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Author Topic: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?  (Read 31434 times)

Barry Hufker

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #15 on: April 03, 2006, 11:01:12 PM »

First quarter of 2006 has come and gone.  No Soundblade....


Barry
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TotalSonic

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #16 on: April 03, 2006, 11:52:54 PM »

Barry Hufker wrote on Tue, 04 April 2006 04:01

First quarter of 2006 has come and gone.  No Soundblade....



I've kind of held my tongue to date as I wanted to see what would transpire in terms of the new releases from Sonic Studio - but honestly - their development times are so slow it's verging on the pathetic - simply put:  they've been out classed in the past several years in this regard by nearly everyone else in the DAW app industry.  I mean - geez - SAWStudio is coded by just ONE person and they've managed to put out 8 free updates containing numerous feature enhancements for all 3 levels of their product in the past 12 months - and I've actually seen them issue maintainance releases within a few hours after a bug was reported!  While other DAW app companies might not be able to claim something as extreme as this - I think Samplitude/Sequoia & Wavelab have both shown consistent levels of support in the past few years that would make me a lot more confident in purchasing them rather than Sonic if I was going to start equipping a mastering studio from scratch.

So open letter to any Sonic Studio developers reading this:
You guys need to step up your game or give it up - this isn't 1996, let alone 1991, anymore and there are tons of other choices out there.  Thing is - I'm actually rooting for you - based on the 2005 AES preview it looks like there are some really cool things that Soundblade could do for the ME wanting to stay on a Mac platform.  So - time to man up and get this stuff out there.    

Best regards,
Steve Berson

jfrigo

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #17 on: April 04, 2006, 11:32:24 PM »

TotalSonic wrote on Mon, 03 April 2006 20:52

...I mean - geez - SAWStudio is coded by just ONE person and they've managed to put out 8 free updates containing numerous feature enhancements for all 3 levels of their product in the past 12 months


I make no apologies for them, but in fairness, there's not a room full of coders for Sonic either. They have managed to release several updates for DDP including CD-Text support, and PMCD shipped Q1 2006. My understanding of Soundblade's timeline has always been summer 2006, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had stated an earlier date before I started paying attention.

That said, they certainly are behind the curve and I'm just as frustrated as the next guy waiting for a real OSX mastering DAW. But I know they are working hard to make up the ground they lost from the unpleasant legacy of the "parent" company. They're building a new program from scratch, not just updating an existing one, so I'll give 'em a little while longer. They'll either come back with a bang, or be gone with whimper.
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Bob Boyd

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #18 on: April 05, 2006, 12:01:04 PM »

jfrigo wrote on Tue, 04 April 2006 22:32

They're building a new program from scratch, not just updating an existing one,


Therein lies part of the problem IMO.  Wouldn't it make more sense to work on 1 (maybe 2) programs rather than 3 at the same time from the ground up?

Also, if they would lower their price point and follow something more like Peak and Peak LE pricing, they would sell more copies and could hire additional coders.  They seem to have missed that fact that there are other programs that do more that are priced cheaper.  Not a great business model.
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Bob Boyd
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Bob Boyd

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #19 on: April 05, 2006, 12:20:16 PM »

jfrigo wrote on Tue, 04 April 2006 22:32

That said, they certainly are behind the curve and I'm just as frustrated as the next guy waiting for a real OSX mastering DAW.

Jay,

What feature set qualifies as a "mastering DAW" in your opinion?  Outside of some plug-in support, you can't really do any "mastering" in these apps.  They are really just assembly programs and while it's far from being perfect, I can't really see what Sonic is offering that you can't get (and often do better) in Peak 5 Pro (or something like WaveBurner).  Peak has DDP export, etc but I've never had a request for it - even from the labels.
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Bob Boyd
ambientdigital, Houston

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Look, I know it's mean.  But sometimes the end justifies the mean.

Barry Hufker

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2006, 01:02:20 PM »

I have followed Peak through a host of versions.  And I was an early adopter (and early leaver) of SPARK.

The problem with Peak is that it has never been a professional program.  Version 5 comes closest but there is one problem after another -- too many to list -- and editing in this version is a nightmare.  I always go to version 4 to edit.

WaveLabs doesn't happen on a Mac.

I had hoped Sonic would offer something truly professional -- what does that mean?  Good features, but more than that dependable quality and great ease of use.  That is *not* Peak.

That Sonic is late getting Soundblade out the door tells me that Sonic hasn't changed.  When they offered their first workstation they were extremely overpriced and extremely slow with updates.  Now I see this pattern emerging with Soundblade.

I pray someone somewhere comes up with a truly professional piece of software.  What we consider to be professional software isn't.  If the software we had now was the same quality (of use and construction) as an analog tape recorder, we'd have dumped that pup a long time ago.  At the moment, "professional" software isn't professional because of features and dependablility, it is only professional to the extent that we professionals use it -- but so does the kid down the block.

Barry

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rnicklaus

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2006, 01:24:54 PM »

In my opinion, the issue with using Peak or Spark is that editing is about as weak as it can get.

With Sonic - and I have just been a client on tons of Sonic sessions, never an operator - you can do a complicated single edit and come back to it later and just change ONE edit in the track.  None of the undo useless nonsense.

At least pro tools has the feature where you can edit a track and come back to any point at any time and just tweak that section.

I'm sure the PC based apps do this.

But why anyone on earth would make a mastering app without the best editing options is beyond me.
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Bob Boyd

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #22 on: April 05, 2006, 04:57:53 PM »

I will agree with you completely on the editing in Peak.  Except for trimming edges, I don't edit in Peak and from what I can tell, it is pretty crude.  But, for recording the master into your computer, playlist assembly, ISRC codes, CD-Text, and ID's, for the most part, I think it does fine.

Don't get me wrong, I have my own list of complaints about Peak and have made them known on the Bias webboard.

I will gladly spend some more time with the demo, but not being able to record your files with PreMaster CD and SonicStudio DDP seems to be an oversight to me.
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Bob Boyd
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Look, I know it's mean.  But sometimes the end justifies the mean.

Ronny

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #23 on: April 05, 2006, 05:16:21 PM »



Didn't Soundblade run off with Dynamo Girl?
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------Ronny Morris - Digitak Mastering------
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Barry Hufker

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #24 on: April 05, 2006, 11:49:07 PM »

I believe you're right!  Issue #46 -- Captain Analog's Revenge.



Barry
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jfrigo

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #25 on: April 06, 2006, 12:15:53 AM »

Bob Boyd wrote on Wed, 05 April 2006 09:01

jfrigo wrote on Tue, 04 April 2006 22:32

They're building a new program from scratch, not just updating an existing one,


Therein lies part of the problem IMO.  Wouldn't it make more sense to work on 1 (maybe 2) programs rather than 3 at the same time from the ground up?

Also, if they would lower their price point and follow something more like Peak and Peak LE pricing, they would sell more copies and could hire additional coders.  They seem to have missed that fact that there are other programs that do more that are priced cheaper.  Not a great business model.


The three apps share plenty of code which is why you see the simpler ones being ready first.

As for product placement, if they go too low end, they lose the high end market that has been their core use base. $795 for a Sonic product in PMCD is already a significant change of pace. Heck, Audio Cube can get $20K for a computer running Wavelab...

Again, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with everything you are saying, but rather giving a bit of "devil's advocate" to think about.
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TotalSonic

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #26 on: April 06, 2006, 02:41:17 AM »

jfrigo wrote on Thu, 06 April 2006 05:15

 Heck, Audio Cube can get $20K for a computer running Wavelab...



and I will state that anyone who spends that much for Audio Cube is really being an idiot considering you could build your own PC DAW with specs certainly just as good as the boxes being offered and load up apps and plugins that would give you just as good if not better results for half that price.

Granted - there are a number of proprietary plugins that come with it - and certainly some of them are likely useful - but for the same cash there are tons of processors that I think will get you further and farther - and I think a big reason why it is actually fairly uncommon to see Audio Cube used even in high end mastering studios.

Anyway - my point with the above rant is that the DAW market has changed dramatically in the past 10 years and the general price point for great products has markedly gone down - so to base a business plan on a high per unit cost just because the label is put on it that it is "professional" - when there are existing products already that have just as many features for less cash - is not necessarilly a good idea!

Best regards,
Steve Berson

bblackwood

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #27 on: April 06, 2006, 07:40:17 AM »

jfrigo wrote on Wed, 05 April 2006 23:15

As for product placement, if they go too low end, they lose the high end market that has been their core use base.

I'd say they've missed the boat when it comes to the high end market. I'll bet AudioCube installed more new systems in high-end mastering houses in the last few years than Sonic did. Sonic HD is a good product, but with their legendary history of terrible support along with their development speed that rivals that of buggy whips, they might as well be a brand new company - the core user base has moved on...
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Brad Blackwood
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jfrigo

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #28 on: April 06, 2006, 10:25:57 PM »

bblackwood wrote on Thu, 06 April 2006 04:40

jfrigo wrote on Wed, 05 April 2006 23:15

As for product placement, if they go too low end, they lose the high end market that has been their core use base.

I'd say they've missed the boat when it comes to the high end market. I'll bet AudioCube installed more new systems in high-end mastering houses in the last few years than Sonic did. Sonic HD is a good product, but with their legendary history of terrible support along with their development speed that rivals that of buggy whips, they might as well be a brand new company - the core user base has moved on...


All true, but I do think if they manage to come out with something good, they can win back some users, and earn some new ones. The Sonic name is still associated with high end mastering, and that's something they probably want to trade on. Other than that addendum, I don't disagree.
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bblackwood

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Re: Anybody know what happened to Soundblade?
« Reply #29 on: April 06, 2006, 11:27:26 PM »

jfrigo wrote on Thu, 06 April 2006 21:25

The Sonic name is still associated with high end mastering

Was, imo.
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Brad Blackwood
euphonic masters
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