An important message for IK Multimedia

[agharta]

Some of their plugins are well regarded and I have a bunch of them that I picked up for peanuts but only use one.
When I move to a new PC, I won't even install that.
They stink up the place and I can't be doing with the hassle.

[Cuauhtli]

So far I haven't had any catastrophic issues but they do take up a lot of drive space. I put what I can on external drives.

The downloads take a long time for me and they tend to stall multiple times per download so I have to pause and then resume them to get them going again.

At least most of the sample content can be downloaded without using their installation manager.

[TechHaus]

I keep wanting to buy some of their monitors with dsp solutions, but then see threads like this and remain happy with my humble regular iloud micros that don't involve me dealing with their software.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I like the sound of their plugins and the sound of their products, and the user interfaces for the most part quite a bit. I don't really get how they put all that effort into making these and then the user experience for managing updates and content can be so annoying.

I have no idea if I'm supposed to download the syntronik v1 versions of the content or if that's covered by the v2 ones. We are they both there if I have v2? I assumed it's because you could still use v1 sounds in v2. But some kept saying update available and would not update, or after updating the v2 woujld need an update and vice versa It was impossible to just install everything. And then I discovered that I have all these redundant sounds in the v1 syntronik folder, that are totally duplicated by v2. Was this the v1 download content? I have no idea but I deleted them and it was a huge amount of space. Plus every time you run an update, it downloads a bunch of files taking up quite a bit of space in a folder in your documents and then just leaves them there. So you need to know to go and find the installer files and delete them after install or you waste dozens of GP of space.

I really wish they would get their installation stuff in order.

[emasters]

I still use IK's effects plugins and some of the HW devices, but steer clear of the instruments that require content downloads. It's been challenging for years, and would appear it's still problematic (at least for some). When I move to my new computer later this year, I'll drop their plugins, as well. One less thing to distract and cause frustration...

[wagtunes]

While I've had my issues (plenty of them) I eventually downloaded and installed everything. At the end of the day, I would be absolutely lost without a lot of their stuff.

MODO Drums
MODO Bass
T-Racks

I could go on and on. 99% of my tracks have something of theirs on it.

My 2 cents FWIW.

[paramita123]

It's ok to complain, yet no company is perfect (except U-HE haha, maybe !)

I did have occasional trouble with IK, but at the end of the day success in anything is about overcoming trouble.
I now have much more fun and value out of my IK plugins than if I had given up :
- T-RACKS 6 has some awesome plugins (Lo-Fi a must for me),
- MIXBOX has brilliant filters and is the coolest MultiFX I have
- Amplitube gives me endless fun on electric guitar and bass
- Pianoverse does sound good, etc...
Considering price and value, I recommend IK. Especially getting everything at once to save.
A touch of patience, willingness to get things going, then should be great ...
But yes, improvements on the PM would be welcome indeed !!

[Caine123]

It's ok to complain, yet no company is perfect (except U-HE haha, maybe !)

I did have occasional trouble with IK, but at the end of the day success in anything is about overcoming trouble.
I now have much more fun and value out of my IK plugins than if I had given up :
- T-RACKS 6 has some awesome plugins (Lo-Fi a must for me),
- MIXBOX has brilliant filters and is the coolest MultiFX I have
- Amplitube gives me endless fun on electric guitar and bass
- Pianoverse does sound good, etc...
Considering price and value, I recommend IK. Especially getting everything at once to save.
A touch of patience, willingness to get things going, then should be great ...
But yes, improvements on the PM would be welcome indeed !!

yeah ok, doesnt help that their support sucks, their authoriazation system is still a mess. if it works nice, if it doesnt work you are in for trouble and support cannot figure it out (in all my cases). i had to solve it myself.

[oobesan]

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.

I have an absurd amount of IKM plugins. Arc-X, T-RackS 6 Pro, ToneX, AmpliTube 5, MODO Bass complete, MODO Drums complete, almost all of the Pianoverse pianos, Miroslav Philharmonik 2, ST4, a ton of AT and ST expansions. Installing was a little painful, but I think I paid $33 for all of it, in total.

[glokraw]

The install 'disk space' requirement will likely be a size of 'contiguous' disk space around three or four times larger than the content being installed. A bunch of smaller chunks on fragmented disks adding up to that amount won't work.

Most content and installers can be found by clicking the oddly named 'Past Releases' icon in the My Products section of your account. Just downloaded some MAX archives, on a fast ISP, went quick even though there is a Memorial Day sale happening.

I would like IK (and NI) to keep standard installers and registration available, with Program Manager and Native Access as options for those who want them.

[Funky40]

+1 = IK-m is on my ignore list !



reason:
i`ve bought Modo Bass,...got then a freebie / installed that freebie / -> "this" installed their whole catalogue ( or something like that) on my SSD.


conclusion:
"This" was a conscious decission to do so from the managment level
-> which tells me: "who these people are"...-> "and what to expect from them further".
No thanks ! GFY

[XorXisT]

This is literally the definition of insanity.

Complaining & installing IK software over and over again, expecting sh*t to change.

I still use T-Racks 6, but everything else is out of the loop.

Just move on, people.

[Echoes in the Attic]

By the way I’ve never had any problems with installation or authorization of their software, only sample content. Been using their software for 20 years. And I usually can figure it out. Even sampletron which was a mess via the in product manager you could download separately and make it work.

So it’s definitely been worth having.

[zerocrossing]

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!

I find that IK is a weird balance of very flawed and great. If you buy them when they do one of their frequent group buys, you can get amazing software for very little money, but be prepared to be disappointed by some of it. For instance, I really think that Amplitube/Tonex is the best all-in-one guitar amp/effect plugin. That said, it's plagued with bugs that they seem oddly uninterested in fixing, like the Mesa IIC+ amp doing high gain sounds with a ton of aliasing compared to the other Mesa models, or that there is zipper noise from all of the wah models but the Satriani one. So while this pisses me off, I also have to remember that I paid $75 dollars for it, which is far cheaper than anything else, and still has a ton of great gear models.

[DaveClark]

I find that IK is a weird balance of very flawed and great. If you buy them when they do one of their frequent group buys, you can get amazing software for very little money, but be prepared to be disappointed by some of it. For instance, I really think that Amplitube/Tonex is the best all-in-one guitar amp/effect plugin. That said, it's plagued with bugs that they seem oddly uninterested in fixing, like the Mesa IIC+ amp doing high gain sounds with a ton of aliasing compared to the other Mesa models, or that there is zipper noise from all of the wah models but the Satriani one. So while this pisses me off, I also have to remember that I paid $75 dollars for it, which is far cheaper than anything else, and still has a ton of great gear models.

This is very close to my own experience and conclusions.