Soundcloud - interface from hell?

[V'ger]

Getting an account was not bad. Then I want to upload a song. One would expect a link or button called 'upload' or 'upload track', especially under the 'Tracks' menu, but nothing. All there is is a button cryptically called 'Upload & Send'. But I don't want to send anything, I just want to upload to my account. How difficult can it be?

Anyway, I try the 'upload and send' and bizarrely there is nothing relating to sending the upload anywhere in the following page. Sigh.. Oh well, the upload looks to have happened as there is a nice waveform display of it after some time.

To confirm the upload, I hit the 'Tracks' link in the main menu to see. Nothing.. Zereo. In fact, the menu option dropdown itself only has 4 options and only relating to other people or search for tracks..

Unbelievable. The absolute basic stuff of uploading a song and locating it hasn't even been implemented in a logical way.

Digging more, I find under the 'You' menu (how lame is that, 'you'? Are we supposed to be retards?) another 'tracks' option, and clicking that opens a page where the track finally is.. How about having this let's say ... in the tracks section? Jeez..

There is no manual or help file anywhere. Clicking the 'get help' link produces only a dozen FAQs and a search field for the support forums which in itself is a mess. A simple search for the term 'dropbox' which I found is a Soundcloud feature by searching Google for something produces nothing of value like explaining what it is. Hello?

Soundcloud seems to have gotten some of Microsoft's people working on the interface as even the simplest things is just illogical and unnecessarily complicated. I certainly get the same knot in the stomach like when I was using Outlook when you know every step is gonna be a hurdle..

This is amazing for such an apparently easy-looking interface. For sure once you finally get into it and know everything, Soundcloud might be nice, but I have no interest to go further. Somebody needs to get their heads of the clouds and make the site more professional.

[ZenPunkHippy]

Get the 3rd party app called Scup, it lets you upload tracks in bulk and create sets in one step. It's not "perfect" but does the job. Requires Adobe AIR is installed, but that's a minor issue.

Peace,
Andy.

[aMUSEd]

Or, if you don't want Adobe shit on your computer, try FireUploader - an addon for Firefox:

http://www.fireuploader.com/

[elxsound]

Get the 3rd party app called Scup, it lets you upload tracks in bulk and create sets in one step. It's not "perfect" but does the job. Requires Adobe AIR is installed, but that's a minor issue.

Peace,
Andy.

Very cool... I need to finish a few projects first, but I can't wait to put this to use.

[Hink]

it takes a long time from my test a month ago, it uploaded it quickly but took a while to show up on my page

[blaster78]

Getting an account was not bad. Then I want to upload a song. One would expect a link or button called 'upload' or 'upload track', especially under the 'Tracks' menu, but nothing. All there is is a button cryptically called 'Upload & Send'. But I don't want to send anything, I just want to upload to my account. How difficult can it be?

Anyway, I try the 'upload and send' and bizarrely there is nothing relating to sending the upload anywhere in the following page. Sigh.. Oh well, the upload looks to have happened as there is a nice waveform display of it after some time.

you send to specific users and groups depending on what settings you choose at upload, the settings are all triggered by choosing private.

To confirm the upload, I hit the 'Tracks' link in the main menu to see. Nothing.. Zereo. In fact, the menu option dropdown itself only has 4 options and only relating to other people or search for tracks..

Unbelievable. The absolute basic stuff of uploading a song and locating it hasn't even been implemented in a logical way.


Digging more, I find under the 'You' menu (how lame is that, 'you'? Are we supposed to be retards?) another 'tracks' option, and clicking that opens a page where the track finally is.. How about having this let's say ... in the tracks section? Jeez..

i like the "you" option with direct links to all my stuff, including stats. i also really like the dashboard that i can customise to show me anything i want. i have to say i never use the tracks menu, i search from the search box and customised my dashboard to show me anything else i'm interested in.

There is no manual or help file anywhere. Clicking the 'get help' link produces only a dozen FAQs and a search field for the support forums which in itself is a mess. A simple search for the term 'dropbox' which I found is a Soundcloud feature by searching Google for something produces nothing of value like explaining what it is. Hello?

i agree the faqs tend to be a bit simplistic and not always useful, but they are very responsive on both email and twitter with regards to help and questions.

Soundcloud seems to have gotten some of Microsoft's people working on the interface as even the simplest things is just illogical and unnecessarily complicated. I certainly get the same knot in the stomach like when I was using Outlook when you know every step is gonna be a hurdle..

ah, that explains it, i also use outlook

[V'ger]

With a 5 track limit a month, bulk uploading wouldn't be a priority but thx for the tip anyways.

[ZenPunkHippy]

Or, if you don't want Adobe shit on your computer, try FireUploader - an addon for Firefox:

http://www.fireuploader.com/

Thanks for the tip. I did hesitate to install AIR, fortunately it's been trouble free so far. I'll check out FireUploader.

Peace,
Andy.

[V'ger]

@blaster78: Like I said, after a while one might have it all sussed out, my point was how atrocious the interface is for someone who doesn't know the 'idiosyncrasies'. Who could possibly have guessed that tracks are not in the tracks section at first f.i.?

[blaster78]

@blaster78: Like I said, after a while one might have it all sussed out, my point was how atrocious the interface is for someone who doesn't know the 'idiosyncrasies'. Who could possibly have guessed that tracks are not in the tracks section at first f.i.?

i can see where you're coming from. i promise it gets a lot easier and more intuative the more you use it.

persevere if you can, if only that it makes it easier for me to check your stuff out

cheers,

steve.

[V'ger]

Ah don't be so civilized about it - I'll have to give it another go now..

But how about volume control for tracks? Too much to expect?

Another bizarre Soundcloud message: "Uploaded by V'ger 1 minute from now"

[thecontrolcentre]

But how about volume control for tracks?

Yes please

[jkleban]

I admit that it took a few minutes to find my way around the interface for SC but once I found my way, it seems OK... I actually like it.

Jim

[V'ger]

i also really like the dashboard that i can customise to show me anything i want. i have to say i never use the tracks menu, i search from the search box and customised my dashboard to show me anything else i'm interested in.

Is this for the pay version? I can't really set my dash to show me anything despite all options set to 'show all'.

But the SC battle continues. I now wanted to post a question in the support forum, should be simple enough, but not so. Seems one is forced to get an account with another service (Get Satisfaction) for that. Optionally you can sign in there with accounts from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail etc. How about a SoundCloud account ffs?

[wrench45us]

I have spent some frustrating time looking for a volume slider
but all in all, compared to a few other free hosts, I find SoundCloud fairly clear and easy to use