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8dio Century ensemble and solo brass

I appreciate all the comments and thinking in this thread, so if you will allow me to offer our point of view as developers. There is a couple of things going on, which affect our current pricing of instruments.

The most immediate one is COVID, which has caused a ripple effect through the entertainment business (ex. Many major shows and movie productions are on hold or being recorded slower, which means less opportunities for composers, which means harder to justify purchasing libraries).

The other reality is that prices have been aggressively coming down over the last couple of years. There are several companies responsible for this, including the largest entities in our industry.
I do appreciate your taking on board the criticism and your willingness to change things. However I feel like the reasons you have given for the price fluctuations are not really relevant (in my case at least) so I wanted to further clarify my criticism with proper examples: I bought Studio Orchestral Percussion for $98 (down from $248) at the end of 2019, only to see it discounted to $48 a few weeks later, and where $98 was then the price of the bundle containing all three Studio Percussions libraries (I could have got the 2 other for free literally if I had bought it only a few weeks later). I also bought Century harp for $98 (down from $198) and less than a month later, it was given for free when you spent $98 on any library so I could have literally got two libraries for the price of the "sale", again.

All this was pre-Covid and I believe has nothing to do with prices coming down due to other companies since the MRSP of these have gone back to their original figures. I also bought the Steel Drum when it was on sale for $78 (down from $198), and it now sold for $48. It is a fairly recent library, much more than many other libraries that haven't seen their MSRP slashed 5 times.

This was made worse by the fact that having had time to play with such libraries, I've also felt they are nowhere near worth their full price, and the sale price I got them for was a better MRSP given their quality. The newer prices / better sales I missed would be closer to what their sale price should actually be.

As a consequence of these events, I've naturally become very wary of any 8DIO "sale" and even if I am a V8P member, I have now become much less likely to buy additional 8DIO libraries. Most other developers on the market have very consistent sales where you know you're not ever going to get a better price - I've since felt like my money was better spent on a 40% Spitfire sale or a 60% CineSamples sale than taking a leap of faith with randomly fluctuating 8DIO sales.

With that said, if you do change your sales model for a better and fairer one in the future as you have indicated, I might return to 8DIO.

I do appreciate your taking the time to respond to the criticism and I hope this message further clarifies where my frustration with 8DIO sales comes from. I am looking forward to seeing the changes you are planning on implementing later this year.
 
I do appreciate your taking on board the criticism and your willingness to change things. However I feel like the reasons you have given for the price fluctuations are not really relevant (in my case at least) so I wanted to further clarify my criticism with proper examples: I bought Studio Orchestral Percussion for $98 (down from $248) at the end of 2019, only to see it discounted to $48 a few weeks later, and where $98 was then the price of the bundle containing all three Studio Percussions libraries (I could have got the 2 other for free literally if I had bought it only a few weeks later). I also bought Century harp for $98 (down from $198) and less than a month later, it was given for free when you spent $98 on any library so I could have literally got two libraries for the price of the "sale", again.

All this was pre-Covid and I believe has nothing to do with prices coming down due to other companies since the MRSP of these have gone back to their original figures. I also bought the Steel Drum when it was on sale for $78 (down from $198), and it now sold for $48. It is a fairly recent library, much more than many other libraries that haven't seen their MSRP slashed 5 times.

This was made worse by the fact that having had time to play with such libraries, I've also felt they are nowhere near worth their full price, and the sale price I got them for was a better MRSP given their quality. The newer prices / better sales I missed would be closer to what their sale price should actually be.

As a consequence of these events, I've naturally become very wary of any 8DIO "sale" and even if I am a V8P member, I have now become much less likely to buy additional 8DIO libraries. Most other developers on the market have very consistent sales where you know you're not ever going to get a better price - I've since felt like my money was better spent on a 40% Spitfire sale or a 60% CineSamples sale than taking a leap of faith with randomly fluctuating 8DIO sales.

With that said, if you do change your sales model for a better and fairer one in the future as you have indicated, I might return to 8DIO.

I do appreciate your taking the time to respond to the criticism and I hope this message further clarifies where my frustration with 8DIO sales comes from. I am looking forward to seeing the changes you are planning on implementing later this year.
I contacted them a couple of times on bundles that were selling for less than the price I bought some items of the bundle. On many occasions, they added the missing product for free.
 
With 8Dio you just know how to play the game:

1. Watch the sales (compare to previous sales)
2. Research the instruments (watch all demos, but better check out 3rd party walkthroughs and reviews)
3. Know that the musical content of many 8Dio demos where often more carefully programmed than the libraries themselves.

With this is mind you can indeed get some great instruments, some are really wonderful, while others, well, haven't aged so well or... well...

Speaking of one of Troel's examples, the Bazantar... This is indeed an amazing instrument BUT, also a prime example of a missed opportunity. It is the perfect candidate to have legatos, portamentos and glissandos plus shorts and other standard elements you would expect from a solo string library. Instead, the most important things are missing and you get mostly phrases which sound great, but force you to write FOR the instrument, instead of the other way round. So, this one, while the tone is amazing, is a $28 instrument and always has been despite varying price tags. I would love to see this being re-recorded properly.

That said, I have many 8Dio libraries, and because I was careful choosing them (and the moment to buy) I have no big regrets here. Sure, I use some more than others but generally am quite happy with my choices.
 
Maybe Soundpaint is their nickname for the AI they have developed that sets their pricing!
It's turned out to be a sound investment and allows Troels to buy almost any painting he wants, hence the name. :)
 
With 8Dio you just know how to play the game:

1. Watch the sales (compare to previous sales)
2. Research the instruments (watch all demos, but better check out 3rd party walkthroughs and reviews)
3. Know that the musical content of many 8Dio demos where often more carefully programmed than the libraries themselves.

With this is mind you can indeed get some great instruments, some are really wonderful, while others, well, haven't aged so well or... well...

Speaking of one of Troel's examples, the Bazantar... This is indeed an amazing instrument BUT, also a prime example of a missed opportunity. It is the perfect candidate to have legatos, portamentos and glissandos plus shorts and other standard elements you would expect from a solo string library. Instead, the most important things are missing and you get mostly phrases which sound great, but force you to write FOR the instrument, instead of the other way round. So, this one, while the tone is amazing, is a $28 instrument and always has been despite varying price tags. I would love to see this being re-recorded properly.

That said, I have many 8Dio libraries, and because I was careful choosing them (and the moment to buy) I have no big regrets here. Sure, I use some more than others but generally am quite happy with my choices.
I don't disagree. The challenge with the Bazantar is the resonators, since all the notes of the resonators would be bleeding in - and chopped of - with the legato intervals. I am still thinking about how to do it btw - and there is a way - but it would really require a different level of sampling technique.
 
I don't disagree. The challenge with the Bazantar is the resonators, since all the notes of the resonators would be bleeding in - and chopped of - with the legato intervals. I am still thinking about how to do it btw - and there is a way - but it would really require a different level of sampling technique.
How about regular short expressions, spiccato, martele and perhaps - especially with this instrument - a brushed baroque type short?
But yes, I think it might be worth it to re-visit the Bazantar despite the recording challenges. To have an expressive legato could add a lot to a score.
 
I do appreciate your taking on board the criticism and your willingness to change things. However I feel like the reasons you have given for the price fluctuations are not really relevant (in my case at least) so I wanted to further clarify my criticism with proper examples: I bought Studio Orchestral Percussion for $98 (down from $248) at the end of 2019, only to see it discounted to $48 a few weeks later, and where $98 was then the price of the bundle containing all three Studio Percussions libraries (I could have got the 2 other for free literally if I had bought it only a few weeks later). I also bought Century harp for $98 (down from $198) and less than a month later, it was given for free when you spent $98 on any library so I could have literally got two libraries for the price of the "sale", again.

All this was pre-Covid and I believe has nothing to do with prices coming down due to other companies since the MRSP of these have gone back to their original figures. I also bought the Steel Drum when it was on sale for $78 (down from $198), and it now sold for $48. It is a fairly recent library, much more than many other libraries that haven't seen their MSRP slashed 5 times.

This was made worse by the fact that having had time to play with such libraries, I've also felt they are nowhere near worth their full price, and the sale price I got them for was a better MRSP given their quality. The newer prices / better sales I missed would be closer to what their sale price should actually be.

As a consequence of these events, I've naturally become very wary of any 8DIO "sale" and even if I am a V8P member, I have now become much less likely to buy additional 8DIO libraries. Most other developers on the market have very consistent sales where you know you're not ever going to get a better price - I've since felt like my money was better spent on a 40% Spitfire sale or a 60% CineSamples sale than taking a leap of faith with randomly fluctuating 8DIO sales.

With that said, if you do change your sales model for a better and fairer one in the future as you have indicated, I might return to 8DIO.

I do appreciate your taking the time to respond to the criticism and I hope this message further clarifies where my frustration with 8DIO sales comes from. I am looking forward to seeing the changes you are planning on implementing later this year.
In my opinion and to be fair, 8DIO should pay you a refund of your sale losses! PERIOD!
 
In that case, I'm off Googling all sales in the past year and make a fancy spreadsheet for my own claim hehe
Well DOC! this is the problem of sales. It also happened to me with Audio Imperia 7 months ago when I bought SFTM, Dark Dimensions, Event Horizon just to discover 5 days (YEAH 5 days) later that they are included in the AI Collection bundle for $399. And these three separately were $177 :cautious:
 
Well DOC! this is the problem of sales. It also happened to me with Audio Imperia 7 months ago when I bought SFTM, Dark Dimensions, Event Horizon just to discover 5 days (YEAH 5 days) later that they are included in the AI Collection bundle for $399. And these three separately were $177 :cautious:
Fully aware. That’s why I never complain about missed sales. I get that people feel they get burned, but I always say to myself: do I want this product NOW for what the vendor asks for it? If the answer is yes, and I can afford it, I never look back. There is always going to be a better sale. And there is always going to be a “new new thing” that I could have bought if I hadn’t spent my money on a “now old new thing” three weeks ago. I never bother and just move on ;)
 
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Fully aware. That’s why I never complain about missed sales. I get that people feel they get burned, but I always say to myself: do I want this product NOW for what the vendors asks for it? If the answer is yes, and I can afford it, I never look back. There is always going to be a better sale. And there is always going to be a “new new thing” that I could have bought if I hadn’t spent my money on a “now old new thing” three weeks ago. I never bother and just move on ;)
I wish I had your peace of mind, DOC! LOL

EDIT: I am a very picky person! !
 
I wish I had your peace of mind, DOC! LOL

EDIT: I am a very picky person! !
For me it's more about not supporting marketing practices that I find dodgy and not ethical. I'd rather support developers that don't make me feel I'm being taken advantage of. Granted that means I've been spending more money but I've also been a lot more happier with my purchases and felt like it was worth spending that extra money. Plus I've also been taking screenshots of pretty much any deal happening so I've got a really nicely labelled collection of screenshots of past sales from various developers allowing me to compare prices and know whether the deal is real.
 
Back to Century Brass.....

Listening to demos now and really liking the sound (considering as part of the current sale). I believe it was Trash Panda who said he felt they lacked a little "punch" and I agree, kinda...but to me its subtler than it seemed to be to him. But really just overall very good sounding IMO.
 
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