Spectrasonics rumors...

[Cyoon]

Ah Suloo, I miss the old "bitwig" kvr cat days.......

yea man, me too! that was hilarious

[Krakatau]

My conclusion is that Spectrasonics primary customer is not a KVR member.

+1

Obviously...

I've always felt like there is a certain amount of anti-elitist attitude here.

rather true (and i, for one, would perfectly have followed the herd on that purpose one time or another)

[incubus]

Well, it used to be. But some things have changed that.

First and foremost, Spectrasonics has some of the most bizarre tactics I've seen. The recent "sale" of all my products for example. They were going to make the buyer wait at first while they went through their typical "tag you are it" consummation. It's no coincidence that when I posted how they were "at it again"... all of the sudden there was someone who approved it, but pushed it through rather quickly. Proof that it was done through more advanced channels and that they usually drag their feet was even after the sale was final, I was getting calls and emails about asking me to do what I'd already done. Sloppy at best. BTW, I'm only the umpeen-millionth person who's complained about this

Second, unless I'm mistaken, this is a soundset. I'm sure it's terrific, but hardly a "4th instrument" ...

Third, whether you like it or not, KVR IS a place of commerce. It was founded that way, and is still that way. Honestly, I have no idea why such comments are made that it isn't or that people should feel entitled for it not to be that way.

So, again, who cares. People here spend their money how they wish. If they were so unimportant to people at KVR, then frankly, there wouldn't be so much talk and conversation about them.

[Zookes]

I wouldn't be surprised if a guitar product comes before a Stylus update. I don't think KVR is Spectrasonics's target market. They cater to working musicians... which as far as I can tell, is not the majority of KVR members.

Sorry but, EXCUSE ME?!

Do you say with this comment that (only) GearSlutz is "the market" or more for "working musicians" / audio engineers? That's like the third or fourth time I read this comment in the last 4 weeks alone - and it pushes all the wrong buttons in me.

padillac probably refers to VI-control.
Keyscape is very popular there, although the speculative Spectrasonics instrument discussion morphed subjects to musings and purchase inquiries about Roland keyboards as from the demo video, then to MIDI controllers in general.

Over there, less concern shadows the new product than the ability to make use of it, it seems.

[Mystic]

Yah, they seem a little obsessive about the Roland keyboard on there. I don't get it. I know Spectrasonics has a partnership with Roland but they are eagle-eye focused on it. hehe

[Zookes]

Strangely, the Spectrasonics developers refuse to make any mention of Roland in their products. Referred to as "a Japanese company".

Strange partnership.

[Slaapstadseun]

Strangely, the Spectrasonics developers refuse to make any mention of Roland in their products. Referred to as "a Japanese company".

Strange partnership.

That is not true - there are MANY references to Roland products in Omnisphere.

[beely]

Strangely, the Spectrasonics developers refuse to make any mention of Roland in their products. Referred to as "a Japanese company".

Trademark issues - you can't really use another company trademark in your promotional literature, as you either have to get their permission, or licence the use. Generally, use of another company name has an implied endorsement of the product, or confuses the market of authorship - basically, it's a bit of a maze, and the safest thing to do is not use another company name in your promotional material. This is reasonably fairly standard practice, nothing strange or abnormal.

If they were discussing it informally, in person, on a forum, etc, then they'd be fine about saying "Roland".

Note that a company name trademark like "Roland" is a little different to instrument names and logos etc. For instance, I've been through this as I'm developing an emulation of something formerly from Yamaha. They have very strict rules about using their name or logo brand (basically, no, you can't) which is reasonably obvious. However, the instrument has two other marks, a generic product brand, and the product name. The name was never trademarked, but the product brand *was* a trademark owned by them. However, after some renewal, the trademark has lapsed some year ago and is no longer an active trademark owned by them, so again I can use it in my product and descriptions (to indicate the source instrument emulated) etc.

From my research, model names in general don't tend to be trademarked - too expensive and time consuming. However, sometimes a logo brand will be used - so Yamaha had image trademarks for things like "SY" in that font for the SY series, same for "DX", "TG" and so on. So if they were still active trademarks, you could use those letters in that logotype in another product as the trademark is owned and in use by another company - again, causes market confusion, in legal terms.

[beely]

That is not true - there are MANY references to Roland products in Omnisphere.

Yes, you do see "Roland JD-800" in the sound source browser for instance.

Usually in this case, there are clear legalese terms basically saying "Trademarks are only used to aid product recognition from the instruments sampled and in no mean an endorsement or partnership from the company"... etc

[gremlinmoon]

I'd like to see, "and a synthesis type made popular by a certain Japanese manufacturer that also makes jet skis, motorcycles and concert pianos," or,"a cheesy low-fi classic sound made by a certain company known for inexpensive LCD watches and pocket calculators and a watch that includes a calculator with mini-buttons."

[quidox]

Wow - I am SO freakin' disappointed!!! This I think could be the end of my marriage with Spectrasonics. I own all of their brilliant products, but this new one I am not going to invest in. I already have a lot of great keyboard/piano sounds - who hasn't?

My disappointment is mostly because the people af Spetrasonics on several occasions over the years let me to believe, that "great things are coming to Stylus RMX" - that the product was not at all left behind. It was a really long wait, and they are so secretive about their stuff in the making. And then this?!! They MUST have known that a lot of us were hoping for an RMX revival?! Really bad strategy not to address this on this launch, I think.

I'm also put off a bit about their recommended computer specs for this new product. Now we have to upgrade computers again to run this? (SDD). I acknowledge that Spectrasonics is about pushing the envelope - they also did this with Omnisphere and especially Trillian, but this is just silly. I mean if was offered at a discount for costumers owning all of their products and if I knew I could run it smoothly like with the specs demanded by Trillian, then I might have considered buying it at some point in time.

I truly get Erics passion for keyboards. But I think this is more for a narrower target of aficionados all about pristine sounds in a narrow segment of instruments by VST. Like when you go hunting for a top notch VST string or brass library.

I wish them all the best at Spectrasonics, but I worry about the future of the company. It's quite obvious already that Keyscape will not sell as easy and much as their other flagships. I can't even begin to imagine how much the development of Keyscape must have cost.

Oh, I so much hope they have something else up their sleve to be announced soon.

[BBFG#]

Ironically, being mostly underwhelmed by Omnisphere and Stylus and more impressed by Trilian... I find myself leaning more to Keyscape being in the category of also impressive. Well worth the trip to a store to demo in the next few months.

And I also admit it has been entertaining to watch the cult cry foul.

[Cinebient]

Someone at twitter was expecting Stylus RMX 2 (like many) and was a bit sad but Spectrasonics answered that they don't forget about rythms....whatever that means now

I love Omnisphere 2, was not so interested in Stylus RMX or Trillian....also not in Keyscapes in the beginning.
But now i think Keyscapes will be a real gem for me, especially with Omnisphere 2.
I don't have so many deeply sampled keyboard instruments so i think i get my value out of it.
Many peple still felt in love, the other half is still dissapointed.
But i think it will be a winner at the end.
Whatever, preordered....G.A.S.

[dredd i knight]

I have many piano libraries, especially since I have Komplete Ultimate 10, but I am very interested in this set; Because it's by Spectrasonics, and they make amazingly good products, that I find value in and feel are really high quality.
The piano is still a mainstay of music, and this covers many bases in one fell swoop.

I don't have proof, but I think it is obvious this will sell, and sell well.

Sonic Couture came out last year with an awesome piano set, and I don't remember seeing such vitriol ,and arguments about how it was crazy to do so in such a saturated market; quality products by good developers have a long shelf life, generally rise to the top of their respective class, and this certainly fills an obvious gap in their portfolio of products.

That being said, I too am really tired of waiting around for an upgrade to Stylus, although I still use it a lot. Can't help but feel whenever they bring it out, and whatever improvements it has people here will still moan a lot, and be disappointed.

[geoffpiano]

I couldn't see if anyone has asked about/addressed this, but...

Does anyone know if it's going to possible to control Keyscape remotely via an IOS app of some kind? I'm sure I'm not the only live player without the time to buggerise around changing patches & sounds on the fly during and between songs using a mouse or a trackpad.

Omnisphere has this capability (Omni TR) , but I don't own/need Omnisphere and can't see anything anywhere about something similar for people who only want to use Keyscape...