An important message for IK Multimedia

[Bippo]

Please, for the love of God, do something about your horrendous Product Manager.

It’s f**king impossible to install SampleTank 4 MAX.

You are abusing your clients.

I got burned by the disastrous installation process a few years ago, but out of naivety I tried reinstalling it again.

Your Product Manager still sucks.

It still downloads tons of ZIP files and doesn’t remove them from the hard drive after the installation finishes, requiring users to manually delete them.

It also abruptly gives “not enough disk space” error messages even though that’s not the reality.

I literally had to use AI to solve these issues, remove cache files from Windows, and reinstall the Product Manager.

Yesterday, I had to stop after the Product Manager downloaded 91% of the sounds.

Today I tried to resume, and again it gave me the “not enough disk space” error message.

So I repeated the entire process again — removing the Product Manager and its cache files, then continuing the installation — only to now get a message saying that all sounds are installed, even though I know that’s not true because yesterday I was only at 91%.

On top of that, the download speeds are absolutely ridiculous. I get around 2000 Mbps in every speed test I run, yet with IK Multimedia the best download speed I saw was around 35 Mbps, and at times it dropped to 2 Mbps. That’s a complete joke when users are expected to download more than 250 GB of data.

And while we’re at it, maybe find a better algorithm or compression method for these absurd file sizes — like Spectrasonics did with the latest Omnisphere version, for example.

So my question is: what the f**k am I supposed to do now?

Because the reinstall option in Product Manager stupidly downloads hundreds of gigabytes all over again from the first zip file to the last. I have no idea which sounds I’m missing, but I know for sure that some of them are missing, but I don't need to download ALL the sounds AGAIN.

Why can’t you have a decent installer like Native Instruments’? One that actually lets users choose which sounds they want to install, doesn’t leave ZIP files all over the hard drive, allows downloads at full speed, and doesn’t create bizarre bugs after resuming an installation?

[zerocrossing]

This reminds me. I should deinstall Sample Tank. I’ve never used it and it’s just taking up drive space.

[morelia]

The sooner we all learn IK don't care about customers beyond the income they provide the better. For me that's made my IK experience better. Expect nothing but what you buy. Support is a maybe at best.

[Zeisner]

So my question is: what the f**k am I supposed to do now?

Stop giving them money?

[Examigan]

I’ve never seen an “out of space” type error.

When you say it leaves them all over the drive, I just have it point to one folder for downloading all of the files.

As for the speed of downloading, I just downloaded Clavitube in about 1 min. or less.

[Caine123]

my recommendation, replace their bad software and uninstall it and dont waste your time. makes your life easier.

[starflakeprj]

I upgraded to MAX 5 (Total Bundle, or something) a while back. I registered it months ago, now I remember they also have a grace period to download everything? Or is my memory deceiving me?

Also, is it possible to download libraries without installing them? I remember you had to install and to be able to download?

[starflakeprj]

my recommendation, replace their bad software and uninstall it and dont waste your time. makes your life easier.

I think they have a few plugins that are actually quite good. I used to use Lurssen Mastering Console quite a bit a couple of years back. I like their MixBox as well as their MODO instruments as well. Haven't tested Pianoverse, but I like demo videos. T-RackS is not too bad either.

But...of course, nowadays there are other, better, alternatives

[Caine123]

my recommendation, replace their bad software and uninstall it and dont waste your time. makes your life easier.

I think they have a few plugins that are actually quite good. I used to use Lurssen Mastering Console quite a bit a couple of years back. I like their MixBox as well as their MODO instruments as well. Haven't tested Pianoverse, but I like demo videos. T-RackS is not too bad either.

But...of course, nowadays there are other, better, alternatives

i know, i used a lot of their stuff and also A/B'ing with Fabfilter etc. T-Racks had some plugins which were easier to dial in with a few clicks as they introduced some harmonics etc. i A/B'ed and copied my settings with spectral analyzers and uninstalled them then, now i replaced them fully.
this bad software can only be hit against the wall with our wallets, e.g. you see PEter still on the board, in the past i thought he really tries to help but either he cannot help or just some marketing guy who tries to sell you the trust that he helps you, the company is a disaster as a customer. sneaking new ways with their free plugins etc. for new buyers and have some great hardware maybe but well enough time wasted writing this. ikm one of the worst companies i know of. my life got a step better just not wasting my money and concern to them anymore, just pushing topics to help some poor souls, even if i reach 1 im happy .

[agharta]

I upgraded to MAX 5 (Total Bundle, or something) a while back. I registered it months ago, now I remember they also have a grace period to download everything? Or is my memory deceiving me?

You used to only be able to download within the first 12 months after registration, but now there is no time limit.

[starflakeprj]

I upgraded to MAX 5 (Total Bundle, or something) a while back. I registered it months ago, now I remember they also have a grace period to download everything? Or is my memory deceiving me?

You used to only be able to download within the first 12 months after registration, but now there is no time limit.

Aha, thanks

[starflakeprj]

my recommendation, replace their bad software and uninstall it and dont waste your time. makes your life easier.

I think they have a few plugins that are actually quite good. I used to use Lurssen Mastering Console quite a bit a couple of years back. I like their MixBox as well as their MODO instruments as well. Haven't tested Pianoverse, but I like demo videos. T-RackS is not too bad either.

But...of course, nowadays there are other, better, alternatives

i know, i used a lot of their stuff and also A/B'ing with Fabfilter etc. T-Racks had some plugins which were easier to dial in with a few clicks as they introduced some harmonics etc. i A/B'ed and copied my settings with spectral analyzers and uninstalled them then, now i replaced them fully.
this bad software can only be hit against the wall with our wallets, e.g. you see PEter still on the board, in the past i thought he really tries to help but either he cannot help or just some marketing guy who tries to sell you the trust that he helps you, the company is a disaster as a customer. sneaking new ways with their free plugins etc. for new buyers and have some great hardware maybe but well enough time wasted writing this. ikm one of the worst companies i know of. my life got a step better just not wasting my money and concern to them anymore, just pushing topics to help some poor souls, even if i reach 1 im happy .

Totally understand. It's due to their manager software, though, I haven't even installed the software that I actually like. And, of course, the lack of storage since I swiched from my Windows computer to my Mac

[VladK]

IK is bloatware. And their upgrade policy for singles (which is no upgrades in its essence) is just nuts. Not to mention that they do not disclose what improvements are there for specific products included into both TRackS 5 and 6, for example. If they do not bother to write stuff down, why would I bother to try then?

[stoopicus]

This reminds me. I should deinstall Sample Tank. I’ve never used it and it’s just taking up drive space.

Ooh good call. I don't think it got nuked when I uninstalled Amplitube (which is great but I sold it).

edit: nope looks like I remembered to nuke it too.

[cdbaksu]

Yeah IK is on my <do not buy> list, and I also advise my friends against purchasing their products.

Took a loss, let's call it a gift from me, never again. Buyer beware!