KVR Audio

Orbit-50 · Post by **Orbit-50** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:54 pm

beely wrote:So what would likely happen is CA's products die, and Ben and maybe some of the others go to work for Apple on various projects, and we never hear from them again.

Just like what happened to Sonic Bytes.

.-.

Mivo · Post by **Mivo** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:55 pm

gamecat666 wrote:Notch (minecraft) had principles too. 2.6 billion from microsoft changed his mind.

It's understandable. In their shoes, I'd probably have done the same, though there is always the question how much money one needs to be happy and satisfied (Notch was very well off before). You can't eat morals.

As a customer, though, I won't support developers who sell their IP and willingly agree to terms that leave their existing customers in the cold. (If this is what happened here, which we don't know.) Certainly, people got what they paid for, but most buyers of plugins (and software in general) do so in the belief that this will support continued support and maintenance.

ObsoleteAcc99 · Post by **ObsoleteAcc99** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:55 pm

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ObsoleteAcc99 · Post by **ObsoleteAcc99** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:56 pm

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Dasheesh · Post by **Dasheesh** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:58 pm

beely wrote:
Numanoid wrote:Except Logic and GarageBand, what kind of audio software does Apple make for OSX?

It seems the logical thing would be to incorporate Alchemy and other CA plugs into Logic, but Logic is already dirt cheap based on what plugs are included, so to only sell it to OSX customers would be ignoring a great market potential "over the OS border"
Not really. If this really is Apple, they are likely doing it for the same reasons they bought Redmatica - to expand the audio engineering team with talented developers, and core IP regarding CA's specialties in additive dsp, samples and so on - *not* for CA's products themselves.

So what would likely happen is CA's products die, and Ben and maybe some of the others go to work for Apple on various projects, and we never hear from them again.

This. Same thing that happened to emagic, and a host of other great companies. probably wanted the granular filters and a host of other things C.A. did better. Don't be surprised if Apple tries to copyright granular filtering...and if you are reading this C.A. guys... I hope you got your $ up front because apple has no loyalty to guys like you...I'm sure you did tho, and you realize that. It's the only thing that makes any since at all here aside from a devastating illness. If not apple then someone else that tries to lock down everything like apple...I could see someone like air tech.

beely · Post by **beely** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:58 pm

Mivo wrote:
gamecat666 wrote:Notch (minecraft) had principles too. 2.6 billion from microsoft changed his mind.
It's understandable. In their shoes, I'd probably have done the same, though there is always the question how much money one needs to be happy and satisfied (Notch was very well off before). You can't eat morals.

From what I understand, for him it was less about the money, but more that the game was so big it had got to the stage we he could no longer handle it himself. Selling it on was a way to keep it moving forward and handing it over to a community that would look after it.

The money is a benefit, but not necessarily the chief reason.

Neon Breath · Post by **Neon Breath** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:01 pm

Dasheesh wrote:

This. Same thing that happened to emagic, and a host of other great companies. probably wanted the granular filters and a host of other things C.A. did better. Don't be surprised if Apple tries to copyright granular filtering....

What are granular filters? Do you mean granular synthesis? Not sure to follow you here...

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:01 pm

As a paying user of Alchemy, I am deeply saddened by this news. Like everyone else, I've been waiting anxiously for the release of v2, which now will never come. Furthermore, I'm a Windows user, so I can't even look forward to anything new from the CamApple team.

On the other hand, look at this from Ben's perspective. Running a small business making music software is hard work with relatively little monetary reward. If Apple is willing to buy the company and offer him a secure future working on interesting new projects, that sounds like a huge win.

fedexnman · Post by **fedexnman** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:03 pm

Wow, I'm a day late but wow . I bet they SOLD out to some big company , I'm happy for em if they got some big money ... I have an Alchemy license and a good few sound libs so this kind of sucks , the good thing is I'm a Windows user and not a Mac user ..So things should be okay if I back up to USB stick and DVDs . The sad news us I wish I had grabbed a couple more sound libs ... I wonder who owns CA now ? Hmm

elxsound · Post by **elxsound** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:04 pm

Whoa shit!

Glad I saw this or would have been screwed!

I always wanted to buy another license to Alchemy, but now of course that is history.

I wish them well. I know this could not have been an easy decision.

I distinctly remember ZenPunkHippy's thoughts on the Redmatica situation which is eerily similar (but thankfully not a product available on the App store, where most were screwed).

The thing I hate about this move is that I didn't receive any email notification. At least with Redmatica, they sent an email to their existing users with serial numbers to replace the C/R (the bad part was that their products remained on sale despite the news).

epiphaneia · Post by **epiphaneia** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:05 pm

Urs wrote:If you put 1 and 1 together, I'm sure some big player got interested in the technology behind Alchemy 2.

Joke all you want about "NI Alkemy 2", but most likely it´s either Apple being interested in making Logic XI an even better package, or... NI.

At least, telling from how things went, they definitely didn´t go belly-up.

When a bankruptcy nears, there´s a lot of desperate sales, bundles, whatever... when a company is about to be taken over, there must be a clear and sudden cut, as to avoid harming the new owner ("I won´t buy this if the future is unclear").

Anyway, if it was Apple, they won´t care about not being able to sell licenses to Windows customers. Logic is dirt cheap already, considering what one gets (it was only yesterday when an "empty" DAW cost 5 times the money of what one loaded with dozens of quite usable plugins costs today...), because they don´t make money selling Logic, they make money by making everyone who wants to use Logic buy a Mac. And the more exclusive, good audio software they include, the more likely it is.

And if it´s NI, we´re going to hear about the deal within two weeks, including a new product announcement. Who says that the Camels aren´t finished with Alchemy 2 already, but exhausted their resources to the point of needing extra marketing and monetary firepower (and NI can do that, unquestionably)?

kiezum · Post by **kiezum** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:06 pm

Yes, I can imagine you would sell your product to Apple from a financial perspective.

It was long a go when I was shocked that Emagic sold Logic Audio to Apple! I have used the 5.5 platinum version for years after that. At some point I had to chose and learn another DAW.

So I still hope that Native Instruments or Izotope have bought Camel Audio.

beely · Post by **beely** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:07 pm

Dasheesh wrote:Same thing that happened to emagic

emagic was a little different in that Apple wanted applications for musicians (they already had stuff for photographers, video editors, motion graphics and other creative apps) so they wanted an audio app codebase and development team that could develop the audio side - a consumer level app, and a pro level app.

They talked to other DAW developers, I'd guess including Steinberg, and MOTU, but emagic was the best fit. They bought them, but *kept* the core product, Logic, and killed everything else (hardware, SoundDiver etc).

Then they set about taking Logic's core engine and building a consumer version (Garageband) and then moving both apps forward.

So in the case of emagic, they definitely did want the product as well as the IP and engineering talent. If the case of Redmatica, they didn't want the products - Apple aren't interested in small, core niche apps for niche markets, they are interested in engineering talent and large markets.

It's harder than you think to get really good skilled developers and it is a big problem for Apple. And they can be pretty persuasive when they want something. As for Ben - he would get a nice windfall, and a new life working as a senior developer and manager, a great salary, probably a new country and the chance to work on great products with a wide market penetration and with some of the best people and resources in the world.

*If* that is what has happened - which we still don't know at this stage...

Sampleconstruct · Post by **Sampleconstruct** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:08 pm

Neon Breath wrote:
Dasheesh wrote:

This. Same thing that happened to emagic, and a host of other great companies. probably wanted the granular filters and a host of other things C.A. did better. Don't be surprised if Apple tries to copyright granular filtering....
What are granular filters? Do you mean granular synthesis? Not sure to follow you here...

Not to forget the spectral distortion, the delay resynthesis, the analog virtualism and the oscillating envelopes.

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:09 pm

What a prick of a 'friend' to be divulging secrets.

Camel Audio ceasing sales? [Update: CA acquired by Apple]