IKM SampleTank 3 (ST3) Now Available

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

I'm happy to see the interest in people being on the beta team, I will forward your thoughts and request for a public beta in the future. Every release will have its issues, we will have a maintenance release for some of the issues verified as global issues and support has been doing a great job at fixing and guiding people who have specific issues that can be resolved directly either through settings or direct instruction and guidance. Anybody having issues should report them at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support and the team will happily assist.

I'm also happy to see some more speculation as to how IK is run and how/why decisions are made, I'll forward these to the people that make those decisions. I'm sure they will appreciate it.

[neverenoughfunk]

something funny!!! you have to log into your ik multimedia account to view their forum now... just wondering what has happen? negitive feedback or something?

[paulbreeze]

Works for me :
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/forum/viewt ... =12&t=7598

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

something funny!!! you have to log into your ik multimedia account to view their forum now... just wondering what has happen? negitive feedback or something?

Conspiracy theories aside, there have always been sub forums for registered IK users only as well as many that can be viewed by all (but not posted in without logging in) and no changes to this have been made recently.

However, this and other things about the forum will be changing for the better and to avoid confusion and redundancy in the very near future. I just got approval for these changes and just need the time to test and implement them.

[Caine123]

i didnt upgrade yet as i wanna see more reviews on youtube etc. if i need this or not but so far IKM ALWAYS helped me out and was fast in support!!!
they even checked some of my questions like compression settings etc. and helped me when i started with getting to know compressors!

Sampletank 2, sonic synth 2 etc. feel dated of course but i hope that they will fix the issues asap and learn from that, no one can say Peter is ignoring you here and i dont dickride or something .

[BBFG#]

something funny!!! you have to log into your ik multimedia account to view their forum now... just wondering what has happen? negitive feedback or something?

Conspiracy theories aside, there have always been sub forums for registered IK users only as well as many that can be viewed by all (but not posted in without logging in) and no changes to this have been made recently.

However, this and other things about the forum will be changing for the better and to avoid confusion and redundancy in the very near future. I just got approval for these changes and just need the time to test and implement them.

Not a real long time user of IKM, (Just over a year), but it has been this way since I registered. Native Instruments is also this way, except you have to log in three times to access all areas where IKM requires only two log ins. Its a little pita, but not a big one.

[BERFAB]

something funny!!! you have to log into your ik multimedia account to view their forum now... just wondering what has happen? negitive feedback or something?

Conspiracy theories aside, there have always been sub forums for registered IK users only as well as many that can be viewed by all (but not posted in without logging in) and no changes to this have been made recently.

However, this and other things about the forum will be changing for the better and to avoid confusion and redundancy in the very near future. I just got approval for these changes and just need the time to test and implement them.

Peter-
I hope your bosses at IKM can appreciate the job you do for them on the front lines. As you know, I'm a long time IKM customer, and though I haven't always agreed with their policies, I have always appreciated the quality of their products. Having you man the boards as their official spokeman is a relatively new innovation, and a positive sign for their view of customer relations. Unfortunately, you take a ton of heat, but you always come back for more. It can't be easy, but you seem to do it with good cheer.

FWIW, I picture you in a dimly lit bunker, in front of a computer screen, with an army helmet on (bearing the logo for IKM). A stack of MRE's and a case of Code Red Mountain Dew is just within reach, and Dream Theatre is on in the background, punctuated occasionally by the sound of an alarm, alerting you to yet another forum post that requires your attention.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers
-B

[Vocalpoint Studios]

I'm also happy to see some more speculation as to how IK is run and how/why decisions are made, I'll forward these to the people that make those decisions. I'm sure they will appreciate it.

Peter,

If you are in fact "forwarding decisions" - please inform the powers that be that IK Support advised a customer (Me) to install some crappy freeware (ASIO4ALL) - to a main production DAW - as a solution to correct blatant standalone start-up issues with ST3 - instead of actually helping me figure out why the issue is happening.

I mean - could this "advice" be any farther away from helping me understand the actual issue?

Other that this - I do appreciate the time you take to weather the storm in here.

VP

[Burillo]

remember that Peter is beholden to his bosses, so if they don't agree with us, all he is left to do is to toe the party line, pretend like he agrees with it and take flak for everything

[_dada_]

Keep up the good work.

+1

[BBFG#]

This talk about ASIO4All has me wondering.
I've never considered it to be a 'crappy piece of software' and have always regarded it as the solution to many problems. My hardware runs an ASIO driver of its own though, so I'm wondering how it fits in with all this?
(MOTU PCI ASIO).

[Vocalpoint Studios]

This talk about ASIO4All has me wondering. I've never considered it to be a 'crappy piece of software' and have always regarded it as the solution to many problems. My hardware runs an ASIO driver of its own though, so I'm wondering how it fits in with all this? [/size]

Each to their own and if ASIO4ALL works for you - that's great.

But I have never used it, have no info about it and do not consider it a solution to my problem.

I already have the RME Multiface installed on several key workstations here - and the last thing I am going to do is trash a production box by placing some freeware ASIO driver on it - which may in turn cause even more issues.

I guess I found the mere suggestion of installing this freeware to be a "pass the buck" crutch instead of a real solution.

What I expected support to do was try to determine why ST3 cannot find my current RME drivers and determine why their software is failing because of it.

Some of us have protocol - and causally installing unknowns into a production environment will never happen.

I wonder what would happen if I suggested that IK install a freeware component onto their internal networks or website if I was helping them with a tech support issue. I am certain I would be laughed off the phone.

VP

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

I'm also happy to see some more speculation as to how IK is run and how/why decisions are made, I'll forward these to the people that make those decisions. I'm sure they will appreciate it.

Peter,

If you are in fact "forwarding decisions" - please inform the powers that be that IK Support advised a customer (Me) to install some crappy freeware (ASIO4ALL) - to a main production DAW - as a solution to correct blatant standalone start-up issues with ST3 - instead of actually helping me figure out why the issue is happening.

I mean - could this "advice" be any farther away from helping me understand the actual issue?

Other that this - I do appreciate the time you take to weather the storm in here.

VP

Yes I forward suggestions, comments, concerns, etc. I understand how you feel about ASIO4ALL (and personally I don't like it myself either, I wouldn't go as far as calling it "crappy" but it isn't my cup of tea) but please realize that our support team is merely relaying to you a workaround that has worked for others and was itself posted in our forum by an IK user. They are in no way advocating this as a long-term fix, but a potential workaround until a maintenance update is available and you are free to choose not to use said workaround. I'm glad you are able to view SampleTank 3, a completely new "point zero" full release, as worthy of installation into your production environment though and that it - at least on reputation and expectation - passed your requirements there. I apologize that you ran into issues that may have you rethinking that assessment, and I will also suggest that our support staff be more clear in presenting this as a workaround and not a long-term solution.

While we cannot suggest that every studio in the range of those of our diverse customer base sets up a testing environment, I would definitely suggest that those with production systems on which they earn a living either use a testing environment similar to their production environment (that's the ol' sysadmin in me talking though, sometimes even very solvent companies don't like to follow this procedure either so there's that), or hold off on brand new products or use of said brand new products in new projects until the kinks are worked out. This is similar to how I and many others felt when Pro Tools 11 (or any other full version of any other major DAW) was released.

As for any suggestion of installing freeware on our production environment, we follow a testing process on a non-production environment that mimics our production environment, of course.

[Vocalpoint Studios]

I'm glad you are able to view SampleTank 3, a completely new "point zero" full release, as worthy of installation into your production environment though and that it - at least on reputation and expectation - passed your requirements there.

My decision to install a fresh point zero release was predicated on my prior history of IK software. Which has been nothing but rock solid, mature and dependable. I might add that I have never needed to use IK Support until now.

I apologize that you ran into issues that may have you rethinking that assessment, and I will also suggest that our support staff be more clear in presenting this as a workaround and not a long-term solution.

Workarounds are one thing - as long as they are fairly benign in nature. But introducing some freeware package into a production environment goes beyond workaround for me.

What support needs to do is assess the user type and offer workarounds based upon that answer. If it's some dude in his bedroom who is not on a deadline - then by all means suggest a workaround like ASIO4ALL.

But some of us have very specific guidelines and requirements - my priority one item is no downtime due to misconfiguration or "unknowns". Having ST3 dormant while this thing gets fixed is easier than installing some freeware package and have a ton of other issues start popping up - especially if these issues involve rendering an audio interface to suddenl stop working .

As for any suggestion of installing freeware on our production environment, we follow a testing process on a non-production environment that mimics our production environment, of course.

Due to software licensing, hardware and other restrictions - it's not always possible to have a test environment that mimics a production DAW - at the ready. Also - I like the tech but I like making money better:)

So I stick to the tasks at hand on the production boxes.

I am confident that this upcoming fix will make ST3 usable again.

Keep up the good work.

VP

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Peter-
I hope your bosses at IKM can appreciate the job you do for them on the front lines. As you know, I'm a long time IKM customer, and though I haven't always agreed with their policies, I have always appreciated the quality of their products. Having you man the boards as their official spokeman is a relatively new innovation, and a positive sign for their view of customer relations. Unfortunately, you take a ton of heat, but you always come back for more. It can't be easy, but you seem to do it with good cheer.

FWIW, I picture you in a dimly lit bunker, in front of a computer screen, with an army helmet on (bearing the logo for IKM). A stack of MRE's and a case of Code Red Mountain Dew is just within reach, and Dream Theatre is on in the background, punctuated occasionally by the sound of an alarm, alerting you to yet another forum post that requires your attention.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers
-B

Thank you for the kind words (and for those that agreed/followed with their take on it ).

That setup sounds reasonably close to my winter war room but currently I am in an undisclosed location of great beauty and tranquility.