KVR Audio

kelvyn · Post by **kelvyn** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:25 pm

I have demoed it and I think it's a very nice development... I just feel that the update price is a little too high especially when I factor in the cost of updating all the Synth Squad collection.
Strobe 2 is definitely to my taste... no doubt about that.

thetechnobear · Post by **thetechnobear** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:29 pm

I don't really want to get into the pricing debate but I'd also like to have a bit more clarity on how much other synths are going to cost. Or perhaps have to wait and see...

As for presets dictating price, that for me is the wrong model - as I rarely use many presets and do my own.
In this sense, presets are merely demos so a sales tool.

If presets are important sell them as separate bundles.

( it's not like samplers where they are an intrinsic part of the product. )

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:41 pm

thetechnobear wrote:I don't really want to get into the pricing debate but I'd also like to have a bit more clarity on how much other synths are going to cost. Or perhaps have to wait and see...

As for presets dictating price, that for me is the wrong model - as I rarely use many presets and do my own.
In this sense, presets are merely demos so a sales tool.

If presets are important sell them as separate bundles.

( it's not like samplers where they are an intrinsic part of the product. )

As a sound designer I'm going to have to disagree here. A lot of people buy or won't by synths precisely because they do or don't have enough presets for them to use the synth because they have no desire to spend the time designing their own sounds. A synth with a big preset collection is gold to a lot of users.

This is one of the reasons, aside from the general poor sound quality (yes, there are exceptions) that I personally dislike most free synths. They'll come with maybe 50 presets and that's it. Especially a lot of the Synthedit synths. And most of the presets aren't even usable.

Don't underestimate the value of presets for many users as they are many times a deal breaker as to whether or not the person will even buy the synth, especially if there are few 3rd party libraries available or they don't have the extra funds to purchase them.

mm_FX · Post by **mm_FX** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:44 pm

thetechnobear wrote:I don't really want to get into the pricing debate but I'd also like to have a bit more clarity on how much other synths are going to cost. Or perhaps have to wait and see...

As for presets dictating price, that for me is the wrong model - as I rarely use many presets and do my own.
In this sense, presets are merely demos so a sales tool.

If presets are important sell them as separate bundles.

( it's not like samplers where they are an intrinsic part of the product. )

Well it's easy to say that, but we've been brutalized for the factory presets in our products before, so we're trying to improve. The same goes for splitting the bundle up - we got feedback time and time again that people would prefer to buy things separately.

It's unfortunately just not possible to keep everyone happy.

Angus_FX · Post by **Angus_FX** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:45 pm

I don't really want to get into the pricing debate but I'd also like to have a bit more clarity on how much other synths are going to cost. Or perhaps have to wait and see...

It's going to be a bit of a wait, but no-one is going to be paying $300+ to upgrade everything. Can't say anything more than that for the time being.

Orbit-50 · Post by **Orbit-50** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:34 pm

Here's how I look at it. Synth Squad was heavily discounted in the past and many people took advantage of it. We all know this. Guess what? It was a steal for these products. They were worth a good bit more than most of us paid for them. We all took the money and ran with it. I am forever grateful for that. The price being charged for the Strobe 2 update signifies a new beginning in the pricing structure of FXpansion products. It's totally logical. I really don't think they are bound by contract to give away their products anymore, and quite frankly, I don't blame them. Either one buys the update or one doesn't buy the update. The price is not a lot to ask for an update for a synth plugin such as Strobe. It's time to move on from the entitlement attitude. There's no more DCAM Synth Squad 2. It's over. No one is getting robbed here. It's a decision FXpansion made concerning their business. Not a big deal. I'm pretty sure that many people will update Strobe and life will go on. Enjoy!

.-.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:47 pm

wagtunes wrote:
thetechnobear wrote:
Don't underestimate the value of presets for many users as they are many times a deal breaker as to whether or not the person will even buy the synth, especially if there are few 3rd party libraries available or they don't have the extra funds to purchase them.

That's a good point Wag makes. I don't use many presets (unless they are heavily tweaked). But for another user they could be very important (film scoring, advertising - anything where time is an issue).

So if you were that way inclined, the new strobe presets are gold. Some 3rd party preset packs are very expensive as well. 30-40e and you'd only get 128 patches or less. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I'm speaking generally.

uselessmind · Post by **uselessmind** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:11 pm

Orbit-50 wrote:It's time to move on from the entitlement attitude.

I don't see the entitlement attitude you seem to see here.
Wouldn't entitlement in this context mean that i feel fxpansion should sell me Strobe for the price that i am willing to pay ?

Usually when i don't buy something (because of its price or other reasons) i don't make the extra effort to inform the companies of my decision and my reasoning.
When i do i see it as somewhat of a special courtesy to those companies.

Orbit-50 wrote:No one is getting robbed here.

You are right about that of course.
But i didn't see anyone claiming they where getting robbed.

Apostate · Post by **Apostate** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:15 pm

Orbit-50 wrote:Here's how I look at it. Synth Squad was heavily discounted in the past and many people took advantage of it. We all know this. Guess what? It was a steal for these products. They were worth a good bit more than most of us paid for them. We all took the money and ran with it. I am forever grateful for that.
.-.

I completely agree.

wagtunes wrote:
As a sound designer I'm going to have to disagree here. A lot of people buy or won't by synths precisely because they do or don't have enough presets for them to use the synth because they have no desire to spend the time designing their own sounds. A synth with a big preset collection is gold to a lot of users.

Excellent point, and I actually consider some of the synths I own as being mainly "preset synths", used as creative sketchpads (Nexus, Predator and to a lesser degree Gladiator). When it comes to Nave, Harmor, and even to a large extent Synth Squad, I'm going more for my own sounds.

xamido · Post by **xamido** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:16 pm

Full price is still too expensive for me. But, it does sounds good. I'm gonna wait for the inevitable sales to grab it.

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:34 pm

Orbit-50 wrote:Here's how I look at it. Synth Squad was heavily discounted in the past and many people took advantage of it. We all know this. Guess what? It was a steal for these products. They were worth a good bit more than most of us paid for them. We all took the money and ran with it. I am forever grateful for that. The price being charged for the Strobe 2 update signifies a new beginning in the pricing structure of FXpansion products. It's totally logical. I really don't think they are bound by contract to give away their products anymore, and quite frankly, I don't blame them. Either one buys the update or one doesn't buy the update. The price is not a lot to ask for an update for a synth plugin such as Strobe. It's time to move on from the entitlement attitude. There's no more DCAM Synth Squad 2. It's over. No one is getting robbed here. It's a decision FXpansion made concerning their business. Not a big deal. I'm pretty sure that many people will update Strobe and life will go on. Enjoy!

.-.

That's what I've been saying. Frankly, I think the price is nearly worth it just for the updated UI.

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 5:04 pm

Can't complain about an upgrade price which saved me $100. Anyway, if the upgrade is not worth it for some why they keep arguing? It is what it is.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 5:24 pm

murnau wrote:Can't complain about an upgrade price which saved me $100. Anyway, if the upgrade is not worth it for some why they keep arguing? It is what it is.

This... Especially after they've made the same argument over and over again.

kokotte · Post by **kokotte** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 7:13 pm

for a bundle owner view(at the full price!) the update is too expansive( for a new ui and a phase reset,ok some morph)
i pass!

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:47 pm

Angus_FX wrote:@ epiphaneia I think we're looking at a couple of months til beta of any kind. Drop me (or better Drew, if you have his details) a line if you're interested in private beta on that one.

I've only had SS1 for a while now so I'm a bit hesitant to upgrade my least favorite of the three synths. On my workstation the CPU Usage even with fusor and lots of stuff going on is rather negligible so as far as I can tell the main feature I'm paying for that I have wanted (and that has kept me from using strobe quite often) is that I can detune the main osc without affecting the sub. That's a big deal and greatly ups the usefulness of this thing for bass sounds.
That, and phase reset, and the separate tone controls for main and sub. Let us know how you get on with the demo.

The eight patch switching can be mapped to CC0 or the keyboard (as well as program change), it's great fun to create 8 variations on the same patch and switch between them while playing.

Is it set in stone that all the upgrades are gonna cost 80$ or more or is there going to be a bundle upgrade discount if you buy all three?
Nothing's set in stone, depends on things that haven't happened yet to some degree. Part of what determines Strobe2's asking price (both new and upgrade) is the preset library, I think it's too early to say if it'll even be possible to get 900 such presets out of Amber2 (string machines have a more limited range, let's face it).. equally, when we let Himalaya & Tasmodia loose on Cypher2, there's no knowing what those two mad geniuses will come up with.

Also is there a multipoint loop able envelope somewhere in all that modulation? The mod lanes in fusor were the closest in v1 and they were nowhere near precise enough for serious sound designing.
Not a multipoint loopable envelope, but you can remap anything through either of the two polyphonic Curve processors (be it an envelope, the LFO, the Ramp, or some combination) & get complex, polyphonic, one-shot or looping shapes that way.

Thanks for the info. If you need sound design, I think I could get at least a few hundred sounds out of Amber provided it has all the effects, modulation, and sequencing that strobe 2 has. I just downloaded and am gonna check it out tonight.

Thanks again
JJ

Fxpansion Strobe 2 is available