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New paid Spitfire labs?

Just tried to open the website. For a moment, I thought about my ZX Spectrum+

Regarding LABS, I was quite disappointed by its initial demise. After SA announced a dedicated studio for developing future instruments, I had rather high hopes for the program. Also, several more recent releases showed a lot of potential and fresh air.

I'm definitely curious about the possible continuation of the series. I don't mind if they do a donation-based system as they did before. Of course, it all depends on what will be on offer. While I still think that LABS is one of the nicest gifts to the community, the competition on the freeware scene has grown significantly since.
 
I mean, if it's labs synth where we can layer samples from all their free libraries in interesting ways with access to parameters etc, I would probably be tempted to purchase a license. Subscribe though? It'd have to be something pretty special.
 
I don't have a basis for my theory...but here it goes...

Discount means you have to pay to play. Due to the nature of music/audio, a perpetual license is not likely, thus a subscription like many have suggested.

Plus suggests there is a base version that the premium membership is built on top of. That means there is potentially going to still be a free tier.

The statement that they have "built something special" suggests that Plus entails something more than simply downloading sounds and chatting in a feed.

Towards the same line of thought above the statement "ever-expanding series" seems to suggest that the rate of sounds added will be increased, and that those who subscribe will either get early access to those sounds OR that they will get access to sounds that are not otherwise made available for free.

One thing that has me curious, is if this is Spitfire's way of throwing their hat into the ring of custom built samplers (sort of like how 8Dio did with SoundPaint). Spitfire has a fairly unique UI for it's instruments; which in turn creates a semi-unique experience as far as how you play with them. If this is an attempt to offer a new sampler to the ever growing pool of samplers, this could be a novel attempt of building a user focused sampling platform. A platform that allows people to more seamlessly blend their sounds with the already expansive Spitfire Platform. It seems like every major player out there is looking to distance themselves from Kontakt...This could potentially be Spitfire's attempt to do the same.
 
dellsreview said:
One thing that has me curious, is if this is Spitfire's way of throwing their hat into the ring of custom built samplers (sort of like how 8Dio did with SoundPaint). Spitfire has a fairly unique UI for it's instruments; which in turn creates a semi-unique experience as far as how you play with them.
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Don't they already have this via Pianobook? Unless it's maybe a tier that sits between Pianobook and the Spitfire-brand libraries made by Pianobook artists.
 
gamma-ut said:
Don't they already have this via Pianobook? Unless it's maybe a tier that sits between Pianobook and the Spitfire-brand libraries made by Pianobook artists.
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Pianobook is an open forum, that doesn't have a dedicate plugin format. What I'm referring to is a proprietary format that doesn't require Kontakt (or Kontakt Player), that uses Spitfire's brand of UI and control schemes. I mentioned 8Dio in my post, but even Orchestral Tools is building libraries in non-Kontakt forms.

If you think about it, a lot of what has been coming out for Kontakt these past few years are libraries built to compete with all the people who have left them (and those who are in the process of leaving them).

I say all that to say I think Spitfire may be looking to create a Spitfire ecosystem like many of its competitors are doing.
 
Has anyone mentioned the Spotify links? (Clue, you need to tilt your head to the right)

Industry submissions? Maybe that's part of the paywall/usp. It can't be just a paywalled forum.
"Have your say" - monthly vote on which full fat SFA library is the "guest" on a subscription?

I dunno. It's a very difficult thing to ask folk to pay up for something they originally got for free, even with extra bells and whistles. I look forward to seeing what it is.
 
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Mornats said:
UX designer here. How the actual fuck did a designer agree to design a site like that? It's user-hostile and likely to set off a seizure.
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There are loads of people working in CSS/web design who think this kind of thing is a great application of what a browser can do and I imagine the approvals meeting went something along the lines of "this is so edgy, I love it!".

The trouble nobody was in the room or Zoom who put their hand up to say..."Er, I'm not sure this is a good idea, have you not heard the 'flashing lights and images' trigger warnings on action movies on TV...?"
 
It's definitely a subscription service. They published a job offert for Labs+ on their website :
apply.workable.com

Product Marketing Manager - LABS Subscription Service - Spitfire Audio

Product Marketing Manager - LABS Subscription ServiceSalary: £60-65kJob Type: Full-time, PermanentLocation: Hybrid - 3 days in London office, 2 days WFHEligibility: You must be eligible to work in the UKSpitfire Audio is seeking a dynamic and results-d...
apply.workable.com apply.workable.com

Capture d’écran 2024-04-18 à 16.54.32.png
 
Mornats said:
UX designer here. How the actual fuck did a designer agree to design a site like that? It's user-hostile and likely to set off a seizure.
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I'd say, more 80s retro generative-art (in the naievity of the "wow! it's a computer, but it can make [alleged] art" moment.) Not unlike the retro vibe of things Minecraft (which admittedly, I don't get at all).

Kind of cool, I feel, viewed through the lens of this genre.

But yes, kind of extremely painful to look at through any other lens. It does rather scream "Screw you all post 1985 lessons from the entire field of UX!!!".

But I think this must be the the point. Suggests that retro synths are incoming.
 
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I hope that the web site's design was in accordance with safety guidelines. Direct harm to hapless visitors aside...

You can't stop the signal! This is art! It's not about being useful or pleasant, it's about confronting people with their own mortality. And... it really moved me, you know?
 
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pegotico said:
This will be their next cash cow... To have everyone paying a monthly fee to use their products, and as expected no more free labs releases (i never thought we would see a free one after CH left) and no more "originals".
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It's probably to compete with Musio and Composure Cloud. This would be convenient for people who don't like libraries taking up a lot of space and download what they want.

Meanwhile I don't think I've ever used their free labs anyway,

The sub pandemic is alive and well. Only the stupid would attempt what Waves tried. I wonder if they ever recovered and their race down to zero is not what it use to be.
 
MartinH. said:
LMAO, that design x]

Spot on! This must have been done by an actual designer. No one else would think this is a good idea.
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My vote is recommended by a stuffed shirt who thinks they can fly a plane by watching one take of and land.

Imagine a designer thinking how stupid it is but does it because they were told to.
 
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