Bitwig 8-Track "free" with CM Magazine.

[dellboy]

Upgrade from 8 track to Bitwig Studio 2.4 on AudioDeluxe (you need to put it in your basket)

Order total $219.99

https://www.audiodeluxe.com/search/site ... tudio%2520

10 bucks cheaper

Good price, not likely to ever be cheaper than this.

[pdxindy]

You are right, I'm out of Bitwig for good, it's not company or community I want to get involved with, have a nice time and blast making music.

Also sorry guys for any harsh words and insults, got carried away a little.

good luck with your music as well!

[v1o]

Yep. They could have at least make it like Live Lite.

Live Lite is just as limited, no?

Live Lite is a lot more powerful. You get 8 tracks without any restrictions on how many VST plugins you can use.

[v1o]

Computer Music seem to be deliberately obtuse when it comes to their plugins. Sure, they are very generous with what they give away, but finding out what they are 'giving away' is the trick.

I spent a couple of hours researching this. I cut my losses. I no longer care. I'm bored. I'm kind of sickened in fact of Bitwig and I haven't even used it yet! (I did use it on Linux a while back...)

One good thing about Computer Music and the software though is that you can buy it for 3.99 from the internet! Saves a couple of quid from the hard copy and you get it instantly.

You do, however, have to download the whole shebang these days (about 2 Gigs) to get the software to wade through to see what is on there. They give you enough info to tease you, but you'll never really really know until you suck it and see.

After a couple of hours I came to the conclusion that this version of Bitwig is a 8 track version of V2. As opposed to V1. Who knows? Bitwig aren't saying. CM aren't saying. Best just buy the mag and find out eh?

It's a really good setup that CM have these days with the updated 'Vault' or 'Silo'. But the lack of transparency will just drive people away out of virtue of the fact it's bloody annoying. Having to download 2GB files as well just to get a 600KB .dll will irk some also.

I thought it was pretty cool getting Thorn and U-he Bazille and Dune for the price of a beer, plus dozens of other plugins.

CM need to lose the fear. Become more transparent. It's a pretty unique business model as far as I can tell. But no, I'm not going to spend another 2 hours trying to work out why this version of 8-track Bitwig is different from the 8-track Bitwig I can download from their website.

Computer Music has come along in the last couple of years. I'll check back in, in 2020 to see if it's improved again.

Missed opportunities. Great distribution mechanism.

But let's keep it a secret.

This lack of transparency has to be by design and not accident.

Lose the fear. You would sell much more software if people knew what was in the bloody downloads. It's not supposed to be a xmas cracker!

I think the main issue is they don't have a dedicated website and forum anymore. In a cost cutting measure they now share Musicradar with several other music magazines. Their old wesbite was a lot easier to navigate and much more informative. It had a well maintained page with information on everything included with CM studio. The new website tells you very little about what in the magazine.

[v1o]

Its not the fault of Computer Music that Bitwig supplied them with a stingy cut down version that does not run VSTs. Its entirely the fault of Bitwig for being so mean and lacking generosity. Without the ability to run VSTs you are stuck with the rubbish onboard sounds.

Ok, the onboard sounds will suit the EDM -electronica crowd,and if that is who Bitwig are appealing to then fine. But they have severely limited their market.

On the other hand, if they want this demo to be of use to others then they either need to provide a selection of decent onboard sounds, or not be so mean hearted and enable VSTs for all tracks, or at bare minimum allow external synths to be used.

Or better still just offer this very limited demo free from their own website rather than make people buy something to get it.

I'm speculating if money was exchanged. Then CM could have asked for a minimum amount of features they want for their readers. CM used to give away a version of Muzys as part of their CM studio that was fully featured but only had 8 tracks. They even printed tutorials for it. They also could have gone elsewhere and asked for a cut down CM coverdisk version of Reason, FL Studio or Live 10.

[jabe]

Hypocrisy in it's finest, signature full of gear, not using 8 track but two full fledged DAW's minimum and preaching about minimalism.

I can't be bothered to read the last six pages of this thread, but you are just wrong about what he said. It's not hypocrisy. It can be a very useful way to get creative.

[antic604]

I'm out of Bitwig for good, it's not company or community I want to get involved with

Why? Because a company (a business, in other words) wants to survive and grow, for which it requires money and therefore won't give away a fully-featured version that's enough for majority of users? I could understand if they'd somehow deceived you and tricked into some kind of financial pyramid or whatever, but no - they're very clear about what 8-Track is and what it can (and can't) do.

Look at it this way: 8-Track is limited so that you can focus on what makes Bitwig different: native devices & their unique features, modulation system, hybrid tracks & resulting bouncing workflow, MPE support, dedicated touch screen profile & workflow, etc. If you were able to throw unlimited # of VSTs in there it would be "just another Ableton" with a different skin, because you'd never go deep enough to find out it's not! If they gave away all features then 8 tracks wouldn't be an issue because combining MIDI channel support, MIDI Filter & Instrument Layer devices and multi-track editing you could actually have 16 tracks on one track, each with its own effect chain. Instead, they want you to taste Bitwig and get hungry for the complete package. That's the idea.

And if you think low of Bitwig's community because we're trying to make you realise how misguided your expectations are, then I'm "happy" you don't want to be a part of it

[dellboy]

And if you think low of Bitwig's community because we're trying to make you realise how misguided your expectations are, then I'm "happy" you don't want to be a part of it

"Misguided"

It a DAW not a religion !

Or is it ? LOL

[antic604]

"Misguided"

It a DAW not a religion !

Or is it ? LOL

I'm not native English speaker, so I might've used it wrong.
Just wanted it to sound polite, yet to make a point.
So I came up with "misguided"

And if that's the only thing you have to say about my post, then I guess it's pretty spot-on otherwise

[dellboy]

Why? Because a company (a business, in other words) wants to survive and grow, for which it requires money and therefore won't give away a fully-featured version that's enough for majority of users?

Your theory sounds good, but would those people who wanted a free 8 track really knock Bitwigs business model ?

Would they always go on to buy the full blown DAW ?

Take a look at Tracktion. They spread the love by giving away a full blown DAW in the hope that their generosity will be rewarded when the punter can afford the full thing. Meanwhile its no skin off their nose, as the product gets advertised and spreads and the user base grows and they sow good will.

[antic604]

Your theory sounds good, but would those people who wanted a free 8 track really knock Bitwigs business model? Would they always go on to buy the full blown DAW ?

It sounds like the argument people use for pirating DAWs or VSTs - I wouldn't buy it anyway, so I'm entitled to free "lite" version. Guess what - making & maintaining a free 8-Track also costs time & money, so I'd say it's their choice to limit the product in a way they see fit. Maybe they don't want people to use Bitwig as a live performance "player" for loops that were created in Cubase or Logic, like many people use Live? Maybe they want people using Bitwig for being Bitwig. Maybe they prefer to have a smaller user base, but one that is using the DAW for the "right" reasons.

Take a look at Tracktion. They spread the love by giving away a full blown DAW in the hope that their generosity will be rewarded when the punter can afford the full thing. Meanwhile its no skin off their nose, as the product gets advertised and spreads and the user base grows and they sow good will.

That model seems more like a desperate attempt to gain market share. I don't know anybody who uses Tracktion, other than some people who tried it because it was free... I too deleted the T9 demo after few hours, because it wasn't clicking with me at all and I expect I'd struggle even more with the free T7...

[ThomasHelzle]

I'm out of Bitwig for good, it's not company or community I want to get involved with

Why? Because a company (a business, in other words) wants to survive and grow, for which it requires money and therefore won't give away a fully-featured version that's enough for majority of users? I could understand if they'd somehow deceived you and tricked into some kind of financial pyramid or whatever, but no - they're very clear about what 8-Track is and what it can (and can't) do.

Look at it this way: 8-Track is limited so that you can focus on what makes Bitwig different: native devices & their unique features, modulation system, hybrid tracks & resulting bouncing workflow, MPE support, dedicated touch screen profile & workflow, etc. If you were able to throw unlimited # of VSTs in there it would be "just another Ableton" with a different skin, because you'd never go deep enough to find out it's not! If they gave away all features then 8 tracks wouldn't be an issue because combining MIDI channel support, MIDI Filter & Instrument Layer devices and multi-track editing you could actually have 16 tracks on one track, each with its own effect chain. Instead, they want you to taste Bitwig and get hungry for the complete package. That's the idea.

And if you think low of Bitwig's community because we're trying to make you realise how misguided your expectations are, then I'm "happy" you don't want to be a part of it

[Reefius]

It a DAW not a religion !

Or is it ? LOL

I think it is for some people

[dellboy]

It a DAW not a religion !

Or is it ? LOL

I think it is for some people

It has all the elements in place. Evangelizing, zeal, were right there wrong, enlightenment. They even say they donate to keep the show on the road

[antic604]

It has all the elements in place. Evangelizing, zeal, were right there wrong, enlightenment. They even say they donate to keep the show on the road

This was actually funny