[Fixed in 4.4] Weird bug: latest "Spectral Suite" update not included in upgrade plan

[Hans Vos]

They are killing the chicken that lays golden eggs

[machinesworking]

You haven't and can't make one good point about this change in the the update plan in favor of it

That statement is true. The part where you are wildly projecting your own instability is where you assume I want to.

The comments I've made about the change in the upgrade plan have all been negative. IMO, Bitwig has acted in an unethical manner. I have nothing positive to say about that.

But unlike you, my world does not revolve around their poor behavior.

No, unlike me, you're married to Bitwig, so in the long run you'll buy the add ons and take offense that other people need to vent.

Bitwig would definitely change strategy if met with universal anger, this is something that people with no other option DAW wise might have a problem with. i.e. you're emotionally invested enough in the product to take it personal that others are mad. I'm "projecting" here but let's be honest you will pay for the updates, and probably buy the add ons. The sad part is their unethical actions recognized by you will probably not prevent you from giving them money, and that's the only solution to changing the behavior of a company that actually can work. [I'm not sure why you think I haven't read your comments being disappointed, but I know you well enough to know this isn't divorce for you.]

Take a good look at all the "likes" people are getting for their views on the ethics of this, if you're taking it in stride, your near alone in that. Plus, realize that those of us that are madder about this than you were also invested in Bitwig, thought they were an ethical company, "had our backs" so to speak, and while you're going through a rocky part in your marriage a lot of us are getting divorced.

So bite my ass with your patronizing and pedantry, back off, and let people grieve.

[Dostoyevsky]

yes give them a chance but they need to correct it with a big gesture.....

No need for any big gestures. They should simply honor their contractual obligations, i.e. the people who have a running plan should get the devices. That's it. Pretty straight forward and honestly should not even be arguable.

Bitwig is of course free to switch over to whatever business model they see fit. It's just unethical to change the playing field midterm. That's unacceptable business behavior. Given how they advertised their product until very, very recently and more importantly what's still part of the EULA there might be a legal case. However, I'm sure they are aware the chance someone will actually pursue is nil. That's N-I-L. Like in "nil".
Since everybody has found something funny in this thread - I chuckled reading this has to be some unintentional misstep. As if some intern is in charge of the company's overarching strategy.

Anyway, I hope I'm wrong, but I think they will sit this out. It's a pity. We will survive.

PS: I admit I've also been a bit naive over the years. It's just another company. Lesson learned. But no, I'm not switching DAW. I'm just going to shift my attention back to Ableton again. If need be I might use Bitwig as a Ableton slave from now on in case I need something specialized

[Firewyre]

I'm genuinely concerned that this will have a serious impact on Bitwig's revenue as people no longer see the value in subscribing each year. I really hope they find a way to re-establish trust.

[ozonepaul]

Ironically, this change of direction is now changing my renewal behavior...Sure, the add-ons might offer an incentive do that earlier, but at the same time, those add-ons will be constantly competing with a whole galaxy of third party plugins with similar capabilities...

A competition, where a Bitwig payed add-on competes with a third party plugin (with similar capabilities, price etc) is pretty much unwinnable for Bitwig. While their add-ons are only usable inside Bitwig (which sooner or later needs an upgrade fee), the third party plugin can be moved to any other DAW, giving buyers much bigger freedom. If we're talking about "similar capabilities", than there is zero reason to buy Bitwig's add-ons and loads of reasons to chose the DAW independent plugin.

+ I would guess at least 1/3 of Bitwig users (probably way more) use some other DAW as well (me for example I use Reaper). For us "muti DAW" users it's not even a question to chose the 3rd party VST over a similar Bitwig payed add-on.

I've got a strong feeling Bitwig never thought this through.

[tempsperdu]

Wraps it up nicely.

Now Venus Theory should react in a similar fashion and see if that shakes Bitwig out of it's arrogance........

[0degree]

But isn't the current situation the end result of the "game" Bitwig encouraged to play?
They were always saying "you don't have to update" so I don't and wait until something interesting to me arrives. Now there could one more "incentive" to upgrade if the newest "add-ons" require the most up to date Bitwig version [...] My guess is they don't sell enough updates and/or don't have enough new users but IMO it's because of the upgrade plan mechanics.

Ironically, this change of direction is now changing my renewal behavior (and that of many others) to exactly what you are describing. In other words, I was happy to renew ahead of time up to now because I liked having immediate access to anything new Bitwig would release and because it felt like I was supporting a cool, sort of indie company.

Now that they are completely changing the value proposition of constantly staying on active renewal, I am going to wait until a new release has a certain critical mass of interesting new stuff before I drop them any money again. Sure, the add-ons might offer an incentive do that earlier, but at the same time, those add-ons will be constantly competing with a whole galaxy of third party plugins with similar capabilities. This wasn't the case with Bitwig devices before because they were all "just there" as long as I stayed on renewal, and that was in fact an incentive to constantly renew, as I knew Bitwig's high-quality devices would save me money otherwise spent on plugins. By positioning their add-ons against 3rd party plugs, Bitwig is introducing fierce competition they didn't have before and giving up a great unique selling point.

So, as far as users are concerned who have been using the Bitwig license like me - and there are many users like that - the net result for Bitwig is that they will be making considerably less money from us.

Totally agreed. There's also one other thing. One guy on GearSpace made a good observation - if this "add-on" disaster actually works for them it will impair the development of the "core" of the program. What would they develop anything inside the "upgrade plan" if they can sell it for extra money?

I don't know. I all just looks bad

[Izoptic]

If we're talking about "similar capabilities", than there is zero reason to buy Bitwig's add-ons and loads of reasons to chose the DAW independent plugin.

To be fair, I do think that Spectral Suite is fairly unique at the moment in its scope and approach. At least I am not aware of another plugin that provides spectral filtering in an equally comprehensive and flexible way. The thing is, even under normal circumstances (i.e. not feeling kind of cheated), I would not just impulse-buy this. Probably wait until there is a sale or until I have bought other plugins that are higher up on my shopping list. Oops, while I was waiting for an opportunity to buy Spectral Suite a new and equivalent Unfiltered Audio plugin shows up that I can get for 30 bucks with a PA loyalty voucher? Bad luck for Bitwig, I guess. The point is, even when something kind of unique enters the market, there is always something equivalent or better right around the corner. The audio plugin market is a shark tank, so why throw yourself in there?

[ottsch]

2. Buy addons as you see fit, as when needed or wanted, as you do with other DAWs (does it matter they are for Bitwig only?)

But ... It seems that add-ons will require the current version to work. So you have to renew at the same time.

[tempsperdu]

Can anyone think about anything another company has done that has created such a furore? How they cannot react beggars belief................

[ozonepaul]

- -

[Alchemedia]

Wraps it up nicely.

Now Venus Theory should react in a similar fashion and see if that shakes Bitwig out of it's arrogance........

I'll believe that when I see it. Unlike Baphy & Dash, Cameron is a hired gun for Bitwig in addition to KiloHearts, AAS, Cherry Audio, UVI, etc. It would be a conflict of interest for him to take sides.

[dlandis]

If we're talking about "similar capabilities", than there is zero reason to buy Bitwig's add-ons and loads of reasons to chose the DAW independent plugin.

To be fair, I do think that Spectral Suite is fairly unique at the moment in its scope and approach. At least I am not aware of another plugin that provides spectral filtering in an equally comprehensive and flexible way. The thing is, even under normal circumstances (i.e. not feeling kind of cheated), I would not just impulse-buy this. Probably wait until there is a sale or until I have bought other plugins that are higher up on my shopping list. Oops, while I was waiting for an opportunity to buy Spectral Suite a new and equivalent Unfiltered Audio plugin shows up that I can get for 30 bucks with a PA loyalty voucher? Bad luck for Bitwig, I guess. The point is, even when something kind of unique enters the market, there is always something equivalent or better right around the corner. The audio plugin market is a shark tank, so why throw yourself in there?

Someone help me out here: is Spectral Suite actually a plug-in in the sense that it can be used in other DAWs? It doesn't seem that way from what I've read. If it was offered in CLAP, VST3, etc. perhaps there would be more of an argument for it not being, in reality, a core part of Bitwig (as it currently must be used in Bitwig, and Bitwig alone.)

FWIW, I'm not jumping ship yet. I'm watching to see how this works out, however. Do I feel "betrayed?" Perhaps I do on a business level (it is, after all, the only level I truly deal with the company; everything else is just intangible.) It is a given that this roll-out has harmed the company's reputation; whether or not one agrees with either "side" in this debate, it is clear that the company has taken a hit PR-wise. To say this was "clumsy" doesn't begin to scratch the surface. In a bigger company, someone's head would roll (not that I'm wishing this on anybody at all.)

I'm thinking as well, that, short of including the Spectral Suite with current licenses (even if the price has to go up a bit), turning the Suite into a true standard protocol plug-in to be used in other DAWs might go a long way towards helping Bitwig's contention that it is not a part of the "core" DAW. If The Grid is a part of the core DAW (and I believe that it should be considered such on all levels as it coincides with Bitwig's being characterized as a "DAW that is also a sound design/synthesis tool"), how is it that Spectral Suite is somehow a step beyond this in ethical reasoning? Making it available as a true standard protocol plug-in would help make their point.

[Alchemedia]

If we're talking about "similar capabilities", than there is zero reason to buy Bitwig's add-ons and loads of reasons to chose the DAW independent plugin.

To be fair, I do think that Spectral Suite is fairly unique at the moment in its scope and approach. At least I am not aware of another plugin that provides spectral filtering in an equally comprehensive and flexible way. The thing is, even under normal circumstances (i.e. not feeling kind of cheated), I would not just impulse-buy this. Probably wait until there is a sale or until I have bought other plugins that are higher up on my shopping list. Oops, while I was waiting for an opportunity to buy Spectral Suite a new and equivalent Unfiltered Audio plugin shows up that I can get for 30 bucks with a PA loyalty voucher? Bad luck for Bitwig, I guess. The point is, even when something kind of unique enters the market, there is always something equivalent or better right around the corner. The audio plugin market is a shark tank, so why throw yourself in there?

Someone help me out here: is Spectral Suite actually a plug-in in the sense that it can be used in other DAWs? It doesn't seem that way from what I've read. If it was offered in CLAP, VST3, etc. perhaps there would be more of an argument for it not being, in reality, a core part of Bitwig (as it currently must be used in Bitwig, and Bitwig alone.)

FWIW, I'm not jumping ship yet. I'm watching to see how this works out, however. Do I feel "betrayed?" Perhaps I do on a business level (it is, after all, the only level I truly deal with the company; everything else is just intangible.) It is a given that this roll-out has harmed the company's reputation; whether or not one agrees with either "side" in this debate, it is clear that the company has taken a hit PR-wise. To say this was "clumsy" doesn't begin to scratch the surface. In a bigger company, someone's head would roll (not that I'm wishing this on anybody at all.)

I'm thinking as well, that, short of including the Spectral Suite with current licenses (even if the price has to go up a bit), turning the Suite into a true standard protocol plug-in to be used in other DAWs might go a long way towards helping Bitwig's contention that it is not a part of the "core" DAW. If The Grid is a part of the core DAW (and I believe that it should be considered such on all levels as it coincides with Bitwig's being characteristic as a "DAW that is also a sound design/synthesis tool"), how is it that Spectral Suite is somehow a step beyond this in ethical reasoning? Making it available as a true standard protocol plug-in would help make their point.

No, it works only within Bitwig.

[ottsch]

Someone help me out here: is Spectral Suite actually a plug-in in the sense that it can be used in other DAWs? It doesn't seem that way from what I've read. If it was offered in CLAP, VST3, etc. perhaps there would be more of an argument for it not being, in reality, a core part of Bitwig (as it currently must be used in Bitwig, and Bitwig alone.)

It's baked into the release and you can "unlock" it.