Subject:Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Posted by: DjiDoe

Date:7/14/2004 7:41:07 AM

The wait is not over... I was expecting to see AP5 lunched at Summer NAMM but no news about a new release :(

Maybe a "back in school" release for september ?

Please Sony, tell us something... will AP5 be out for Christmas ? Maybe Santa is working hard for us ?

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: buckaroo

Date:7/14/2004 9:19:35 AM

LETS HOPE SO _ ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: billybk

Date:7/14/2004 11:41:05 AM

"I was expecting to see AP5 lunched at Summer NAMM but no news about a new release :("

That does not surprise me, from what I read, Sony Media Software, will not even be showcasing (have a booth) @ Summer NAMM 2004. As far as a release date for ACID Pro 5, probably near the annual AES, in October, is my best guess. But, then what do I know :)

Billy Buck

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Spirit

Date:7/14/2004 10:25:41 PM

Hopeless. Utterly hopeless. You can't expect to maintain market share with such a pitiful update schedule.

I think Sony really needs to give some indication of what's going on. Christmas !?

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Maruuk

Date:7/15/2004 11:49:11 AM

I think AP is getting chewed on from its core market content competitors on the underside rather than the topside--which is a market Sofo has never chosen to address anyway. AP is cheap and simple to operate--the loops just start rockin right out of the box. Intuitive interface, easy loop review.

So now its fellow bottom-feeders like Garageband that threaten AP at its core--easy, fast, cheap and deep. I know folks who've switched over to Mac just for Garageband. It's what AP was supposed to be before the AP4 identity-crisis bugfest. Am I a looper or a sequencer? Am I a full-featured audio app or dance mixer? Shall I go to the ball as a pumpkin or Cinderella?

If Sony can solve the Who Am I dilemma for AP with 5.0, they got somethin. Garageband knows exactly who it is, like Acid used to.

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: coolout

Date:7/15/2004 12:37:21 PM

i actually switched from mac to pc back when acid pro 3 came out. i think apple's garageband ard soundtrack are pretty much acid pro 2 + 3 ripoffs, but i'll admit had they been around 3 years ago i probably wouldn't have switched.

too late now...i'm no longer a "mac snob" i just don't trust them after the os 9 to os x migration. they'll screw customers in a second to remain on "cutting edge" and up until the emagic buyout pro audio was the retard, bastard child forced to eat in his room.

"OH...sorry your plug-ins and apps won't work on our new OS that comes standard in all our computers. you'll get most of them back in a year or two." they don't believe in backward compatability. can you imagine if none of your win98/me audio apps worked in XP?

they're a hardware company so their interest is in constantly forcing users to start over from scratch to sell them new hardware in the name of "staying current". i still have a crap load of scsi hard drives, ADB dongles and midi interfaces, and os 9 software sitting in a closet.

i think i'll stick with XP and acid pro.

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: rmeuk

Date:7/15/2004 12:59:25 PM

>>i actually switched from mac to pc back when acid pro 3 came out. <<

Haha! I know how you feel. I did exactly the same. Goodbye Mac after 10 years. No going back.
I bought my first PC when ACID came out, because I had to. Only to see that PC's can be quite useful and reliable, too.

I love that everything keeps working when switching to a newer OS version on PC's.
Not to mention when my host sequencer get's a major update like Nuendo 1 to Nuendo 2 ALL the plugins and VSTi's keep working!! :-)

I've been on ProTools/Mac for 10 years. Man, were upgrades painful then!!
Sometime you had to wait for a year until your plugins were working again and you were hit by hefty upgrade fees!The plugins rarely had any improvements apart from being compatible with the new OS&ProTools version. Main culprit: Waves!

I've been working with Ableton Live for quite some time now, because I need something that integrates with a professional sequencer like Nuendo/Cubase.
Shame that Sony can't do the same with ACID. I'd rather use that!

If they don't come up with something soon it will be the death of ACID.

It's sad but life's too short to worry about that.....

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Maruuk

Date:7/15/2004 6:48:14 PM

There are guys that love to keep tweaking their PC's to work, and guys who find Macs which skip past all the Trojan horses and viruses and security issues just a dream to work with for music apps, and will never, ever go back to a dysfunctional world built by sleazy morons like Bill Gates. Not that Jobs ain't way sleazy himself.

Garageband has addressed a number of issues for the casual and serious user alike who just wants to get on with it, and doesn't have time to spend on a learning curve or hunting for loop resources, etc. It's quite amazing in ways with the imbedded midi info right in the loop (!) and tons of other simple, intuitive tricks up its sleeve.

My point was that AP's enemy is not the fancy full-spec apps but the cheap n deep quickie loopers like Garageband. Because AP can't beat the big boys at their game--that's never been the battle they wanted to fight anyway. They vie for the sooper looper crown, and right now, 5.0 has gotta be really something to take the title back from the contender. Garageband has excited reviewers like AP used to. And right there lies the tale.

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Spirit

Date:7/15/2004 8:14:57 PM

The other problem is that there is simply nothing to say about Acid except "No upgrade in two years and no word on when it will be upgraded".

That's bad. Especially when there's plenty to say about at least a half-dzoen regularly updated competitors.

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Maruuk

Date:7/16/2004 1:30:08 AM

Plus Sony has got itself boxed in with this product. It's branding identity thunder is getting stolen by Ableton, Apple even cheap hardware recorders that include looping. The products dorectly above it in price, features and professional stature have gotten staggeringly complete and interconnected. Products below it are even more fun and inuitive, and have a host of clever new features and ergonomic perks.

Frankly I don't see where you steer AP right now where there isn't a lot of traffic. If I was Sony, Ken Kutaragi to be specific, I'd bundle a cheap hardware card similar to a UA device that provided spectacular performance enhancements and firmware goodies and plug-in FX bonanzas. Make it an inexpensive must-have bundle such that AP without it would seem half-baked and hoplessly limited.

Short some surprise like that, what we gonna get...more synths? More plug-ins? More midi-support? Better loop and instrument organization? A poor man's Garageband for the PC? zzzzzzzz

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: coolout

Date:7/16/2004 3:34:31 AM

"A poor man's Garageband for the PC?"

well considering it's FREE with every new mac you can't get any cheaper.

i don't think many people are considering getting a new mac just for these apps. nether garageband nor soundtrack is perfect and there still are features AP4 has that they don't. take the chopper for instance.

plus, look at the prices for going mac: the cheapest new mac is 800 bucks. not bad but when you consider it's an all-in-one (no pci slots) and you'll have to buy a firewire/usb 2.0 external hard drive and audio interface you'll actually get less for your money.

not that i'm preaching to the choir, but the whole solution to the trojan horse/virus point maruuk brought up is simply to get serious and have a dedicated PC for music. i'm using my 5 year old 500mhz/win98se celeron for web/productivity/goofin' around but i also have my year and half old P4/XP audio computer hooked up with a KVM switch. not much extra bulk just two towers living side-by-side and sharing the same keyboard, monitor, and mouse. i never have to worry about what goes inside my audio computer because i have networking disabled most times but if i want to download something i can put it on the crap machine, scan it, try it out, and then move it over to my DAW.

crappy old PC = 150-250 bucks
KVM switch and cables= 50-75 bucks
LAN card and ethernet cables= 10-15 bucks each
piece of mind = priceless

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: dabb

Date:7/16/2004 8:25:10 AM

Forget it..! Its not rocket science. Looks to me like Sony is saying Vegas is the way to go. I've seen other apps take the same road before people realize thats it no more. I can't believe the arrogance of Sony in not announcing at least if they are working on it or not. All you hear are the hard liners fantasizing.

dabb

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Maruuk

Date:7/16/2004 1:21:25 PM

coolout speaks truth--these days for PC owners, you pretty much have to suck it up and get hardass on firewalls and self-protection of your DAW. We're getting attacked from all sides (including tickles from the DOD--check the IP address owners of your attackers sometimes--scary).

Before 4.0, all kinds of SOFO folk were in these pages handholding and updating progress during the interminable wait. Now--nada.

I do a lot of work with top film composers. They all got knocked out by Acid when it first hit, and played with it for a while. Now they all loop with pro apps (Performer/Nuendo/Logic/Reason/Rewire hookup/Etc). They appreciate AP--they just don't use it anymore as they need way more than AP's got under the hood. Acid's become a beloved yet discarded toy for them, like Woody or Buzz Lightyear.

"You know...for kids." --Tim Robbins as Norville Barnes, The Hudsucker Proxy

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Rajah

Date:7/16/2004 2:19:49 PM

Have been playing with Live 3 demo.... not bad... You can really PLAY with it... Brings back memories of the old Mixman..

Subject:RE: Acid 5 for Summer NAMM ?

Reply by: Maruuk

Date:7/16/2004 3:01:14 PM

I've never been able to figure out why Sofo couldn't patent Acidized loops. With everybody under the sun compatible now, Ableton Live/Garageband seemed to have captured the low ground, the Big Boys rule the serious appland, and AP is sitting here in limbo, waiting for the tide to turn.

With zero buzz, absentee support crew updates, and the competition ablaze with hot new features and utility, how does AP grow a market? Like I say, a slick hardware bundle could blow away the market. And Sony's the perfect company to do it. Their new PS3 chip has awesome audio dsp capability. What with PC's banging against the performance ceiling at around 3.6 Mz, a cool little blockbuster Acid-only card bundled with AP 5 would get huge attention from everyone looking for a lo-cost solution to the price/performance issue and put AP back on the map. You listening, Kutaragi-san?