Output - subscription based loop player!

[SLiC]

I might well be wrong, but
https://output.com/arcade/quickstart
subscription section states

"If you cancel your subscription you will be logged out, and will not be able to log in again until you re-subscribe.

Even when logged out, Arcade will plany any MIDI data sent to it, and any old sessions will sound exactly as they were left".

I interpreted that as "if you unsubscibe, we lock the gui. Any midi sent will play with the current loaded settings, but you won't be able to change anything (other than editing the automation midi data directly). So old songs will play, but you won't be able to edit it at all. Nor use the gui for your own samples for free.

Edit - reply from Output (source Gearslutz) some may find useful.

If you cancel your subscription you will not be able to drag in your own loops and use the engine. It will only playback your previous work (including animations and FXs). There is currently no way to separate outs for each loop and resize the GUI but we are working on many new features that should be available soon!

To set up a new path for your downloads, you can head to the Main Page and click on the 3 dots on the top right. From there, click on account then on the content storage folder and you will be able to choose a new location on your computer or external hard drive.

So you will be able to play back anything you made with the samples, but you will not be able to use the samples again for any new project or use thwe engine without subscription; so basiclay it is useless witout subscription....a sensible business model, but I am personally less lightly to even try it now!

[BONES]

When you think about it, it's actually the perfect model for most of us. We all get something new, use it for a while until we find something better, then we move on. I've got dozens of VST and VSTi that I used to use all the time but haven't touched in years. But I need to keep them around so I can load those old projects, in case we want to play them live at some point. With this, you pay while you are still using it, then cancel when you're ready to move on. With 100 days free, I reckon I might only keep subscribing for a few months, just to repay Output for their efforts. I'll render out as many bits and pieces as I can before my subscription expires and I should have plenty of stuff to keep using well into the future. If I end up with 100 noisy, metallic loops I can use in future songs, plus what I get from it while it's active (and we're producing a new album) it will be $50 or $60 well spent.

[SLiC]

I suspect you in the minority preferring subscription to just buying what you want. What you are describing is essentially renting an instrument for a project, we used to do this with hardware! If it works for you then go for it!

Don’t not forget to download the free loops from Output, faster than bouncing stems!

I do subscribe to Roland Cloud, Bitwig (sort of subscription) and office365.....if the product is outstanding, good value and updated frequently Then the model works for me. The issue I have with Arcade is that there are so many comparable alternatives (loop players and fx) that I don’t realy feel the need to learn something I won’t keep, it’s an investment of my time (not just money) and ultimately for all it’s bells and wistles it’s still just a fancy loop player, not something I actually need....and all those subscriptions start to add up!

Have Fun!

[BONES]

Where did I suggest I prefer subscription? I said the opposite. However we don't live in a binary world and I am allowed to think that both models have their place. In this case, the subscription model seems like a good fit with the product being offered.

Look at Output's products. The cheapest thing they sell is what, $200? At $200 I wouldn't even look at Arcade. Even at $100 it probably wouldn't interest me but when my up-front commitment is zero and the most it will cost is $10 a month, it's much easier to have some interest. To pay $200 for this, you'd need to subscribe for 20 months. Add that to your 100 days free and you're looking at two years for $200. And unlike their other products, you won't have to pay $39 for expansion packs, you'll be getting more content every day as part of your sub.

Another thing is content. I'd have bought Analog Strings months ago if it didn't come with 20-odd GB of content. I neither want nor need 20+Gb of string samples, I just want to be able to go through and choose the small number of things that interest me and ignore the rest. Arcade allows this and I really appreciate it. I've got a useful, powerful instrument that has less than 3GB of content associated with it. No wasted drive space, just the stuff I want. Definitely a better way to go.

[SLiC]

Yup, I see what you are saying, I picked up strings, sub and signal for 150 in that NI sale, when I have been through the 60 gig of content I may look for more (I can take 10 years, won’t cost me a penny )

Space is not an issue, I have a 4TB external drive for samples it’s on WI-FI so I can even access my samples on my Surface when I am out of the studio. I d t like the thought of loosing access to being able to make new songs with my sounds if I stop paying or if Output stop the service.

[aMUSEd]

How much space does it take up approx?

[BONES]

The initial install, which includes one kit from each of the 14 Lines, takes up about 1GB.

[BONES]

Space is not an issue, I have a 4TB external drive for samples it’s on WI-FI so I can even access my samples on my Surface when I am out of the studio.

I take it you don't play live? Everything I use has to fit on my Surface, which only has a 128GB drive and a 128GB microSD card. I don't trust the card, I've had flakey ones in the past, so all the libraries go on the SSD (I can load song files from a back-up USB Flash drive if necessary.)

I d t like the thought of loosing access to being able to make new songs with my sounds if I stop paying or if Output stop the service.

I don't look at things that way. While it's working I'll use it. If it stops at some point, I'm sure it will be my conscious decision, so I'll be totally happy with it, just as I was happy to leave dozens of plugins behind when we switched from 32 bit to 64 bit last year (although I am still not clear on why we did that, it hasn't improved anything, it just made a lot of extra work for me).

[BONES]

Arcade made the perfect case for itself last night. I was looking through the libraries, trying to replace something that wasn't quite working, and discovered some things that I put into a song we were already pleased with that took it way over the top. It's just some short guitar rhythms but because of the ease of repitching things in tempo, it only took a minute or to to integrate it into the chorus of the song perfectly. There's even a bit of a (boring) guitar solo in the track now, all thanks to Arcade. I had been thinking I'd probably cancel before I had to start paying for it but I am completely sold on it now and keen to learn more about getting the most from it.

Since it launched a month or so ago, they've added a whole new Line and heaps of new Kits, so they are keeping their promise of new content every day. 90% of it will never be of much use to us but the stuff that is makes it easy to justify continuing the subscription.

[BONES]

Here's a video that shows what's so good about Arcade -

https://output.com/blog/arcade-make-a-t ... y%2Bbutton

I found it really helpful as this guy does things in an easier way than I've been doing it, using the drop-down menu from the top-right, where I've been going into the EDIT screen. Horrible piece of music he makes, though, but it does show off Arcade's workflow to best advantage.

[pinki]

Thanks Bones, I might give it a spin.

[BONES]

I got my 5 day warning from Output yesterday. We've been using it quite a bit so I am going to let them take $10 a month for a while. My main gripe is that 95% of the available content is completely useless to us, as is 100% of the new stuff they've added. But that 5% that is useful is absolute gold.

[ATS]

I got my 5 day warning from Output yesterday. We've been using it quite a bit so I am going to let them take $10 a month for a while. My main gripe is that 95% of the available content is completely useless to us, as is 100% of the new stuff they've added. But that 5% that is useful is absolute gold.

Sort of like Komplete Ultimate

[EnochLight]

Well, you can count me in on the Arcade boat. I freak’n love it and have no issue spending $10 USD a month on it. And now that they fixed the resize issue, it looks fantastic on 4K monitors, and being able to properly play your loops pitched to key proves they’re listening to their customers.

Arcade rocks.

[BONES]

^^^^^ THAT ^^^^^