Softube goes subscription

[dreamvoid]

All is working now, Softube support was very friendly and helpful. I could download single installers for all my Softube licenses without using the Gobbler app at all. And they asured me this possibility will stay. All good in the end.

[Vertion]

What possible models are there for product usage?

Perpetual License

Subscription

Free Updates For Life (ie. Image Line - FLStudio)

Perpetual License Installment Plan (Multiple Payments over time)
- this can be done just as with subscriptions.. if the user doesnt pay it off the software expires after a time

What other possibilities exist?

also this..
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros ... al-license

[audiosabre]

I feel this new separate installer thing is a downgrade. Oh well, force your customers to downgrade if they don't want to use whack bloatware that is Gobbler.

[ChrisKantrowitz]

Hey Audiosabre,

Sorry to hear you think Gobbler is bloatware. Would love to know what your experiences have been and how we can improve our product? We are a bunch of musicians trying to make the music production process as hassle free as possible.

Appreciate you taking the time!

All the best!


Chris Kantrowitz
CEO Gobbler

[ChrisKantrowitz]

I just tried Gobbler for first time...whole heap of a mess. Going to stick with seperate installers.

What I am glad is that Softube are offering a great deal of the software bundle offered as subscription. That's the one thing I find annoying about Slate Digital, in that since pushing subscription they've not had any attractive deals for perpetual licenses.

Hi DB3,

Chris Kantrowitz CEO of Gobbler here. Would love any suggestions on how we can make Gobbler better. What issues did you have? Thank you for taking the time.

All the best!

Chris

[ChrisKantrowitz]

And wait, where's the installer now? Why do I have to install Gobbler to use my perpetual licenses? The Gobbler background service is super buggy, and consumes 70% CPU on macOS

Hey Askol. Chris Kantrowitz CEO of Gobbler here. Gobbler serves as the app for downloading and installing your plugins it also installs the Pace drivers which manages your subscription licenses. Gobbler does take some CPU when downloading and installing your software but at rest it should run at less than .5%. We are very cognizant of CPU use.

There are options to download and install the Softube Plugs and you can use ILM from pace instead. If you would prefer that work flow contact Softube support and let them know you would prefer to download your plugs via the browser and to use ILM to manage your licenses.

Hope that helps!

All the best

Chris

[ontol]

I'm speaking from ignorance here, so forgive me if my question is naive;

If I already have Pace installed, and am competent enough to download and install my own software, why does there have to be another program, from another company, to do such a menial task?

The idea I need an application to manage another program that already manages my licences and downloads and installs the software seems redundant, annoying, and yet another thing that could potentially get between me and making music.

I can sort of see where it might be beneficial for a company to have someone else managing their download traffic, but do not see any real benefit to the user in having a third company to deal with for using my software (original dev, Pace/iLok, and now Gobbler on top).

How is going through gobbler making this any easier for me than just directly downloading the installer from the developer?

EDIT: I did not purchase anything from Softube this BF due to my hesitation about having to sign up for Gobbler to buy or demo software. I am also not a fan of subscription models, and would be purchasing a perpetual license. I'm not paranoid about most things, but this service doesn't seem to add anything for the user as far as I can tell.

[Burillo]

I can concur. I own a Softube plugin, and last time i had to update i found out i had to install Gobbler. Why do i have to create a separate account on an unrelated service, link my Softube and iLok accounts to it and whatnot, just to download installers? Not to mention Gobbler's GUI doesn't make it easy to use either, it feels so... tablet-y. Like it's an iPad app ported to Windows.

So it's not that there's anything necessarily horribly wrong with Gobbler per se, it's just that i see it as an unnecessary step. Presumably, i can back up installers with it and there's probably a button for it, but again, it's an unnecessary step, as i prefer having them "backed up" automatically by virtue of, well, downloading them. Virtually every single plugin company tries to go out of their way to make things "more convenient" for the end user by introducing myriads of "updaters" and "license managers" while foregoing adding actually useful stuff (like maybe SHA1 hashes of installers, so that i can verify my downloads aren't corrupt). It sacrifices robustness for marginally better usability in certain limited circumstances. I'm sorry, but the "app store" model doesn't work for anything more complicated than weather apps.

[audiosabre]

Hey Audiosabre,

Sorry to hear you think Gobbler is bloatware. Would love to know what your experiences have been and how we can improve our product? We are a bunch of musicians trying to make the music production process as hassle free as possible.

Hey Chris. My experience was install Gobbler, realise that I didn't require it, uninstall, and grab the downloaders directly from my Slate Digital account. Sorry, that's the honest truth.

I'm already particular about software updates, license management & backups. Aside from developer emails, I already use KVR itself to notify me of updates. Until you have a monopoly on this area, I don't feel like being forced into using Gobbler after using direct downloads for years. Besides, when I purchased my Softube & Slate Digital products I agreed to a contract between me, those parties and PACE. Although Gobbler may have relationships with those parties now, you are not a party to my licensing contract, which was agreed before Gobbler existed.

Softube downloads are now a pita. Thus the existence of Gobbler (and my unwillingness to use it) has added more hassle to my music production process. I'd have preferred to not create an unnecessary problem in the first place

[Vertion]

The problem with Gobbler and any memory resident software is that most people have more than one piece of software to use, and plugins are 'on the side'. Gobblers, Paces, Waves Centrals, and other 'managers' quickly add up if you have a large collection of sub-software like audio plugins.

Having to install a download manager agent, a licensing agent, is not required to install, register, or activate software. If a download manager were simply an optional convenience for those who can't understand how to formally copy a plugin to a plugin directory is one thing, but a parasitic program is another. If I am considering some small plugin as a casual use item, I don't feel like installing chunky nonsense to have it available for my usage, especially if it's low frequency usage in my workflow.

The minimum level for software requirements is simply installing it (like audio damage does), next level is a serial number, next is online or challenge response activation, beyond that the software starts to dig into the system. It's invasive, and some people don't like uninvited guests on their computers. I would prefer any product without a license manager over one that does. Personally, I find legitimate ways to bypass these to keep my system clean (partial uninstallation). My suggestion to companies that propagate such software is not to. Or at the very least, make it part of the DAW or host software, not the plugins. Stay out of memory/driver/cpu resources completely, until called upon (linked library/app) , and have a tiny footprint even then.

[irvin]

Chris Kantrowitz CEO of Gobbler here. Would love any suggestions on how we can make Gobbler better. What issues did you have? Thank you for taking the time.

All the best!

Chris

I have one: provide a phone number so we can reach a human being. Cancelling a subscription is a royal pain and the process is not fully transparent. I know because I tried cancelling the Slate subscription within a week by un-checking the "auto-renewal" box in my account settings, only to be surprised with a second bill. I'm now in the process of contacting my payment processor to dispute the charges and get a full refund.

When I finally found the "official" method (a tiny link at the bottom of a page), there is never a confirmation that the cancellation has succeeded. The browser goes to a missing page.

Gobbler is a nightmare, in my experience. I hope getting my money back does not make it worse.

[polarsky]

No need to install the gobbler app but have to sign up for a gobbler account which than gives you access to the Softube site, individual installers are through the link at the very bottom of the My Account section.

Don't like the subs but like the appstore style pricing on these bundles

[ontol]

No need to install the app, true; but in order to join Gobbler, you have to link Gobbler with your iLok account, no?

I really don't want to have to deal with 3 different companies in order to use a plug. I have no problem with iLok or copy protection, but having a separate company link to my iLok account is a bridge too far for me.

While I have never had an issue with iLok, I have seen where others have. Not certain how Gobbler is going to complicate things when iLok has another episode like it did a few months back. And not wanting to find out the hard way.

Simple solution for me was to shop elsewhere and continue to do so until Softube figures out how to handle their own products and downloads or provides a truely Gobbler-free alternative.

[sacer]

For $250 I can update my tsar-1r to volume bundle. I am totally in love with modular and heartbeat. These together cost only $130 but my problem is I like the rest. I think I have similar comps from cakewalk and NI ultimate and the eq from grand channel is the Pulteq waves. I also like the phaser and tube delay and the bigger version of tsar-1. Are there similar products, if I have waves h-reverb and h-delay. I also have Uvi relayer and uvi spark verb.
What do you think is it overkill or shall I pay 120 more for 12 more plugins.
I really like tsar-1, FET comp, trident A and grand channel.

[ftech]

I'm thinking the same (although check everyplugin.com to see if you can get a better upgrade price), is it worth it because I have most of the Softube plugins covered?
Answer for me is probably going to be 'yes', as I like the sound of the plugins, they bring a different flavour to what I already have.
There's enough there amp wise alone for me...plus Softube did threaten a good deal on Volume 2 for Volume 1 owners when it arrives, hopefully that'll be the case!
I'm a big fan of Modular too, but I need a bigger screen!