Is this sample company practicing good business? You vote.

[Crackbaby]

Wrong - They lost two customers for that $45. I will NEVER buy from a retarded company like that.

ttoz: I bet you just posted that in order to reach 5000 posts. Lol .. thankfull for selling the same product for half the price in another format?? Give everybody a break . daaaah

[eDrummist]

For what i can read on their site, SF2 version costs $199.95 and GIGA costs $229.95.
The most important thing on this site is... *drumroll*
They use the same mp3 demo for both the libaries. The SF2 libarys demo is using sounds from the GIGA library.
That is called false marketing. Lawsuit perhaps??

In one way you could see that the GIGA version uses two cds instead of one. .. but that doesnt affect the fact that they demoed one product with another.
Its like letting you take a porche for testdriving and then sell you a fiat or something.

Be strong. Companies are often dumb until they realize they did wrong. (and then the great apologizeletter comes, where they blame on tornados and earthquakes..)

Good luck!

You are right about the demo. However, one clarification, the samples I have are Amps and Guitars (the first version). The Giga and Soundfont versions both sell for exactly the same price, $149.95. You were looking at the price for their new sample set, Amps and Guitars 2, which is priced differently. Actually, version 2 was the sample set I was willing to buy if Sonic Implants made good on the first version that I own.

- eDrummist

[SaviorNeeded]

Question: Are you saying you bought the Soundfont samples based on a Soundfont demo--and that demo was misleading? If so, was it intentional or what? That's a pretty important factor here, I think.

Tom

[SaviorNeeded]

Oops--My question came a little late.

Tom

[Crackbaby]

There are different sections for different formats.
The soundfont page has the same demos as the giga page. Very missleading.

[eDrummist]

Question: Are you saying you bought the Soundfont samples based on a Soundfont demo--and that demo was misleading? If so, was it intentional or what? That's a pretty important factor here, I think.

Tom

That's exactly what I am saying. Now, I bought this CD when I was new to sample formats, I've learned a lot in the last year. At the time I bought the CDs, I didn't realize that Soundfonts, or even Sonic Implants Soundfont versions, were so vastly inferior to Giga. I just thought Soundfonts were more convenient. I thought I was buying the same product that I heard a demo of, which was the same regardless of sampler version.

Yes, as a marketer, I find this practice misleading also. Go to their site and check out some the Soundfont demos and check the other versions, they're the same demos. However, I know that the demo I heard was not the same as the product I received. Later when I learned about the Giga version, I assumed (I still don't know) that this is the version used for the demos.

They should inform visitors to the Soundfont section of their site about the demos being based on a different version and that Soundfont version are of lesser quality that other versions of the products. It is certainly a question of not getting what you believe you are going to get based on the MP3 demo.

- eDrummist

[Crackbaby]

"Yes, as a marketer, I find this practice misleading also."

Well.. what are you doing here? We cant do anything (not that i dont appriciate you enlightening us about it ) Threaten them about legal actions!

According to the poll, people are stupid. Its like they want to get ripped off. perhaps there are two different types of musicians. The helpfull ones, and the ego ones. I cant believe that more than half the people in the poll actually want to be misled by demos. If so, they really are stupid.

I dont know where sonic implants has it main office. But here in sweden, that thing they do is illegal.

[SaviorNeeded]

If it is a misleading demo--and I'll certainly take your word that it is--then I would contact them about clarifying the info on their site and/or posting a sf demo, and I would do what you did by posting this situation here at KvR. Unhappily, their pricing policy, discounts, refunds and credits are pretty much at their will and whim, so you have to decide whether or not to accept what they've offered.

I wouldn't think the following is necessary at this point, but consumers should know that magazines and other entities that sell advertizing want to be informed when one of their advertizers is misleading the reader. The publisher can bring a lot of power to bear against misleading claims and promises.

Tom

[eDrummist]

The results of the poll are probably the result of the misunderstanding, as many people are likely to scan the first post and the poll and could easily misunderstand what I am referring to in the poll. It's my mistake, I tried to edit the poll after the fact. I should have summarized the issue in the poll. That's alright, I think the posts are getting at this issue.

I did not explain this as clearly as I could have, but after people like you asked questions, we got around to the issue. That is, I based my decision to buy the Soundfont sample version based on the MP3 demo. I had no idea that the demo was not the product I was buying and that the Soundfont version, which costs the same as the Giga version, was so grossly inferior.

That is the summary I should have started with. Thanks for the empathy. Right now I am unable to enjoy music as I am recovering from the removal of a tumor inside my ear and in pain, so I am spending more time on KVR and had time to talk about this situation. I do appreciate all the posts, whether people disagree or agree, so ttoz, don't take it personally. I just thought you were missing something. You have a right to disagree (even though you're wrong! ).

- eDrummist

[SaviorNeeded]

Get better soon, man! And thanks for all your contributions to the KvR and music scenes. And if you REALLY want to get ticked over a company, buy a new car. Any new car.

Tom

[McLilith]

thankfull for selling the same product for half the price in another format?? Give everybody a break . daaaah

It's NOT the same product simply stored in a different file format. The samples in the Giga collection are completely different, and much more extensive in scope.

A few people seem to think that the difference between these two products being discussed is akin to the same text document stored in both "Word for Windows" and "WordPerfect" formats. I assure you that's not the case. The difference between the products is much more significant than that.

The buyer in this case selected the less robust format of the two, without knowing what he was doing. If he had asked the proper questions at the time of purchase, I'm sure the vendor would have told him of the differences in the two products. Most people that buy samples tend to know that Gigasamples are usually superior to Soundfonts.

[eDrummist]

The buyer in this case selected the less robust format of the two, without knowing what he was doing. If he had asked the proper questions at the time of purchase, I'm sure the vendor would have told him of the differences in the two products. Most people that buy samples tend to know that Gigasamples are usually superior to Soundfonts.

Actually, I did speak to their marketing guy when I originally purchased the products and I asked him what the difference between the two versions was. He told me that the Giga version had some extra features the other versions didn't and that was the end of it. I didn't ask him additional questions, because I figured the additional features were over my head. Since that time, I've gotten farily knowledgeable (of course, not to the extent of a lot of KVR'ers whose posts I read and learn from), however, I do think this company needs to change their MP3 when it represents a version that is really superior to the Soundfont version.

For the record, I don't think Sonic Implants behavior can exactly be deemed unethical. On the other hand, I also do not think that they are doing the right things. My desire is that Sonic Implants will adjust their practices. That is why I am posting here and informing others. It may result in Sonic Implants adjusting their practices. At minimum, it lets people know how they treat you after the sale. Consider my few hundred bucks KVR'ers learning experience -- do with the knowledge what you will. At least you're getting informed before you work with them.

- eDrummist

[Montana]

\\They use the same mp3 demo for both the libaries. The SF2 libarys demo is using sounds from the GIGA library. \\


This is the key issue.

If this had not happened, the original posters complaints could be dismissed as sour grapes since no one held a gun to his head to buy the inferior SF format.

BUT, there seems to be some false representation of the product here, which IMHO validates the original posters claims.

Don't do business with them again.

[TheWall]

The same Mr. Fox actually had been quite helpful to me in the past. I lost my soundfonts due to a HD crash, and he allowed me to download the soundfonts again for free - that's more than a year after the original purchase. I'm very grateful for that.

I can't say I'd be happy if I were in eDrummist's shoes though. But I don't really think Sonic Implant did an unfair deal either.

[DevonB]

For what i can read on their site, SF2 version costs $199.95 and GIGA costs $229.95.
The most important thing on this site is... *drumroll*
They use the same mp3 demo for both the libaries. The SF2 libarys demo is using sounds from the GIGA library.
That is called false marketing. Lawsuit perhaps??

Pffft. Video games have done this for years, show you screen shots of the 'superior' version on whatever platform the 'superior' version was on, and you bought the inferior version. I'm sure that's not the only industry that does the same. But if you already knew there was 2 versions, and 1 demo up, you could have easily asked first which one was being demoed. It's not like the company isn't an EMail or a phone call away.

Devon