As far as the functionality of his system, I agree, but in the price paid, I don't agree. I DEFINATELY feel his pain, too. It sucks to find a limitation in a major purchase that makes it useless to him, and find out that he has to spend more money to solve the problem. I was trying to help him feel better about his purchase based on the fact that the sound set he got in the deal DOES have value. He is not connecting with the fact that XL is a MSRP $500 program, and costs $389 on eSounds. Had he gone that route, he could have had a full version of Sampletank for $11 less than he'd pay the way he went, but he wouldn't have the extra sounds he has now. The sounds he has would integrate perfectly to the upgraded system, should he decide to get XL, and that value will stay with his system.No, the whole package would have been about $200. In BitFlipper's case, it doesn't make sense to separate the sounds from the player, because the sounds require the player. It was $200 for the package. And now BitFlipper is (rightly) annoyed that he needs to upgrade to the next model up because the current model doesn't meet his needs.
Like bit, I also had a major annoyance with LE, so I can very much relate to his anger. My problem was the color scheme made it difficult for my aging eyes to read, and it made using my sounds almost impossible. I had to use a magnifying glass to read it, and had to bend over my monitor, or get someone else to read it for me and I couldn't set my midi channels, make combination, etc. I posted my complaint and requested a skin with a more readable color scheme for LE and was told that ST2 XL allowed color changes, and I should upgrade. I was annoyed with this response. It was a PITA, and honestly, I thought I'd forget it and use another product. New glasses have helped this some, but it was a real problem for me.
When SS2 came out, I got the crossgrade deal, and went ahead and bought it. OH MAN!! Talk about LOVE! Great sounds, an interface I could read, and I was able to figure out how to use LE drawing from my expirience with the SS2 interface to finally utilize LE for a few things. I have since upgraded to XL, and have become a very enthusiastic customer, as everyone has seen.
I'm just so glad I didn't let my original anger and frustration cause me to give up. I now feel like I have the sound set of my dreams, and it's been one of the best values I have ever purchased. I couldn't be happier! I can't help but feel he would find the same thing in the long run, but he's frustrated now. I can definately relate to that.