Acoustic Samples B-5 organ, VST with a BUG and horrible customer support. Wasted $100 !!!

[ghettosynth]

IMHO, there's too much moralising around here about the perceived attitude of the dev and not enough about the deplorable attitude of the OP.

/Joachim

Thanks man

I was about to answer with a long post, but that says it all

If that's what you got out of my posts, then you weren't paying attention. You might be absolutely right, but you're still going to be viewed as the thin-skinned dev who doesn't solve problems out of spite even though he can.

That's the entire point dude. Hundreds of people view this thread but don't reply, more just view the title. How many do you think read much more than the first post? You don't need to waste your breath trying to convince "me" of anything. Basically, this guy is exercising his "law of 250" and that is never a win for you.

He might have been rude, but you might have been a bit indifferent to his problems, we don't know, and it doesn't make you look good to share that kind of info here in an attempt to battle the customer. I know that seems unfair, but rude or not, he's still your customer and you still haven't solved his problem.

and also that the problem was in fact identified, it's a bad note pairing, it being the merger of his keyboard of whatever else.

Sure, you probably do, but until you either replicate his bug, or test your solution on his system, you only think that you've solved the problem. Look, don't waste your breath here trying to convince me otherwise. I'm a software dev myself and I've seen this hundreds of times in my own work and other people's work. I can't count the number of times that devs thought that they knew what the problem was and thought they had the solution and it turned out to be something else. I know that you have a solution with high probability, but that probability isn't equal to one, even though you seemed to have convinced yourself that it is.

It could be a sure thing, all you have to do is swallow your pride, provide the customer with the solution and then you'll both know.

[thysm00]

I'm not trying to convince you, i'm just tying to show the people that might read this thread that his accusations are false.
But yep, you're right, maybe i should have let him walk all over me and swallow my pride, but hey, i might be too old for that (and i'm not that old...).
Given the first question i got from that specific client, i would have gotten that rant anyway. I haven't displayed the whole ticket history to everyone, but the first "huge bug" he reported is actually a feature of the real hammond organs (the percussion volume drop).
Sometimes, whatever you do (yes, answer 12 tickets in 3 days is already quite some effort, especially when you get yelled at), the customers just wants to rant and will eventually do it, that's how the internet works.

Hopefully the happy customers and good reviews Acousticsamples gets everywhere else will have more of an impact than this thread.

[JJ_Jettflow]

I have a different problem with the B5; I get missing notes. They are there the first time around in the song, but any replay of it and notes are missing..even when played from the controller. I have to reload the plug over and over.

My solution is simple; sell it and buy something else which I did and I am very happy with the BD 33 as a replacement. I have been dealing with software since Steinberg debuted the Pro 12 and one thing I have found out is that most tech support is useless. If you run into trouble with something, dump it and move on. The money you lose is not worth the aggravation of dealing with most of these companies.

[ghettosynth]

I'm not trying to convince you, i'm just tying to show the people that might read this thread that his accusations are false.

But it's not false, it is a problem, you can fix it, but you choose not to because you're mad.

the customers just wants to rant and will eventually do it, that's how the internet works.

Nope, the customer wants his problem solved. He never would have ranted if you would have swallowed your pride.

Hopefully the happy customers and good reviews Acousticsamples gets everywhere else will have more of an impact than this thread.

You can hope, or, you can actually do positive things to change people's minds. The choice is yours.

[ghettosynth]

I have a different problem with the B5; I get missing notes. They are there the first time around in the song, but any replay of it and notes are missing..even when played from the controller. I have to reload the plug over and over.

My solution is simple; sell it and buy something else which I did and I am very happy with the BD 33 as a replacement. I have been dealing with software since Steinberg debuted the Pro 12 and one thing I have found out is that most tech support is useless. If you run into trouble with something, dump it and move on. The money you lose is not worth the aggravation of dealing with most of these companies.

Thanks for posting. Respectfully though, I think that some companies just do a much better job than others. Look no further than the recent Black Friday Eventide bundle thread. It was clear from that thread that they went way above the call of duty in several instances. It pushed them right to the top of my list. They were already on my radar from their excellent giveaways, but yes, these things make a difference.

I recently had a problem with LoopLoft. It was an issue with how they do their giveaway with purchase, and without going into detail, I mistakenly bought the wrong product and ended up spending more than I intended to because of a chain of silly errors.

Let me be clear, the problem was my mistake, mine, I did not really expect anything from them but I sent them an email telling them about how the way they did checkout led to me miss out on something and that I was a bit frustrated. I didn't ask for anything and yet they sent me a coupon for the price of the mistaken product. I think that's fair for a sample product and especially since I had already told them that even though I purchased it by mistake that, in fact, I liked the product. So I got to keep the product, they were cool about me making a mistake, and I purchased more from them with the coupon.

Isn't that what you want as a vendor, your customers to come back again and again?

Since then I've purchased several other items from them and would do it again if something came across my radar.

This is Joe Girrad's lesson. Just go above and beyond for the customer so they think that you are amazing and they will help to sell your product. Piss off a customer and they will not only never buy from you again but they will tell the story about you, and exaggerate it, until the end of time.

That's the main point, even if you're right, you're wrong, the customer has already lost all that they are going to lose in this transaction, only the vendor still has something to lose. You're naive if you think that the transaction is equal, it isn't, the vendor gets cold hard cash from the customer, the customer gets a product of some value, maybe. The vendor has more to lose in this exchange than the customer and, consequently, should accept that his role and expected behavior isn't the same as that of the customer.

All that said, yes, it's not often worth more than a couple of emails of hassle to fix a problem, dump it and move on.

[ImNotDedYet]

Accoustic Samples did absolutely nothing wrong in this instance IMO. Harping on them for not resolving an issue that a user claims, who's in all honesty not a very nice person, is just wrong. No one here knows the full story and history behind this user and the dev other than the OP and the dev. It's one thing to work with a customer that's respectful and another completely to work with a customer that's completely disrespectful. If someone at my job has an issue with the things I work with, I do my best to resolve the issue(s). If they tell me to F off, their issue goes to the bottom of my priority list. I've always got a number of things on my plate from a work perspective, as I'm guessing the dev does. If you're going to be disrespectful towards me, I"m not going to be in any kind of hurry to fix your issue.

Oh, and BTW, I freaking love this product!

[ImNotDedYet]

I have a different problem with the B5; I get missing notes. They are there the first time around in the song, but any replay of it and notes are missing..even when played from the controller. I have to reload the plug over and over.

My solution is simple; sell it and buy something else which I did and I am very happy with the BD 33 as a replacement. I have been dealing with software since Steinberg debuted the Pro 12 and one thing I have found out is that most tech support is useless. If you run into trouble with something, dump it and move on. The money you lose is not worth the aggravation of dealing with most of these companies.

Thanks for posting. Respectfully though, I think that some companies just do a much better job than others. Look no further than the recent Black Friday Eventide bundle thread. It was clear from that thread that they went way above the call of duty in several instances. It pushed them right to the top of my list. They were already on my radar from their excellent giveaways, but yes, these things make a difference.

I recently had a problem with LoopLoft. It was an issue with how they do their giveaway with purchase, and without going into detail, I mistakenly bought the wrong product and ended up spending more than I intended to because of a chain of silly errors.

Let me be clear, the problem was my mistake, mine, I did not really expect anything from them but I sent them an email telling them about how the way they did checkout led to me miss out on something and that I was a bit frustrated. I didn't ask for anything and yet they sent me a coupon for the price of the mistaken product. I think that's fair for a sample product and especially since I had already told them that even though I purchased it by mistake that, in fact, I liked the product. So I got to keep the product, they were cool about me making a mistake, and I purchased more from them with the coupon.

Isn't that what you want as a vendor, your customers to come back again and again?

Since then I've purchased several other items from them and would do it again if something came across my radar.

This is Joe Girrad's lesson. Just go above and beyond for the customer so they think that you are amazing and they will help to sell your product. Piss off a customer and they will not only never buy from you again but they will tell the story about you, and exaggerate it, until the end of time.

That's the main point, even if you're right, you're wrong, the customer has already lost all that they are going to lose in this transaction, only the vendor still has something to lose. You're naive if you think that the transaction is equal, it isn't, the vendor gets cold hard cash from the customer, the customer gets a product of some value, maybe. The vendor has more to lose in this exchange than the customer and, consequently, should accept that his role and expected behavior isn't the same as that of the customer.

All that said, yes, it's not often worth more than a couple of emails of hassle to fix a problem, dump it and move on.

And you told them to F off when you disagreed with them that the issue was in their software? Big difference between the two situations.

[Saukar30]

From doing tech support in the past, watching the video & knowing something about DAWS & VSTS, I can pretty much guess that it could be a 2 way street problem... software related & hardware related.

As already suggested, there has to be an issue going on and the best way to get down to the root cause of that is with a MIDI monitor on the OP's DAW (as a VST... there are a few free ones, not familiar with Cubase but I think they have one as well). Isolate each MIDI controller WITH the pedal & play to see what happens while you are monitoring. It should be simple to figure out where the issue is coming from. My guess would be a issue with the pedal as the keyboards seem to be newer.

I also know from a tech support background that when end users buy things for computers, they have tons of ways of connecting them that maybe developers haven't thought of.And also developers don't have time to look into the gazillion ways that people can connect their software. Most people just want things to work and don't want to or know how to troubleshoot themselves. Which is just understandable, as most consumers (including myself) just want things to work which is why we buy them.

It would really help though if the OP stay engaged and I think that is the primary thing that ISN'T happening. I'm pretty sure Acoustic Samples & possibly UVI need some more patient people on the support end (no offense at all to any of those companies or their support). Most people see this as a problem, by I see it as an opportunity. Much is to be learned on both he consumer end and the developer end from difficult problems.

[woocaash]

Dear all


I am new to this forum and thought that if someone reply I will get an email.
I did not log to KVR and after couple of weeks when I logged I was very surprised how many responds I received. Topic was closed but after my request moderator unlocked it for which I am very grateful.


I would like to thank you for your interest in my post.

To the users “Spitfire31” & “murnau” I would like to say.
Your posts guys really didn’t bring anything important or related to my problem and to the discussion.
Perhaps this is kind of “communication standard” which belongs to “Acoustic Samples”

To “Turello” – never heard of this VST. I will definitely give it a try.

Dear “thysm00”
Customer support should resolve the problems and help users.
You claimed 12 emails. My question here is:
What have you guys done in so many emails.
NOTHING except telling me: “nobody else has this problem”, “your keyboard is broken, replace it”
You never offered any fix.
I just post one Topic here on this very nice forum and look at first replies.
Those people volunteer here and you are getting paid partially from the money I spent on VST.
They bring a lot of help, technical advices, solutions, suggestions etc. It didn’t take 12 emails.
I explained everything clearly here the same way I describe it to you guys.
How can that be that random people can help faster and better ?
I never asked for refund because I just wanted to have this plugin working. That’s all. Come on I am not that cheap but looks like you guys are. I have tons of plugins for 5k. And if you think that everybody uses whatever they buy right away I must say that your thinking is limited and maybe that’s why you couldn’t help me. I barely used this software. I play on the cruise ships and I am away most of the time with limited access to the internet. In the meantime moving from NJ to Ohio and was setting up my studio. In total I used this for no more than 4 hours total. Plugin worked before with one controller. With 3 it doesn’t and keyboards are connected to PC directly via USB. Everything else is working. I repeat EVERYTHING…. So I must replace my keyboard I guess…

"Acoustic Samples" Whenever you will come up with an update or something please let me know.
I will be happy to install it and enjoy your product.
And why "Acoustic Samples" "thysm00" is the moderator of my own post ???

To all others: BIG thank you guys

P.S Some users see video different way than I do. I see only frustrated customer pointing clearly the problem after many useless responds from “Acoustic Samples” and after mounting my cell to the ceiling light with a duct tape for quite a long time. I don’t see anything impolite.

BEST

[Ben H]

Dear OP,

To the users “Spitfire31” & “murnau” I would like to say.
Your posts guys really didn’t bring anything important or related to my problem and to the discussion.

This is an incredibly rude thing to say/post, but you don't seem to realise this.

P.S Some users see video different way than I do. I see only frustrated customer pointing clearly the problem after many useless responds from “Acoustic Samples” and after mounting my cell to the ceiling light with a duct tape for quite a long time. I don’t see anything impolite.

You don't see anything wrong with telling customer support to go f*** themselves?
Clearly you should be re-evaulating the way you were raised then.

1. Just because you "paid" for an item DOES NOT entitle you to speak to/treat anyone in such a manner... EVER. Support is there to help the customer, or try to. They ARE NOT paid to take abuse, nor should they have to.

2. Secondly If you tell someone to f*** themselves, then you clearly don't wish to deal with them anymore. So I don't understand why you expect them to keep corresponding with you and helping you to resolve your issue, after you have told them you no longer wish to communicate?

3. The people in this forum have been helpful because you haven't told any of US to f*** off. Had you done so, you probably would have gotten the same response/reaction.

4. Having some basic manners and courtesy will get you further in this world.
Calling people useless and telling them to go f*** themselves, will not.

5. As to why it has taken so many emails to get your issue resolved... sometimes it can be very hard to reproduce a bug. There can be so many variables that might be causing the problem and these things can take a bit of time to figure out.

And if support can't reproduce the bug themselves, then the only way they can fix it is to keep asking you to try things until it is solved. (Or until the customer tells them to f*** off).

Dear “thysm00”
Customer support should resolve the problems and help users.

They WERE working on it. Until YOU cut communication with them.

If you really want to have your issue resolved, I would suggest you try asking again. But pay particular attention to point 4 this time.

4. Having some basic manners and courtesy will get you further in this world.
Calling people useless and telling them to go f*** themselves, will not.

Good luck.

[woocaash]

Ben.
The only thing I hear in the video is Hello. Perhaps you have better speakers.
I was "INCREDIBLE RUDE" in my post ??? In what way ? What part ? Why you said that ? Meanwhile you didn't see sarcastic posts completely unrelated, making fun and changing my topic.
You only see what you want to see. Why ? I suspect I know.
You can believe and keep the side you have already clearly chosen.

I would like to thank you anyway for your advice and the opportunity to share my opinion with others.

"Acoustic Samples" customer support is far long way behind others. I would say somewhere between Walmart and Home Depot. You asking associate about the product and they are reading the label for you.
It would be good if you ever had this kind of experience. You would understand me more.

My patience has its boundaries.Perhaps I was raised and taught in different culture with different values and principles. Treat people the way they treat you. During the whole time I felt like I am being stupid.

I am not going to beg them for help. I am also very realistic person and always looking at facts first. And the facts are.

1. I purchased B-5 that is "NOT WORKING" for me.
2. I contacted customer support and received everything else except solution or help.
3. I sent the video that in my opinion clearly shows a bug (maybe you can not hear it)
4. They didn't fix it
5. My B-5 until now is still "NOT WORKING"

Answers from them:
*It is impossible
*Nobody else has this problem so it is my problem
*It is sustain, (disconnected BTW)
*it is setup / configuration
*it is hardware - keyboard

so which one ? do they know or maybe they don't

That is why I decided to bring it public on forum.
I will also bring it on other forums.

Why ? Because I want other users to know about it. As simple as it is.


Even until now they can not admit a bug. There is a BUG obviously and now everyone (and I hope you too) can see it in the video. They said my keyboard is broken. My hardware is working perfectly with every setup and every plugin (Ivory, Garritan, GSI, Spectrasonics, Fxpansion, Toontrack, Komplete just named a few. I would have to be mentally disabled to listen to them and replace my keyboard. Don't you think ???

Why should I contact them ???

If they are willing to help they will help.
I am not going to die from not using B-5

Another thing came to my mind.
You are getting what you have paid for.

Sincerely

P.S. I also thought that any moderator should be neutral, impartial, disinterested, objective and even-handed. Your post however was attacking me directly. I just want you to realize this.
You are not my father to teach me manners. Pass them on to your kids please if you have any.
I have thick skin. No hard feelings. And in contrast to "Acoustic Samples" i can admit my mistakes.

PEACE

[llTheSystemll]

I bought B5 last week. I also just purchased a Nektar Impact LX49+. I use these on a Win8.1 x64 machine with the latest version of Reaper.

Last week, I opened Reaper and added a track. Inserted B5 and got things going. As I was following along to a Hammond B3 video, I was doing a 'trill' (not sure if that is correct as I was playing the same note) on one note and bam, stuck note. I am not saying it is the same issue as the OP had but the symptoms are similar. I happened again about 15 minutes later. I was NOT doing this in an attempt to recreate an issue so I did not have any MIDI monitor inserted.

I have not had time to try to recreate it or anything since. When I got the first stuck note, I thought "maybe if i hit the key again, a note on and a note off will be sent." i hit the key and i could hear a note on top of the stuck note. and it stopped when i released the key but the note continued to play but the note sounded like a harmonic and not the full note. i hit that key multiple time and could hear the harmonic and the stuck note stayed. i removed UVI and inserted it again. I have the latest version of UVI. 2.6.9 I think.

I am not trying to hijack the thread but I can try to recreate this again but would want to get advice on what to do to capture what could be needed to help DE find a solution.

Brian

Oh I love how it sounds.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I bought B5 last week. I also just purchased a Nektar Impact LX49+. I use these on a Win8.1 x64 machine with the latest version of Reaper.

Last week, I opened Reaper and added a track. Inserted B5 and got things going. As I was following along to a Hammond B3 video, I was doing a 'trill' (not sure if that is correct as I was playing the same note) on one note and bam, stuck note. I am not saying it is the same issue as the OP had but the symptoms are similar. I happened again about 15 minutes later. I was NOT doing this in an attempt to recreate an issue so I did not have any MIDI monitor inserted.

I have not had time to try to recreate it or anything since. When I got the first stuck note, I thought "maybe if i hit the key again, a note on and a note off will be sent." i hit the key and i could hear a note on top of the stuck note. and it stopped when i released the key but the note continued to play but the note sounded like a harmonic and not the full note. i hit that key multiple time and could hear the harmonic and the stuck note stayed. i removed UVI and inserted it again. I have the latest version of UVI. 2.6.9 I think.

I am not trying to hijack the thread but I can try to recreate this again but would want to get advice on what to do to capture what could be needed to help DE find a solution.

Brian

Oh I love how it sounds.

Contact support. They have a new build that fixed my issues with stuck notes when using the sustain pedal, it may fix your issues too.

[llTheSystemll]

will do.

thanks for the help.

brian

[woocaash]

About a week ago I contacted Acoustic Samples thru their website support form.
One week passed and nobody replied. What kind of support it is ????

I will let myself to ask them on this forum.

Did you guys resolve, maybe found a solution, or have an update ?
I really would like to use the product.
I am getting random sustained notes...