One Step Forward, Two Steps Back...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Late last week (or was it early this week?) I told Adam that I was gonna risk the Wrath of the Guy from high atop the Thing and put up the product page for Bitcom.
In retrospect, there might have been a little bit of hubris on my part.
We have hit a brick wall in Bitcom dev, in the form of a deadly bug that causes a hard crash in Logic. It took us a while to track down the source of the bug, but it appears to be in the VST3 SDK provided by Steinberg; specifically, the AU wrapper. We were, late yesterday, basically presented with three options:
1. Ship it as-is, knowing about this bug. (It doesn’t prevent the plug-in from working; it hard crashes Logic when you remove the plug-in from a track while the GUI is open.)
2. Re-write the entire plug-in in VST2.4.
3. Set it aside, wait for a fix or some guidance from Steinberg, and work on something else.
This is a comparatively simple plug-in, so #2 was an option that we pondered for a bit. #1 is really out of the question, of course. We ultimately settled on #3. As soon as we get a fix from Steinberg and verify that it works, we can put Bitcom on sale. There is nothing else holding it back. So it seemed a little drastic to go all cray-cray.
So, while we’re waiting, we’ll be putting out something else. I’m not going to say how long it will take or what it entails, or even what it is. Apparently, I need to placate the Guy again.
In other news, yours truly will be heading to NAMM next week, of course. Any other AI readers going to be attending? Anything in particular you want me to scope out?
24 comments
That sucks balls. Is releasing the Windows version first an option?
Regarding NAMM, I've been out of the gear-watching loop for a while. Anything particularly good to keep an eye out for?
Tell (all, apparently) manufacturers that 25 key integrated keyboards ARE NOT cool. I would gladly spend the appropriate extra expense to get AT LEAST 37, preferably 44 or 49 if they really need to keep the size down.
Based on the rumors, the new TipTop stuff should be pretty interesting. Some kind of trigger sequencer to go with all the drum modules. I also wonder if they're going to finally release their 8voice mega oscillator.
drag about bitcom. i'm part of the gaggle of people looking forward to that one. As a FUCKING logic user i think you made the right call.
steinberg should give you guys some free shit or something.. for finding the bug in their dev shit.
NAMM: Not Available. Maybe March. of course.. all things modular/eurorack.. makenoise, tiptop, etc. track down shawn at analogue haven and say thanks for waterproofing his UPS packages.
if you want to go hassle clavia for me that'd be great. tell them to release a full software version of the nord modular as VST/AU/Standalone because it will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. ;) but really.. i'd love for them to asked every 20 minutes about wtf they are doing w/the pile of R/D gathered from the nord modular years and "why not software version it'd be better anyways.. take my money!"
oh, and make sure you wear the "I mean really.. a 24db filter? who gives a fuck?" T-shirt.
OK so three women are sitting in a bar. The first one says "my lover is a wrestler, forceful and agressive". The second says "my lover is an artist, sensitive and expressive". The third says "my lover is a VST plug-in developer, he just sits on the edge of the bed and tells me how good it's gonna be when I finally get it". Bummer on that one bug!
I'm with boobs.
Seriously what Boobs said about Clavia, maybe bring the GUI up to date on it too.
@kslight - Unfortunately, I have a feeling that there are more of those coming out... Is Moog showing theirs at NAMM?
I'll be there, hanging around the modular camp for a lot of the time I'm sure, and certainly not atop a certain boob, uh boot, doing jäger shots... That doesn't mean I'm not with boobs, 'cause I am.
@boobs: I think I almost made Sean cry with that one. "BUT IT HAS 24! DECIBELS!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU????"
If I was in a P-Funk cover band I'm sure I'd have a different opinion.
-CR
Teenage Engineering if they're back - looked fun last year. Moog has a new synth, which they've teased on their website but who knows. I'll be looking at freaky guitar pedals mostly. Hope to see you there and can't wait for your Snark Report 2013... still laughing from last years!
@CR - yeah.. was like you spit in his mom's face or kicked his dog.
also, just read this on gearslutz (of course):
"I am biased of course, but I think we may have created one of the most powerful single synth voices ever with this one. To the folks who think "the modern Moogs" sound too polite and refined, lacking in edge or bite... that topic is about to be closed."
i'll post the link so anyone feeling weak can get sucked into the abyss
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/801334-namm-2013-next-moog-14.html#post8630414
NEW MOOG
If you guys think I'm gonna spend any more time with the "new Moog" than I did with last year's "new Moog" (both of which are yet another re-hash of Moogs created 30 years ago) then you don't know me very well.
I do know that there at least two companies who actually do make an effort to move things forward in time rather than backwards that are announcing pretty slick products. One of them even has a tiny bit of Audio Damage DNA in it, in a round-about sort of way.
-CR
@CR: Why are you getting manopause of the mangina just because I love Moog filters?
Anyway, on to NAMGLA: NEW KORG!!!! MINI MS20!!! WHOOOOOO!!!!!
Why don't you just release the vst version with a big flashing gif on the sales page telling people that the au version is en-route? I understand that can be a bad habit to get into, but if you just reserve it for special circumstances like this, most of your user-base should understand.
I don't know anything about software development. I do know that some people put out something and then release a steady stream of fixes, while others put out something and then never release another version until features are added and it always works perfectly. I have to think better of the latter.
Of course most developers lie somewhere in between, and I'm sure it's more complicated than that, blah blah blah. But it always sort of seemed to me like putting out a song and then coming back later with a version with a better chorus, and then a better bass sound....
bb
Some fixes are inevitable. There's only so much we can test. But we haven't ever put out something knowing it was broken, or doing it Apple-style with what is, for all intents and purposes, a paid beta. As you say, a bad habit to get in to.
-CR
I'm disappointed, but I do think the Audio Damage rep for solidity/QC is worth preserving.
That being said, I want Bitcom pretty bad.
- c
The first thing I think of when I see those Korg Rumour photoshops are an analog with a triton style OS.
Elektron, hopefully do an analog drum box with a machinedrum OS with option to load samples.
Solid working product is more important than pleasing half the base with a half ass working release. I think AD only wants happy money.
We'll take any money at this point. ;-) But yeah, happy money is healthy money.
-CR
I'd love to hear about the build quality of Push.
Disappointing but hats off to you guys for deciding to delay things until everything works as planned. Releasing "buggy" stuff can't possibly do good things for you long term. I'm so woefully disappointed with Steinberg in the last 2 years I'm hardly surprised to find out their dev shit is buggy. Idiots.
Gearslutz is one of those fora with a noise/signal ratio that approaches infinity.
Cheers,
Alan Tomlinson
Yes GS has been sliding for more than half a decade. It actually made me start posting, which has to be some form of personally counterproductive masochism or something.
Hey Chris, is there any relation between this and the Filterstation bug I reported for Logic?
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