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Subject:Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Posted by: Iacobus
Date:12/23/2002 2:24:01 PM

I noticed that anyone here hasn't commented on the subject that's been absolutely flaming over in the ACID forum.

In particular, I'm sick and tired of the "I told you so!" doom-and-gloom type of posts. Anyone here care to comment on the subject? I imagine you all to be a more sophisticated lot, as I've noticed for a while now that (as a Sound Forge user) most of the posts here are more mature than over in the ACID forum, where as an ACID user, I, unfortunately, have to wade through the DJ and rock star attitudes, however few. (Most of the community over in that forum is absolutely great, but some of them are unbearable to me.)

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: MyST
Date:12/23/2002 2:36:11 PM

Hi Iacobus.

You think the Acid posts are bad? You haven't been following the Vegas-Video family forum! We're talking SoFo having to deleat threads because of the nastiness going on.
I was kind of hoping the A/V side being sold off wasn't going to happen(contrary to popular opinion). After all, the MediaSite branch could generate cashflow if SoFo decided to go back to it's roots. However, if you take a look at the SoFo homepage, the MediaSite products are now dominating the page.

M

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: David_Kuznicki
Date:12/24/2002 5:07:13 AM

--You think the Acid posts are bad? You haven't been following the Vegas-Video family forum! We're talking SoFo having to deleat threads because of the nastiness going on.

(*sigh*)
Certainly, I was one of the first people to say 'Well, what's next?' But please don't confuse one individual's VERY harsh words (ahem, JoeD) with the masses. It certainly HAS gotten out of hand over there... although I usually have no problems expressing my opinions, I've moved out of the fray. Too many people attacking each other, without any constructive thought as to which direction SoFo may be moving.

Anyway, point being, I encourage everyone to consider what's going on in the other forums (specifically the Vegas forum)... you have one or two people who like to preach gloom and doom, another one who is very foul mouthed, and a large mass of people who are very scared for a product that they hold dear.

As for what's going to happen? I don't know-- I'm hoping that SoFo is getting rid of a product that hasn't hit the market yet, or any other 'asset.' I'd hate to see the SoFo family go elsewhere; they tend to write excellent code, and customer service is top notch. I'd hate to see those efforts potentially undermined by a third party. Not to say that it WILL happen (another company might take some of the A/V products in directions that we haven't even considered yet), but I'd hate to have the possibility introduced.

David.

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: specktron
Date:12/25/2002 1:43:13 AM

I chose SForge over Wavelab a long time ago and haven't regretted it until 6.0. If this is the wave of the future, bah humbugh! Fix the dang thing or give it up coz I have about had it. No wonder so many people use cracks!

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: MyST
Date:12/25/2002 8:03:08 AM

What does cracks have to do with it??? Would it work better if it was a crack?
What's your specific problem? Did you let SoFo know about it through the correct channels?

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/26/2002 12:46:09 AM

?

I have no problems with SF 6.0. (I love it just because edits are in almost every way faster than 5.0.) What's your problem?

I don't see the justification in using a crack if a software title doesn't exactly work for them. To me, that's just a lame (and illegal) excuse to use a great piece of software.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: specktron
Date:12/26/2002 1:36:13 AM

What a bunch of BS. I have posted my problems plain and clear here, search my friggin name. NOT ONE HAS EVEN BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED MUCH LESS FIXED. It worked wonderful thru 5 versions, ALL OF WHICH I PAID FOR WHEN REQUIRED. Now I get this dog called version 6 and it is a bunch of crap with a bunch of idiots running the "support" who have no clue as to what people who have been paying customers for years are even doing with their product. I don't use the cracks, but I can certainly understand why many people do, and it's Wavelab or somebody else who is going to get my cash the next time around.

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: Jessariah
Date:12/26/2002 10:30:35 PM

Sorry, Speck,

But I have to agree with the others. Forge 5 was such a slow-poke, I didn't even bother. 6.0 nailed it. It took half a day to get used to the revised interface, but then it was pure magic.

I agree with all "non-naysayers"...SoFo has the best deal going. It will be a tragedy if these products ever get dumped or fall into the "wrong hands."

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: MyST
Date:12/27/2002 7:49:35 AM

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=3&MessageID=143105

specktron, this is the link where a Sonic tech support admitted to not knowing much about Sonar, but asked about how to reproduce so he could verify the problem. Given it's the holidays, maybe you should give him some extra time to get back to you.
That way, you won't have to come here and talk nonsense about using cracks.
If you didn't realise it, people are always touchy about the mention of cracked versions here, even more so with the present financial situation.

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: specktron
Date:12/28/2002 11:22:24 AM

Ok, I haven't used wavelab for a while so I guess I really don't know how the comparison goes nowdays. I will give you the benfit of the doubt on that. As far as cracks go, I have had many people call me and ask me to help them straighten out their audio computer after some hack has built it and loaded it with cracks from the top down. Not a pretty sight.

5.0 may be slow when compared to 6.0. But speed isn't everything. There are some major bugs in 6.0. I can run 70-80 tracks with 8 to 10 cheap fx in Sonar. Two or three plugins trip up the 6.0 plugin chainer. When I contact support about a problem, I get stupid stock responses that explain the difference between media player and SF. And Sonic has never heard of moving more than one piece of audio at a time between SF and Cake????????? Plus the constant save errors which are supposed to be getting fixed (or will that cost me another $300, too?). I realize not everyone is a power user, but it just seems the support is becoming more and more geared toward the casual user who wants to convert a few waves to mp3s. If that is the way of the future for this product, I can't go there. Unless some of this stuff addressed, I guess I will just have to spend more money to get the professional results I need to stay in business.

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/28/2002 10:57:13 PM

Spektron,
I agree with your observations, and I think that is one of the major reasons why Sonic Foundry is in trouble. You have power users like ourselves who have used these programs from the beginning, because they started out as the leader on the PC side for pro features. The problem is Sonic Foundry have seem to been marketing more for the everyday Joe who wants to play around with making MP3 files and recording cassettes to CD. The problem now lies that now the "Pro" user feels neglected for features and bug update fixes and the everyday Joe sees the program as being too expensive and cumbersome to use because of all the features that don't understand. So basically both sides are unhappy. If you're an everyday Joe who uses the program once in awhile, you don't want to pay the high dollar for a lot of features you will never use, while the power users don't mind the dollar amount so much, but want a program not infested with bugs and is falling behind the pack in features. So basically they've developed a LOSE/LOSE situation, where I think there original intention was to spread the product to more users by getting more sales through the everyday joe. I think there's something to be said about that....You can't make ALL the people happy and you need to pick one direction or the other, otherwise no one's happy and no one buys the product. If you're gonna market for the everyday Joe, then you better slim the product down and make it a $50 purchase. If you're gonna go for the power user, you better have the latest features that are demanded and have quick updates for new product bugs. Basically neither is happening and you see what's happening.

Subject:RE: Potential SoFo selloff not talked about here...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/28/2002 11:11:37 PM

I've heard the entire industry is in the doldrums, not just SoFo. Witness Emagic and Steinberg (though Steinberg will still exist as itself under Pinnacle; to some extent, I think the same will happen to SoFo's A/V line). We'll just all have to wait until around February, I guess.

Iacobus

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