New Esoundz Group Buy

I'd love to have those sounds, Dave. I honestly would. Thanks for the heads up, but ...

Does anyone know what the copy-protection scheme is now? Do I have to put up one of the eSoundz staff in the spare room so that he can be assured that the samples are for my own use? Then he could report back hourly that I'm an authorized user, and that I haven't duped any backup copies. I think that the new protection scheme is called Kidnap-and-Response.

Sorry, folks (and no offense intended at all, Dave): my sarcasm is showing. I'm still just a little dongled over the last "incident" ...

I'm still just a little dongled over the last "incident" ...

I'm still waiting for my refund for the last "incident"

Maybe there's redemption after all?

Nope... now I'm officially cranky. Still waiting for my Miroslav refund (this should not take 17 days and counting), still hearing excuses about website glitches, our web guy is out of the office, we only have 8 people, I didn't respond to your emails because I had nothing good to tell you, rest assured it will be there tomorrow, no oops now you'll see it in the next 24 to 48 hours...

It takes me a lot to get pissed, but then I stay there forever ...

glad to know I'm not the only one who gets that way but that's okay, I'm sure there are plenty of other companies out there who would be happy to take my money

Soon as I get my refund - I'm going for the Novation Remote 49 unless you guys have another recommendation

ORIGINAL: telebuke

....
Did you know that ST2XL owners will get Philharmonik for $80 less?

And a nice dongle to go with it!

Nope, neicht, nada! Almost got suckered into that little fiasco. And unfortunately, I've become very leary of eSoundz in general and future 'copy protection' schemes of ST2, and SonicSynth upgrades.

ORIGINAL: woodamand

Yow, these guys sound bad! No esoundz for me, I can take a hint.
Appreciate all you helping not spend my cash.

Sorry...but I just had to add my $.02 here. My experience with esoundz over the last two years has been nothing but super. They have bent over time and time again to provide excellent value and customer service to their customers and I find their products to very useful in my productions. (e.g ST2XL, SS2)

I don't know the particulars of jmerideth's woes but I empathize with the frustration. However, I can say with almost certainty that it will be ironed out by esoundz. In fact it wouldn't surprise me in the least if there was some accomodation made for the troubles.

The dongle deal is what it is and, as far as I can tell, was driven by IK Multimedia. If you suffer from para-dongle-noia then you'll miss out on a fantastic orchestral library but it's your decision. I use dongle protected software and don't find it the least bit a problem but, like religion, I'm not about to try and persuade others.

So choose as you will but I continue to be a supporter of esoundz based upon their overall track record

ORIGINAL: jmeredith

The particulars are quite simple really - I asked for a refund on 8/1 and still haven't received it.

I've been polite in my emails and phonecalls with esoundz, I've made no rude remarks about the dongle, nor disparaging remarks about the company, it's products, or staff.

I asked for a refund for my pre-order based on new information received AFTER placing the order. All I want is my refund and I'm getting concerned that it's taking so long.

I probably shouldn't have expressed my frustration here but it slipped out in a cranky moment.

As I said, I empathize with your frustration. I can tell you, based on two years of experience, that esoundz is reputable and will get this sorted out for you.


Regards,

Dan

I can tell you, based on two years of experience, that esoundz is reputable and will get this sorted out for you.

I too have dealt with eSoundz over the last few years, and have been happy with my purchases. Squids has bent over backwards to make people happy. The software is primo.

My disappointment was in two areas: that the dongle deal was exposed rather than announced, after which squids went into a song and dance routine about how handy it was to use a dongle, and that you have a key to drive your car, so it's just the same. Oh, and you can combine codes from several pieces of software on one dongle! Whee!

HEY! I can buy as many keys for my car as I want, and I don't have to pay for a new license every time I break one or lose one, and nobody questions my integrity if I have to replace keys from time to time. And I admit that I have all the locks on my doors at home keyed to one key, but if I lose it, I don’t have to reinvest in several new houses.

Oh, and my car key may communicate with my car, but I want it to.

The second thing that bothered me was oblique reference to possibly/probably moving toward “different licensing protection” in future SampleTank and SonicSynth releases. Squids is sooooOOOOooooo happily singing the praises of the dongle that I can foresee him moving to it for those products as well.

Unless people protest, and sales go down, that’s exactly what will happen.

Thank god for the Bakers.

I'll chime in once again on eSoundz behalf, based on my previous positive expiriences with the company. I am a little embarressed honestly with the whole dongle thing. I went ahead with my Philharmonik order. I totally understand the strong feelings about the issue. Believe me, I have mixed emotions on this to the point where I almost cancelled, too. Sigh. This has been a hard case for me. I'm usually right there standing up for principles and I totally respect those of you who are taking this stand. I guess what bugs me is that if I hadn't said something, we would have gotten the software with the dongle in the box. That would have indeed been pretty crummy, IHMO.
And they better take care of Julie's refund,,,, as that is the redeeming factor to that whole ugly thing.

Having said that, they really have taken good care of me as a customer and I'm happy with all the stuff I've gotten from them. While my enthusiasm has been dampened a bit, I still have to acknowledge the good-will they have built in me, from what they have done in the past. I would say if this group buy is something that interests you, jump in there. It should get to be a good deal.

You might like to call them up. That might be faster and question can be answered right away.

You should have read/pasted in more of my quote as the next sentence said "I've been polite in my emails and PHONECALLS with esoundz".

It does sound like the problem is somewhat out of their control but I'm still working on that whole patience thing...

bump

Just curious as to what will happen before I call my credit card company

Can't help you with the card procedures; I've resorted to buying myself some Visa gift cards for online purchases. I'm sure these don't offer the exact same kind of ironclad refund protection that the majors do, but it does place an artificial limit on purchases. Specific cards for a single purchase.
That, and I don't have to worry about anyone hacking the numbers.

You should be able to start the process with a simple phone call to the card company's customer service. (I know; you've heard that song-and-dance before.)
You've been patient, and waited a reasonable length of time. Got to take it to the next level.

"Yous should want dat I take carra dis for yous?"
I know some guys. Local; real "mechanics". Reliable, dumb as posts, and with short memories. One of them lives real close by; as a matter of fact: in my house, (and I live alone).

Seriously, I don't know what I could accomplish, but they're about an hour away. Let me know if there's some way to help.

I know some guys.
are they cute? can I see pictures?

,,,ya know,,meredith,,, i m shocked ,,,,,<g>,,,, any ways,, i can't believe this ,, "dongle' thing,, all ,,,, this emotion,,,anger,,frustration,,, it must be a "guy thing ,,,,,ya know,,,, it's just a little dongle,,,,,,,

Have you guys (I'm in the midwest, so that includes women ) listened to the demo's and thought about this GB objectively? There are some great sounds in this GB!! It also has the potential to be a superb deal. I know the numbers aren't there yet, but IMHO, they should be. This is like up to $250 worth of stuff, for as low as $59. That strikes me as a pretty good deal. You get your choice of formats, and if we hit 200, you get all three. The GPO GB hit over 1000, and was unquesionably a great deal, but IMHO, this one comes close to that, if we hit the numbers. There is no dongle in this one, either. Just some unusual sounds that are hard to find anywhere else, especially at this price.

I do hope Julie's refund thing gets straightened out. but I feel pretty confident it will be. I did have a problem with the company once, and believe me, they bent over backwards to make it right. It also had to do with thier system, which is still under development. I have talked to Robert, and he's developing the whole thing in house. He's a great guy.

Anyway,,, all the folks at eSoundz are musicians, just like us.

I've been trying very hard to get them to support SFZ format, so we can get some more sounds for Dimension. Omnisoundz will be released sometime this fall, and will do just that. Hopefully, we can keep all this in perspective.