be made much more prominent in the marketing, particularly when the quality of the included local-model experience is so disappointing. I understand that AI-generated music won’t always be perfect. However, there is a considerable difference between occasionally needing to edit a creative result and a tool repeatedly failing to follow precise instructions. I contacted Umbral Audio hoping for a satisfactory resolution, but my refund request was refused. The response was that AI output accuracy is not guaranteed and that dissatisfaction with generated results is not grounds for a refund. So I’m left with a $60 plugin that, in my experience, hasn’t delivered what I expected, after spending hours trying to make it work. My advice to anyone considering buying Aether: think very carefully before spending your money. Understand that the advertised plugin price is not necessarily the end of your costs, and don’t assume that explicit musical instructions will produce correct MIDI. I certainly wouldn’t buy it again.