Upgrade policy of Creamware

Frontline Studio · Post by **Frontline Studio** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 3:04 am

Hi all,

I've been a rather content Pulsar user, but from the beginning I've been wondering about something:
Creamware had no upgrade policy for new Pulsar board releases! Why can't a Pulsar I user get a discount/special-faithful-users if he/she upgrades to a Pulsar II, the PowerPulsar, or any Scope version?

I for one would like to exchange my Pulsar for a Scope/ST or the Power Pulsar, but I do not wish to trash the old inventory nor am I willing to pay the full ptice on the new release, which IMO is a waste of invested capital. And a capital it is!

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 5:19 am

What is standard practice in other companies is unheard of in CW. It's a pity.
Great product combined patheticlly useless marketing and a complete ignorance of their users.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 8:58 am

Well you can simply keep your current board, and add another board to it, connected via STDM cable. No other company I know gives out THREE years of full software updates for FREE, and also gives you a way to add more cards, making even a Pulsar1 NOT obsolete.

So here are your options:
1. Keep your current hardware, and add any other card with the ULLI. You get ULLI for ALL your cards I/O then, and the combined resources of both cards DSP and both card's I/Os.

2. Sell your current hardware to a friend, in the newpaper, online classifieds, here on planetZ, or *bay. Use the money you get from the sale to help fund the purchase of a new board.

Is this really all that tricky? Hmmm...

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 9:00 am

BTW buying a new card isn't a waste, they give you even more software for free when you buy a new Pulsar2. And a Pulsar1+Pulsar2 is 10 DSPs... better than just 6 or just 4 DSPs, eh?

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 10:20 am

On 2001-09-17 06:19, Spirit wrote:
What is standard practice in other companies is unheard of in CW. It's a pity.
Great product combined patheticlly useless marketing and a complete ignorance of their users.

For what company out there is this standard practice? I'm sure Roland JV-1080-, Korg Trinity-, & Akai mpc2000-owners would love to know.

topaz · Post by **topaz** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 11:22 am

I couldnt agree more!

but all good things come to an end
I think is is VERY apparent how fed up the user base is and it,s only a matter of time before any potential new users will see this and go for some other option...

Im sure there will be objecters to this opinion, and it,s likely those objecters
will have some invested interest in CW,s profits..

it,s all about ethics and imho CW dont do that great at this..

pop over to the official forum and it,s plain to see, (unless your eyesight is impared in some way).

the show goes on with V.3

peace.

On 2001-09-17 04:04, Frontline Studio wrote:
Hi all,

I've been a rather content Pulsar user, but from the beginning I've been wondering about something:
Creamware had no upgrade policy for new Pulsar board releases! Why can't a Pulsar I user get a discount/special-faithful-users if he/she upgrades to a Pulsar II, the PowerPulsar, or any Scope version?

I for one would like to exchange my Pulsar for a Scope/ST or the Power Pulsar, but I do not wish to trash the old inventory nor am I willing to pay the full ptice on the new release, which IMO is a waste of invested capital. And a capital it is!

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 11:41 am

the show goes on with V.3 

Which I might add, is free. How much are you paying for Logic 5.0 or Cubase 5.0?

Nice first post topaz, but did you read the whole thread first?

topaz · Post by **topaz** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 1:09 pm

yeh I read the thread,

v.3 is free if you dont want the best of any of the new devices no? if you want the pro pack and already have recently payed $180 for mod2 or sts3k you begin to see
why the so called loyal users are fed up slightly...and my gripes become clear mainly
to those in the same boat..

I will pay £150 for Logic 5.0 when it arives
what is the relevance?

topaz

On 2001-09-17 12:41, subhuman wrote:
the show goes on with V.3 

Which I might add, is free. How much are you paying for Logic 5.0 or Cubase 5.0?

Nice first post topaz, but did you read the whole thread first?

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 1:27 pm

On 2001-09-17 12:22, topaz wrote:
but all good things come to an end
I think is is VERY apparent how fed up the user base is and it,s only a matter of time before any potential new users will see this and go for some other option...

[/quote]

People have been saying this since the very beginning, there will never be anything worse than the very first Pulsar-DSP mailing list (the moderator was a troll who only set it up to try to get a free card for himself then pissed all over it when he didn't). I don't really understand why so many people are negative about the platform, it has treated me better than any other system ever.

There was an article where Richie Hawtin was saying how he wanted his entire studio to be one big modular synth & I thought to myself "too bad for you, Richie, we Pulsar users have already got that."

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 1:27 pm

Sorry topaz you got the wrong thread, this one is about not giving trade-ins on hardware.

I think you're looking for this one:
http://planetz.ghostwheel.com/forums/vi ... forum=5&27

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 1:37 pm

v.3 is free if you dont want the best of any of the new devices no?

None of us knows that, neither the newsletter or site have specified exactly what has been included. I know for a fact that a high quality reveb will be free, isn't that already great news?

topaz · Post by **topaz** » Mon Sep 17, 2001 6:41 pm

It is the wrong thread indeed
but still falls somewhere into the awkward way cw seem to operate...

my post was just another example of cw,s upgrade paths..

peace.

On 2001-09-17 14:27, subhuman wrote:
Sorry topaz you got the wrong thread, this one is about not giving trade-ins on hardware.

I think you're looking for this one:
http://planetz.ghostwheel.com/forums/vi ... forum=5&27

Post by **garyb** » Tue Sep 18, 2001 9:41 am

yawn!
this platform works well and is getting better.it's reasonably priced and powerfullll.cw is NOt going to give things away even if people whine like babies cause they only want to spend their money once and then get everything for ever.someone asked about age in one forum or another and it's obvious many who write a very young and inexperienced in the world(possibly living with their mothers or at someone elses expense).cw functions like a company and all companies are for profit or they die.i am not against revolution in the whole world economic system, but revolution means scrapping the whole thing and starting over.i don't think many are ready for that kind of chaos yet.(too much fun to be had,pretty things to hold and worldly glory to aspire to)so figure your shit out,make some music,state your alliances,get on with your lives and enjoy your toys.bitch about something more important than your own pocketbooks(oh,your profits are important but cw should not protect theirs). and most importantly,stop trying to pollute and poison a format which some of us find useful with negativity that is strictly designed to kill the buzz.if you hate the format(haters all through life damn you)please sell your shit. you don't have the stamina to do anything with it anyway.$150 is a good deal for a nice mixer DEESSER and synth and those that are complaining about the decision to generously throw in mod2 and sts are just not nice.they get plenty for their money and are just jealous (like mean spoiled siblings) of the good fortune of those who now can use these devices also.so it goes,what was expensive yesterday has become cheaper.all those who bought the first $1000 vcr's and cd players must be really pissed now that they can be had for $80.get over it.the wonderful thing about this system is you can make music with it,easily.MAKE MUSIC oh yes,a break in price for hardware updates WOULD be nice.

[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2001-09-18 10:43 ]

Frontline Studio · Post by **Frontline Studio** » Wed Sep 19, 2001 3:08 am

I've read your rant and agree on some points, nevertheless I think you misinterpreted the intention of this mail...
So be it. That's your opinion, which I highly respect.
And if I'm correct you agree with the upgrade issue in the end after all...

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Wed Sep 19, 2001 4:36 am

Ok, I was a bit off. I suppose I was comparing Pulsar to pure software such as Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver etc etc where you pay a small amount for the upgrade. And yes, the response is "but V3 is free". OK, fair enough.

But why is that there are so many unhappy Pulsar users and so many seemingly happy Reason users? Why does it get the raves and Pulsar/CW gets the criticism and vicious posts by its users? This is not imagination.

The V3 release is a classic case. They stuffed the ProPack. In marketing terms its already generated a lot of bad feeling. It doesn't matter whether you think it's good value or not, the fact remains people are unhappy. There was no need to stuff that up. The consequences of bundling old product with new is surely obvious to anyone. The sad part is I think that they really TRIED to do the right thing, they just don't know how. Complete bunglers.

And have we heard anything from CW about the ProPack issue ? Of course not. Have they said "don't worry the devices will be available separately" ? No. Have they said "we hear you and will work something out" ? No again. You get the feeling they just don't give a rat's ass what users think.

I love Pulsar. I'm still buying plugins for it (Got Deep Blue just a few days ago). It's a fantastic product with a great sound and hopefully a great future.

But Creamware is the absolute worst when it comes to marketing and PR. Hopeless. Dismal. Laughably inept. I believe CW is their own worst enemy. If they weren't so bad at this side of things I think Pulsar would be giving Reason (and a few other platforms) a severe thumping...

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Sep 19, 2001 8:03 am

The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side?

I think the problem is HOW do you market such a complex and flexible product such that it's clear to see what it offers? I agree, this is the hardest task and the area Creamware needs the most work on -- they obviously are geeky DSP Coders/musicians, and most concerned those aspects.

I agree, the ProPack was really Creamware trying to answer all the calls for a "pro sampler with my Pulsar for free," etc. If they would have done it a little differently, then I think everyone would be absolutely estatic at Creamware's coming V3 -- but as it is, people complain. Obviously something went wrong here, as this was meant to make everyone happy -- a cheap bundle of devices easily worth $139 -- and an incredible bonus for buying a Pulsar today...

BTW, why not buy Reason and run it side-by-side with Creamware? Personally I tried the demo of Reason and the sounds of the synths pale in comparison with any other sounds we already have on Pulsar or with our hardware synths, but I can see it being an inspiring interface. The Pulsar still has some of the lowest latency drivers on the market to run Reason, too...

[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2001-09-19 09:39 ]

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Wed Sep 19, 2001 11:35 am

"But why is that there are so many unhappy Pulsar users and so many seemingly happy Reason users?"

I for one think my Pulsar runs just SOOOO much better then Reason. Reason messed up my computer so much and i had a hell of a time in restoring what it had messed up. Twice i might i add as the "compability problems" with Logic were solved. Luckily it did'nt take too long to figure out what was wrong the second time.
I like the program but it's just too much problem for me compared to my Pulsar which runs really problem free.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Wed Sep 19, 2001 5:55 pm

I have absolutely no complaints with the hardware, the sound, the interface, the options etc. I've owned dozens of synths and samplers over the years and I have no hestitation is saying Pulsar is the BEST more flexible and enjoyable system I've ever owned.

I only wish CW would get their marketing act together so the platform can really take off.

Frontline Studio · Post by **Frontline Studio** » Wed Sep 19, 2001 9:48 pm

...and I have no hestitation is saying Pulsar is the BEST more flexible and enjoyable system I've ever owned.

I agree on this!

I only wish CW would get their marketing act together so the platform can really take off.

This is too true! The lame-ish advertisements in the pro magazines as well as their presence on fairs isn ot a great example of a good marketing policy. But then again: we don't know their mission statement nor their aimed market. I sincerely hope they will improve their corporate image (this is the customers' view on a company). Soon!

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Thu Sep 20, 2001 12:00 am

Creamware's booth at last year's winter NAMM was every bit as professionally lain out as Steinberg's, NI's, or Novation's & was a world better than Access/Waldorf's or Kyma's. Hell, I got personal demos from John Bowen & Michael Hirscher (CTO), what more could one ask for?

The only company that has consistently blown me away at shows is Digidesign & yet it hasn't gotten me to buy anything more from them (most of my Focusrite stuff is pre-Digi, I think). Booths can cost in the millions & Digi figures that into their pricing, do you really want CW to do the same to us? Pulsar users bitch about $139 as it is!!!