Why is Slate Digital hated?

[elassi]

@ chk071

If this issue is that small as you describe it I don't get why you feel that "they" want to speak and think for you (us). Not to mention pretending that you "couldn't care less".

Obviously you do care. And you've put it onto a large scale, the big questions agenda. Btw, the only reason for me to reply.

[masterhiggins]

...

[dionenoid]

I've been a subscriber for almost 3 years now and my main problem is that there is no "incentive" to continue to subscribe besides the "rental" of the plugins. There should be some kind of "subscribe to own" thing where we end up owning some of them after subscribing for certain lengths of time. Maybe every 6 months or yearly we are rewarded a license and actually own one of the plugs or a small bundle. That's a better system and makes for happier customers, imho.

The terms of the subscription are outline in detail. It's pretty easy to determine how this will work out over time. Did you jump in without thinking this through? It's what keeps most of us non-subscribers away - The Money Pit Effect. If you intend to keep using a plugin and need immediate access to it, it's far better to buy a license. There are only specific use-cases where a subscription makes sense - it's not typically the best deal for most users, despite what the companies would like to happen.

There's more ways to look at it. I spent a lot of bucks on plug-ins that i own but can't use anymore (changing systems, 32 to 64 bit etc.). Subscribing means it will stay supported as long as the subscription runs and you don't have to pay for updates.
Lots of companies make you pay for those updates and upgrades. NI, Fabfilter, Steinberg, Waves (WUP), and so on. Subscription avoids that money pit

And personally i think the quality of the Slate stuff is really, really good. Love the workflow of VMR and use their stuff daily, so i would probably have spent more money buying than the yearly fee. And it saved me from buying other stuff simply because it didn't add anything to what i already can achieve with the Everything bundle.

But yeah, Steven Slate can be annoying sometimes. Especially when announcing new stuff but everybody has to wait longer as expected (FG-X2 anyone?). And i think he uses the word "game-changer" way too much

And i would also like to see some sort of bonus for subscribing. Give people a free license after a year or something. Think this would attract even more subscribers and show some goodwill from the company.

[ATS]

it's weird how people can read a couple posts by a small number of people; who are very vocal, and come away thinking EVERYONE feels the same way.

[escalona]

Why does anyone here think Slate is hated? Who hates it/him?

[reggie1979]

Again, it's the same as reaper, waves, IK, wusik, nature of the beast. I wish there is more stuff that talked about the company in a positive light. SSD5 is a game-changer for me. That algorithm is way better than SD3 (I have both) and I'm thinking about selling SD3 because of it.

Some things I don't use. I already have a S-gear license, so that is redundant. I hate the load time of VMR, it's just stupid. But the things I use are worth the price of admission. Haters can hate, I just use the stuff.

[martinjuenke]

I don‘t have any Slate product and I don‘t hate Slate.
What‘s wrong with me?

[chk071]

it's weird how people can read a couple posts by a small number of people; who are very vocal, and come away thinking EVERYONE feels the same way.

Word.

[reggie1979]

I don‘t have any Slate product and I don‘t hate Slate.
What‘s wrong with me?

You just broke the Internet.

[lajosuti]

I only hate the necro bump thing.

[DrWashington]

I just want to chime in here in agreement with what many have already said: the problem is Steven Slate himself. That's all. He comes off as a snake oil salesman. Ironically, it's not snake oil, but I hate having to reconfirm that and feeling constantly uneasy about it whenever he opens his yap. And, not to nit-pick, but his haircut is so consistently 'perfect' as to be unnerving. It's like this uncanny valley effect. I instinctively do not trust people who seem that obsessed with appearing that clean cut (or whatever you call it). This comes from experience.

That said, Fabrice Gabriel is a pretty talented DSP engineer, but he's not the be-all, end-all. He's right near the top, though. But, there are lots of people at the top. I own a bunch of Slate plugins and a VMS, which I like. I think it was foolish of him to attack SOS reviewers over what I'm sure was their honest assessment of it. It was just petty and weird.

What really gets to me is the obnoxious hype. I just unsubscribed from the email list for this very reason. I also HATE the subscription model that so many companies are trying to push these days. To each their own, but I see this as a significant threat to software in general. Exhibit A is Adobe. Exhibit B, Roland Cloud. Ugh.

As long as there is a written, permanent commitment to keep offering software for sale, and hopefully nice cross-grade/rent-to-own options, these companies can do what they want. Some people like the subscription model. Good for them. I loathe it.

But, to have it constantly pushed in such heavy-handed ways is getting obnoxious. It's even making me start to distrust PA, and I've bought tons of their stuff over the years. It makes me anxious. I want my software to work with *no* Internet connection if need be and with no necessity to remember to authorize it if it's on a timer before I find myself without a connection. That is essential.

Roland makes me quite angry with what they've done in restricting these plugins to sub-only. It's just completely uncalled for, and I hope some of us push back and they eventually acquiesce. It's a seriously, deeply flawed model for a litany of reasons, IMHO.

[billcarroll]

Slate is killing it, and they are well regarded in the industry. They make absolutely fantastic plugins. What's not to love?

[plexuss]

Slate is killing it, and they are well regarded in the industry. They make absolutely fantastic plugins. What's not to love?

They are easy for me to like. But not to love. There are better plugins available, be it workflow, GUI, performance and/or sound quality. I consider Slate to be MOR (middle of the road). They are safe. Not leading edge. Safe. So I like them, but I don't love them. And as had been said, Steven Slate makes my eyes rolls, I use his products despite him.

[machinesworking]

I bought a Slate Raven monitor touch screen a few years back, It's a great tool. I don't really use their plug ins, I've already got a lot of competing plug ins that cover the same areas.
Don't like subscription models, I'm more interested in picking up what I need, and not just one manufacturers plug ins.

Steven Slate is extremely Hollywood, it's off putting to a lot of musicians, but the company itself is cool, they had a bug in early Ravens where the LED VESA mount point was showing lines on the screen, and I returned two monitors with zero flack from Slate about it. They gave me a NFR of there drum Trigger thing, I've never used it, and it's a bit buggy with various DAWs, but they get big props for being cool about me returning two monitors for what some would call minor burn through on the screen.

[BaronWaterpark]

And, not to nit-pick, but his haircut is so consistently 'perfect' as to be unnerving. It's like this uncanny valley effect. I instinctively do not trust people who seem that obsessed with appearing that clean cut (or whatever you call it). This comes from experience.

lol, I thought I was the only one. I absolutely can't stand his glazed botox face. Everything that he does just screams shallow and fake. He's like an artefact of early 00's Buttrock - you can just know his favorite band is secretly Nickelback. That's not a reason to hate, but it definitely puts me off his stuff - even though some of his products are really good and I do use them. His company would certainly have the appearance of higher class if he didn't represent it.