KVR Audio

sandbags · Post by **sandbags** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:06 pm

I bought VocalizerPro back in December in a sale and almost immediately hit a bug that crashed the plugin and Ableton Live 100% of the time.

I filed a bug on Dec 31st but got no response.

After rattling a few Twitter accounts I found an email address and, finally, on 1st March got a reply:

"Our team is looking into this issue currently for you."

Subsequent emails have gone unanswered.

I'm out $10 so I suppose I have little to complain about, but actually I would quite like the instrument to work properly.

Is this other peoples experience of this company? Have I been unlucky? Anything else I could try?

Otherwise I guess this is a warning.

Thanks

Matt

sbangs_air · Post by **sbangs_air** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:16 pm

Hi Matt, sorry you faced this issue with your setup. It is my understanding you were offered a complete refund of your purchase with the option to keep the license (for any future updates) but declined. Your retailer can assist with this at any time should you wish to obtain the refund. I have asked the team to have another look at your issue to see if they can advise further.

sandbags · Post by **sandbags** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:25 pm

Hi Simon.

Not quite. From *your* email March 1st:

"Our team is looking into this issue currently for you.
In the meantime is there another Air or Sonivox instrument you would like to recive as a goodwill gesture?"

To which I replied:

"It's a very kind offer that you've made but I would feel uncomfortable accepting it when I consider that I bought VocalizerPro on offer and, after all, bugs do happen.

I'm glad to hear it's being worked on. Do you guys issue patch releases as bugs are fixed? Or do you have a schedule for updates?"

I received no response to this email, nor the the other emails I have sent in the intervening 5 months. Until I posted this thread today.

To be clear I wasn't looking for a refund but to be able to use the instrument so I hope your saying "I have asked the team to have another look at your isuse to see if they can advise further." is genuine.

Thanks.

Matt

plexuss · Post by **plexuss** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:59 pm

Software developement is not such that a few bugs get squashed and then it's re-released. Not unless they are using an Agile process with quick sprint/release cycles. From what I have seen of plugin released, and I have a lot of plugins, almost no devs use Agile. This means they are likely doing bug fixes along with roadmapped feature builds. If they are like software shops I've worked with, they meet and prioritize what they work on. These cycles are usually pretty long and could be even over a year. Depends on the company.

In other words, don't hold your breath.

ChamomileShark · Post by **ChamomileShark** » Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:37 am

I'm still waiting for a reply re use within production music - my publisher asked me to check that the are no issues using the samples within commercial works (some old libraries had weird clauses)

robotmonkey · Post by **robotmonkey** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:06 am

plexuss wrote:Software developement is not such that a few bugs get squashed and then it's re-released. Not unless they are using an Agile process with quick sprint/release cycles. From what I have seen of plugin released, and I have a lot of plugins, almost no devs use Agile. This means they are likely doing bug fixes along with roadmapped feature builds. If they are like software shops I've worked with, they meet and prioritize what they work on. These cycles are usually pretty long and could be even over a year. Depends on the company.

In other words, don't hold your breath.

Very much depends on the developer. For example, Waves will work with you to get things resolved asap and when needed they fix bugs and release updated versions in a matter of days.

inMusic brands like Air and Sonivox on the other hand are known for their lousy and nonresponsive support and slow feet dragging when it comes to fixing bugs and updating their software. It even makes you wonder weather there are someone still working there.

sbangs_air · Post by **sbangs_air** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 8:27 am

ChamomileShark wrote:I'm still waiting for a reply re use within production music - my publisher asked me to check that the are no issues using the samples within commercial works (some old libraries had weird clauses)

As per the ELUA, included there are no issues with that

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 10:33 am

sandbags wrote:I bought VocalizerPro back in December in a sale and almost immediately hit a bug that crashed the plugin and Ableton Live 100% of the time.

Just wondering: Did you try it with another DAW to see if it does the same thing? Maybe there is a setting in the DAW or some sort of conflict, and it isn't just the plugin's fault. Also, is your Ableton up to date? I had an issue with Sonar X3 and a newer plugin where it crashed a lot, but when I used the latest version of Sonar (Platinum) it worked fine.

zzz00m · Post by **zzz00m** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 10:07 pm

sandbags wrote:I bought VocalizerPro back in December in a sale and almost immediately hit a bug that crashed the plugin and Ableton Live 100% of the time.

I have VocalizerPro working in 3 DAWs that I currently have installed. I don't have Live, so I can't comment on that one. So just to mention that it can work. Maybe something in the setup it doesn't care for?

The configuration instructions are rather fiddly and DAW specific, since it must be (1) configured as an audio effect, not an instrument, on a live audio input or recorded audio track, and (2) with a MIDI input controller on a separate MIDI track routed to the VocalizerPro MIDI input, in order to play it.

RoccoM · Post by **RoccoM** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 10:38 pm

I had pretty much the same experience as OP - regular crashes of VocalizePro in Ableton Live in Windows 10. SONiVOX support was slow and unhelpful. SInce then, I have moved from Live to Studio One - now VocalizePro runs fine. In fact, a lot of flaky problems magically disappeared when I made the move to Studio One. FWIW.

m03 · Post by **m03** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 3:08 am

I've had a not-so-great support experience as well. Contacted support back in March about an issue migrating/re-registering my license for Eighty Eight Ensemble...five months later and I still have not gotten them to respond.

As a result, I have not spent any additional money on their software, and that probably wont change in the future.

zzz00m · Post by **zzz00m** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:41 am

I will add that the only ticket I have ever opened with SONiVOX support was promptly closed by their tech because I was running Windows 10.

It seems that the majority of their Windows products are only listed as being compatible with Windows 7 and 8.1.

In all fairness, most of them work fine with Windows 10. But if you need help, they are not supported yet. They do list compatible OS on their product pages. Normally OS requirements list the MINIMUM OS required. But in this case, there is no note that Windows 10 is not supported.

Windows 10 was released over two years ago. Where are the updates, and why do they keep selling products that are at end of life?

realmarco · Post by **realmarco** » Sat Aug 12, 2017 5:47 am

SONiVOX is garbage

never buy something from them

almost as bad as cryosonic

zzz00m · Post by **zzz00m** » Sat Aug 12, 2017 12:57 pm

realmarco wrote:SONiVOX is garbage

never buy something from them

almost as bad as cryosonic

I'm not a Mac user, as I assume you are. I've noticed many of the problems posted on the SONiVOX forum seem to be Mac related issues.

On Windows, the plugins are fairly stable, with one known crash bug that I am aware of.

Updates are badly needed if they want to repair their reputation.

GeorgeZ · Post by **GeorgeZ** » Sat Aug 12, 2017 1:07 pm

zzz00m wrote:Updates are badly needed if they want to repair their reputation.

Fairly certain that ship has sailed. Whatever they end up doing re updates, it'll likely be too little too late judging from the general vibe re their stuff you see on forums (think I have one or two of their plug-ins, can't recall which two as it was one of those no-brainer situations.... buy super cheap, install, try for a few minutes and decide the instrument is less-than-average at best, immediately uninstall and forget about it, you know the deal).

**EDIT: ... and don't give me the old "you only tried it for a few minutes, how can you make a educated call on the quality": Look, it' simple, if the plugin wasn't behaving bad, or I could coax some good sounds out of it, or the samples weren't lackluster (both were sample based iirc...

), it'd still be on my system (considering I'm an old hand producer and SDer, it's obvious fairly quickly to me what's going to cut it and what's not).

SONiVOX support = no support?