Bitwig Development and 2.0

[eddiejaguar]

It's been over 2 years since launch. It seems like this DAW is moving at a snails pace into getting anywhere credible. I still haven't been able to produce in it given its grievous fallacies, the most apparent being the sound engine. I check back here virtually every day hoping for a meaningful update, but we've received nothing for months on end. The last update was on touchscreen controls for Bitwig. How can a development team speed time on that when the software is still riddled with audio related bugs?

[jstorerjet]

IMO i am guessing they are nearing their financial end. A small team of devs with what i'm assuming is a modest user base coupled with horrid customer service and development pace(it was fast at the beginning) and we have where we are today. A few big fans but most of us disgruntled about something or other. They need to to something to sway those of us that are disgruntled to stay with either a 2.0 release (which i am guessing is what they are working on in an effort to continue funding development) or some quality of life new features. I hope it turns out well but from my point of view as a software developer myself their iteration time has grown leaps and bounds since day 1 when we were excited at development pace and dev responsiveness. I'm holding onto my 1.0 liscense as the few hundred bucks doesn't really matter to me but there is almost no chance i go for 2.0 unless its absolutely mind blowingly better than using Ableton or Logic for me.

[pdxindy]

It's been over 2 years since launch. It seems like this DAW is moving at a snails pace into getting anywhere credible. I still haven't been able to produce in it given its grievous fallacies, the most apparent being the sound engine. I check back here virtually every day hoping for a meaningful update, but we've received nothing for months on end. The last update was on touchscreen controls for Bitwig. How can a development team speed time on that when the software is still riddled with audio related bugs?

The touchscreen controls came 1 year ago and in that interval there have been a dozen updates (average 1 per month) focused on bug fixing.

[pdxindy]

A small team of devs with what i'm assuming is a modest user base coupled with horrid customer service and development pace(it was fast at the beginning)

Actually, it was not fast in the beginning. The 1.0 release took a long time after the initial announcement. Then 1.2 also was longer than expected. People were complaining even before launch.

Also, the customer service has been good for me. Polite and practical.

[Rappo Clappo]

Unusable as in 'I did not save my project.. and after 10 (...) hours my project crashed..'?

So I save my project after each edit; I must be out of my mind, right?

And you, yes you, are not being rude? Or do you have a patent on being rude? One of the two: take your pick.

[stamp]

So I save my project after each edit; I must be out of my mind, right?

No, you're smart.
And what do you do when you want to undo your last edit?

[Rappo Clappo]

@Well, I load my previous saved project? I really dunno; never use the 'undo' button.

Besides, frequently saving and listen back subsequent saved projects can usually determine the point where I went wrong.

[xx JPRacer xx]

sorry, wrong thread

[stamp]

@Well, I load my previous saved project? I really dunno; never use the 'undo' button.

Besides, frequently saving and listen back subsequent saved projects can usually determine the point where I went wrong.

So, who cares if the undo button works or not?
Let's save 100s of different versions for the same project and be rude with people that don't work the way you do?

[askewd]

Seems there are a couple of similar threads happening at the moment (by the same person i just noticed) which are being quite negative about BW and complaining about the audio engine & bugs & lack of updates ( while we're actually in the middle of a RC test cycle for the next update right now & it's well known they are all busy working hard on v2)!

So anyway I just want to add some balance because anyone new would think BW is a piece of garbage with bad customer support - whereas my own experience has been the total opposite of this.

Again, I can only speak for myself & my own systems ( imac & macbook)...

Support: always reply within a couple of days, they are always friendly & helpful. Think I've had replies from every member of their team at one time or another. Getting banned for asking genuine support questions seems very bizarre. Having a best friend who also gets banned for same reason is even weirder. Just makes no sense. I'm sure there's more to it.

I think we also have a duty as users to be clear, polite & helpful with the bug reports to help work with them to squash them fast as possible. We all want the same thing at the end of they day - so good communication is essential. The devs are not going to be arseholes for the pure fun of it...

Audio engine: solid as rock, cpu usage incredible when running native plugins & matches Logic in terms of how many plugin instances in my various tests (which is impressive considering logic uses AUs) . CPU usage WAS a concern for me in v1.0 but now it's all good.

I do genuinely feel sorry for anyone unable to use Bitwig to its full potential without problem (seems like it's mainly pc users?) simply because it's such an amazing DAW that has had a massively positive effect on my life & career. I'd love nothing better than to see this forum buzzing with positive vibes like my own. Of course it's totally understandable that if a person's experience is negative they will eventually start to get frustrated and whine. I would too. So this isn't to knock the OPs issues or pretend all is perfect - I'm just writing this to say it's certainly not the case for all users - Infact for me it's the complete opposite. Bitwig is bloody amazing!

I do agree that the devs need to be more present & vocal here. Often it's lack of communication that causes most frustration in life. Unnecessary. Even one 'status update' post each week would be good. They don't have to - but I do think it would definitely have a positive affect. Communication is everything. When Thomas H was working for bitwig that made a massive difference here. They need that kinda person posting here Imo.

Anyway off to the studio now, for another full day of using BW on various projects. Can't wait!

Best!

[Rappo Clappo]

One thing; Bitwig team rarely show up at this forum but ban members and delete posts quite frequently afaik

Something tells me that is looking for trouble.. because communication -you won't believe it- is a two-way road.

For instance: "don't update to whatsoever!"
That is an imperative. Imperatives are impolite by nature. Just sayin they also could have stated: "We recommend Bitwig users not to update to whatsoever." See? That's far more friendly

[powermat]

What's the percentage of users that KVR it up?

[LooFoX]

As for me, I run BWS on a Windows 10 laptop and it runs perfectly fine, so I'm a little surprised about people having issues with it.
I'm not saying they don't have problems with it but maybe the real reason is somewhere else and not in Bitwig...
I myself encounters once in a while GUI glitches and lost of a VST preset but it's once in a while... Haven't kept me to make music till now...

For the report on the abruptness of Bitwig's support, I must say that even though I didn't contact them for a while, they always have been very kind and respectfull...

@Lazershonoob you say you and your friend got banned, but as we can't read the post you wrote that got you banned, we just have to believe you on this... Maybe your post was disrecpectfull and your ban logic...
A lot of us saw a moment when a dude named Yoshi was also banned (a couple of time if I remember correctly) for good reasons...

As for Bitwig's communication, I follow askewd : yes it would be fine to have status updates on Bitwig's development. On the other hand, as I said in another post, there was a time when they were talking a lot about future updates (1.2 if you hear me...) and it deserves them when they didn't released it in time.

I just think that they will talk when they'll have something concrete to say , and I'm fine with this .

Regards,

LooFoX

[Rappo Clappo]

I'm fine with Bitwig on W7.

And I hope shonoob will be too; I never experienced them being some pita at this forum before. That's why I am concerned.

Besides, if we are going to ban everyone with a disability, or someone who does not 'walk in line', why not raise the concentration camps immediately? At least that would be consequent, not?

@powermat

Yeah, as if communication is expressed in percentages, right?

[powermat]

Having experience working for a development company with over 6k users world-wide, "time is money, friend! "