Letter to Audio Damage: Removed
Posted: 16/09/08
So there’s a bit of controversy that was started by IK Multimedia and their critique of free plugins. I don’t have much of an opinion about that, but I was reading some of the other blogs including Analog Industries which i’ve been subscribed to for quite a good portion of the year. I would also say that i’ve contributed some useful comments to the blog since I registered, except for today.
Today I made a post on Chris’ latest thread regarding the above controversy, and it was quickly removed from the site. Which is totally fine since it clearly states in the rules that any posts not contributing much will be promptly removed. But that doesn’t stop me from re-posting it here.
Why do I feel compelled to speak my mind on the subject? Because I don’t like it when people try to give off a certain image, but in practice can be completely messed up. What’s messed up to me is the way they always brag about their prices being so reasonable, but then go on to slam IK’s pricing model, a company with a much higher overhead to develop software.
This guy never got in my good books anyways when I started tallying up the amount of times he’s blatantly rude to people around the Interweb, including his own potential customers who email harmless questions which he reposts on his blog for his fans to have fun with.
When he wrote:
“1. You Charge Too Fucking Much. Sorry, IK, but you don’t get to bitch about piracy and freebies when your prices enable/encourage both. Why is CSR US$319? How did you arrive at that figure? Your business model can’t possibly hope to compete with, oh, let’s say, Audio Damage’s, because you’re buying in to the traditional methods of marketing. Time for a new model.”
I wrote:
“Chris, i’m failing to see all logic regarding your post.
First, why are you complaining about the price of CSR when in your most recent blog post you are talking about flying around the country just to record a piano? If you really are such a big player, than why does the price of this reverb bother you, as you are probably the intended market for that price point?
Also, if you compare it to the price of your reverb plugin Reverence, which just has one algorithm(plate), CSR has 3 additional algorithms, echo, modulation matrix, and a whole bunch of other features including a RTAS version and 10-day fully functional demo(wink wink). Not to mention it’s available for much cheaper than that in a bundle.
I will admit that I used to be affiliated with IK in some way or another, but overall I feel like this post was just another excuse to say how great AD is for keeping the price of Automaton low, as with many of the other threads here which are so self-glorifying – totally legit as the blog is a division of Audio Damage.
So instead of continuing to troll, I will unsubscribe now but check in from time to time to see if you guys have any more cool plugins released cause I do like what you’re up to. Just not a fan of this blog any more.”
Well that’s that. Just to clarify my affiliation with IK, I used to do some demos for them and one year got to work at the NAMM show for them. I’ve always been a supporter of the plugins as the Sampletank series are go-to sounds in all my work.
As of now i’ve lost all commenting privileges on the blog there, which i’m totally ok with since i’m unsubscribing anyways.