New Synth Teaser Vid

[V0RT3X]

I was curious about this new synth but at $149 I will be very happy to pass (expected it to be in the ACE ballpark). It seems that the strange obsession with sylenth1 extended to the inappropriate feature/price ratio for 2014/2015

I think U-he will have an introductory offer for 30% off that price.

[stardustmedia]

This will be the first time I will actually demo an U-He plugin, because yet another synth is not really necessary for me, especially if it is 150 bucks. I'm not saying it won't be any good, and definitely U-He has fair prices (high quality, great sounding, awesome GUI and amazing customer relations).

[GHOST19]

I was curious about this new synth but at $149 I will be very happy to pass (expected it to be in the ACE ballpark). It seems that the strange obsession with sylenth1 extended to the inappropriate feature/price ratio for 2014/2015

I think U-he will have an introductory offer for 30% off that price.

Still too much for me to compensate for the disappointing featureset, I may be saving for Zebra 3 which should be far superior unless they consciously cripple it for EDM production to protect the Hive market.
I will stop my criticism here unless asked to detail it constructively. Let's wait and see what U-He magic this synth will offer as this seems to be its main selling point.

[Urs]

Hive has two features that we're constantly asked for: Approachability and CPU performance. We have been asked times and times again to make a synth "just like ..." - there's probably more than a hundred emails like that in my mailbox. Now we do it, and we make it even better than "..." for what we think the strengths of "..." are. Therefore we price it in the same ballpark as "..."

[Urs]

Also, we've done the experiment of "lower price and sell more". It's not true. ACE should appeal the most (roundest feature set, best bang per buck, good compromise on quality vs. cpu), but it is our worst selling synth - even though we put the most money into it.

[xamido]

Hive has two features that we're constantly asked for: Approachability and CPU performance. We have been asked times and times again to make a synth "just like ..." - there's probably more than a hundred emails like that in my mailbox. Now we do it, and we make it even better than "..." for what we think the strengths of "..." are. Therefore we price it in the same ballpark as "..."

I know u'll have intro price so i'll be fine with the price. And by releasing hive you'll be able to reach the market that zebra and diva couldn't, more sales for you.

So i have no problem with Hive. Not all of us want a super complete synth like zebra or super accurate like diva. Some people want an easy to program synth, digital, and low cpu.

[chk071]

Fair enough. The thing is just that "..." is overpriced for what it does, as there are plugins in a higher ballpark now, which even cost less. But then, arguing about price is pretty pointless anyway, as it's neither determined by features nor quality, but what you can get for it. And i'm sure a lot of people will buy it for that price, so what can you say. Just a bit disapointing for us hobbyists who need to turn around every penny twice.

[paterpeter]

I'm totally fine with the price. Besides the fact that I'm certain it's worth the money in the first place, I very much appreciate the price stability. The consistent lack of sales means I *could* get rid of the license probably without much or any (when bought during the intro period) loss. Fingers crossed that the dollar price drops again until release

[stardustmedia]

Also, we've done the experiment of "lower price and sell more". It's not true. ACE should appeal the most (roundest feature set, best bang per buck, good compromise on quality vs. cpu), but it is our worst selling synth - even though we put the most money into it.

Interesting fact. Wouldn't have thought that.

[Urs]

Also, we've done the experiment of "lower price and sell more". It's not true. ACE should appeal the most (roundest feature set, best bang per buck, good compromise on quality vs. cpu), but it is our worst selling synth - even though we put the most money into it.

Interesting fact. Wouldn't have thought that.

Yeah, we've put a lot of thought into this. Nothing we could do sounds like a good idea. So we leave things as they are.

[Urs]

Fair enough. The thing is just that "..." is overpriced for what it does, as there are plugins in a higher ballpark now, which even cost less.

Good point!

[tehlord]

"......" sells at that price because there's still nothing close in terms of ease of use/speed of results/overall sound. It has become the industry standard.

For now.....

[zvenx]

Also, we've done the experiment of "lower price and sell more". It's not true. ACE should appeal the most (roundest feature set, best bang per buck, good compromise on quality vs. cpu), but it is our worst selling synth - even though we put the most money into it.

Ace cost the most in R&D time/money?
Would never have ever guessed that.
rsp

[stardustmedia]

Also, we've done the experiment of "lower price and sell more". It's not true. ACE should appeal the most (roundest feature set, best bang per buck, good compromise on quality vs. cpu), but it is our worst selling synth - even though we put the most money into it.

Interesting fact. Wouldn't have thought that.

Yeah, we've put a lot of thought into this. Nothing we could do sounds like a good idea. So we leave things as they are.

It is true, that you can never make them ALL happy

I must admit that ACE is the one I use rarely, since Diva and Bazille. I wouldn't be surprised if one day you'll drop support for it.

[GHOST19]

Well the price of "..." was fixed in 2007 and at that point it was a great bang for the buck because it was one of the first credible software alternatives for a Virus. Now there are many more options and the high price point is mainly justified by its industry standard status, although even the developer seemed to aknowledge the problem by running the first promotion on the synth for years.
In this context the Hive looks slighly overpriced from its release at $149 and that won't look better in a few years with almost no option to ever get it significantly cheaper.
That's a pity because U-He with Zebra, Diva, ACE and Bazille arguably offer better bang for the buck than their competitors, for example new OSC and filter models are added for free in Diva instead of releasing a brand new €100+ synth, and on top of that U-He also thinks about those who can't afford or justify even the €69 ACE by having the best freeware and magware offering among synth developers.
But for the first time U-He is likely to release a new product at a price that is not justified by its features and qualities but just because they can and think that will earn them more money at the end. That is disappointing.
I agree selling very cheap plugins is not necessarily the best business decision in VST land and it's a bit disgusting to see so many developers pricing their plugins quite high to look professionnal and then having 50% discount sales to offer prices people are willing to pay for them, but I really think $109 or $119would be much more consistent with U-He pricing with the no sales policy and allow to stay competitive over time while being expensive enough to look serious.