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Magix is suffering from Server Overload...give it a try again when you
get a chance...

I don't think Magix has ever experienced the demand they're seeing at present, and it probably never occurred to them that they might have to scale up their servers. Consequently, said servers are getting hammered this week. You might have better success if you time your download for the middle of the night in Europe. For me, out here in the Pacific time zone, that would be late afternoon.

To the OP regarding file sizes: I installed and tested just the Samplitude X3 demo for a day or two. That small installer file is NOT Samplitude, it is a download manager, more like the CCC was for Sonar. The 500mb file it downloads IS Samplitude and all the peripheral dll files it needs for all of its functions, in a compressed format. This expands to 1.1gb when installed on your computer. But this is still NOT any of the content files of the instruments you would get if you purchased Samplitude. So, to compare the size of the Samplitude X3 folder in Program Files with the corresponding Reaper folder, Samplitude takes up 1.1gb, while Reaper takes up less than 68mb, at least on my computer.

I downloaded it last night around 9 pm EST. Took about 2:45. That would be the middle of the night in Germany, so maybe that's why I succeeded.

You can save a lot of time on the initial install if you postpone the added content such as Independence, VIs and synths. You can always do that part next week after the sale's over.
 
I elected to skip most of the VIs, but couldn't resist the IR collection. It was only 280 MB. Well, after half an hour it's only at 53%, so that may have been a mistake. I'd suggest deferring everything except the core product until the smoke clears from Magix's server room. You can always learn about the accordion in January.

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It looks a lot like SONAR.  Check out some of Kraznet's tutorials. IIRC there was one about how to create aux busses that showed the track header up close.
 

It has the cleanest, nicest layout GUI I've seen so far trying out several DAWs. It is somewhat customizable with a little effort as it supports themes. The 4 main views can have different themes. A few ar included and you can make your own or use 3rd party themes.
 
I got the demo b4 the rush. Download & install went pretty quick. Took a shower & it was done. If & when I pay 4 the retail version I shouldnt have to download it again. Just the content.

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