Acustica Audio Nebula 4 coming 23-12

[plexuss]

I gave up on the demo and decided to just buy N4. So far I am glad I did.

[Architeuthis]

Acoustica Audio pisses me off.

No audio demos.
No VST demos.
CPU usage is f***ing insane last time I tried it (a free version? don't remember), couldn't figure out how to use the product effectively. (An EQ took up 100% of my CPU, that was some years ago when I tried it)
Website is confusing, the product line is all over the place.

I found one or two audio demos showing how Acoustica Audio stuff can sound absolutely amazing, that was years ago. I've been interested ever since. I'll be waiting for this company to catch up to 2017 with the rest of us.

Still open only one instance?

and this...

[plexuss]

I went in "eyes opened". I couldnt get N4 Free working and I read somewhere direct from Acustica that the 10% xmas sale was over Feb 9. but it was only in one of many forums they posted in about N4. So I decided to just buy it. I don't own any other Acustica stuff. I never understood their "thing". It appeared they were promoting their "thing" but I could never figure it out.

Then there was some discussion about how to get analogue vide in your work. I work towards this goal myself, trying to get a smooth, extended sound to the music. with some warmth but not roll off. people were talking about Nebula, so looked into it. That was friday so I decided to just buy it and take the risk.

Glad I did. The install was a bit wonky, but I knew it would be going in from what people were saying. But eventually they got it working so I figured I would too. I did. I've even been buying some 3rd party presets.

Nebula 4 is pretty amazing. and worth it to me. This is the kind of user experience I can work with. There have been some otherwise great tools I just can't get into because of the way the UX or UI is. But Nebula is fine with me. and there are some very cool 3rd party libraries out there. I have a nostalgia for cassette tape because I started recording in high school using cassette. I became a kind of connoisseur of cassettes and decks back in the day. So I was elated to find a comprehensive cassette tape library and it sound very authentic! The factory presets are pretty good. But many are not in 96k and there is either same rate conversion or something going on when you run a lower sample rate preset in a hither rate project, unfortunately. still investigating this aspect.

The "one instance" thing was also a leap of faith. I couldn't find out definitively what that meant (when people were complaining about it). did it mean only one "device" per instance of N4? or only one instance of N4 in total opened in the DAW? The latter just seemed ridiculous for to me. But there have been other times I thought something I read about a plugin or dev was ridiculous and it turned out to be true. : / I am happy to say that the complaint is you can only have one instance of a device open in N4 but you can have as many instances of N4 in your project. Many of the EQs are one band per instances. I don't mind working like that so this isn't a limitation to me.

On the CPU issue: this is modern audio technology. I prefer devs to push the limits of modern personal computing so we can get the best quality and diversity of tools available. They can't make it powerful and CPU efficient such that it will work fine on older slower machines. I am ok with Acuistica putting more priority on innovations and quality and requiring modern technology to make it work. But that's just me. There are lots of other good quality lower CPU usage options out there too.

[j1974st]

So, If I understand right, this mean that existing Nebula 3 customers need to run as fast as light to upgrade for a software that, perhaps our ( not so new) hardware is unable to manage.

We need to run before our 130 Euros or so upgrade become 170 or so.... for a product that cost to new customers 250 Euros or so.

IMHO Very, very unfair and dissapointing.

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

We are still supporting nebula 3.
You can decide to upgrade it later... Maybe there will be other deals, I don't know.

[sidrat]

So, If I understand right, this mean that existing Nebula 3 customers need to run as fast as light to upgrade for a software that, perhaps our ( not so new) hardware is unable to manage.

We need to run before our 130 Euros or so upgrade become 170 or so.... for a product that cost to new customers 250 Euros or so.

IMHO Very, very unfair and dissapointing.

Yeah, it's a bit disappointing but hopefully they find a way to take care of the customers who've loyally supported them over the years. Just, IMO as a Neb 3 Pro user.

[plexuss]

I'm going to chime in here, as a new AA customer with Nebula 4. My own feeling is, that I do not expect lifelong free updates. In fact, if I were to get 1-3 years use of Nebula 4 and have to buy Nebula 5 outright with no discount, that would be fine with me. I don't feel these companies have to offer, well, anything - it's up to them what they offer and it's up to us to check their terms before purchase and not make assumptions. I don't even know what AA's upgrade policy is on N4. I do know they don't support license transfers. But that's fine with me. I know it's not fine with a lot of people and that's fine. I am merely sharing my expectations here to diversify the opinions expressed.

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

The idea is a long free-update period, exactly they one is happening for acqua plugins and which happened for previous nebula reincarnation.
There will be payment options: for nebula they could be several new libraries (but there will be a lot of new free content), for acqua it could be because we introduce several new products to a family products. Ie you bought magenta, we add a strip options and there is a free magenta update and a deal on magenta strip upgrade.

I think this post should clarify our position on the matters. Normally we have a single pre-order/presale discount period for all our new products, and several deals at black Friday and Christmas time or when the product receives an important update. Read carefully this last sentence.

[sidrat]

I'm going to chime in here, as a new AA customer with Nebula 4. My own feeling is, that I do not expect lifelong free updates.

With all respect, I'd agree with those comments if I were a new user like yourself. However, Nebula is a different animal with a long history of quirks/issues (which I don't want to get into here) and a lot of users have tolerated that fact simply because of it's superior sound.

BTW, I don't see anyone here saying that version upgrades should be "free" or "lifelong" - but more reasonable upgrade pricing would be nice for folks who've invested in (and advocated for) the company. Personally, I don't want to buy into a presale just to get better pricing when the product isn't even finished yet. Hope that makes sense.

[plexuss]

I'm going to chime in here, as a new AA customer with Nebula 4. My own feeling is, that I do not expect lifelong free updates.

With all respect, I'd agree with those comments if I were a new user like yourself. However, Nebula is a different animal with a long history of quirks/issues (which I don't want to get into here) and a lot of users have tolerated that fact simply because of it's superior sound.

BTW, I don't see anyone here saying that version upgrades should be "free" or "lifelong" - but more reasonable upgrade pricing would be nice for folks who've invested in (and advocated for) the company. Personally, I don't want to buy into a presale just to get better pricing when the product isn't even finished yet. Hope that makes sense.

Was there anything said by AA at the time of the older versions that set the expectation that they would offer an update at a cheaper price than N4? I am asking sincerely because something devs do set these expectations and don't deliver.

[Debutante]

is N4 any lighter on cpu?

[AC222]

Hi Giancarlo (or anyone else that can answer), I do plan on upgrading to N4. I am having a hard time keeping track of all these announcements and the website stuff.

My question is what is the estimated time frame for when the promised rack technology (to allow multiple Nebula instances per vst) coming? Will it be in 2017? Also, on a side note, great job on updating the GUI/skins. It looks much slicker than the previous versions.

Did I read it right when he said "several months later" after February?

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

sorry I missed your post.
Yes, there is a lot topic on our board about this exact point.
Acqua loading (so basically what we name "multi-loading") is planned for february (we'll keep you updated about delays.... but more or less we are ready).
Loading different instances inside the same rack is planned for a later release. I repeat what I already said: it is planned, we don't know when. "Possibly" this year, or in the worst case on next year. Here the "possibly" keyword means there could be delays. We planned it but we could have issues.

[AC222]

sorry I missed your post.
Yes, there is a lot topic on our board about this exact point.
Acqua loading (so basically what we name "multi-loading") is planned for february (we'll keep you updated about delays.... but more or less we are ready).
Loading different instances inside the same rack is planned for a later release. I repeat what I already said: it is planned, we don't know when. "Possibly" this year, or in the worst case on next year. Here the "possibly" keyword means there could be delays. We planned it but we could have issues.

Thank you, Giancarlo. For what it's worth, I did go ahead and upgrade just before February and the fact that you posted here helped my decision as I may have missed some of the updates by e-mail. Thanks for clarifying on the time frame and hanging out at KVR. Your presence is welcome.

[djmino02]

what's the verdict on nebula 4? is it all it's cracked up to be?