I'm this close to breaking down and buying Audiomulch. I tried the demo awhile back and really loved it...but I'm torn between splurging on Max For Live and going the 'Mulch root. Anyone have an opinion?
That's a tough one. If you're really comfortable in Live, and want to build your own effects/instruments, Max for Live would make more sense since Mulch isn't made for low level building. But, if you feel stale with Live, and want to try a more free-form way of composing, Mulch is a good place to look. Mulch's work environment is a lot like dealing with a big open tabletop, it doesn't block you very often, but it also doesn't explicitly lead you anywhere.
Regarding the new update, some of the workflow changes are nice, little stuff like double-clicking on a contraption/plugin name in the list adds it into the patcher, where before you had to drag and drop. The dynamics modules are a big help if you just want to work with native contraptions and no plugins, I especially like the noisegate. And the time signatures add a lot of flexibility.
I'm surprised folk prefer the light skin, mind, burns holes in my retinas.