DIGI-Please Provide Us More Information

[NBH]

Hi.

As a Digi User, I would appreciate being kept in the loop of new product development and the future of Pro Tools. As a user, I have made an incredible $ investment in the product and continue to upgrade my system. The problem is that as a company you do not share enough information to make good buying decisions. I could see if this product was a $10,000 set-up but it is not.

Please do a better job of keeping us informed. The last post in the 'announcements' section was in May. Surely the company has not stopped moving forward between now and then. Please respect your customer and the respective business decisions we all have to make. Allow us to rely on fact not rumour of new products and development of older ones.

Pro Tools is great. The Customer Support is Great. The Tours of products are great. BUT, the communication is very poor.

Is this just me or do other users AND CUSTOMERS feel the same way.

Thank You!

[InSights7]

I feel the same way.

It has always been a Digidesign and AVID policy to keep us in the dark on this issue. I guess it is more profitable for them, as they can still sell their older technology up to the hour of a new release. One good and important thing, is that they have always had a generous upgrade path.

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Dan Matthews
InSight Sound Recording

[Felix]

I've felt this way ever since I made my first Digidesign purchase. I've even asked some determining questions to a Digi rep. in person. They gave me ambiguous answers. My questions were answered by the release of the product I was asking about- after I had purchased what I thought was the only solution. Their trade-up/upgrade program doesn't make sense to me either. I guess that's just how its gotta be.

[MGalway]

NBH,

I am also a PT user, but I have _no_ desire to see Digi announcing its plans any more often than once or twice a year. They will lose market advantage if they do. Which leads to lower revenues and smaller product advances over the long term. They're not under any _obligation_ to tell you what they'll make in the future! You either buy their stuff or you don't. And if you buy something else simply because Digi don't tell you anything, well ask yourself if that other company is always pre-announcing what it's long-term dev direction is - ;cos they're probably not (Emagic, motu, etc.).

May I also wager that you are suffering from pre-AES Digi-lack-of-info syndrome. It has been 11 months since they showed PT5 & the 001. When I saw that I thought Digi were fantastic again, on top of the pile. That feeling is wearing off. But it wears off every summer, especially in August before AES. Once you see the new products you'll feel much better. Going back to prior AES shows we saw the debut of PT Mix, the d24 and PT4 I think. Each time I had thought they were the fat old dinosaue of the industry, and they proved me wrong with great products. 1 month from now will be 1 week before AES - rumours & leaks will be flying all over about the new stuff. Prepare thyself.

[KingTor]

yeah, I saw the debut of PT Mix at AES -- about a week after I'd spent $30,000 on a d24 system. Which is probably why they gave me an extra DSP Farm and a bunch of plugs. I was a bit upset at first that I'd been allowed to buy an obsolete product, but I've come to understand the policy. One nice thing is that they very rarely (if ever) show a product at AES or NAB that isn't on the market. Compare that to Mackie showing prototypes of the D8B for YEARS before one was even close to being available.

[Kasper]

Good point KingTor-

Digi is pretty good about- when they show it they actually have it, but I do think they keep us in the dark a lot more than any other company, mainly because they don't develop the product as fast as other companies do. Too many of Digi's decisions of late seem to be based on fear, the crippled PT Le for example. The current state of MIDI in PT is horrible, not that I use MIDI much but perhaps I would if PT could do it better. To me, it seems like they are holding back and just hanging on to very outdated and overpriced hardware. Look at the MOTU boxes. If I could run PT on that hardware I would never buy another Digi box again, nor would anyone else and that is the fear they have. I just hope they realize that the market is changing and they must change with it and release some killer new stuff that is priced competitively at AES.

[MGalway]

First rumour of AES stuff to "fly about" ?

I was just at a MARS plug-ins demo. The Digi guy said he'd just been to the headquarters in CA and had heard Digi's new in-house 2-channel reverb, to supplant D-Verb. It's supposed to be really nice. (of course he would say that). I guess it will be on show at AES. ho-hum.

[F.J.]

Personally I would rather they spend a little more time on getting the products they already have realeased working properly. A stable working platform that does the job is more important then the latest bells and whistles.

[Felix]

I understand a little better how the game works now. Don't purchase until after AES.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">quote:<HR>Originally posted by F.J.:
Personally I would rather they spend a little more time on getting the products they already have realeased working properly. A stable working platform that does the job is more important then the latest bells and whistles.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Point well taken, F.J. Makes sense, except its too "anti-consumeristic". Ex.-Got a solid PT III system yet want to add the advantages of the improved Mix Farm(such as Direst Connect). Must buy new PT24 Mix system$$$$$ even if you don't mind using 16 bit anyways.



[This message has been edited by Felix (edited August 18, 2000).]