Bitwig Studio 3.3 announced + beta started

[SLiC]

140 bucks on audiodeluxe most of the year...

Oh, and it isn’t a ‘yearly subscription’ You don’t need it to use Bitwig, you just choose’ when you want to upgrade. Personally I upgrade for what I am getting with that particular version, not what I may get in the next year, that’s just a free bonus.

[perpetual3]

If we assume full upgrade price $170 at a 15 month upgrade cycle, that’s $11.33 per month. And for me and it seems many others, it’s actually comes down to less than that. If that is “expensive,” as in “not affordable,” then I think there need to be other priorities than using Bitwig. One way to easily afford the upgrade is to ditch an online video provider.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Every upgrade I've purchased was 129 on sale (always is at some point in the year and you can hold until you want to use it). I went about 15 or 16 months last time, this time since mine runs out in December and 3.3 would have just been released, I wouldn't be surprised if I went a year and a half with this one.

[SLiC]

Yup- you still don't have to upgrade every 15 months to get all of the toys as they are launched, you could wait 2-3 years ant get an amazing cheap update. Personally I am glad we have the 'option' to pay to get new things and improvements so regularly...I don't get the logic of people thinking they are saving money because a product doesn't have a significant update for 2,3 or even 5 years.....

[Rivanni]

3.2 Wes released in June so it’s been 4 months.

Also 3.2 has had 8 small updates (bug fixes and improvements) since June...

3.2 was announced 6 months ago... (in April)

It has been longer than usual...

I have been tending to track from release dates rather than announced dates (as that's recorded on the changelog)

Well, then you shouldn't compare the announced date of 3.3 with the release date of 3.2.
Assuming the beta period of 3.3 is also 2 months, the time between the two versions is 6 months, which is a long time.
With the upgrade plan I prefer to see shorter periods, so that the chance that I have to skip a version is small.

By the way, they should allow you to test the beta without an active upgrade plan. That means, on the one hand, more testers and, on the other, a greater chance that those users will renew their plan.

Even if the new version comes out, there is no way to use a trial version. This makes me less likely to spend my money on an update. I want to see for myself how things work and not rely on the experiences of others.

[SLiC]

By the way, they should allow you to test the beta without an active upgrade plan. That means, on the one hand, more testers and, on the other, a greater chance that those users will renew their plan.

Even if the new version comes out, there is no way to use a trial version. This makes me less likely to spend my money on an update. I want to see for myself how things work and not rely on the experiences of others.

The problem is as you said the new version are in beta for on average 4 months a year, so that's a lot of free access to a fully working with save version of the latest software. I consider the beta like an 'early access' privilege for people with active subscription.

Also, once the new version is out of beta it is available as the new version download as a demo isn't it? (you can just run it in demo mode without logging in) so you can try it?

PS- Although it looks like we just got 2 updates this year, they year before they put out a new Vocoder in December which was pretty cool...maybe there will be a little Xmas gift to came as well

[Rivanni]

By the way, they should allow you to test the beta without an active upgrade plan. That means, on the one hand, more testers and, on the other, a greater chance that those users will renew their plan.

Even if the new version comes out, there is no way to use a trial version. This makes me less likely to spend my money on an update. I want to see for myself how things work and not rely on the experiences of others.

The problem is as you said the new version are in beta for on average 4 months a year, so that's a lot of free access to a fully working with save version of the latest software. I consider the beta like an 'early access' privilege for people with active subscription.

Also, once the new version is out of beta it is available as the new version download as a demo isn't it? (you can just run it in demo mode without logging in) so you can try it?

PS- Although it looks like we just got 2 updates this year, they year before they put out a new Vocoder in December which was pretty cool...maybe there will be a little Xmas gift to came as well

The period between the start of beta 3.2 and 3.3 is 6 months as already mentioned.

You cannot use a beta when you don't have an active plan. That's the point I made.

Installing the release version of 3.2 removes 3.1 so I don't have a full version anymore.

[pdxindy]

Installing the release version of 3.2 removes 3.1 so I don't have a full version anymore.

On the Mac, when you install (which is just a copy) you have the option to keep both side by side. Surely there is a way to do that on the PC as well?

The one thing to be careful of if you have 2 different versions, is if you open a project in a newer demo, you can make it so that it wont open in the older version... besides that it works great and any versions use the same preferences etc.

[Rivanni]

Installing the release version of 3.2 removes 3.1 so I don't have a full version anymore.

On the Mac, when you install (which is just a copy) you have the option to keep both side by side. Surely there is a way to do that on the PC as well?

The one thing to be careful of if you have 2 different versions, is if you open a project in a newer demo, you can make it so that it wont open in the older version... besides that it works great and any versions use the same preferences etc.

No, the installer automatically uninstalls the older version.

When you start the newer version you get questions about updating certain parts. A thing I don't want to do because I'm afraid things will not work anymore after I removed the new version and reinstalled the old one.

[Hanz Meyzer]

Well, yeah that's true. Maybe this update is fine enough, I really like the bending option of the modulators.

[antic604]

Installing the release version of 3.2 removes 3.1 so I don't have a full version anymore.

You're bending over backwards to really prove your point, do you? You seem to have an axe to grind with Bitwig, because whenever I see you post it's always negative.

1st, since 3.0 on Windows every version - even 3.2.x - is a separate install, sharing all the important files like sound packs, settings, templates, etc. so you can have 10 of them at once if you want.

2nd, even if the above wasn't the case, there's always this: https://www.bitwig.com/previous_releases/

[Rivanni]

Installing the release version of 3.2 removes 3.1 so I don't have a full version anymore.

You're bending over backwards to really prove your point, do you?

I'm not bending. I'm just stating the facts. The fact that you cannot participate in beta versions and you cannot simply test newer versions. This way I, and I guess others users are less inclined to upgrade. I'm not buying any software that I cannot test myself.

You seem to have an axe to grind with Bitwig, because whenever I see you post it's always negative.

Ad hominem and also not true.

1st, since 3.0 on Windows every version - even 3.2.x - is a separate install, sharing all the important files like sound packs, settings, templates, etc. so you can have 10 of them at once if you want.

Why trying to prove the opposite when you're clearly wrong? But I will repeat. When you install a trial version of 3.2.x, version 3.1.x is automatically uninstalled.

there's always this: https://www.bitwig.com/previous_releases/

This doesn't prevent the old version from being uninstalled.

[andypryce]

Nudge arrangement clips with left right arrow keys (like piano roll notes) is still missing. Either not much request (Personally I use it a lot in Abe Live) or we can see it added during the beta

[Trancit]

Nevertheless all you Bitwig guys can be happy with the amount of updates and the quantity in them, can´t you??

I think, users of some other DAWs would kill for such big and useful updates of the last year (including this one)...

[goldenanalog]

Just my 2c: Bitwigs is a brilliant business model imho - you buy a license that includes all updates (including whole versions) for an entire year; you then can either renew the same for what amounts to about $10-$15 a month for another year, OR just stay with what you have in perpetuity AND renew your subscription at any time that you want to in the future. Any time. What makes it especially attractive to me is that you see substantial add-ons even with point upgrades!

My last Bitwig subscription renewal bought me a full 2.X to 3.X upgrade with an additional year of new toys being added - if for whatever reason I can't afford to resubscribe when the current subscription runs out, I'm confident that what I'll have will likely keep me going until I have the means to buy back in.