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Frodo wrote:

bralston wrote: Software is not really obsolete unless it does not meet one's needs any more. ... The biggest problem I can see is just how long support will continue (which they have said through 12.31.2008) and if GS3 users will be able to -re-install and authorize their programs after the end of this year.

Well, you're absolutely right, of course. Use it until it's used up!

It remains an interesting quandary for those who *don't* have it-- especially Mac users waiting for GVI. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next 4-5 months.

I've been on Gs3 forever and I'll keep using it. I might even go to 4 just to get the dongle.
Chalk up another one for the "summer of love" eh Frodo?

tripit@earthlink.net wrote: Chalk up another one for the "summer of love" eh Frodo?

I just can't figure out what we might have done to cheese all these developers off. They're getting sweet revenge, aren't they?

j/k, of course.

tripit@earthlink.net wrote:I'm pretty sure that the Gigastudio brand will still be around, but under a new ownership - which may be better in the long run anyway as I think Tascam didn't really get the software side of business all that well.

Mackie??? You listening? Maybe Cakewalk/Sonor could take it over?

On the other hand, maybe now might be time for MOTU to make an aggressive push with MachFive? I dunno. I'm rambling again!

That certainly adds more weight to SONiVox' announcement of an independent player the other day, as they had only recently begun porting stuff to Kontakt and were still primarily Giga-oriented.

I sure am glad I didn't buy into the Giga model.

Oops, I got interrupted for several hours by critical tasks, right before posting this, so I hope this isn't now a redundant comment .

This makes you wonder about Tascam's health. This is not a good time to be in the music equipment industry.

mhschmieder wrote:I sure am glad I didn't buy into the Giga model.

Yea, but you have to wonder about the general direction of samplers altogether. If it wasn't for the fact that Native Instruments was licensing the Kontakt engine for romplers while also developing the full version, I would wonder about the future of Kontakt too. Hopefully they can keep that going by appealing to smaller developers who don't have the resources to build their own players. But you never know. Not long ago Giga was king.

I think the emergence of proprietary players is bad for us in the long run. It amounts to more troubleshooting, more authorizing, more learning curves and fewer choices for sample manipulation. Giga pioneered hard-disk sampling and, even though I don't use it anymore, I'm sad to see it go.

blue wrote: Yea, but you have to wonder about the general direction of samplers altogether. If it wasn't for the fact that Native Instruments was licensing the Kontakt engine for romplers while also developing the full version, I would wonder about the future of Kontakt too. Hopefully they can keep that going by appealing to smaller developers who don't have the resources to build their own players. But you never know. Not long ago Giga was king.

I think the emergence of proprietary players is bad for us in the long run. It amounts to more troubleshooting, more authorizing, more learning curves and fewer choices for sample manipulation. Giga pioneered hard-disk sampling and, even though I don't use it anymore, I'm sad to see it go.

Very interesting points, blue. You know, this echoes what was said about hardware synths and samplers. Okay, so we got some respectable software replacements as plugins but it raises the question as to where things are going "this week" . I thought the software approach *was* all the rage. It puzzles me as to what went down to derail(?) GS development... or who it is that will take it over. (Bill Gates?!!?!!?)

Bralston made a great point about the best thing users being able to do is to keep on using what they have indefinitely. Absolutely valid, absolutely nothing wrong with that. It just makes me wonder about the near future (ie: 2009). I suppose we'll probably hear something by NAMM time-- if nothing else we should know more from Tascam by then about just why GS was set aside.

a famous person wrote:...It amounts to more troubleshooting, more authorizing, more learning curves and fewer choices....

LOL. We're there now!!

midilance wrote:This makes you wonder about Tascam's health. This is not a good time to be in the music equipment industry.

i work in high end hi-fi ,I can tell you sales of Esoteric Players(division of Teac) are very strong!
http://www.teac.com/esoteric/

I think they came to the conclusion their forte and profit is with hardware sales,I expect them to be be around a very long time.

Yes, but Teac, the parent company, has always been separate from Tascam with regard to product lines. Tascam has been the recording stuff. I'll bet the software thing has been a distraction to their hardware business. I never could figure out why they went into it in the first place.

blue wrote:

mhschmieder wrote:I sure am glad I didn't buy into the Giga model.

Yea, but you have to wonder about the general direction of samplers altogether. If it wasn't for the fact that Native Instruments was licensing the Kontakt engine for romplers while also developing the full version, I would wonder about the future of Kontakt too. Hopefully they can keep that going by appealing to smaller developers who don't have the resources to build their own players. But you never know. Not long ago Giga was king.

I think the emergence of proprietary players is bad for us in the long run. It amounts to more troubleshooting, more authorizing, more learning curves and fewer choices for sample manipulation. Giga pioneered hard-disk sampling and, even though I don't use it anymore, I'm sad to see it go.

I agree. I really dislike the rompler trend.

I keep wondering if Apple is going to drop something into this market, perhaps aimed at the EXS-24. I also keep wondering when there will be a backlash against the soft rompler trend. I guess when customers lose enough money on rompler libraries that are orphaned, and audio archivess broken, a backlash might happen.

billf wrote:…rompler libraries that are orphaned, and audio archives broken…

Oh man, that is something I worry about often. Soon enough I wont be able to open most of the projects I've done in the last few years, just because of the inevitable compatibility problems of soon to be legacy products. The EW Play transition is particularly worrisome.

So, what are we to do? It seems that every time someone comes up with a solution they've got us by the marbles in one way or another.

thats why i have always kept my hardware based orphaned sampler Akai Z-8,which i use less and less and yes the architecture is pretty lame but having a hardware based sampler is alternative I know i can always grab if needed.You can find hardware based samplers for sale at very low prices now.
I like having a hardware based solution that is ready when called for.
There is a part of me that likes and trusts hardware based gear,i still have a Roland XP-30 and it somehow seems to be something i use on every project.
There is just something about the software based studio model I just do not feel comfortable with or trust, manufactures can disappear ,bad drivers can screw up the system.I always keep one foot on the hardware side.

Frodo wrote:So, what are we to do? It seems that every time someone comes up with a solution they've got us by the marbles in one way or another.

I can see at least these possibilities:

1. Keep your hardware sampler. I still have and use my Kurzweil k2k.

2. Start an open source project. This is the trend in every other sector of the software industry, so there's no reason the music sector should be different.

3. Support the vendors who support an open MachFive and/or Kontakt and/or EXS-24 set of products.

4. Quit buying into the rompler model. Vendors have no incentive to change as long as we continue to take it in the backside.

5. Learn to sing or play an instrument

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Still I believe it's a fair point .....