KVR Audio

cleverr1 · Post by **cleverr1** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:49 am

The user experience of installing Sampletank 4 Max beggars belief for a product released in 2019.

15 years ago I installed Spectrasonics Atmosphere which was fully automated, yet IK apparently learned nothing from their approach even now.

To not provide a download manager and then to not provide links to allow users to properly manage the downloads themselves makes the problem worse still as has been called out already.

If this was a release from a tiny startup perhaps this could be understandable, but from an established company like IK Multimedia it is unacceptable.

Just to rub salt into the wound we're being told that the current download system is only available for 180 days then there's a charge. Really?

I hope the USB version is a proper library to copy and not just copies of the .zip files we're having to deal with.

groverken · Post by **groverken** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 12:19 pm

Having now downloaded everything, I find that I have an extra file no longer in my download list - namely "SampleTank_4_MAX_Instruments_Installer_Part2.zip". It has completely different contents from Part 1.
The question is - is this a required intallation? If it's a requirement, surely it should still be available for me to download at a later date. If it's not a requirement, why on earth was it there in the first place?
Has anyone else managed to download and install Part 2?
Peter - you are going to have a lot of unhappy folks here unless you get these issues sorted out.

Gamma-UT · Post by **Gamma-UT** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 12:35 pm

cleverr1 wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:49 am The user experience of installing Sampletank 4 Max beggars belief for a product released in 2019.

When I ran the Instruments installer, I was expecting something to ask for the location of a bunch of zips or dmgs and work its way through them, much like the old Camel installer.

Apparently not. Oh.

65 zip files sitting on a disk, 65 zip files sitting on a disk, if one of those zip files should someday get clicked, there'll be 64 zip files sitting on a disk...

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 12:48 pm

......And this is why I rarely pay for a product until it is released. At this point from what I've read I'll not be upgrading to ST4. Still have a few days so perhaps my opinion will change.

I really just wanted the engine upgrade. Nothing in the sample content really appeals to me that much since I already have everything covered.

It's sad because IK makes some really great plugins like TRacks 5. But watching them bumble through yet another wonky product release is just painful.

EDIT: Am I correct in saying that ST4 overwrites ST3 instead of installing alongside ?

Elektronisch · Post by **Elektronisch** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:05 pm

It's sad because IK makes some really great plugins like TRacks 5. But watching them bumble through yet another wonky product release is just painful.

Exactly my thoughts

MadDogE134 · Post by **MadDogE134** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:08 pm

no... there are ST4 files and ST3 files... if you have ST3 already then you don't need to install those. that leaves the ST4 install files. you select where you want those installed. then you direct ST4 in settings as to where your ST3 folder is and to where your ST4 folder is.

if you are not smart enough to read the file names and install everything willy nilly then you may in fact have duplicate ST3 files. it is simple enough if you pay attention. most of the confusion is how the files are numbered. they are whacked sequentially. it seems they made the zips for the MAX version only... that is why you have say acoustic drum kit samples 1 and 4 lol for the standard install.

as for individual files... that is no big deal imo and i certainly don't know why folks cry about a download manager except being lazy. it ain't rocket science this but it does take patience and a little time to do it. cheers

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:15 pm

cleverr1 wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:49 am Just to rub salt into the wound we're being told that the current download system is only available for 180 days then there's a charge. Really?

Peter_IK, on the IK Multimedia forum wrote:
yukibajhiri wrote:I have a dumb/weird question:

I'm downloading the Windows .zip files because right now I am using a Windows PC. However, in the future I might move my audio production over to macOS. Should I download the sound libraries for both macOS (the .dmgs) and Windows (.zips), or will I be able to install the sound libraries to macOS if I just downloaded the Windows files?

Basically, I'm trying to figure out if I should "re-download" the entire sound library two times, since the download access expires in 180 days?
You don't have to. Personally, I back up the installed library location because that can be moved anywhere. While that may appear to take up mucho space, it will typically be less than the size of downloading the library installers all twice. Or at least close enough for rock n roll.

My underlining.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:16 pm

MadDogE134 wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:08 pm no... there are ST4 files and ST3 files... if you have ST3 then you don't need to install those.

I assume you were addressing my question. I was talking about the plugins themselves. You know the .dlls ?

I thought that was painfully obvious. I guess not. Must be rocket science.

So does the ST4 Plugin overwrite the ST 3 Plugin or can you have both installed ? That way you can keep ST3 around until (if) the bugs are worked out of ST4.

MadDogE134 · Post by **MadDogE134** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:23 pm

no you have them both available... both ST3 plugin and ST4 plugin

sorry... you did not state

cheers

p.s. i think someone said something a ways back about duplicate ST3 libs so i was kinda covering it all... nothing personal

and the 'rocket science' comment was not directed at you either lol (just agitated like many others and i was barking at a lot of these comments. it is a bit confusing but easily figured out) cheers

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:35 pm

Thanks. Cheers to you as well........

Burillo · Post by **Burillo** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:31 pm

sooo... i can see all previous SampleTank 3 (bar the full Miroslav) in my downloads for SampleTank 4. so, SampleTank 4 MAX actually is a bundle after all?

ellsworth · Post by **ellsworth** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:42 pm

Bruceferraudi wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 9:43 am
Here's the thing though....I really desire to have a product like Sampletank to work as advertised bc it appears to be a wonderful design and concept for which I would be the perfect fit for and for which I've been yearning for in the software realm since parting with my Motif ES6.

This is exactly why I stay interested in Sampletank and am always hoping they'll finally get it right. However, having just burned two whole days babysitting downloads and after a quick tour of some presets... I don't think my Kurzweil PC3 is going anywhere soon.

cleverr1 · Post by **cleverr1** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:10 pm

MadDogE134 wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:08 pm as for individual files... that is no big deal imo and i certainly don't know why folks cry about a download manager except being lazy. it ain't rocket science this but it does take patience and a little time to do it. cheers

I think it's a big deal. The product should have been provided with a logged installer for the whole library so that everyone has exactly the same ST4 installation for ST4 Max for example.

To do this in a proper repeatable way this should have been automated. I've seen no documentation available covering switches for the installers, else it would have been possible to extract everything and compile a batch file of all of the installers that could do sequential silent installations.

Having everyone who's technical or not having to do this manually is only creating a big problem for the IK technical support guys - good luck with that.

The cray thing is that all these 100 individual .zip file do is to create folder/file structures which could then be backed up to an archive, so why oh why was it not supplied as such an archive across a set of archive files in the first place?

rainguitar · Post by **rainguitar** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:33 pm

I'm currently downloading the sounds for SampleTank 4 Max. I chose an external hard drive for this download and it is downloading to that hard drive. The trouble is it also appears to be downloading to my internal SSD drive. I say that because just now I checked the remaining room on that internal drive and found that it's down by 140 GB which is roughly the equivalent of what I've downloaded so far from SampleTank Max. I have also ejected each download icon as I finished with it so I don't understand why this is happening. I tried submitting this through the IK technical support but couldn't create a ticket.

cleverr1 · Post by **cleverr1** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:49 pm

rainguitar wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:33 pm I'm currently downloading the sounds for SampleTank 4 Max. I chose an external hard drive for this download and it is downloading to that hard drive. The trouble is it also appears to be downloading to my internal SSD drive. I say that because just now I checked the remaining room on that internal drive and found that it's down by 140 GB which is roughly the equivalent of what I've downloaded so far from SampleTank Max. I have also ejected each download icon as I finished with it so I don't understand why this is happening. I tried submitting this through the IK technical support but couldn't create a ticket.

It's possible that the browser is caching the files as they download. in Windows 10 this would be in:
c:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\INetCache

Probably worth checking to see if that directory is increasing in size significantly as your downloads progress. If this is the case you can move the location. IE11 does this under:
Tools\Internet Options\Browsing History\Settings\Move Folder.

SampleTank 4 on the way