Anybody use chicken systems Translator??

[bro. miles]

Translator was the first product of this type, so it was adopted by a lot of companies since there was no alternative. However, the problems some people have had with it have left a market opportunity and other programmers have introduced competing products. For some people these other products may be a better choice. There are lots of opinions here on Translator as you can see. The biggest fault I have with Translator is that the claims of what works that are listed on the website don't match the reality of what actually works. The second biggest problem is the way I was treated by customer support when it didn't work correctly. In my case the format I wanted to convert to was not actually debugged until about 9 months after I bought it. Actually I can't say for certain it is debugged yet, but Garth says it is now. I gave up after trying many times over six months to get it to work right. It might work fine for you. Obviously debugging some formats is a lower priority, which I understand, but nowhere on the website are you warned of which formats have been tested and debugged and which are problematic. There are close to 3000 versions (bug fixes mostly) of the program to date, so early adopters of the program have had to be extremely patient waiting for things to work as claimed. Apparently the program is really still in beta status. Buy it, and if it works, great, if not, submit your findings so they can debug and wait. In my case the wait would have been about 9 months for the debugged version, and unfortunately I only tried over and over for 6 months before I gave up. On the site it says most problems are fixed in 24 hours. True or false advertising? You decide. YMMV.

You can contrast this approach to development with someone like Rene Ceballos of RGC Audio and now Cakewalk/Sonar/Project 5. When he releases a product, he first gives it to beta testers, and when all the bugs are worked out, then he sells it. He has been very successful with this approach and everyone loves his products.

With translator the customers are the beta testers.

[Cryogenic]

If you complain enough you may be able to get a refund. I was offered one today to silence me.

Matt Miles

Still, is this correct, or not.

[bro. miles]

Yes, I was offered a refund. Not when I couldn't get the program to work or when I asked for support and he decided I was too annoying to help, but only after posting my bad experiences here. He did not, however, say that that was the reason he offered it. To me, actions speak louder than words, and I drew my own conclusions regarding the vendor's motivation. He is obviously upset that there are so many negative comments about Translator here, and would very much like to control his image on KVR. I would have been much happier to praise his product, had it worked as advertised.

It's a little confusing since in one post he says my requests for support were too frequent and became annoying, and in the next post he says I never asked for support. I did ask for support on multiple occasions but never was able to get the program to work correctly. Apparently some people have better luck, but I am not alone in having problems based on the many other complaints here. If he has offered refunds to others I don't know about it. You will have to ask Rubber Chicken Systems for your refund directly if you want one.

I am more upset about the loss of my time trying to get it to work as advertised, rather than the purchase price. The price is very fair if it works for you. It didn't work well for me. I'm not complaining for money, but rather to warn others so they don't have the same bad experience that I did.

[Cryogenic]

No i always suspect there will be smarter users/musicians than you, out there.

[Vertizon]

"Apparently Garth is the moderator and deletes any unflattering posts.

"That's sad. I always wonder why there are so many bad ppl in high positions"

So You're saying Garth at Rubber Chicken Software is a Bad Person?!?!?!?!?
I have never talked to anybody from any company that was more willing to help before I was a customer and after I was a customer then Garth. He took the time to explain everything to me before I bought it. "Ensoniq Midi Disk Tools" and after I bought it. Sometimes software baffles ne! He was very patient and very helpful. I LOVE Translator!!
Maybe It's just me, But Garth has been AWESOME!!!
Vertizon

[Artgiver]

I have never talked to anybody from any company that was more willing to help before I was a customer and after I was a customer then Garth. He took the time to explain everything to me before I bought it. "Ensoniq Midi Disk Tools" and after I bought it. Sometimes software baffles ne! He was very patient and very helpful. I LOVE Translator!!
Maybe It's just me, But Garth has been AWESOME!!!

double ditto

[JPTinAshland]

My two cents - I dumped Translator for Mac ages ago, as I too was a victim of hearing " your conversion format will be ready any day now ", and never, ever was - at least on the Mac version...

The program's UI seems overblown and needlessly techy-complicated looking for what it ends up NOT being able to do... Translator always reminded me of those flashing lights and dials on the old Star Trek episodes that never really did anything, but they sure LOOKED impressive and functional...

I admire Garth's ambition and desire to implement features, but thinking that the stock " it's coming any day now " reply to any and all questions will NOT make people stop wanting your product to do what you advertise it will do...

In closing - I will only get sample libraries in the future that are Akai-compatible, and convertible by REAL conversion programs / soft-samplers - like the EXS-24 in Logic, and my Reason 2.5... To me, if it's not in Akai format, then I don't need it _that_ bad...

JP.

[chickeneps]

People who only have Mac's and don't have access to PC's constitute a very small part of our user base. PC's actually cost less then Translator itself, and many people get free PC's from people who upgrade and can't sell their older ones.

I even hear there's a free Windows emulator for the Mac, so you can run Translator Windows on a Mac for no extra cost. There's always Virtual PC, too.

I hadn't checked for awhile: out of the 200 or so people who register Translator, 4.4% of them mark Mac only as their platform. 23.3% mark both, and 72.7% mark PC. I checked the stats for November of last year.

The Mac version doesn't have as many translations as the Windows version, but it is advertised as such (if you actually check). We are actively working on a port, and we do say that. But plans and schedules can change, what we say are never promises, and we always mention that - JP makes it seem that we are always teasing people along. We don't do that.

If someone buys a program based on what the company says it will do in the future, and it doesn't do it in the time frame desired by the customer, who's fault is that? I would expect people to buy a program based on what it does when they buy it. The implication is that we bait-and-switch people, which we do not do. All the information is front and center on our web site, and when people call, we refer them to the web site, or we'll pull up the web site (and say that's what we are doing) and read it off of there.

I guess people hear what they want to hear.

Most people, if they do make the mistake of getting Translator Mac and the format isn't supported, they either use their PC to do the conversions or they use their wifes/kids or borrow one or go to the library where there are PC's or actually pay $100 to get one (and use it for other things). That's a big reason why the Mac version didn't get upgraded quick enough - few people really found it necessary. We found the best thing to do was make a PC that would blow people socks off (which it does now!), and then when it was good and ready, get it into the Mac and blow the 5-10 people who only have Mac's doors off.

Translator Mac does look nice, like Star Trek, and it does everything that it says it does. It does convert completely into EXS, converts out of Akai, but doesn't convert into Reason (but the Win verison does) - so I'm not sure I see the comparison or the complaint.

[Artgiver]

The program's UI seems overblown and needlessly techy-complicated looking for what it ends up NOT being able to do

yeah that was my experience at first but you just gotta work with it awhile.
after i worked with it, tested it out and all, in its conversions, i noticed it did a better job at conversion than the other converters out there(especially regarding the more difficult formats to accurately convert). be patient, work the horse, you'll love it.

[G&L_player]

I'm not going to rant, just drop a quickie and roll on this one...

I thought this was my old thread. In fact, the complaints looked so familiar, that had to read them real closely- for real! Obviously, I've had similar experiences to Miles, and certainly don't mind saying so. I literally have to reboot my machine many times to get through a conversion excercise.

Sorry, man- I agree with Miles.

[chickeneps]

G+L, he actually did post to your old thread.

If Translator forces you to reboot your computer, the problem is your computer, not Translator. We've been through this before. I told you to check with our service people, and I say it again, please do so. Call us, 800-877-6377, or 320-235-9798. Unless you just want to complain, which you have the perfect right to do so - I just don't think it's very constructive - for you or anyone else.

[Failed Muso]

If Translator forces you to reboot your computer, the problem is your computer, not Translator.

I've held back out of this argument, mainly because I've only ever used Translator Free (and I've enver had a success with that), but the above statement just shocked me into a reply.

How can a developer say that ??? If the end user has no other problems that cause his system to crash, but Translator does, then simple deduction means that Translator must be a major contributor to the crash.

I can't imagine Adobe or Microsoft or some other software developer turning around to a client and saying, "Well, it's your PC mate, not our software" if the problems only occur when running Audition or Photoshop or Word.

Computers are modular and therefore each individual PC/Mac is different and we expect devs to get their software right first time, with no problems or compatibility issues, but we all know this isn't possible. But to make claims that your software isn't at fault and it's the end users PC, when many others are reporting similar problems is a very blinkered attitude and one that can bring about a company's downfall.

And to release a Mac version and then tell the Mac users to "go find a PC somewhere" to do the things that the Mac version can't do is just ridiculous.

go to the library where there are PC's

How many libraries do you know that allow people to install their own software on ????

It seems that Chicken Systems (Be that Garth or other employees) really want to provide the best, but make too many claims and promises they can't keep and don't have the infrastructure (customer service wise) to cope.

Being in the position I am, I am very close to many people on the inside of the software and hardware development industries and as such have heard numerous things which do not warrant discussion here, but suffice to say, none of what has been said in this thread is of any surprise to me.

[Artgiver]

Ya know Garth, i think being in the computer or ISP tech support business, of which i've been in both, is just as bad as being in the programming business cause the intricasies regarding hardware and software are so dad-burn 'delicate' that those who don't know as much as those in the business drive you batty with such misunderstandings located within threads like these (no disrespect towards those who give guys like us a hard time since i understand that's just the nature of the beast). My last boss in a small pc business literally gave it up, not because he wasn't smart enough, but because everybody and their brother, who didn't actualize such intricasies, blamed him for stuff that just wasn't his fault, but you can't tell them that cause they think you're just trying to make up an excuse to keep their business. Well, i DID quite tech support here at a local ISP because of this very thing. I presently wing it in the computer repair business .

[Sascha Franck]

In case you are unhappy with Translator (which admittedly has a not-so-shiny track record regarding buggy-ness), you can still try out CDxtract. By now it's x-platform and supposed to work as well under either OS. Might offer less formats, but from what I know/experienced it's working quite well.

[chickeneps]

Thanks for your articulate answer, Lovesign, but I don't think you aren't reading my answers very accurately. Let me respond.

If Translator forces you to reboot your computer, the problem is your computer, not Translator.

How can a developer say that ??? If the end user has no other problems that cause his system to crash, but Translator does, then simple deduction means that Translator must be a major contributor to the crash.

It doesn't follow. Why does this behavior NOT occur to most (if not all) Translator users? It doesn't happen to us, at all, and it is never a common theme in our service calls.

Translator may use certain features within a computer that are not set up right, or mechnically aren't right, or Translator is using files in a way that no other program uses them.

Again, the solution is to deal with them on a one-by-one basis, and we offered that to G+L, but he refused to identify himself or contact us after several times pleading with him. What does that tell you?

And to release a Mac version and then tell the Mac users to "go find a PC somewhere" to do the things that the Mac version can't do is just ridiculous.

Firstly, anyone who buys Translator knows what formats it supports for eah platform, its clear and we post big "CAREFULS" along the sales process. (Even if they miss them and buy it accidentally, they can call us and we can work something out.) MOST IMPORTANTLY: Anyone who buys Translator for what it doesn't support yet shouldn't have bought it, plain and simple.

Now, even if a customer buys Translator irregardless, we were offering a solution for right now; I was being constructive and positive. We include both platforms for people when they purchase the product, and there is a way with little or no investment that they can do what they want RIGHT NOW.

I certainly can't whip a Mac version that can do what they want RIGHT NOW, so I'm suggesting an easy - and IMHO very profitable - way of doing things.

I love using both platforms, there are certain Mac-only programs that I love, and there are certain PC programs and features that I prefer. Like I mentioned, a good PC can be purchased for $100 or so. I suggest it because it may be in the best interest of the questioner. If its not, then fine.

Who are "the Mac users"? Are they people because of their upbringing that they can only touch keyboards with COmmand and Apple keys on them? I have great respect for people and I assume they are capable.

I'm interested in solving problems, not criticizing or analyzing things. That's the solution for TODAY, and I suggested it. I don't consider using a PC temporarily for a "Mac User" a religious calamity; in fact I consider it advantageous for people to have both platforms to be most productive. Besides, translations are often a one-time only thing, so even free temporary use of a computer can work for some people.

I hope that clarifies things for you.