u-he spread too thin?
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- KVRAF
- 2875 posts since 28 Jan, 2004 from Da Nang, Vietnam
Obviously it's entirely up to Urs how he decides to spend his time and what projects he chooses to pursue but I've been wishing a bit lately he was working 100% on Zebra. The Uhbik stuff looks nice and Filterscape is a great package but I think I can find alternatives for those easily enough whereas Zebra is really in its own class but could also use quite a bit of polish in various areas.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2875 posts since 28 Jan, 2004 from Da Nang, Vietnam
Just feedback from a dedicated but also slightly frustrated user. Obviously Urs can and should run his company how he likes but he should probably at least know what his users think, right?
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- Banned
- 2623 posts since 20 Feb, 2004 from in ur head pullin cablez out [boston, ma]
Personally I have no need for Zebra, but Filterscape has no alternatives (morphing EQ, Morphing VA synth, etc). It's pretty poor business advice to tell him that he should forget the other plugs. How do you think all the Filterscape users (hello??) feel when every post in this forum is dedicated to Zebra? Have you looked through this forum lately? Zebra has it's own mini-forum!
Urs, can you forget about that frikkin antelope plug and work on Filterscape???
I hope you realize that I'm kidding Urs. Filterscape is already dope as it is, but it definitely doesn't get the mentions it should. Come on now, I scored a whole theatre production with ONLY Filterscape VA! Surely others are getting that kind of milage from it?
Urs, can you forget about that frikkin antelope plug and work on Filterscape???
I hope you realize that I'm kidding Urs. Filterscape is already dope as it is, but it definitely doesn't get the mentions it should. Come on now, I scored a whole theatre production with ONLY Filterscape VA! Surely others are getting that kind of milage from it?
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- KVRist
- 289 posts since 25 Jul, 2006
Curious, what do you think those are that haven't been addressed in 2.3?kuniklo wrote: Zebra ... could also use quite a bit of polish in various areas.
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- KVRAF
- 1529 posts since 12 Jun, 2004 from Portland, OR
I really do want Zebrify, which (from what I understand) has been waiting on just a skin and a few details while Uhbik is being developed.
But it's none of my business really, because it will be free.
I think limiting a person's creativity could have negative connotations, if you tell Urs he can only work on Z, he may at times become frustrated or bored and play video games instead of making MFM II, Filterscape, Uhbik, Zebra CM, etc...
Same with many artists who need artistic diversity and distraction from their 'main' project.
Also, since he historically has not charged for upgrades, he has to create new product lines as current ones get market saturation.
But it's none of my business really, because it will be free.
I think limiting a person's creativity could have negative connotations, if you tell Urs he can only work on Z, he may at times become frustrated or bored and play video games instead of making MFM II, Filterscape, Uhbik, Zebra CM, etc...
Same with many artists who need artistic diversity and distraction from their 'main' project.
Also, since he historically has not charged for upgrades, he has to create new product lines as current ones get market saturation.
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- KVRian
- 548 posts since 12 Jan, 2005 from Leciestershire, England
tboulette wrote:Sorry -- what's the purpose of this post?
Its a forum.. He's voicing his opinion.-
- Banned
- 4072 posts since 7 Nov, 2007
I agree with the op. We should stifle the small business folk, and we will be better consumers for it. Would GM not be better off, if the company only had Chevy to worry about? Urs is not a multi-billion dollar industry, but in 2008, accountability is king.
Focus is the name of the game, as global economies are the brink. The world doesn't have time for diversity in the market place. We need to get back to basics.
If your making you music, with anything more than toilet paper, and baking soda, you've got a lesson to learn, that has been a long time coming. f**k the phasers, forget the delays, loose the synths, daw's, and samplers.
Everybody, get off your asses, and start crafting kazoos. There simply isn't time, for any more of this, product development garbage.
Focus is the name of the game, as global economies are the brink. The world doesn't have time for diversity in the market place. We need to get back to basics.
If your making you music, with anything more than toilet paper, and baking soda, you've got a lesson to learn, that has been a long time coming. f**k the phasers, forget the delays, loose the synths, daw's, and samplers.
Everybody, get off your asses, and start crafting kazoos. There simply isn't time, for any more of this, product development garbage.
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- u-he
- 30215 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
Well, Zebra alone wouldn't quite keep things in motion.
I could go on in lengths about product sales (MFM2 and Filterscape together sold more than Zebra2) and strategy, but I'll spare you the details. Let's just say that I expect Uhbik to double the u-he market space in less than a year - and save my ass from finance authorities
Zebrify will come (and so will more Filters, brighter oscillator modes etc.), but I had suffered from some weird sickness (based on an undetected inflamation of a dead tooth root, I spare you these details too) for more than 6 months this year, 2 of which I was fully put out of work, before a 5 week vacation. I'm happy now, but the time out has left its traces. I'm still working months behind schedule. That's why things are late.
Anyhow, *focus* can be deadly these days, diversification can be a key to survival. I have shown in the last couple of years that I can maintain 30+ plugins with contractware and magware, hence I wouldn't be scared of 10 more plugins (Uhbik). It's all about the engine. And most time is currently devoted to the engine (RTAS, gui stuff, preset stuff), not the particular effect.
By the way Zebra is the most demanding product. It needs updates and care all the time. Filterscape is great even with no update in 3 years. Uhbik will be similar. From a marketing point of view, Zebra is not only the flagship product, it's also the most expensive one with the least return per man hour. If I was a marketing person, I'd ditch Zebra and concentrate on products that are more self-contained.
Cheers,
Urs
P.S.: Can't wait to get my hands on FilterscapeVA
I could go on in lengths about product sales (MFM2 and Filterscape together sold more than Zebra2) and strategy, but I'll spare you the details. Let's just say that I expect Uhbik to double the u-he market space in less than a year - and save my ass from finance authorities
Zebrify will come (and so will more Filters, brighter oscillator modes etc.), but I had suffered from some weird sickness (based on an undetected inflamation of a dead tooth root, I spare you these details too) for more than 6 months this year, 2 of which I was fully put out of work, before a 5 week vacation. I'm happy now, but the time out has left its traces. I'm still working months behind schedule. That's why things are late.
Anyhow, *focus* can be deadly these days, diversification can be a key to survival. I have shown in the last couple of years that I can maintain 30+ plugins with contractware and magware, hence I wouldn't be scared of 10 more plugins (Uhbik). It's all about the engine. And most time is currently devoted to the engine (RTAS, gui stuff, preset stuff), not the particular effect.
By the way Zebra is the most demanding product. It needs updates and care all the time. Filterscape is great even with no update in 3 years. Uhbik will be similar. From a marketing point of view, Zebra is not only the flagship product, it's also the most expensive one with the least return per man hour. If I was a marketing person, I'd ditch Zebra and concentrate on products that are more self-contained.
Cheers,
UrsP.S.: Can't wait to get my hands on FilterscapeVA
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- KVRist
- 141 posts since 1 Dec, 2007 from Cologne, Germany
Urs product range is very reasonable and clear to me. There are other companies (which I won't name here) that have way too much products and aren't able to do adequate support for them.
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- KVRAF
- 2217 posts since 15 Jul, 2003
that sort of fits with my theory of how this all works
almost everybody has enough synths already and all the work on a sound engine should be more easily adaptable to various fx and how much broader the market is for fx.
looking forward to whatever Urs does
I'd have a hard time getting by without Filterscape and MFM, but I don't really need Zebra at the same level of need (though it is nice to have)
I just wish I could convince Big Tick to release an fx package. I've been lobbying him for years on this.
Maybe Urs will set an example.
almost everybody has enough synths already and all the work on a sound engine should be more easily adaptable to various fx and how much broader the market is for fx.
looking forward to whatever Urs does
I'd have a hard time getting by without Filterscape and MFM, but I don't really need Zebra at the same level of need (though it is nice to have)
I just wish I could convince Big Tick to release an fx package. I've been lobbying him for years on this.
Maybe Urs will set an example.
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- u-he
- 30215 posts since 8 Aug, 2002 from Berlin
Very true. I usually concentrate on one thing a day. (EDIT: oops, I hadn't finished that point) The great thing that serves my mental health is, everyday I can choose what this is! - Be it an algorithm, bugfixes, the website, user manuals, graphics.kodama wrote:I think limiting a person's creativity could have negative connotations, if you tell Urs he can only work on Z, he may at times become frustrated or bored and play video games instead of making MFM II, Filterscape, Uhbik, Zebra CM, etc...
I don't think that market saturation exists in my niche. I've had some lengthy discussions about this recently and I'm now 100% sure. Zebra can only reach market saturation within my lifetime if I start to lie (i.e. convince people to buy it even when they don't want it) or if it becomes a dead product. Otherwise there are more people getting into making music with synths in a period of time than people who buy Zebra.Also, since he historically has not charged for upgrades, he has to create new product lines as current ones get market saturation.
I don't charge for updates when I don't have to
Last edited by Urs on Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2875 posts since 28 Jan, 2004 from Da Nang, Vietnam
Interesting. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that a power-user tool like Zebra is a harder sell than something like Uhbik. In that case I hope you sell a million copies.Urs wrote: By the way Zebra is the most demanding product. It needs updates and care all the time. Filterscape is great even with no update in 3 years. Uhbik will be similar. From a marketing point of view, Zebra is not only the flagship product, it's also the most expensive one with the least return per man hour.
Anyway, I hope I don't come off as unappreciative. Making something as powerful as Zebra available for such a reasonable price and without any intrusive copy protection is very generous. I'd like to see various things happen to take it a step further but I guess the economics dictate the pace at which that can happen. Thanks for the explanation.
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- KVRist
- 407 posts since 23 Oct, 2006 from Northern New England
OK. In that case, MY opinion is we shouldn't be griping about any delay in finishing an update that is (a) free for existing users, and (b) unlikely to generate sufficient new sales to be particularly worth Urs's time in getting it to the rest of us. I'd rather we get it sometime, as opposed to never.Mike-t3 wrote:tboulette wrote:Sorry -- what's the purpose of this post?
"Enough Spyro Gyra and you're hoping you'll be killed in a knife fight."
-- Chris in the morning
-- Chris in the morning
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2875 posts since 28 Jan, 2004 from Da Nang, Vietnam
If the dropped notes bug in Live is fixed, and it sounds like it will be in the final release, than the only remaining actual *bug* is the weirdness with the arp sequencer, which I can work around easily enough.lococarlos wrote:Curious, what do you think those are that haven't been addressed in 2.3?kuniklo wrote: Zebra ... could also use quite a bit of polish in various areas.
I think there have been a ton of good ideas for new features and/or UI polish in this forum and I'm looking forward to seeing some of them implemented.