Let me start off with the fact that I know linking or requesting warez is prohibited over here and so I am not trying to mask any attempt to do so. Just wanted to pose a small question and I thought this would be the best place to get an answer because I know lots of AudioZ people also post over here. If people do think this shouldn't be posted or possibly should be posted some place else, I apologize dearly and hope it can be moved or whatever.

It's mostly concerning Xfer Serum (but some other stuff that's hardly ever posted as well) and why that regulars start to act all weird when you mention that particular synth and possibly request it over on AudioZ, but why nothing really happens when it's concerning loads of other software.

I know the most recent updates of this particular synth have not been posted on pretty much all of the warez communities online. Is there a possibility that R2R or any other group will start posting the updates for this synth once again? Or should people just forget about it and move on or save up until they will be able to buy it?

P.S: My intention was and still is to always buy the stuff that I use rigorously. But everyone knows the financial struggles of most college students and I can only buy so many plugins at a time before I start running out of money that is supposed to feed me and keep a roof over my head. Just wondering if I should stop wasting time looking for these particular updates and just work with what I have until I graduate and get to some steady and comfortable form of income. Also quite curious what the reason would be behind some of these plugins not being posted while most others are, since I'm curious like that.

 

Well I think the thing is that there is an (older) release which is usable and working fine, but if you really want to stay up to date with the software that usually means that you're using it up to a point where paying the developer should be a considerable option.
I know it's tough to get the money for certain things, but if there would be a warez-release for every new update that is released, sales would probably drop even more. I know the latest updates of that Synth have some neat features, but they are not mandatory. And if you feel like they really really are, you should maybe do the developer a favor.

The other thing with Xfer is that Steve is an awesome guy that really relies on the sales of his software to be able to improve it and create even more neat stuff. So damaging his sales is indirectly damaging the industry.

I hope this was more or less helpful as this is a really tricky topic to discuss.

 

Nothing personal. I read about 100 messages about how cool and nice is Steve Duda.

Are you friends? Do you know him personally for a long time? What makes him awesome? Sometimes i'm thinking that people stopped understand the difference between good business and good people.

almost the same text you will find after disassembling any xfer product. Weird fact.

He is the same developer as every other in the market. So why you think that he needs more sales than Steinberg, Arturia, Lennar Digital, Reveal sounds, Waves, Fabfilter, Native - Instruments, etc... (every name you can remember except Refx, Vengeance and every other product from Manuel Schleis)

Because it was blacklisted. Reason? - Ambitions and "Respect" to Steve.

 

Last edited: Jul 27, 2015

Going to keep this straight forward & simple....

No.... I doubt you'll see any Scene updates for this synth anytime soon, but I could be wrong.

Yes.... If you use the synth rigorously, I do believe people should save up money and support the industry they want to be part of. Plus you'll have access to the latest updates as soon as they're available.

Yes.... I would stop wasting time looking for the most recent updates, focus on making good music & be happy with what you have already been given.

 

Watched a lot of stuff about him (and not necessarily because of him). Like there are even livestreams with him and Deadmau5 or SeamlessR and call it insight into human nature or whatever but he seems like a clever and friendly guy. And I really like his products.
I think that justifies the use of the word 'awesome'.
And yes, maybe he is secretly a dick that steals sweets from children and litters in the city park but with the information given at the moment I think that he is awesome.

Well that's the source of my statement. Of course he could always lie, but that's still an interesting place to lie.

Well that went off-topic way too fast.

 

never talked to Steve, did had a chance to talk to some guys of Lennar digital 8? years ago at a pro-audio fair...
these guys from this small business were proud like they just had their first baby.... and you know what?

we killed that baby like it was nothing....

This proofs that Steve is the better businessman indeed,
it has nothing to do with being a nice guy, or sales of his software to be able to improve

he has his marketing in the right place, or did you really think Crackmouse uses this plugin on a daily basis?
(he has a certain interest being co-owner)

its quite intriguing how money and putting people in the right places can prevent your plugin from being cracked and shared
and U (meaning all people in general) all think Steve is a 'nice guy' what could be true, but isn't relevant

 

I like your point of view. Meant to write the same thing but thought that it will be too much for one post.

 

See, that's at least more like the kind of information I'm open for as it has more depth, but without some proof it's still just a thesis.
And yes I'm aware that it is difficult to prove it, but if it would be easy then less people would think of Steve the way they do at the moment in the first place.

 

May you reference the data where it states and proves that warez hurts sales, please?

 

I am more inclined to believe it's that whoever can crack it simply has respect for a company enough to delay a release either because there is limited or no protection, as is specifically the case in Serum, and/or the protection is intuitive and doesn't screw over the legitimate buyer. Many teams have a certain code and when developers address the specific grievances that the market has for said products then they are cut a little slack as a nod for their efforts. I don't know where people are getting the idea that it's because Steve is a nice guy.

 

Would be interesting to see.

 

I don't have any proof of anything, but i see interest in Reason and Cubase falling like rain, whereas FL Studio is raising like never before.
Same about U-He : when protection was "weaker", there was a big interest. Last synths and updates not being released, ppl start to forget about U-He and speak about Serum/Spire/whatever scene released. How many banks you see for U-He products, compared to Sylenth/Spire/Serum ?
I would like to see real world DAW sells, too. But it is not going to happen...
Waves and NI products are all fully cracked, but i don't see them falling soon

 

Kwissbeats even mentioned in this thread that warez figuratively killed the work of a small company. And the essence of that sentence was actually that frequent releases would probably damage the sales even more.

( How piracy affects bigger companies like Image-Line, Steinberg, NI etc. is in my opinion an entirely different topic. )

If you really want to discuss this topic even more, and maybe other fun topics like PC vs Mac or PlayStation vs Xbox, a new thread would be probably the better choice. This already went off-topic enough and thus I probably won't reply anymore. If you want the final say, go ahead.

 

Last edited: Jul 27, 2015

Thanks for the very insightful posts from most of you guys! Hoping I didn't stir up too much controversy here, long time lurker but never really post. Just wanted to comment on a few replies specifically.

If you've read my initial post, I did state I believe in buying plug-ins that I do use rigorously. Obviously one only has so much means to an end and some will have to wait before they can be bought, right? Can't buy them all at the same time, just like I said at the opening post. Doesn't really answer or take away my question though.

Also like the point being brought up on how it's not necessarily proven that piracy hurts sales because it also infuses people to try the product and buy it if they end up liking it. Just like warez are supposed to do in the first place. You'll always have a certain set of individuals that don't care for supporting any of the companies and will just continue to pirate all the software. But I'd like to believe the vast majority of those people don't get anywhere in the industry because their unwillingness to support the software developers shows they aren't all that serious about it in the first place.

Would like to thank again for all the good points on the topic and maybe I should start chiming in on these boards more often. Not sure if I can be of any legitimate input though, but I guess we'll see. The only thing I was still somewhat wondering about is the following.

What kind of ambition would you be talking about? It doesn't make sense to me to be quite frank. The respect part is quite obvious and I obviously get that. The ambitions part, not so much.

 

True you can only buy what you can afford & I did read your post, but I think if you've have been around AudioZ or here for the past few months you should already know the answer to your question.

Imho dude, I think this post was always going to stir up some controversy considering to me it just seems like a nicely sugar coated "Serum Request".

Overall I think I answered your post.... in that people should just be happy with what the Scene has already provided, stop requesting every minor update, and focus on making music. "Attitude Of Gratitude"

 

Steven Slate use different methods, like DMCA, sending his watchdog all over warez websites, intimadating webmasters and more.
And it worked : some scene releases almost disappeared.

So if Steve Duda just asked to stop, i don't see any problem. I even see it positively :D
In fact, i don't see any problem if the whole scene totally collapse. Because the whole world is collapsing ;)

 

The fact that I've been around AudioZ and this forum for some time doesn't mean I have time to keep up with everything that's going on over here or there. So far, I only really searched for particular posts that seemed beneficial to me and didn't mingle in with different discussions that didn't really concern me. If I couldn't find a particular post that would answer my question, I would post it and hope I would actually bring some relevant discussion to the table. Hence, this very post.

I'm actually very grateful for what the scene has provided thus far and keeps on providing in the future. I'm not even one to request certain things at AudioZ because I don't feel like that if one doesn't pay for things is in a position to make any requests whatsoever. I just download what seems useful to me and buy it whenever it does end up being useful to me and I get the money saved up. It's up to people themselves to make up their minds on what they are willing or unwilling to provide to the public. So no, this is NOT a sugar coated "Serum Request" as you call it. It's just a case of curiosity because when you follow the pattern of releases it's quite easy to anticipate what will or won't be available through scene releases. In this case, Serum is somewhat of an anomaly and therefore I was wondering what the reasoning behind this was.

In the end, this particular issue is not about being grateful or not (although I do completely agree that people using scene releases should always be grateful and stop acting like spoiled brats with their requests for different operating systems and the likes) but merely about wanting to know why certain choices seem to be made. Luckily, I got some solid answers from certain people I highly respect through what I have read from those particular individuals through lurking, and you were kind enough to shine your personal light on the fact if looking for updates for Serum would be waste of time or not.

 

Kind of a follow-up question: if every single company like Native Instruments, Image-Line, FabFilter and the list goes on and on, would simply file a blacklist request then scene would just stop releasing all of their products and everybody would be back to using demos to try out software? Just seems odd making a simple request would end up being enough and the bigger companies not having that figured out quite yet it being the only reason their stuff is still released.