Sonic Reality

HugoJacquet · Post by **HugoJacquet** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 4:30 pm

Hi Squids,

It is very simple, had the amplitube live offer been downloadable, my money would already have been yours.

My first purchase through the internet was a download (session drums2 at sonicimplants).

It is like in a supermarket, make the hurdle as low as possible. You will gain a LOT of impulse buys.

If your product is up to standard, no one will regret it's purchase.

This is a discussion with only one outcome: do it! Now! (too late, should have been done a minute ago

).

Hugo

www.pego.be

When shopping at www.Esoundz.com please us the name hugojacquet as referral. We will both get 5$ credit on our next purchase. Thank you.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 4:53 pm

I used Primesounds. But I'm a cheapskate -- got 10eur worth of freebies when I registered Reason Adapted. (Why register it when I already had Reason 2.5? Long story. But I got a nice surprise out of it, so.) I liked their system: you can audition each sound individually, they've got a nice browsing setup, though there is a heck of a lot to plough through. Delivery was quick and easy.

As for losing the sounds, I always burn all non-free downloaded software and stuff onto a CD-R for safekeeping. And most free materials too, just to save bother and bandwidth. When it comes to total system failure, any moment is as likely as any oth&^$ IR^*B *&OBT*OBI PO I O,

Bassballjg · Post by **Bassballjg** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:35 pm

I think that there should be no more than one extra chance at a download of a sound in case of loss, and that mainly to generate goodwill. Bad backup habits are the sole responsibility of the user. However an issue of concern is what to do about interrupts and corrupted files and other bad downloads. That is where this whole thing gets into the honor system, On the other hand, if it were someone's intent to pirate or post on a newsgroup, they can do so with the copy they get in the first place, so this is probably not as much of an adressable security issue as hacking. This is assuming a one time use password that can't be circulated.

Squids, I still think that single instruments would be both a huge administrative hassle and a bad case of consumer overchoice. Small packs are probably the best way to go. Maybe singles for premium instruments like the new NNXT piano or something, otherwise, let's say 50 megs worth of drum kits or synths in a bundle. Such packs would be an efficient and good VFM tier below the full Expansion Tanks and Capsules.

And I have to reiterate my wondering about how to represent the different formats you support. Perhaps a standalone UFO for a nominal charge people could get and use with their SR downloads?

It is too bad you don't have downloadability for Amplitube now, but it should be a downloadable product when you do get the system going. As esoundz branches out into selling more software, this is exactly the kind of product where cost containment through having a virtual product can improve price and margin at the same time.

Anyway, as I said before, I think whatever you come up with will be cool. I'm really looking for ward to seeing how you do it, and of course using the service. Thanks for throwing this open for feedback.

asseca · Post by **asseca** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:27 pm

It would be wise to compress the sounds to e.g. RAR format to minimize download bandwidth...

An experimental compression of some 40MB ST sounds resulted in a 29MB ZIP-file and a 20MB RAR-file.

Basically after a confirmed successful download, a user is responsible for proper backup of her/his download.

Squids · Post by **Squids** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:27 pm

HugoJacquet wrote:Hi Squids,

It is very simple, had the amplitube live offer been downloadable, my money would already have been yours.

My first purchase through the internet was a download (session drums2 at sonicimplants).

It is like in a supermarket, make the hurdle as low as possible. You will gain a LOT of impulse buys.

If your product is up to standard, no one will regret it's purchase.

This is a discussion with only one outcome: do it! Now! (too late, should have been done a minute ago ).

Hugo

www.pego.be

When shopping at www.Esoundz.com please us the name hugojacquet as referral. We will both get 5$ credit on our next purchase. Thank you.

Thanks Hugo. I am only asking about people's experience with downloadable sounds or apps in other situations and if there is anything we should consider WHEN we do it. Not IF.

Reverend Rhythm · Post by **Reverend Rhythm** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:20 am

Have you looked at powerfx.com? They have a dual system: You buy credits for downloading individual loops, but you pay for loop pacs and CDs. Your individual loops are "stored" on your personal page for you to retrieve at any time. I don't know how they manage that and I'm not advocating that you adopt that system. I just find it interesting.

BTW, I have done business with them and been very satisfied.

Arglebargle · Post by **Arglebargle** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:32 am

Downloadable sounds is a pretty neat idea.

However, you MUST include a soundclip of the sound in action.

I downloaded some soundfonts from <www.soundfont.com> because I thought they'd be cool. The only thing is, they weren't cool at all, they sucked. So yeah, you need to make a soundclip for each sound or group of sounds you sell, so people don't get pissed when they download a sound that they don't like.

Stone · Post by **Stone** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:31 am

hey, im really enjoying the idea of downloadble options. That's the only thing that stopped me a few months ago from getting the SR product. Don't get me wrong, i thought it was GREAT, but i needed a solution instantaniously, so I had to opt for another option

Squids · Post by **Squids** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:50 pm

Yes, I have been in that situation too where you need an instant solution. So, there's a place for it, even if it is something just for convenience. But, I also think that it will attract additional people to the site as well.

We're working on it. Plus, we have this thing where you can get a certain amount of ePointz to use for downloadable sounds each month if you are a gold or platinum member (see that is the kind of thing I meant for benefits to great customers).

blades · Post by **blades** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:55 pm

Speaking of soundfont.com

They used to (and I think still do) sell the "module mania" series of soundfonts (like from Proteus, vintage keys, etc). I purchased one of the modules from them and went back to their "download again" site. All you needed was the email address used to order the sounds. "Hmmm", I said. I bet that people could just peruse the emu newsgroup, grab a bunch of email addresses of people likely to purchase and just start plugging them in...yep...that did it.

I felt a bit shmoozled, because I knew that what I just paid for was now available to a witty individual for nothing, without affecting me and probably without anyone's knowledge of it (unless someone reads IP address logs ALL DAY).

Anyway, you'd certainly want to make it more secure than that!

My $.02
Blades

bnmoore · Post by **bnmoore** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:36 pm

I've purchased items from different vendors that were downloadable. I've probably done the most business with wizoosounds.com. There were a couple of items that wouldn't fit on a single CD but then I usually go for the "XXL" versions. I don't mind large files.

Rainman · Post by **Rainman** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:48 pm

I've had mainly good experiences in downloading sounds and I think the largest came in at just over 800 megs, which took a fair while to dl even though I have DSL. I have a substantial amount of samples already, mostly from Squids and SampleTank and now tend to look for specific sounds I'd like to have for a particular project. I have to admit to being a sample junky however and will purchase sounds I think I'll use in the future. Probably the sounds I change up most of the time are the drums, and I'm constantly on the lookout for kits. I'd definitely be interested in the expansion packs as dl's as well as apps like Amplitube. I'd also love to see the occasional "supersized" sample set like a 400-500 meg piano or drumkit. One other thing that's really needed in the Custerdome these days is a quality set of guitar strums, how about it Squids.

Peace and Love
Regards
Rainman

JH from NY · Post by **JH from NY** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:56 pm

[quote="Squids"]
When you purchased any downloadable sounds, what happens if you lost that sound. Could you easily get it again? What hoops did you have to go through? Could you get it automatically or did you have to contact the company or were you not able to get that sound again?
[/quote]

Not hoops but I have lost a few downloadable items and repurchased them, THEN I emailed cust service and explained the download was corrupted.
They gave me store credit, not a refund. Which was fine with me.

I think Native Instruments does a nice thing that once you buy it, you have access to an ftp address for 7 days (or so) then it's gone. If you haven't done a back-up, it's YOUR problem.

However, I really like the way iTunes is setup - credit card always on file, 30 seconds previews, and has a confirmation before you download in case you accidentally hit 'BUY'.

Great idea by the way Squids. I love the ease of downloading sounds. Isn't that REALLY why we get broadband? Or is it still just for porn?

Sonic Reality

KVR Audio

Downloadable products on esoundz - discussion.