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Lurssen Mastering Console FIXED

Hi all. Sorry for using the forum for a personal rant, but @ikmultimedia @IK_Multimedia closed the thread I started on this issue over at their forum. As some of you know, I've been a supporter of IK products here, and I've had good things to say about the Lurssen Mastering Console for iOS.

That changed six months ago, after the release of iOS 10.0.2, when the app no longer saved the settings from the previous session (a bug that was confirmed by IK on my support ticket). This may not seem like a big deal for a preset loaded app, but it does allow for a fair amount tweaking, which disappears after closing the app, rendering the app essentially useless. I've gone through all the support ticket protocols and addressed it on their forum in respectful language. What I was hoping for was a fix within a reasonable time frame and some sort of response resembling "so sorry, we're doing everything humanly possible to resolve your issue". I bumped my support ticket and IK forum thread each time a month passed without a fix for an app for which I laid out $99. The fourth month passed the other day, and I bumped my support ticket and forum thread again. Support replied with, "we have no updates at this time", and IK closed my thread. If someone from IK reassured me that my problem was important, I would have at least felt better about having a $100 icon in my iPad's music creation folder. I'm also reasonably sure I would not have felt it necessary to change my review in the AppStore or post here.

To make myself feel better, I've selfishly ranted here, for which I apologize. I'm also pasting my latest AppStore review of Lurssen Mastering Console for good measure. If you were on the fence about this one, you're missing nothing right now.

One star

"I bought it when it first came out, loved it, mastered my last album with it, and then it failed to save my work from the previous session. I filed a support ticket, made them a video of the issue; IK acknowledged the issue and said the problem would be addressed in an update. That all began SIX months ago. An app for which I paid $108.36 should have a high level of priority from a company whose slogan is "musicians first". I'll consider changing my review if this issue ever gets resolved. If anyone from IK cares, my support ticket # is 148338."

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Comments

  • The frustration is understandable, considering the app is pretty expensive by iOS standards. Even if the bug is in the queue waiting to be fixed support should at least try and communicate with you.

  • ...and therein lies the problem with Apples marketing strategy - pay your money for a 'product' now, and there is NO obligation to support customers, by fixing problems or updating for any future problems. We effectively buy into the lifespan of the product, and that lifespan is entirely dependant on the developers. There seems to be no guarantee for us, whether it's software or hardware.

  • How is this Apples fault?

    Ik multimedia sold an expensive app and haven't supported it.

    Maybe we should still be on iOS 1.0 moaning about how Android has loads of new features.

    Or maybe we should blame the hackers who keep finding ways to break Apples security requiring Apple to bring out security updates.

  • Fair play IMO, @supanorton. Nothing to apologize for. Thanks for the warning.

  • @telecharge said:
    Fair play IMO, @supanorton. Nothing to apologize for. Thanks for the warning.

    +1

  • edited February 2017

    +1

  • @BiancaNeve said:
    How is this Apples fault?

    Ik multimedia sold an expensive app and haven't supported it.

    Maybe we should still be on iOS 1.0 moaning about how Android has loads of new features.

    Or maybe we should blame the hackers who keep finding ways to break Apples security requiring Apple to bring out security updates.

    Planned obsolescence maybe? I can fully understand the reason for updates but many times these decisions are taken in mixed thinking of improving the OS and making some money from all the apps that will stop working.

  • @MonzoPro said:

    @telecharge said:
    Fair play IMO, @supanorton. Nothing to apologize for. Thanks for the warning.

    +1

    Yep. Waiting a few months in particular puts this solidly into fair play territory.

  • @syrupcore said:

    @MonzoPro said:

    @telecharge said:
    Fair play IMO, @supanorton. Nothing to apologize for. Thanks for the warning.

    +1

    Yep. Waiting a few months in particular puts this solidly into fair play territory.

    +1

  • Totally agree. Especially something as serious as failed saving of settings. Time to revisit my review on the App Store. Would love to see IK weigh in here, but I doubt they will. In the past they've always pushed these requests to their support forum, something which they can't do here. They never eat crow so there's no reason to respond.

  • There's just something about IK Multimedia that increasingly gives me the heebie-jeebies. In the past I've spent over $1500 on their stuff for the desktop and iOS: fantastic sounding, good value. But I've been so put off by their corporate culture that I stopped buying from them last year, and started the process of replacing every tool with a non-IK alternative. (Started by deleting all the iOS apps off my device). It's really discouraging they're pulling this sort of crap with what is essentially their marquee iOS app.

  • @Tovokas said:
    There's just something about IK Multimedia that increasingly gives me the heebie-jeebies. In the past I've spent over $1500 on their stuff for the desktop and iOS: fantastic sounding, good value. But I've been so put off by their corporate culture that I stopped buying from them last year, and started the process of replacing every tool with a non-IK alternative. (Started by deleting all the iOS apps off my device). It's really discouraging they're pulling this sort of crap with what is essentially their marquee iOS app.

    I hear you. But the good news is that, while hard, culture or PR or strategy can change. Let's hope they polish up on their customer skills, because they have some useful products...

  • @gsm909 said:
    ...and therein lies the problem with Apples marketing strategy - pay your money for a 'product' now, and there is NO obligation to support customers, by fixing problems or updating for any future problems. We effectively buy into the lifespan of the product, and that lifespan is entirely dependant on the developers. There seems to be no guarantee for us, whether it's software or hardware.

    I missed something. How is Apple any different from any other platform developer in this regard? I don't love Apple, but Microsoft makes no dev support their product, either.

  • edited February 2017

    @JohnnyGoodyear said:

    @Tovokas said:
    There's just something about IK Multimedia that increasingly gives me the heebie-jeebies. In the past I've spent over $1500 on their stuff for the desktop and iOS: fantastic sounding, good value. But I've been so put off by their corporate culture that I stopped buying from them last year, and started the process of replacing every tool with a non-IK alternative. (Started by deleting all the iOS apps off my device). It's really discouraging they're pulling this sort of crap with what is essentially their marquee iOS app.

    I hear you. But the good news is that, while hard, culture or PR or strategy can change. Let's hope they polish up on their customer skills, because they have some useful products...

    Ha, I swore off this company for similar shenanigans 15+ years ago

  • @realdavidai said:

    @JohnnyGoodyear said:

    @Tovokas said:
    There's just something about IK Multimedia that increasingly gives me the heebie-jeebies. In the past I've spent over $1500 on their stuff for the desktop and iOS: fantastic sounding, good value. But I've been so put off by their corporate culture that I stopped buying from them last year, and started the process of replacing every tool with a non-IK alternative. (Started by deleting all the iOS apps off my device). It's really discouraging they're pulling this sort of crap with what is essentially their marquee iOS app.

    I hear you. But the good news is that, while hard, culture or PR or strategy can change. Let's hope they polish up on their customer skills, because they have some useful products...

    Ha, I swore off this company for similar shenanigans 15+ years ago

    You mean like buying a billion dollar earphone company specializing in Bluetooth and pop culture and then removing the headphone audio jack that millions of people need to bend over and hopefully take the $150 buck headphones in the ole kiester.

    Fuck Apple.

    Personally, they bug me.

  • I knew about their corporate attitudes for years. Reminds me exactly of Cakewalk's "don't give a shit" attitude about ever bothering to update z3ta+. I absolutely love Sampletank and swear by it for realistic sounds (Miroslav 2 anybody?). However, indeed, most times they have that corporate attitude problem.

    From the get-go I had a feeling Lurssen Console was an overpriced gimmicky piece of shite with some dude's namesake on it. $99 IAP for unlocked functionality that doesn't include interapp nor audiobus compatibility? Seriously? That's the original reason I went nuts during Fabfilter's 25% off holiday sale, was to have decent mastering plugins on my iPad that actually worked, and indeed, they work, lol.

  • +1
    I wrote to them three months ago and nothing...

  • I had a similar experience with vocalive when ios9 launched (iaa stopped working). IK acknowledged the issue but said they had no timeline for when it would be fixed. Pissed me off but eventually they fixed it (as part of major app update, which hopefully is what they'll do with Lurssen to take the sting out of the busted settings issue).

    Given the size of their software/app stable, the IK dev team must have a pretty long list of fixes laid out by mgt. Not making excuses for them, but steinberg also took a looong time with the cubasis zoom fix without telling users when it would be ready. Lurssen is a great app (for folks on ios9 at least) so hopefully they chop you guys out sooner rather than later.

  • @RustiK said:

    @realdavidai said:

    @JohnnyGoodyear said:

    @Tovokas said:
    There's just something about IK Multimedia that increasingly gives me the heebie-jeebies. In the past I've spent over $1500 on their stuff for the desktop and iOS: fantastic sounding, good value. But I've been so put off by their corporate culture that I stopped buying from them last year, and started the process of replacing every tool with a non-IK alternative. (Started by deleting all the iOS apps off my device). It's really discouraging they're pulling this sort of crap with what is essentially their marquee iOS app.

    I hear you. But the good news is that, while hard, culture or PR or strategy can change. Let's hope they polish up on their customer skills, because they have some useful products...

    Ha, I swore off this company for similar shenanigans 15+ years ago

    You mean like buying a billion dollar earphone company specializing in Bluetooth and pop culture and then removing the headphone audio jack that millions of people need to bend over and hopefully take the $150 buck headphones in the ole kiester.

    Fuck Apple.

    Personally, they bug me.

    Actually nothing like that, at all.

    Thanks

  • edited February 2017

    The thread was closed due to the IK Forum not being a medium for direct technical support. The thread title asked "anybody else?" to which no users responded in kind so it really was a matter that no forum user, mod, or admin could fix. Information about the ticket was relayed to the support team as appropriate and I understand your frustration but that is where the issue will need to be resolved, bumped, etc.

    I will send your dissatisfaction to support with regard to that ticket and to the lack of resolution for the issue you are having. Thank you.

  • @marliess said:
    I had a similar experience with vocalive when ios9 launched (iaa stopped working). IK acknowledged the issue but said they had no timeline for when it would be fixed. Pissed me off but eventually they fixed it (as part of major app update, which hopefully is what they'll do with Lurssen to take the sting out of the busted settings issue).

    Given the size of their software/app stable, the IK dev team must have a pretty long list of fixes laid out by mgt. Not making excuses for them, but steinberg also took a looong time with the cubasis zoom fix without telling users when it would be ready. Lurssen is a great app (for folks on ios9 at least) so hopefully they chop you guys out sooner rather than later.

    There are many products in the stable, and the devs do indeed have their hands full at times, but there should still be some update available for any open issue and I'll definitely do what I can to bump something where necessary. I'm glad the issue you were having with VocaLive was resolved.

  • This is why I feel good about making our AudioMaster and AudioFix apps work on a subscription basis. If it's ever no longer worth it for us to keep it updated, all we have to do is ride out the last subscription and pull it from the App Store. With our subscription model you have our word that it will function for the time you're paying for it's service.

  • IK: You don't do yourself any favors by coming off as thin-skinned and not even bothering to address the accusation of the Lurssen app. Strange PR choice. As for the subscription service: Good luck with that. Consumers hate it. And is AudioMaster the app with the genre-based mastering presets (like Podcasts or Electronic)? Here's a ringing endorsement from the App Store for AudioMaster: "This is a great app for those who, like me, are professional musicians but not technically inclined."
    Haha!

    This thread is becoming a race to the bottom.

  • I was waiting for ik to respond, but i wouldnt imagine they respond this way
    Al i can say is Wow

  • I bought this app back in October and I've only used it on one song of mine so far, but which settings does the OP mean disappears when opening it again? All of them?

    I opened up the app for the first time in months today, and the previous song that I had used it on loaded up.

  • @CrazySynthMan said:
    I bought this app back in October and I've only used it on one song of mine so far, but which settings does the OP mean disappears when opening it again? All of them?

    I opened up the app for the first time in months today, and the previous song that I had used it on loaded up.

    The plot thickens!

  • @ExAsperis99 said:
    IK: You don't do yourself any favors by coming off as thin-skinned and not even bothering to address the accusation of the Lurssen app. Strange PR choice.
    This thread is becoming a race to the bottom.

    Lol they've been doing this for decades... this is what I was referring to :D

  • Just trialled it. It does indeed seem as though projects don't recall settings or presets. Save two presets; Test 1 (all dials at max) and Test 2 (all dials at min). Saved two projects also called Test 1 and 2, using the respective presets. No change in dials when switching between projects. Pretty big deal for a 100 buck app tbh.

  • @CrazySynthMan said:
    I bought this app back in October and I've only used it on one song of mine so far, but which settings does the OP mean disappears when opening it again? All of them?

    I opened up the app for the first time in months today, and the previous song that I had used it on loaded up.

    The bug appeared on iOS 10.0.2, and according to IK support, affects only iPads, not iPhones. The previous project loads, but the previous settings do not. If you're running it on an iPad updated to iOS 10.0.2 or later, open the project again and check the settings on the EQ and processor controls. They should all be in a default position.

    Next, load a preset. Look at where the controls are, close app all the way, open app, and you'll see the EQ settings at zero and the processors at their default settings. The app (all iOS apps for that matter) are supposed to open in the state they were in upon closing the last session.

  • @ikmultimedia said:
    The thread was closed due to the IK Forum not being a medium for direct technical support. The thread title asked "anybody else?" to which no users responded in kind so it really was a matter that no forum user, mod, or admin could fix. Information about the ticket was relayed to the support team as appropriate and I understand your frustration but that is where the issue will need to be resolved, bumped, etc.

    I will send your dissatisfaction to support with regard to that ticket and to the lack of resolution for the issue you are having. Thank you.

    I do understand why the thread was closed, but I posted on the forum once a month because the replies from IK support were antiseptic at best. Forums provide a human element that can often serve to smooth things over and sometimes prevent negative reviews and rants in other forums. I also understand that you are a forum moderator, but you are also the living representation of IK multimedia. I had nowhere else to turn, and you slammed the door in my face. I opened a few other doors to make sure I would be heard.

    Thank you for sending my dissatisfaction to support.

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