Omg Way Beyond Fairlight...

Need some fresh sounds? Want to show off your sound design skills? Here's the place!
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hurricane
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04 Jul 2018

Ok, even though I like your stuff a lot, I don't appreciate misleading item descriptions.

Regarding your RX2 Expansion - your website describes it as: "The new addon pack R2X gives you additional refills and over 1000 new patches."

The normal price on this is $59. Sale price is $25. So I bought it. Only thing is, the RX2 expansion has 38 NNXT patches, 16 combis, 7 misc Reason device patches, 9 Reason fx patches, and 26 RE patches for a total of 96 patches.

There are 3 additional refills that you get with the RX2 purchase. One refill has 60 patches. DeLight has 68 patches. The last refill (which is a patch collection for 4 different REs) has 278 distinct patches.

So that makes this a grand total of about 500 patches.

Now for $25 I'm not going to complain (even though I feel bamboozled and am disappointed). If I had purchased this for $59 I would be pissed off.

I thought you all should know.

Happy 4th.
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bitley
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04 Jul 2018

Ok yes sorry for this. R2X never got finished because orders never came in as expected but now that you lift the issue I will continue working on it.

Sales do help of course. It has been quite slow. A feeling of being forgotten really.

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MrFigg
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04 Jul 2018

bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018
Ok yes sorry for this. R2X never got finished because orders never came in as expected but now that you lift the issue I will continue working on it.

Sales do help of course. It has been quite slow. A feeling of being forgotten really.
Cool. Does that mean when you finish it those who already bought it will get the update? Also very good refills but why do we who are on the mailing list get a “last chance one time offer to upgrade for the lowest ever price” email and then a couple of months later the “lowest price ever” goes even lower. Hell...I’m not complaining because the refill is also the “best refill ever” but just wonder how you’re thinking. Of course you don’t need to justify yourself to me or anybody else. Just saying.
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bitley
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04 Jul 2018

No I don’t, just saying.

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MrFigg
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04 Jul 2018

bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018
No I don’t, just saying.
That’s what I said...what you said. In any case your refills are worth double the price. :). Look forward to the update :).
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bitley
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04 Jul 2018

Thank you we’ll see. Orders need to flow in so that I feel like there is at least some kind of movement.

(90% of sales are Kontakt these days)
Last edited by bitley on 04 Jul 2018, edited 1 time in total.

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hurricane
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04 Jul 2018

bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018
Ok yes sorry for this. R2X never got finished because orders never came in as expected but now that you lift the issue I will continue working on it.

Sales do help of course. It has been quite slow. A feeling of being forgotten really.
Thanks.

Excellent refills though. I'm not angry or mad or anything like that. When I buy something I just want to get what I think I bought when I buy it, lol.
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bitley
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04 Jul 2018

Yes when I produce something I want the normal crowd to keep interested (and indeed ordering, ideally :lol: ) but it didn’t happen much this winter. I don’t reach them easily anymore. No more Phead forum = less possibilities to really reach out...
Last edited by bitley on 05 Jul 2018, edited 1 time in total.

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Magnus
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05 Jul 2018

bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018
Yes when I produce something I want the normal crowd to keep interested (abd indeed ordering) but it didn’t happen this winter. I don’t reach them easily anymore. No more Phead forum = lousy sales.
Bitley I don't think it's just the forum, if you want new Reason customers as well as Kontakt ones you need to move with the times man! You should take a leaf out of Pink Noise's book and convert your samples into a Rack Extension instrument! Get an IDT instrument going. That way you'll get exposure through the Prop Shop, people can trial your sounds and see how great they are, and you also don't have to worry about piracy given the Rack Extensions are copy protected. Plus you can ditch Dropbox which isn't a particularly modern delivery method for a product :cool:

Good luck; and don't get downhearted!

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bitley
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05 Jul 2018

1. IDT & REs are fine but I am a sound designer & 2D designer, not a C++ developer (not even a 3D designer). Furthermore, which is more important, the IDT specification is limited to sizes much smaller than the size of the refill sample content.
2. Ppl can try out sounds, there is a free demo refill available to get some inspiration and feel for what can be expected.
3. There is a direct download link for all customers and no fuzz at all with that.
4. Alternatively there are versions up for Kontakt and Yamaha MOXF / Motif XF / Montage for those wanting another format.

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05 Jul 2018

I actually have a bunch of banks from the Fairlight, Synclavier, EII, EIII, and a lot of the Ensoniq stuff on the HDD of my Emu E5000 Ultra. They sound amazing, but lack the artifacts from conversion. Interestingly, they seem to have been resampled to completely random sample rates (low C= 29506Hz, Middle C=32000Hz, and so forth...)

If people are really interested in these samples I can try and get them off the EMU and into a format everyone can use. I think I’d have to resample them into a standard sample rate and put them into a NN-XT, because if I try to pull them off the EMU as-is I’m guessing I’d have serious tuning issues.

I’m happy to try and make a few small sampler patches for everyone if they would like them. They have a very distinct sound that sounds very much like an old sampler/synth.

EDIT: Anybody that still has one of the old Emu samplers, I can create an EOS image and Dropbox it to you. They should also work in the X3 soft-sampler
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

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bitley
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05 Jul 2018

Feel free to start another thread about that.

This project is not just about using old samples but also new ones combining this into new patches.

also contacted Peter Vogel about using this as well as seasoned old E-mu people and more, and this project took years to finish so it’s not just ”hey look Fairlight samples.”

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anko
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05 Jul 2018

hurricane wrote:
04 Jul 2018
...

Regarding your RX2 Expansion - your website describes it as: "The new addon pack R2X gives you additional refills and over 1000 new patches."

...
hmm, so it wasn't just me who thought this. i was pretty puzzled by the lack of content compared to what's stated.

the content that IS there is great, up to the usual bitley standard, but i just wondered why i couldn't find my over 1000 new patches...

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anko
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05 Jul 2018

bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018
Ok yes sorry for this. R2X never got finished because orders never came in as expected but now that you lift the issue I will continue working on it.

Sales do help of course. It has been quite slow. A feeling of being forgotten really.
ah ok then this explains it... would be really great if you are able to finish it for those who have bought it in the unfinished state.

cheers.

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hurricane
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05 Jul 2018

anko wrote:
05 Jul 2018
bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018
Ok yes sorry for this. R2X never got finished because orders never came in as expected but now that you lift the issue I will continue working on it.

Sales do help of course. It has been quite slow. A feeling of being forgotten really.
ah ok then this explains it... would be really great if you are able to finish it for those who have bought it in the unfinished state.

cheers.
I had no idea whatsoever that I was buying something in an unfinished state. Nor was I aware that you finishing it depends on you selling more of it. I think how you're selling it is a little shady to be honest, even if you don't mean it to be. I mean, I thought I bought a finished product!
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bitley
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07 Jul 2018

Ok, good to know. The info is meant to be great and of course correct but I will look it over and make sure to bring you all an even more finished R2X set but I can’t give a timeline on that. I thought the inclusion of stuff like Deep Mining - itself a similarily priced refill - would make it an awesome kit so don’t just look at sheer numbers. Work proceeds but it’s not very uplifting to hear someone call it ’shady’. It is also extremely counter productive as it might potentially damage sales. Please try to condider that I do everything as a one man operation; to work I need to be inspired. It also needs to be a healthy business. Thank you.

jimmyklane
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07 Jul 2018

bitley wrote:
04 Jul 2018

(90% of sales are Kontakt these days)
I am reasonably certain that applies to everyone. Reason is still a niche market. All the patience and time it takes to really make a great set of NN-XT patches (because let’s face it, it’s just as slow to program as the Akai it’s modeled after!) can be spent scripting, creating custom artwork, and marketing the much more widely supported Kontakt library market.

I’ve made available a few free patches for this forum, but almost every refill I’ve made has been a labor of love, created just for me (when I borrowed a MemoryMoog, for example)....

I wish you nothin but success and luck in your endeavors, and hopefully you can get some sales and justify the effort you’re putting in. I’ve never heard your sounds, but there seems to be universal regard for them.
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

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MrFigg
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07 Jul 2018

Ok..I feel the need to chime in here. Not to damage sales or defame anyone but just to reiterate a couple of things which by my (MY) moral standards are not ok. Maybe it’s already been said enough here but:-

1. Sending out an email to “loyal customers” saying that this is the last chance to buy the upgrade at the lowest price and then lowering the price even more a few months later for the general public is a bit off. Yes it’s a product and a business but that’s not really a reason to fool people.

2. Saying that a product is one thing and then only admitting that it’s not after being called on it is not ok. Yes it’s a product which needs sales to survive but again this is not a reason to fool people. I don’t even know if the product description has been amended on the website.

Bitley’s refills are of the finest quality and some of the best I have ever heard. If he releases a WBF3 or whatever in the future I will most certainly upgrade. I do however feel that honesty is the best policy.
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eusti
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07 Jul 2018

jimmyklane wrote:
07 Jul 2018
...I’ve never heard your sounds, but there seems to be universal regard for them.
That can be remedied:



D.

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eusti
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07 Jul 2018

MrFigg wrote:
07 Jul 2018
Ok..I feel the need to chime in here. Not to damage sales or defame anyone but just to reiterate a couple of things which by my (MY) moral standards are not ok. Maybe it’s already been said enough here but:-

1. Sending out an email to “loyal customers” saying that this is the last chance to buy the upgrade at the lowest price and then lowering the price even more a few months later for the general public is a bit off. Yes it’s a product and a business but that’s not really a reason to fool people.

2. Saying that a product is one thing and then only admitting that it’s not after being called on it is not ok. Yes it’s a product which needs sales to survive but again this is not a reason to fool people. I don’t even know if the product description has been amended on the website.

Bitley’s refills are of the finest quality and some of the best I have ever heard. If he releases a WBF3 or whatever in the future I will most certainly upgrade. I do however feel that honesty is the best policy.
As a big fan and supporter of Bitley's efforts (I think I have about 90% of the refills... Some even bought twice as I have too many Refills to properly know what is where) I have to agree.
Although I know nothing about online sales I feel this kind of behavior cheapens the brand. The sounds are obviously great. Not sure if Refills are still viable in the future, but time will tell...

D.

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guitfnky
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07 Jul 2018

I'd been considering checking out these refills for a while now, and had been thinking I might finally get around to pulling the trigger, but I'm glad I stumbled across this discussion before I did. seeing how dismissive the sound designer is about misrepresenting what's included, and delivering less than promised, I'm not going to even bother.

shady, indeed. :/
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MrFigg
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07 Jul 2018

guitfnky wrote:
07 Jul 2018
I'd been considering checking out these refills for a while now, and had been thinking I might finally get around to pulling the trigger, but I'm glad I stumbled across this discussion before I did. seeing how dismissive the sound designer is about misrepresenting what's included, and delivering less than promised, I'm not going to even bother.

shady, indeed. :/
That said, and despite my previous two points, his refill is extremely good and well worth the money.
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jimmyklane
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07 Jul 2018

eusti wrote:
07 Jul 2018
jimmyklane wrote:
07 Jul 2018
...I’ve never heard your sounds, but there seems to be universal regard for them.
That can be remedied:



D.
Nice work! Authentic and classy. I love the demo tracks and how they showcase the sounds we all know and love from the legendary fairlight!

Clearly you know what you're doing....again, well done. Even though I almost universally sample my own material (not a preset guy at all) your work here is excellent, so I'll be sure to keep my eye on your products from now on.
DAW: Reason 12

SAMPLERS: Akai MPC 2000, E-mu SP1200, E-Mu e5000Ultra, Ensoniq EPS 16+, Akai S950, Maschine

SYNTHS: Mostly classic Polysynths and more modern Monosynths. All are mostly food for my samplers!

www.soundcloud.com/jimmyklane

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hurricane
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07 Jul 2018

Oh c'mon Bitley.

My words won't damage your sales, but YOUR words might:

In response to me calling out the misleading item description, this is what you said (2nd post from the top of this page)

1. Ok yes sorry for this.
2. R2X never got finished
3. orders never came in as expected
4. now that you lift the issue I will continue working on it.

"The new addon pack R2X gives you additional refills and over 1000 new patches."

And the definition of shady is "of doubtful honesty". I'm pretty sure that applies here.

Anyway, you said you're going to finish it, so we can leave it at that for now.
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guitfnky
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07 Jul 2018

MrFigg wrote:
07 Jul 2018
guitfnky wrote:
07 Jul 2018
I'd been considering checking out these refills for a while now, and had been thinking I might finally get around to pulling the trigger, but I'm glad I stumbled across this discussion before I did. seeing how dismissive the sound designer is about misrepresenting what's included, and delivering less than promised, I'm not going to even bother.

shady, indeed. :/
That said, and despite my previous two points, his refill is extremely good and well worth the money.
that universal love for the quality is the main reason I was interested. even so, there are plenty of other sounds out there that are excellent, and I usually prefer to do my own tweaking anyway, so Refills have to really do something special for me to even take notice. this just takes me off the fence and firmly into the “nah, don’t need it that badly” camp.
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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