Before you buy, read this.

[santiagodraco]

Be aware (as I wasn't until it was too late) that you will end up paying for bug fixes to your product, and a hefty full retail price minus a whole 20%, after one year.

Yes, understand. One year of a screensaver/visualizer app and you'll pay 24 bucks (or whatever it is) for minimal changes other than possible bug fixes to the program.

I wasted money on both Gforce and Softsky only to find out my license expired before ANY of the issues I had brought up to SoundSpectrum were fixed (poor dual display support - non functional in many cases, and more).

This was a while ago, but I came here hoping to see a policy change and to see licenses activated as lifetime, but no joy.

So, buyer beware. Your are buying a subscription product in essence and don't even expect bug fixes if they take a year which is likely the case.

[juxtiphi]

I am sorry G-Force hasnt been worth it for you but I must say that I have been using GF since it came out and its always been worth it.

sure you could buy in at a time when updates are slow but that doesnt mean Soundspectrum is not working to get updates out. A new beta has just been released for testing and it looks great.

you mention poor dual screen support, I watch GF on my 43 inch lcd flat screen tv with no problems while surfing the net or controlling my player from my monitor so I have no problems where dual monitors are concerned so maybe its not entirely the fault of G-Force as to why it doesnt work for you.

If you want your money back open a support ticket and tell them you want your money back.

http://www.soundspectrum.com/support/contact.html

[swiftyone]

I for one...AND I know for a FACT, many, many, others are extremely HAPPY, with G-Force, I would quite happily pay DOUBLE.....for this outstanding app...and I thank all. that work very HARD on G-Force

Thank you

Swifty

[androidlove]

My Platinum subscription just ran out. It goes by the month and not the date. I still have the same product I started out with. I'd suggested a couple of features to make the program easier for me. They weren't taken seriously. The fan base seems to be programmers and people who like to tweak the settings. I just want eye candy.

[andy55]

Hey guys...

Regarding with G-Force (and other product updates), we encourage you to open a support ticket. Venting your frustrations may be nice on the message boards, but unfortunately the only way you'll be heard is if you open a support ticket.

Now, if your case is that you just missed the window of an update by a couple weeks, then open a ticket and kindly tell us about your situation. There's a pretty good chance we'll hear your case and want to make you happy -- why wouldn't we??

Thanks,
Andy O'Meara
SoundSpectrum

[martinrabson]

I for one...AND I know for a FACT, many, many, others are extremely HAPPY, with G-Force, I would quite happily pay DOUBLE.....for this outstanding app...and I thank all. that work very HARD on G-Force

Thank you

Swifty

+1

Worth every £ I've paid over the years, the only program subscription I've maintained without hesitation.
Always look forward to new sub version for the new configs to crop up. I think now about 8 years use or so. You do indeed get what you pay for.

Thanks to G-Force !

[gorus]

Be aware (as I wasn't until it was too late)...

SoundSpectrum does not deceive or try to "catch" its customers in any way. The Download Access and Updates page clearly describes how the one year term of updates works. SoundSpectrum gives plenty of notice prior to expiration, the option to renew (with a hefty discount if you do it early), and also reminds you to backup your product, should you choose not to renew.

As for "paying for bug fixes," sure, some portion of each G-Force release inevitably deals with bugs, but a lot more functionality and new features are also added. Most of our users feel the product is undervalued, but you are entitled to your opinion of course, so if you don't feel like it's enough value for you, just don't renew. And if a bug somehow hasn't been fixed before someone's updates expired, I cannot imagine a single case where our support department would rebuff someone and didn't try to satisfy them.

[rapanuy]

I´m also a for years satisfied platinum user, no doubt ´bout that.
But I also can (a bit) understand the opener. The price added over the years is quite a lot (compared to also free visualizers out there).
The free may be (or are) not as good, but is it worth the repeated pricing?

I also wouldn´t say "no" to a bit lower prices for long term users.

It´s a coincidence I fell over this thread here: I just installed version 4.0 today, runs as good as my old, and I also (the coincidence) before reading above thought about letting that version 4.0 run for 2-3 years before buying again.

Mike

[martinrabson]

I was thinking about this subject again, where did the tradition or presumption of buying a software application once with unlimited updates stem from, anyone remember. Many purchases require upgrade costs / repair bills yet with soft apps people always complain.

Just wondering.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

I agree with the poster. If you only want the eye candy, the actual new functionality delivered has been almost nothing over the years. And the price paid keeps accumulating for nothing. It's the same as Vista Ultimate with Extras. It cost a lot of money, and what were the incredibly few extras delivered actually worth? Practically nothing. If you think that is a fair business model, you are a gullible consumer.

I was thinking about this subject again, where did the tradition or presumption of buying a software application once with unlimited updates stem from, anyone remember. Many purchases require upgrade costs / repair bills yet with soft apps people always complain.

Just wondering.

That's completely the wrong way around. And I think you knew that since you wrote "many purchases" and not "all". I think you have a vested interest. By law, there are warranty periods in all countries. If your car breaks down within the warranty period, you do NOT have to pay for it to get fixed. Most countries' laws specify that if a problem existed during the warranty period but it's not fixed within the period, it must still be free. The opposite here - it takes more than a year to get fixes, and meanwhile people have to subscribe for another year to get that fix. So in comparison with hardware, illegal. A second rule in most countries' warranty laws, is that if there is a problem and you get it fixed, the warranty period starts all over again automatically. Again, not so here, you still have to pay for the next year, even if the problem that was supposed to be fixed, wasn't - and this continues in perpetuity. In fact there is no incentive to fix problems; quite the opposite, they can string you along as long as they want. Finally, most countries have a minimum warranty period. In Europe it is 2 years. So 1 year when viewed from the hardware point of view is in fact illegal. To sum up, this is how it works with other "purchases that require repair"; You get a fridge with 5 year warranty. It breaks after 4 years and 11 months. It is repaired after 5 years and 1 month - FOR FREE. Then the warranty is extended another 5 years, because in the eye of the law it is considered a "fresh" product; stopping the manufacturer from doing a poor repair job so you have to return and this time pay when it breaks after just a month.

These laws exist to ensure a minimum level of quality and stop cheating the customer by including built-in faults that you have to pay for. In my mind Soundspectrum is circumventing that concept through this subscription model.

Most other software companies emulate the fair concept by having free minor updates, but upgrade costs for major releases, which can come many years in-between. Where a major release has considerable new functionality with a wow factor. I have not seen anything like that for years in G-Force. We are paying for minor backstage updates. As the poster said.

Brgds

Danny

[martinrabson]

That's completely the wrong way around. And I think you knew that since you wrote "many purchases" and not "all". I think you have a vested interest.

Fair enough! you make some good points.

It does however get very old when an opposing opinion that is not negative regarding a developer, product etc, gets slammed as some inside job. I really have better things to do. As I use my real life name on this forum just get a private dick to find out what I do with my real life time!

Sometimes a poster may actually like the product!

Anyway the fact remains, the software does not get crippled if you don't renew the sub, just keep using it, a no brainer in my book.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

It does however get very old when an opposing opinion that is not negative regarding a developer, product etc, gets slammed as some inside job. I really have better things to do. As I use my real life name on this forum just get a private dick to find out what I do with my real life time!

Sometimes a poster may actually like the product!

Agreed... When I wrote that, I was thinking that I probably shouldn't...But I was just upset. And I had noted several posts defending the subscription method. So I started thinking that you had a side job using the same method. If you don't, it's of course pure conjecture on my part. But I've seen a lot of posts defending it with no real reasoning, ignoring how other companies do it. I needed to strike a blow for the other side, the consumer side. We have rights; and your point was that people assume we have more rights buying software than for buying vacuum cleaners. I'm saying, not so. Quite the opposite, we're much more protected when buying hardware than software, and Soundspectrum is with it's business model on the low end of the ethic scale there, in my opinion.

Anyway the fact remains, the software does not get crippled if you don't renew the sub, just keep using it, a no brainer in my book.

Again the wrong way around as I see it. Even if you keep renewing, you can't use it on a 64 bit PC - which is now the standard! All new PC's come with it. That is major crippling, and you still have to pay, on the off-chance that some day there will be a 64 bit version - but no indication of when, so you might end up paying loads for absolutely nothing. It could be years from now, and meanwhile you have to pay each year hoping that it will come out. That is my objection, and the reason for this thread.

Brgds

Danny

[jerohm]

At the risk of should probably keep my mouth shut ...

... If you originally bought the product to run on a 32bit machine, and NOW expect it to run on a 64bit one, I have very little sympathy... unless the FREE version met your expectations on your 64bit machine, and THAT influenced your purchasing decision. Microsoft didn't upgrade 32bit to 64bits OSs. They were DIFFERENT products. The truth is, currently anyway, 64bit provides very little for 99% of current applications (which all STILL need to be rewritten to support a rather dubious advantage) ... EXCEPT allow the sale of more hardware (memory). I had Vista forced down my throat ... and had to purchase a retail version of XP/32 ... $119. (I THINK Win7 is offered in a 32Bit version ... you should probably ask yourself, WHY?).


Personally I would have NEVER offered to support GF on so many different player platforms ... I would have provided a stand alone version, and if your hardware/drivers situation didn't support it, I would have told you, you needed Virtual Cable [driver]. The Win/Mac platforms double the headaches. The utilization of multi-cores IS a worhtwhile upgrade; other than that, CONTENT is king. While I understand your frustration, I am not sure how objectively you are dealing with the matter ... other than to know that the decision to move to 64Bits hasn't been implication free... This is just MY opinion, and you are free to disagree... so don't spew venom ... it is just a perspective from someone who has dealt with such issues in the past.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

... If you originally bought the product to run on a 32bit machine, and NOW expect it to run on a 64bit one, I have very little sympathy...

Yes, I understand your point, and indeed actually agree with that.

Only thing is, I'm quite sure that when I bought it, it said it was 64 bit compatible on Vista. Other software companies charging this kind of money make sure to keep up with the latest Windows versions. And that's where my main beef is; we're paying an awful lot IN ADVANCE for something we don't know if we'll get.

Brgds

Danny

[sitsparky]

Only thing is, I'm quite sure that when I bought it, it said it was 64 bit compatible on Vista. Other software companies charging this kind of money make sure to keep up with the latest Windows versions. And that's where my main beef is; we're paying an awful lot IN ADVANCE for something we don't know if we'll get.

First of all, for those not aware, I do work for SoundSpectrum and I occasionally read and reply on these forums for guidance or informational purposes. Though, as mentioned in other places on these forums, I must stress that if you are a current or previous customer experiencing problems with our software, have sales questions, or are dissatisfied in any way, please contact us directly via our Contact form.

http://www.soundspectrum.com/support/contact.html

dbjorck and others, I am sorry that you are dissatisfied and your points ARE well taken. However, please note that SoundSpectrum has NEVER advertised 64-bit plug-in support.

What are the system requirements?
http://www.soundspectrum.com/g-force/faq.html#system

The current iteration of this FAQ entry has been in place ever since Windows x64 systems started becoming more popular and we started receiving more support questions regarding compatibility. Also, to be clear, our current updates run fine on x64 systems, just not within 64-bit media players, such as WMC x64.

Though jerohm makes a point that one of the reasons we provide free trials for all of our visualizers is so that you may test out whether our software will work on your system before purchasing, I will never fault someone for not taking this step first or not reading through all documentation before purchasing as this can seem a daunting and somewhat unnecessary procedure, especially since we live in an era where the assumption is that if you have a recent computer you should be able to run all recent software. Additionally, in the case of 64-bit support, the dialog between consumers and developers regarding what's possible is only just beginning, and this relatively new and more "powerful" platform as it relates to the consumer market is still in the process of being universally understood by developers, for good and for bad. As such, assumptions, correct and incorrect, on both sides, abound.

That being said, as our head developer Andy notes in a separate thread...

Also, to put things in perspective, please realize that there are exactly ZERO third party developers that currently offer 64-bit visual plugins under Windows, for ANY audio player. SoundSpectrum will be the first -- but let's just hope there's no major roadblocks.

http://www.soundspectrum-forums.com/vie ... php?t=6522

As the world's leading makers of music visualization software, we excitedly accept the role of leading the way towards 64-bit plug-in support, and to describe the amount of development time and energy put into this endeavor thus far might overwhelm you, mostly given the fact that there is currently little to no documentation to draw from on blazing this 64-bit trail. But, honestly, as much as we want to make this support available to our overwhelmingly supportive customer base as soon as possible, it is difficult to defend against those who chastise us for the lack of a product or feature that doesn't exist yet... anywhere. In some ways, I do feel the urge to apologize on behalf of myself and my colleagues for letting the cat out of the bag by revealing our intention to develop 64-bit support and for attempting to provide a timeframe on availability, in the midst of the complicated hurdles mentioned above. However, as a small company, we tend to prefer transparency where many (often big) software companies do not. Given, I'm sure, your familiarity with both kinds of companies, which would you prefer?

Most countries' laws specify that if a problem existed during the warranty period but it's not fixed within the period, it must still be free. The opposite here - it takes more than a year to get fixes, and meanwhile people have to subscribe for another year to get that fix.

We may be a software company but we are not robots (as far as you know ), and our licensing system is not inflexible, provided we know of your situation. Though 64-bit plug-in support is a feature request and not a bug, if a situation arises where a version we release contains a bug and a user finds their license expiring before an update which addresses the bug is released, we have never been shy about providing access to the "fixed" version, just as long as we are notified of the problem as it is occurring or not long after. Additionally, though we provide a renewal discount that extends for one-month after your license expires, if you wish to wait for certain features or implementations to be addressed before renewing again, and this falls outside of the one-month renewal window, we will gladly discuss any options or renewal discounts that might be available to you at a later time. Again, this requires that you open this discussion with us, preferably around the time your license expires. As Andy mentions in a previous post in this thread, "There's a pretty good chance we'll hear your case and want to make you happy -- why wouldn't we??"

I do want to commend this forum's administrators, moderators, and vocal and enthusiastic users for helping spread information about and support for our products and for generally making our community as amazing as it is. Anything that falls within or near what I listed in the above paragraph:

Contact Us:
http://www.soundspectrum.com/support/contact.html