I have just written the following to IKMultimedia…
"May GOD strike me dead if I ever spend another shilling with ANY vendor that puts that intermittent pink noise thing in their products… either the ‘demo’ or ‘live’ version.
There is NOTHING more annoying and -dangerous- to my speakers and hearing than turning the volume up for some really critical comparison listening and then just when I’m straining to A/B some subtle detail…
SHHSHSHHSSHSHSHSHSHSSHSHSHSHSHHSHSHSHSHSHS
I am -done- with that shite… and your products… until such time as you reconsider this policy.
What annoys me most about your current policy is that you not only have a -timed- demo, but then also decided to put the noise in as an added bonus.
I do… I care about my hearing. I want to be able to evaluate a product without worrying about that little detail… not to mention my monitors.
Back in the day… Middle Earth, evidently… Customers on the Interweb posted their needs/wants/desires/feedback and other customers (and vendors) listened respectfully. And (this is the -amazing- part!) If enough customers thought something was a good idea, the vendor might even chime in with a hearty, “Jolly Good!” and take the appropriate action. I believe the elves referred to this as ‘The Virtuous Circle’. And then Saruman came along with ‘Likes’, ‘Friends’ and ‘Torrents’… and it all went to hell.
First of all, I can’t imagine anyone who -seriously- wants to audition a comp or eq being able to do so with a periodic SHSHSHSSHSHSHSHS… especially an unexpected SHSSHHSHSSHS. You gotta be able to temporarily -crank it- to hear details, even if ya mix @ 83 like a sane person.
Second: one hates to get all ‘expansive’, but the thing that also concerns me in the ‘Who cares’ reply is how UN-engaged this place (and most DAW forums) seem these days. Most DAW product forums… except the really small vendors… seem just like ‘product forums’… like for a refrigerator or car. And I don’t mean SB personnel–I mean the -customers-. Customer attitudes have changed—and not for the better IMO. There seems more and more to be this sense that feedback and back-and-forth with the company is neither expected or wanted. Sure there are some screamers about “I can’t install!” but very few actual -questions- or -discussions-. As I said: refrigerators. I have a question, I post a question, get an answer and then… Gone.
There used to be at least some sense of ‘community’ here… people I ‘met’ here actually became -real- friends over time. And back in Charlie/Lars/Dave era, there was a lot of back and forth as the company grew. Some of it was not a lot of fun for them, but I think the product benefited from the ‘commons’… and other vendors watched here as well.
Yeah, I used to love riding horses before them damned gas-powered things came along. But I dunno how people learn this stuff -without- the back and forth. Learning DAW stuff via Youtube seems like trying to learn karate from a book.
I don’t like the noise bursts either. Especially for sound shaping plugs. I do understand plug-in makers want to break a constant signal to prevent users to use it in productions when in demo mode. But a better and friendlier alternative for potential customers is to use a dim or silence.
But I have to be fair, in the past I did buy plugins with a noise burst a lot faster just to get rid of the noise and to finally have the chance to really try out the plug
About your second point. It doesn’t always make sense to keep hanging around on this forum when one received their answer. There are a few 1000+ posters here that participate in almost every thread. It just isn’t interesting when 0,15% of the total users is responsible for almost 25% of the total amount of forum posts, because you always have to read the opinions of those same geezers over and over again.
I also happen to agree with Suntower 100% on this - it could very easily not only damage hearing but also equipment.
If they have to hobble a demo, then why not just have it cut out or disable save functions? Anything that can damage the one piece of our studios that is truly irreplaceable - our hearing - is well out of order.
As for the “who cares” comment, all I can say in reply is “you try this - run a mix, crank it up in the final stages and SCREEEEEEEEE” - then tell me “who cares”!
