IK Scary Deal! AmpliTube 3 for only $99.99/€79.99!

First let me say that anyone who by now doesn't own EVERYTHING they want from IKM and DID NOT get it a drastically discounted price like everyone else on gawd's green earth has by now should, by all means, jump on this so called deal. To everyone else...i.e.EVERYBODY...I'd suggest you simply saying screw you IK. Nine ways to Sunday. Quit trying to wring every last red cent out of your customer base be re-selling over and over again the same old outdated products. Quit talking and start acting. Bring something new...and not iCentered...out or shut the hell up.

I say this as a loyal customer who owns almost everything NOT iCentric IK makes.

Enough already.

Did Crysonic buy you out??

Are you really that lame now??

Buy a clue, will ya?

You are an embarrassment .

yorolpal

I say this as a loyal customer who owns almost everything NOT iCentric IK makes.

Buy a clue, will ya?

You are an embarrassment .

Yikes! I can't imagine how this would read if you weren't a loyal customer ol' pal!    
 
Brian

I've got nothing against you Obi, ol pal.  And I know it's hard to have any real objectivity considering your position but, really, How many super discounts and group buys and seasonal specials must we, the long time owners of your products,  continue to endure before we see the one thing we've been waiting for?  It's been years since I could really take part in any of these completely rehashed super sales of Miroslav, SonicSynth, Amp 3, TRacks, et al, especially Sample (puhlease) Tank as I, like many many serious producers, already own all of them and have for what seems like eons.  I'm happy that you can still find new folks that don't already have all of them as well having bought them at any of the seemingly hundreds of different...yet totally same...sales in the last three or four years.  I'm guessing most of them are just now turning 14 or 15 and didn't have DAWS when they were only 11.  I have to stand by my assessment of IK being an embarrassment.  Yes, you have brought out new iProducts and yes, you've added gear to the Custom Shop.  But your core products haven't really changed. 
 
I'll give you one example of why these many years for waiting and frustration are so maddening and irritating and why IK has lost all credibility with so many.
 
I recently purchased a very good Acoustic Guitar library from a small shop called Indiginus.  It was actually an upgrade to an already great AG library.  It included a new and improved strum engine.  After purchasing it and using it for a few hours I and others here had several suggestions on how to improve both the engine and its workflow. 
 
We emailed Indiginus with them.
 
Two days later, guess what?  No, go on, guess.
 
We got all our suggestions implemented in a new update.
 
Two days!!!!!
 
Not 5 years!!!!
 
And guess what it cost us?  No, go on, guess.
 
Nada...zip...zilch...nuttin...zero!!!
 
And it's certainly a given that after those of us with any loyalty to IK have waited...and waited...and waited...for ST3 it will finally appear.  And it will probably be much improved.  But even after all our waiting and frustration and anger guess what THAT will cost us?  No, go on, guess.
 
A figurative poke in the eye with a sharp stick...that's what!!  A substantial upgrade cost.  It's already been alluded to. 
 
What a way to run a company.
 

Seems to me that IK is going after the 13-25 market and then waiting for next bunch of 13 year olds to come of age. The constant sales have really ticked me off the last year or so when IK can't as much throw a bone to existing users and then pontificates how this really is a great thing. Reminds me of the propaganda quote paraphrased as if you tell a lie long enough people will come believe it.

I think for the rest of us, IK clearly is in a different space and not in touch with the older demographic. Maybe our segment counts for so little of IK sales, that they really don't care at all. A year of "we hear you, and are working to address issues, but can't say anything at all about it all, sorry." has to be some of the worst marketing/customer service I have seen ever. If I ran a company and saw posts like this on pretty much every forum out there, I'd do something about it, but instead just like crysonic it's a constant churn of more of the same. Luckily for us there are plenty of as good , if not better alternatives for everything IK produces.

From Peter on the IK Forum:
 
We are planning to have as part of the upgrade pricing a strong benefit to the early adopters that believed in SampleTank from the beginning as a way to reward longtime loyal users. Details will come, and I believe it will be good news for many reading this.

Just sayin' ...

We prefer to take our time and make sure we release something that is solid. It'd be a lot worse to just push out a release for the sake of people demanding it and then have it fall flat with frequent crashes and bugs. Being a private company affords us this quiet way of working on things behind the scenes. With all that said, SampleTank 3 is on its way. Sorry we haven't released it yet, but it is coming this year.
 
As for us NOT paying attention to our customers? Where does this come from? With more updates to our software than every before in IK's history this year, more sales/promos and earlier this year we did half off on all Custom Shop Credits. We get blasted for doing promos and blasted for not doing promos. All we can focus on here is making quality sounding code and hardware.
 
Now for the AmpliTube crashing link: Support is always here to help. We can't fix what we don't know about.

MakeShift
I know that this is not a popular opinion with some folks, but I really like the newer amp sims that Ampitube has created. In particular Fender and Orange. When the Ampeg series goes on sale again, I will probably pick that up. Probably Hendrix as well.

I don't mind the iStuff and could even see picking it up sometime to practice guitar if I was on the road. My Church's worship band even uses the iPad clips that attach to a mic stand to display sheet music. I think their products are geared towards many different levels of musician needs.

Amplitube is my favorite! I use the Fender collection exclusively. You'll like Ampeg, and I should have bought the Orange when you did. For the record...It don't mind at all when IK has sales. I can't always buy the things I want, when I want, but I can usually look forward to getting a second or third chance.
 

Hey Ol'Pal,
 
I was n't trying to down play your feelings about IK at all; shoot, you are one of my favorite persons on these forums. 
 
I was just telling of my own personal experiences with the company.  I do not own ST and really have no interest in it.  ST seems to really have left a bad taste with quite a few people with its history.  I don't own Amp3 either, but if I was going to buy it, I think the $99 is a great deal for what you get.  I have demo'd  most of the amps from IK and I know which ones I would use.  I will wait for them to go on sale again.  Like Clint above, the regular stream of sales doesn't bother me too much, because I know I can hold out for another one, when the money/time is right for me.  I have missed the boat with some other companies when they have sales and I was short of cash.
 
I have a feeling that a lot of the T-Racks stuff is pretty good as well, but have been happy with what I already own.  I am trying not to become an addict and only buy if I can try the product, and it offers me something that I am not already getting.  I would prefer to roll my cash into guitars, hardware and photo equipment, things that are not obsolete the day you buy them.

yorolpal
This particular thread tangent is not at all about whether you like Amp3 or not...I like it too...it's about IK's business practices. Plus...sorry Obi, ol stick...we've just parted company. Keep towing the company line and feeding your family...I'm sure I'd do the same myself...weak-willed cretin that I am. But I'm all out of softballs to toss your way.

Sorry to have, apparently, busted this thread. My apologies. Carry on.

I still think ol Tayfun Topku (from Cryosonic) is at the bottom of this BS;-)

musicman100

yorolpal
Naw...not a bit.  You fellers is aces in my book.  I'm just a tad sorry I tangentialized this thread for my own ravings...accurate tho they may be;-)
 

he is probably a prince of a guy(obi) and the users are right to faun over the vsts..
 
BUT like Pal says , its not the messenger , its the message ...
 
but look, if putting beans on the family table was contingent on this approach, who is to say I wouldn't follow the same script...
 
could I sleep at night?
 
 
well....

I don't have a family to feed. No kids, no wife. Plus, I LIKE working for IK. Like, REALLY like it. I sleep fine at night because I like my job. Besides all of that, I like you yorolpal. I understand where you are coming from, but the facts are that there are still tons that don't have AmpliTube 3 yet and have/are taking advantage of this promo.


 
But really, I like beans. A lot. Black beans being my favorite. :) Nothing like Frijoles and Tortillas! :D

MachineClaw
Vox amps, ENGL cabs and amps.....oh why bother won't ever happen.
 
btw the IK Multimedia website homepage is so covered in icrap and soooooo slow to get to the "computer" plugin section.  I needed to see if an amp was included in Amp3 I finally gave up.  The scrolling flashing ads were giving me a headache.
 
 

We already have amp models based on VOX and Engl amps are already in the Custom Shop. Guess you missed them. Try the Anger amp out, easily one of my top 3 amps in the Custom Shop. That one and the Carvin V3 are my main amps in the Custom Shop. Love the crystal cleans and the crunchy distortions they both provide.

I always avoid the main page of the web site and go straight to he Custom Shop to check out new amps and pedal effects.

What's really nice about the CS is that you can demo the amps for something like 72hrs. When I do that, I only choose a couple at a time and then really put them through they paces. Keeping it a small number allows me to compare them to other sims, like PodFarm, S Gear, TH2, and GR. Many of he newest releases have turned out to sound better to my ears, than the competitive sims of the same type. Touch, feel, and sustain are some of the biggest things that influence my likability.

Just wanted to point out that the alleged demographic conjecture above is just that - and quite incorrect (as conjecture made without real data often is, understandably).  We have quite a great "older" demographic and they show that they are happy by continuing to be our leading demographic.  I know it may not seem so from the small data sample from a few forums (fora? :) ) but the majority speaks to us with the data we have and we do not make business decisions in a vacuum as many seem to think.  That's why we've been in business for over over a decade and a half - evolving and innovating all along the way.