scooter wrote:This is great news. I'm a proud Mercury bundle owner.
To be sure it set me back a few dinaro.
But since I bought it I've gotten all the Eddie Kramer plugs and all the Tony Maserati plugs, vocal rider, (although I haven't used that one) etc.......
I'm not bragging, but it really turned out to be a great investment.
They're all serious quality plug-ins and work really well (since around Waves 6) with DP.
I know there are those who, to put it bluntly, hate Waves. Don't think I haven't noticed the negative remarks aimed at this company on this website.
But I'm a real fan of Waves.
Okey Dokey.
scooter
Well, to be sure I've had my run-ins with Waves. They simply treated me with inexcusable behavior because I use DP. I mean, they flat out said so. I had one product of theirs which would not authorize at all on my computer, due to a mistake in the programming of their authorization scheme: the L3 MultiMaximizer would not authorize because they saw that the Platinum Bundle had already authorized the free version of it: the L3 UltraMaximizer. For ten months I had to go without the plugin for which I had paid close to $400. (it lists for $620 as of this writing)
Then finally, after dozens of calls, I managed to get someone on the line who listened to me, and who realized it wasn't a DP related problem. When he realized it was their error, he told me he'd have a programmer write me an installer/authorizer, and it would be ready the next day. He was true to his word, and the lady programmer who sent it to me walked me through it on the phone. It worked.
So, I realize that Waves has its good people and bad people, like any company. I'm very grateful to the man and woman who eventually helped me (after 10 month of dealing with laughing jackasses).
Then there's WUP. I really don't like having to pay them $350 to get current any more often than is absolutely required. I think that's a fairly normal reaction from anyone who is conscious of the diminishing economy that's cut into our lives, no matter how much we earn. But I'll pay it when version 6.0 finally stops working with my upgrades. At least they no longer charge you for the years you skipped. I once had to pay around $700 to renew WUP for 3 years, back when a single year only went for about $120. Then they dropped support of DP for about 18 months. To placate me they extended my WUP for 6 months, so I figure they still owe me about a year. They think otherwise, so naturally there's a difference of opinion there.
That makes it hard for me to really LIKE the company. But I've never once said that I didn't like their plugins. Their plugins are fantastic. Period. The Platinum Bundle was a great investment, even it if it actually costs me more to keep current for it and the couple of other plugins I have bought, than for someone who owns ALL their plugins (Mercury Bundle).
No apologies here. I tell it like it is. I've simply told what the company has done to me. What have I done to the company? Send it money. Again and again and again. I've asked for help when their product didn't work for 10 months. I was always courteous and polite. I was laughed at and ridiculed for using DP. I was told to get Logic. When I told them I had Logic, but their plugin wouldn't authorize for ANY app, they basically ignored me, preferring to laugh at DP than to get to work trying to help me. Not all of them, but several did. That's inexcusable. DAMNED inexcusable.
But I love their plugins. What's a musician to do? I repeat the story when it comes up, and I compliment Waves on their recent products that all seem to work. I explain that I really dislike being taken advantage of by Waves, but that I feel at this time that I cannot justify leaving behind the plugins I've bought. They are simply too good. I reconcile the differences in that the idiots who were rude are low-level employees who have nothing to do with the creation of the fine plugins they sell. Keeping them separate, I do my best not to pay their salaries, but I occasionally do pay for updates or buy a new plugin.
It's complicated, but then isn't everything? It's best that people know what they're getting into before they pay for it. Hearing both sides of the Waves story is a good thing.
Shooshie
