Steinberg stopped support ? (Mysteinberg)

[aumordia]

He was talking about you getting support from them.

[chk071]

I doubt that it differs much. Last 3 or 4 times i wrote to them, i got a reply weeks later, which is also something i've read here frequently. They also had a notification, when there was some exhibition (i think it was Musikmesse), that it could take considerable longer than usual.

Anyway, what you also have to keep in mind is, that much of the support work involves stuff which is often quickly solved reading the (f***ing) manual, or other really simple stuff. And, often, issues are also down to user error. Ask some support guys, they will confirm it. So, there is a lot of work for something which companies want to avoid, if possible. I don't want to defend that they reply weeks later in any way, let's just say that i know the reasons. I mean, you can imagine how many tickets one support employees has to go through, when he replies to you weeks later. I doubt they do it to "tease" customers.

[aumordia]

I actually understand completely, which is why I wish they'd raise their prices. I'm not privy to all the economic implications there, that might not be feasible for other reasons, but if the problem is all the riff-raff burning up the support staff's time, well, price them out!

You see lots of pros and pro-ams complaining about this dynamic on their forums. Lots of people there saying that they would gladly pay extra for a truly "pro" cubase that focused more on quality and bugfixes rather than loopmash and drum samples. But Steinberg is pursuing the lower-tier but broader "mass market" of EDM types. Problem is that, to the degree they succeed, it seems to cause a degradation in quality for their pro stuff and the service around it -- more sales of cheaper stuff with less capable users isn't a clear win for overall product quality given budget constraints.

I understand the whole "just buy nuendo" thing but that is a HUGE leap. Really it feels like they need to take the dongle versions of cubase off in a different direction, with a higher price point, but also higher service and more commitment to core functionality. Let the current cubase elements become the mass market content bucket with crummy service.

Yeah this sounds elitist, whatever. And again I don't know an iota of what they do about their own business dynamics. But I'd happily pay $700 for an edition of Cubase that, rather than being bloated with mediocre content, focused on core quality and good support.

[LeVzi]

I actually understand completely, which is why I wish they'd raise their prices. I'm not privy to all the economic implications there, that might not be feasible for other reasons, but if the problem is all the riff-raff burning up the support staff's time, well, price them out!

You see lots of pros and pro-ams complaining about this dynamic on their forums. Lots of people there saying that they would gladly pay extra for a truly "pro" cubase that focused more on quality and bugfixes rather than loopmash and drum samples. But Steinberg is pursuing the lower-tier but broader "mass market" of EDM types. Problem is that, to the degree they succeed, it seems to cause a degradation in quality for their pro stuff and the service around it -- more sales of cheaper stuff with less capable users isn't a clear win for overall product quality given budget constraints.

I understand the whole "just buy nuendo" thing but that is a HUGE leap. Really it feels like they need to take the dongle versions of cubase off in a different direction, with a higher price point, but also higher service and more commitment to core functionality. Let the current cubase elements become the mass market content bucket with crummy service.

Yeah this sounds elitist, whatever. And again I don't know an iota of what they do about their own business dynamics. But I'd happily pay $700 for an edition of Cubase that, rather than being bloated with mediocre content, focused on core quality and good support.

I don't think anyone would agree with that, putting up the price would destroy sales of Cubase, especially with the higher cost of upgrading now. They never used to do this, but they have, upgrading from older versions is higher, and you still get the same lack of support. I cannot abide Steinberg's attitude, worst company i've dealt with by far. I paid $49 for Poise, an MPC vst that I use all the time, and Shannon the developer has always supported me when needed, gone out of his way to help me out if I get issues, and wins over a company like Steinberg ten fold for support. They could learn from this guy.

Makes me fking sick Steinberg are like this now, they never used to be, funny how this is since Yamaha took over.

[Benutzername]

Well, they live next door to you...

I used to live a few hundred meters away from the Steinberg HQ and I can tell you that it makes no difference at all.

Back in the day it was a totally different story. My Atari dongle stopped working and I could just walk into the office. I had a nice chat and a cup of coffee while one of the guys checked my dongle and got a replacement for me. Really nice experience.

Ironically this thing is the main reason why I don't use Cubase anymore. I'm basically a Linux only user and a laptop only user nowadays. Cubase is not suited for either one.

[Romantique Tp]

I don't think anyone would agree with that, putting up the price would destroy sales of Cubase, especially with the higher cost of upgrading now. They never used to do this, but they have, upgrading from older versions is higher.

That's BS. The upgrade prices are cheaper than ever. You used to have to pay $200 for a single update. The price of 3 updates back then would buy you 8 years of updates today.

And that's not all. Back in the day it cost $400 to jump from Cubase SX2 to Cubase 5. That's just skipping 2 versions. Skipping 2, 3 or 4 versions today costs only $199 (they're the same price). Even someone upgrading from Cubase 4 which is almost 15 years old only pays $299.

[fmr]

I think Steinberg are "missing a trick" here.

I've been using Cubase since it first came out and am currently on 7.5

I haven't bothered to upgrade because I see little extra "value" in their newer versions and the main thing putting me off from upgrading is their poor and sketchy support.

If they want professional musicians and producers to take them more seriously then they need to provide a useful support service, take on board customer issues and "bugs" and incorporate fixes into newer versions of their software.

I read their "issues" thread occasionally and it's the same old bugs popping up again and again that should have been fixed years ago.

So until Steinberg provide proper customer support and actually listen to their users I'll stick with my stable Cubase 7.5

Are you listening Steinberg? Probably not.

I occasionally neeeded support, and I usually get a reply within a few days. But, OTOH, I keep my software reasonably up to date.

Version 7.5 can be considered an OLD version, VERY out of date. You had version, 8, version 8.5, version 9, and you are now at version 9.5. So, maybe they are no paying attention, because your issues may be related to your software being outdated. And it is not like you can wait for any kind of problem correction maintenance update or something anymore. So, when you chose to "opt out", you made your choice, You can't choose to be simultaneously In and Out. You chose to be Out.

If it was Apple, you would not get any support AT ALL (actually, you don't get ANY support for their Pro applications, AFAIK, except from the User Groups).

[cemster]

First of "WOW"! The thread flourished again...

@chk071
"Hamburg is about 300 km's from here. Besides, I wouldn't know how that is relevant to the fact that they're one of the brand leaders. Unless facts are about likes or dislike now."

That was a little joke about your proximity to the source of help...
But I have to say this about being a brand leader. If you produce a product that you have lack of support, it doesn' t matter if you produce the best damn product anybody ever seen...
You don't wanna own the fastest and the best car if there are no mechanics for it...

Having said that, at this point I don't care for if the service response time is low, as long as the solution arrives... I am still waiting... And FWI, my problem is not strictly Cubase related. I just can't activate it due to the eLicenser...

[chk071]

You don't wanna own the fastest and the best car if there are no mechanics for it...

Nobody buys a fast and good car for the service.

That said, if Cubase was a bug fest, noone would buy it. And, from my perspective, Steinberg do take support serious as well. Every support request i had was solved in the end. It just took some time. And i do agree that it takes too much time, especially for people who rely on their products, and use them on a daily base.

Claiming that professionals musicians and producers don't take them seriously is just nonsense. Period. The opposite is the case.

[Caine123]

f**k steinberg really. They told me on superbooth that many have a flu and thats why they have too many tickets.

Sure since years flu then?

Bullshit!!!!

They couldnt help on the booth either.

[aumordia]

Claiming that professionals musicians and producers don't take them seriously is just nonsense. Period. The opposite is the case.

That's why I think there should be a more expensive tier that comes with better support and attention to core functionality/quality, even if it's at the expense of bundled content. For people with time more valuable than money

[cemster]

I don't think I was the one who said that but I agree with it. I don't think this is the case of us being taken seriously or not, I think this is about if Yamaha taking Cubase seriously or not...

In the end, they look at the numbers! And they have lots of numbers to look at and then when making their action plans it is not about us, it is about numbers...

Correct me if I'm wrong! When Yamaha acquired Cubase, they were pushing the market really hard with their studio hardware. Those days there was too many competition for Mixers and what not. So their idea was implementing Cubase into their hardware thus, making them inextricable (as they did). and getting a better grip in the market... I don't think they achieved their projected profit target...

I believe the whole thing can only be bettered if and when the person who is responsible for decision making, either is replaced with someone with different ideas, or the person who is in charge changes his
(I doubt it but) or her customer support philosophy...

I did get a follow-up response. Reminding me that someone is doing something about it. It is still being looked into it... I'll take it...

[cemster]

Okay so my FINAL UPDATE

Even though I don't have a direct support (I still don't get that) the support representative did get in touch with technical people to solve the problem I HAD! Yes! my problem was solved one way or another...

They did care... Individually customer service does give as damn... It just takes a good slice of time and some persuasion...

But overall, Yamaha attitude sucks big time... Only a few selected, privileged countries have direct customer service, and the rest of the world can kiss my......

One more thing though and this is pretty huge. I bought Cubase 9 a while ago, misses the grace period for Cubase 9,5... But since I couldn't activate it, I didn't use it. So Steinberg gave me 9,5 through the grace period because I activated the Cubase 9 yesterday and that is within grace period... I think that is pretty noble...