Will Synapse Audio Ever Release Orion 6?

[TVD]

Do you have trouble understanding that Synapse Audio is just one person. Any time he spends doing other things, like making promises he has no idea if he can keep, just puts back the next update. Rich doesn't have a team of people to make a release roadmap and there is no-one he can call on to help him meet a meaningless deadline.

Tracktion used to be an one-man creation (Jules). And then that creation became a new division for Mackie.

Fruityloops was also a one-man creation (JMC). Then the one man created a entourage/crew/posse (Image-Line) that help him make his creation a bigger milestone called FL Studio.

Pro Audio was a one-man creation (Cakewalk). And it was a damn important one too. Before this software, music production was a Mac-only kind of thing. But this PC-only software would help change all of that. And now more than 15 years later (and a bigger market to entertain), Sonar & Project5 are still a success story for a now company side Cakewalk.

(I don't know the whole story about Steinberg or Digidesign. But if anyone wanted to add-on to this essay are welcome to do so.)

My whole point comes down to this: marketing!

These companies that are getting all the attention now are the same kind of companies that wanted a bigger market, even if that meant "selling out" their independent status (BTW, I'm not advocating that it was ever a bad thing because it's good business when you know what you doing!!!:hihi: ).

And here is where we come back to the subject about Synapse Audio. Even now, this is a very independent company (Richard) that has become successful without "selling out" their independent status. SA just let their products (like Orion) speak for themselves & keep their marketing simple (few magazine ads from time to time). That's all!

And even their rivals at Image-Line have been quoted for admitting that Orion is a very good soft studio in it own right. What can we say?

[Jeremy_NSL]

Good examples. Except Tracktion is made by Jules, not Jorge. And one more to add is of course Jorgen who develops Energyxt.

[TVD]

Good examples. Except Tracktion is made by Jules, not Jorge. And one more to add is of course Jorgen who develops Energyxt.

Oops! I'll fix that. Thanks.

[TVD]

Here is a little article that proves a point. Enjoy.
http://www.synapse-audio.com/synapse.php


ABOUT SYNAPSE

Who we are

We are the people who were originally known as Sonic Syndicate - we have been making music software since November 1998.

We first caught the attention of computer musicians, when we released the TS-404 - a freeware step sequencer and synthesizer, which became quite popular. Soon after, we envisioned something greater: a real virtual studio, which was not something that existed in any useful form at the time.

The TS-404 eventually evolved into an early version of the Wasp, and became the first internal generator in the first version of Orion, in May 2000. One thing lead to another - after three generations of Orion, and a number of plug-in synthesizers and effects, here we are.

What we do

Our two primary goals for our software are: usability and sound quality. We believe that these two values are equally important - you need the horse as well as the carriage.

Wild and colorful graphics, cool animations and other impressive visuals, have always been less of a priority for us. During the last year or so, we have been paying more attention to the looks of our software, but without unreasonable time investments. We don't want you to pay for something you don't really need, and we don't believe we have to dazzle you with fancy graphics to get your attention - musicians are smart enough to see through the glamour, and care about the things that end up in their music.

Why we do it

The developers working at Synapse, are also musicians. Not necessarily professional musicians, but people with a profound love for electronic music - resourceful and capable people, with a curious desire to know what makes their tools tick.

[Teksonik]

How do they know "What I really need" ?

[ceenda]

The developers working at Synapse...

Err... developer. Singular.

[BONES]

My whole point comes down to this: marketing!

These companies that are getting all the attention now are the same kind of companies that wanted a bigger market, even if that meant "selling out" their independent status (BTW, I'm not advocating that it was ever a bad thing because it's good business when you know what you doing!!!:hihi: ).

And here is where we come back to the subject about Synapse Audio. Even now, this is a very independent company (Richard) that has become successful without "selling out" their independent status. SA just let their products (like Orion) speak for themselves & keep their marketing simple (few magazine ads from time to time). That's all!

And even their rivals at Image-Line have been quoted for admitting that Orion is a very good soft studio in it own right. What can we say?

Exactly. Just like a band deciding to keep it real rather than sell-out and sign to a major, Rich wants ORION to continue to develop in a way that suits him. He is first and foremost concerned with quality over all other considerations. There is nothing in ORION which sounds merely OK, its all first-rate.
Teksonik, Rich keeps dossiers on every user. I imagine that yours is quite thick.

[Ian Stone]

Do you use Orion?

In case Bones never told you, I try out Orion 5.8 (demo) a few months ago.

And I like the mixer arrangements a lot (especially for using drum synths).

Even now, I putting money aside for Orion. And for my own production, it will co-exist with FL Studio 5 & Audition.

But I want to know what Orion 6 is going to look like first.

So you're saying FL Studio is better than Orion? No way. For one thing, Orion Platinum's drivers are simply better. Better sound, period. Next, Orion has way better synth's than FL Studio. FL Studio has so many cheesy sounds I don't even know where to begin laughing. To me, FL is like an introduction to music making. But if you want a serious VST, invest in Orion.

[DHR53]

Ouch! Fruity is not a soft studio... Never was! They've always offered a few native plugs, but the idea was to use the "good stuff" with it... Orion on the other hand has some really good synths with it... and more importantly good samplers!! That's where the similarities end... Fruity is a very capable sequencer, and has some unique features... Orion is really a pattern based program, that has great synths!! You need both

[BONES]

Pig's arse! FL never even supported VSTi until version 3.0. OTOH, ORION has since v1.0. Both are pattern-based, the main diffference is one was conceived to be what it is today, the other has evolved from something much simpler by bolting on new functionality without regard for workflow or intuitiveness.

[Tokartta]

Fruityloops was also a one-man creation (JMC). Then the one man created a entourage/crew/posse (Image-Line) that help him make his creation a bigger milestone called FL Studio.

Minor correction: The one man here is Gol, not JMC, and Image-Line has been in existence since 1994; way before FL came about. They also have, and I quote "Business solutions, Entertainment and Internet Technology" products.

[DHR53]

Yea, I guess Fruity started out with the step sequencer... but I think their doing a pretty good job of incorporating audio, making it more of sequencer... But that workflow Bring back copy and paste!

[teetow]

Add Buzztracker to the one-man-project list...

...And, consequently, the list of now long-dead projects that could easily had been saved hadn't it been for the over-ambitious Sisyphos-class megacoders who refuse to delegate responsibility and write structured, well-documented, modular code.

Actually, I don't know that for a fact (Oskari "Jeskola" might have been an exception) but it's just the way most small projects go. If it's not made by a team or kept on Sourceforge, I give it a 50% chance of extinction within the first year - and not even Sourceforge is any guarantee of success.

Writing, expanding and maintaining software projects simply takes a LOT of work, and usually from several people over a long period of time.

[Sicklecell666]

Rich keeps dossiers on every user.

What the hell are you talking about?!

[TVD]

The developers working at Synapse...

Err... developer. Singular.

You think that's funny?

Richard also said "we" instead of "I"!!!