Stacker by Sample Magic (XX- - Discontinued - -XX)

[audiospillage]

Hello, Stacker developer Stephen here.

None of the developers ‘walked away’ from the Stacker project.

During the course of the Stacker project I had little/no direct contact with Sample Magic. I was paid for Stacker (eventually) by two separate parties. It is my understanding that the code is co-owned by SM and the other party. There is clearly a disconnect between these parties.

The reason Sample Magic can’t provide the code to another development team is because they don’t own the code outright. Not because we encrypted the code and buried it on a remote island.

None of the code is licensed from anyone else. None of the developers disappeared or ran off to giant corporations for 6 figure salaries. The time and effort that went into Stacker was significant to say the least. Perhaps it was too significant given the resources available.

I wouldn’t normally reply but I find some of the discussion here incredibly misleading, manipulative even, so I thought I’d chime in.

Life goes on..

[audiospillage]

Hello, Stacker developer Stephen here.

None of the developers ‘walked away’ from the Stacker project.

During the course of the Stacker project I had little/no direct contact with Sample Magic. I was paid for Stacker (eventually) by two separate parties. It is my understanding that the code is co-owned by SM and the other party. There is clearly a disconnect between these parties.

The reason Sample Magic can’t give the code to another development team is because they don’t own the code outright. Not because we encrypted the code and buried it on a remote island.

None of the code is licensed from anyone else. None of the developers disappeared or ran off to giant corporations for 6 figure salaries. The time and effort that went into Stacker was significant to say the least. Perhaps it was too significant given the resources available.

I wouldn’t normally reply but I find some of the discussion here incredibly misleading, manipulative even, so I thought I’d chime in.

Life goes on..

[MogwaiBoy]

Thanks for your input in the conversation. It's a shame that Stacker will die on a technicality and lack of communication.

I guess the question now is... Is Sample Magic's 'Klip' (currently at $26) the one to invest in, going forward? Is it SM's answer to Stacker being discontinued?

[strovoknights]

I understood this situation.
SampleMagic is irresponsible company.
I will never buy SampleMagic products anymore.

[imrae]

Stacker's brilliance lies in its combination of drum synth and well-chosen sample layers. Klip seems to have a very different application.

Interesting update. Seems to be some conflicting information here...

[dermage]

Thanks for your input in the conversation. It's a shame that Stacker will die on a technicality and lack of communication.

I guess the question now is... Is Sample Magic's 'Klip' (currently at $26) the one to invest in, going forward? Is it SM's answer to Stacker being discontinued?

Personally I'd stop investing in SM products because of exactly the statement audiospillage did. How can I know the same won't happen again. I'm kind of sad I invested and got an unsatisfying answer (or even no straight answer) from SM. For me, that's a no go and no professional business practice. Also, as SM did sales on Stacker when they already could have known it will be discontinued (or possibly even knew). I'm speculating of course, but I found the recent statement from audiospillage points to a whole other direction as it was said before by SM.

[MogwaiBoy]

Yeah I was thinking that. Maybe the reason why Klip is on sale at VST Buzz is precisely because it too is also earmarked for abandonment due to company/coder disputes

How can we trust you, Sample Magic?

[Sharooz]

Hi MogwaiBoy

I can guarantee that Klip is absolutely not about to be discontinued. The developer, Matt Fudge, can be addressed at matt@samplemagic.com and it is fully supported in every possible way. If you've ever had any support requests or technical queries, I trust you will know they are dealt with as a matter of priority either by Matt himself, or myself personally. As always, feel free to reach me with any concerns sharooz@samplemagic.com.

Thanks,

Sharooz

[dark water]

To be fair, once people make their mind up about a company, then usually it's hard to dissuade them from that conviction. I can certainly understand the anger/disappointment and fall out from those who bought Stacker, as per some of the posts above.

To add some counter-argument about whether Sample Magic can be trusted, I have been buying sample packs, as well as a couple of plugins (Magic A/B etc) from them for more than 10 years. During that time, their samples have nearly always been top quality and their customer support, when I have needed it, has been generous and speedy.
I would question whether Sample Magic have the resources/appetite for developing plugins, as evidenced by the conversations/experiences involving KVR members on a couple of threads, including this one.
However, as a company I have found them to be trustworthy for more than 10 years.

[Straight2Vinyl]

Wow. Lol. A total lack of communication with existing customers when some were expecting na update you stated yourself was coming. This company is a joke. Too bad. I like the concept of Stacker. It's simple and just makes sense. The fact no other developer thought to include such a simple way to delay percussion samples, along with the sample and synth approach made it something uniquely intuitive. They really dropped the ball here. I think there were a couple products I liked the look of from SM, but I may have to pass now.

[Straight2Vinyl]

Wow. Lol. A total lack of communication with existing customers when some were expecting na update you stated yourself was coming. This company is a joke. Too bad. I like the concept of Stacker. It's simple and just makes sense. The fact no other developer thought to include such a simple way to delay percussion samples, along with the sample and synth approach made it something uniquely intuitive. They really dropped the ball here. I think there were a couple products I liked the look of from SM, but I may have to pass now.

[Straight2Vinyl]

Wow. Lol. A total lack of communication with existing customers when some were expecting na update you stated yourself was coming. This company is a joke. Too bad. I like the concept of Stacker. It's simple and just makes sense. The fact no other developer thought to include such a simple way to delay percussion samples, along with the sample and synth approach made it something uniquely intuitive. They really dropped the ball here. I think there were a couple products I liked the look of from SM, but I may have to pass now.

[Russell Grand]

Yeah, until this Stacker issue is sorted, I plan on refraining from making any more purchases from Sample Magic. While I sympathize with the company in this situation (despite conflicting info) to a point, I'm still extremely unhappy with the way things were handled.

[greenmind72]

Hi All

A bit if a mess this situation, but I have to empathise with the developer (Stephen) - it must be disappointing to see things end like this. Actually, I'm sure there's lessons learned from this for all involved.

I was considering getting Stacker, just when it got pulled...and missed out. Does anyone know of alternatives that:

1. PC (drum spillage seems Mac only, with no plans for PC)
2. no ilok
3. combine drum synth/sample layers, with ability to import your own samples

There seems a place in the market for something like this, or have I missed something?

[audiospillage]

It should never have been released in the first place, due to its problems with CPU spikes (sometimes reaching above 100%, even when playback is not engaged). There was never a serious ambition to fix them.

If it wasn´t for the CPU problems, it would probably be the most useful percussion VST out there IMHO. Such potential.

As the developer of Stacker I'd be interested to know a bit more about the CPU issues. It's not something I've seen on the Mac version. Does this mostly affect the Windows version?