Subject:Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Posted by: sreams

Date:2/19/2001 9:52:45 PM

Wow. Just got an email from newproducts@sonicfoundry.com.
Sound Forge 5.0 is available now for the promotional price
of $99 for anyone and everyone (who knows about the
promotion)... not just upgraders. Sounds like the unload
price of the century. What's rediculous is... all those
users that invested hundreds of dollars in the Sound Forge
product get no break at all on the upgrade. It's still $99.
I wouldn't pay $99 for what Sound Forge has become... but I
would GLADLY pay $500 for it if it included CD Architect.
How many times do you have to be bonked on the head before
you realize this, SF? Sound Forge can be a best seller at a
much higher price if you just get the CD Architect thing
right. It's really not all that hard to figure out.

-S

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: MikeOlson

Date:2/20/2001 5:04:06 AM

That is odd. According to the SF Web site, Version 5.0 in a downloadable form is available now for $349.30, and the packaged version will be available on 3/19/01 for $449.10. No mention of upgrades.

This is the first time I've ever seen a company offically sell a product and beta test it at the same time. (Of course, Microsoft has built an entire empire on unoffically selling products that are simultaneously undergoing continuous, life-cycle beta test by its paying customers, but that's another story).

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: studioman3

Date:2/20/2001 7:13:26 PM

I got that stupid email, too. Sorry, but if I paid over
$300 for 4.5, why would I pay another $99 for the
equivalent of nothing? Or even better, a downgrade? 5.0
is not worth $99! This is a sign of desperate behavior! I
could probably pay $20 to have the beta cracked! That's
sad. COME ON PEOPLE! I kind of like the way "Steinberg"
rolls of the toungue...

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: Ted_H

Date:2/21/2001 11:06:26 AM

Hi All,

The $99.00 special is going on for a limited time. We have
always done special pricing with the release of new
products.

Ted

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: sreams

Date:2/21/2001 11:12:41 AM

Ted,

It would be nice to see some kind of special for your
existing customers as well. Since I already own SF4, the
special doesn't benefit me at all. The upgrade price is
always $99. Shouldn't your dedicated customers be first on
your list to get some kind of break?

-Scott

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: cbeck715

Date:2/21/2001 3:27:17 PM

Hey Ted, (If that is your real name),
How much effort would it take to include cda in 5.0? It
obvious from the posts that a lot, (meaning 90% of
sonicfoundry customers), would like to see cda continued in
5.0, so who matters the most? The suits who seem to be
steering the company away from the glory days of past right
into the toilet,or the customers who have to this point,
been loyal users of your products.Answering to the
stockholders,( of which I am one)is one thing, but
neglecting your core group of customers, who put your
company on the map is shameful.So how about a stright
answer? How much effort to put cda into 5.0?

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: Ted_H

Date:2/21/2001 5:56:51 PM

Hello,

It is not possible to make CD Architect available in the
menus of version 5.0 (especially since it has already been
released), which is why we designed it to coexist with
version 4.5 on the same machine. Your files will have to
be truncated to 16-bit before bringing them into CD
Architect anyway.

Ted
(Okay you got me, my real name is Theodore.)

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: cbeck715

Date:2/21/2001 6:31:44 PM

Theodore,
Thanks for the quick reply, I'm not dumping on you, I (we)
would just like some answers as to why 5.0 did not include
cda, and why upper management in their wisdom (yeah,right)
seems to be ignoring a lot of their customer base.If any of
you upper management types, (and we know your reading the
posts)have half the cajones of Theodore, we would like to
here from you.

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: studioman3

Date:2/21/2001 7:02:01 PM

I thought it was a given that anything to printed as audio
on ANY cd in ANY program would have to be dithered to 16
bit anyway. Like we forgot. Theo, your a hip dude, but
what are the REAL reasons? We may understand if you just
fill us in. Like, "oh, well, Sonic Foundry is recieving
massive amounts of money to redesign SF for a particular
style of editing which, unfourtunately cannot include the
programming archetecture that will support external
programs in the menus." Oh! OK! Money! That's
acceptable. I'd do it to!

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: sreams

Date:2/21/2001 8:23:39 PM

Ted,

Besides the issue of CDA, I think one of the big points
here is that your existing customers, the ones who spent
hundreds of dollars on Sound Forge and it's upgrades, feel
let down right now. You are offering SF5 to any Joe on the
street (as long as he gets a hold of the URL) for $99. So,
in effect, people who have never put a dime into any Sonic
Foundry Product are getting $300 off, while your existing
dedicated customers get no break at all, and in fact pay
exactly the same amount as the brand new customers PLUS the
hundreds previously spent. Any comment on this obvious
discrepancy?

-Scott

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: Ted_H

Date:2/22/2001 10:57:41 AM

Hello,

We've always offered special prices for new programs. Some
of you may remember that Vegas Video was $399.00 for the
first month. This way, our existing users are still
getting the standard upgrade price, and maybe we will
attract some new users as well.

Ted

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: sreams

Date:2/22/2001 3:01:57 PM

True, but the upgrade from Vegas Pro to Vegas Video was
much less than that. There is no line now between a
dedicated customer doing an upgrade and a brand new
customer. Your old customers would really just like to feel
like they are respected as dedicated customers. A
promotional upgrade price of $49 would do the trick... just
for as long as the new purchase price was at $99.

-S

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: billybk

Date:2/23/2001 8:03:27 AM

I am a registered user of Vegas Video 2.0,Acid Pro 2.0,
CD Arch, Siren, Sound Forge 4.5XP and over a dozen
Acid loop libraries. I have invested well over a
thousand dollars in Sonic Foundry software. I do
appreciate the opportunity to purchase Sound Forge 5.0
for the pre-release promotional price of $99.00 as a
downloadable product. There was a slight delay in getting
the serial number, but a quick response from the SF
online customer service department with my serial number
solved the problem. Sure the inclusion of CD Arch
within SF 5.0 would have made it the Mother of all
Mastering Apps, but I can still master my projects to
a stereo 16/44 wave file and then import into my
SF 4.5XP/CD Arch program and burn from there. Without
this promotional download price I would not have even
bothered with SF 5.0 (I already have Cool Edit 2000)
but I just could not turn this incredible offer down.
I believe it is a win-win situation. I get an incredible
piece of software at an extremely affordable price
and SF gets my $99.00 without incurring the costs
of sales and marketing,distribution,packaging,
and so on. I will be using SF 5.0 as my mastering app,
I really like the Wave Hammer for final processing, and
CD Arch to burn my final wave files. I can't wait to
upgrade to Acid Pro 3.0 and Vegas Video 3.0 in the near
future:-).... Hey Ted, I know you have taken a lot of grief
lately over this SF 5.0/CD Arch business, but it's
just loyal customers who want Sound Forge to be the best
it can be. As it is it still is a pretty good program.

Bill Buck

Subject:RE: Wow... now we know Sound Forge is in trouble...

Reply by: InformationSponge

Date:2/26/2001 7:50:38 AM

Funny thing. I remember plinking down over a hundred bucks
for one of the XFX packs. Now they can be had for less
than $40. I think they are starting to realize that their
software is overpriced and the competition will eat them
for lunch if they don't lower their prices. :)