Sampletank 4 Max - Your sounds download access will expire in 12 days

[cleverr1]

I just went to check on the current status of ST4 Max and got "Your sounds download access will expire in 12 days". There's also a footnote stating "We recommend that you keep a backup copy of your downloaded files".

There have been that many fixes and updates that I'm not sure what I should be backing up here.

So to refresh a very old question - Could IK provide an authoritative definition of what my ST4 Max sounds folder should contain? i.e the number of folders and files? or a documented and validated step by step process of how to download, validate and then backup of the media we've paid for?!

By contrast, I'm currently updating my laptop to NI Komplete Ultimate 12, which contains a significant amount of sample based content and it's an automated breeze compared to ST4.

An answer within significantly under 12 days would be appreciated!

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

You should back up all the files listed in the dropdowns for sound downloads. If you've downloaded and updated and are up to date, you can simply back up the folder(s) indicated in your SampleTank 4 settings.

We are working to improve the download management based on the exceptionally large amount of content in SampleTank 4 MAX.

[cleverr1]

You should back up all the files listed in the dropdowns for sound downloads. If you've downloaded and updated and are up to date, you can simply back up the folder(s) indicated in your SampleTank 4 settings.

Oh for ****... yes of course, no s**t

To begin, I've already "simply back[ed] up the folder(s) indicated in your SampleTank 4 settings" several times.

So within 12 days regardless of the history of the many errors in the distribution media of ST4 the onus would apparently be on me then? That's unacceptable
Ok, so let's work through this situation (as if it was reasonable), starting with a few questions:

* What does a validated backup of ST4 Max look like?
* What tool does IK provide to verify this?
* Where is the tool to validate this forever backup against every future update?

We are working to improve the download management based on the exceptionally large amount of content in SampleTank 4 MAX.

I'm reading that as an IK acknowledgement that the ST4 Max download management is currently flawed.
Please drop this "Your sounds download access will expire in 12 days" until you've sorted this out properly at your end.

[Forgotten]

It's unbelievable that IK haven't dropped this ridiculous limitation on how long you can download something you own for - it's not as if customers haven't been complaining about it for years on this forum and others.

I can't think of any other companies that do this - it just seems like a cynical money grab to me.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

We give six months' opportunity to back up your files. We use a high-end CDN that isn't free (nor cheap), not some fly-by-night shared hosting or a janky server in the back corner of our office. That service provides excellent performance for the downloads, and again you simply need to back them up within 180 days.

If you prefer not to store them locally or on cloud storage, note that the one-time charge to reactivate all of your downloads is cheaper than cloud or physical storage would cost you. We're actually the cheaper option if you don't have cloud or local storage (or don't prefer to back up the libraries yourself).

[mixtur.se]

We give six months' opportunity to back up your files. We use a high-end CDN that isn't free (nor cheap), not some fly-by-night shared hosting or a janky server in the back corner of our office. That service provides excellent performance for the downloads, and again you simply need to back them up within 180 days.

If you prefer not to store them locally or on cloud storage, note that the one-time charge to reactivate all of your downloads is cheaper than cloud or physical storage would cost you. We're actually the cheaper option if you don't have cloud or local storage (or don't prefer to back up the libraries yourself).

I understand but no other vendor seems to have this problem. For instance, I can download my huge NI and toontrack software packages whenever I want. This is also true for most of my huge sample libraries (orange tree etc).

Customers today expect more than this, and some will likely be very disappointed when they find out for sure.

Anyway, I had one backup as I bought the external drive version. Then files were corrupt and I had to re-download gigabytes of content so I ended up buying a second drive to backup these. Should I now get a third drive in case the second drive fails? Or will you send me a new original drive with all the updates and fixes applied?

On a side note, I wouldn’t mind downloading with slower speed as long as I at least can re-download.

[squibs]

BunnyCDN is 1c/Gb, but it's also excellent. It really isn't seen as acceptable these days to charge people to re-download software/data they bought. That and the way you upsell by hiding the stuff I own in a sea of stuff I don't own (amplitube, tRacks etc) has prevented me from getting involved in the latest group buy. I doubt I'm the only one.

[Reefius]

We give six months' opportunity to back up your files. We use a high-end CDN that isn't free (nor cheap), not some fly-by-night shared hosting or a janky server in the back corner of our office. That service provides excellent performance for the downloads, and again you simply need to back them up within 180 days.

If you prefer not to store them locally or on cloud storage, note that the one-time charge to reactivate all of your downloads is cheaper than cloud or physical storage would cost you. We're actually the cheaper option if you don't have cloud or local storage (or don't prefer to back up the libraries yourself).

That is the lamest excuse I've ever seen. How come I can redownload all my NI content (which is hundreds of gigabytes) for FREE whenever I need to? And no, it's not on some cheap shared hosting.

You guys just want money for everything. Terrible way to treat your customers who already paid a lot for your products.
If IKM is all about quality, how come I read on this forum that ST4 is a giant bugfest?

[Jace-BeOS]

Yay for physical media.

[Weasel-Boy]

Can anyone think of any other plug-in developer who time-restricts data downloads and charges for that data past the expiration date?

[Gamma-UT]

Can anyone think of any other plug-in developer who time-restricts data downloads and charges for that data past the expiration date?

Spectrasonics.

[mladi]

We use a high-end CDN that isn't free (nor cheap), not some fly-by-night shared hosting or a janky server in the back corner of our office.

Native Instruments, Best Service and the rest use fly-by-night shared hosting. What a statement.

[Vaultnaemsae]

My comment deleted? Haha...It was 100% true!!! That's some Apple level censorship!

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

We use a high-end CDN that isn't free (nor cheap), not some fly-by-night shared hosting or a janky server in the back corner of our office.

Native Instruments, Best Service and the rest use fly-by-night shared hosting. What a statement.

Of course that's not what I said at all, nor what I was implying. Nice eyeroll, though. However, armchair IT experts have been known to say "hosting is cheap! it should cost you next to nothing to provide a mass of data/bandwidth at all times!" when suggesting how they thought our infrastructure should work. That's what I was referring to. Please feel free to reach out directly or ask in a thread if my reply isn't clear for you. Thanks!

There are different companies doing it different ways (including limiting how many times you can download large libraries, etc) and we state how we do it and make sure you're reminded to back up the sound libraries. All at a cheaper rate than if you used cloud storage, even, as stated above. You have a right to your opinion on that and I thank you for sharing it. I have always relayed these comments to the team and relayed back as much information as I have about this.

We do also offer applicable products on physical media for those who prefer that option.

Thank you.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

We give six months' opportunity to back up your files. We use a high-end CDN that isn't free (nor cheap), not some fly-by-night shared hosting or a janky server in the back corner of our office. That service provides excellent performance for the downloads, and again you simply need to back them up within 180 days.

If you prefer not to store them locally or on cloud storage, note that the one-time charge to reactivate all of your downloads is cheaper than cloud or physical storage would cost you. We're actually the cheaper option if you don't have cloud or local storage (or don't prefer to back up the libraries yourself).

I understand but no other vendor seems to have this problem. For instance, I can download my huge NI and toontrack software packages whenever I want. This is also true for most of my huge sample libraries (orange tree etc).

Customers today expect more than this, and some will likely be very disappointed when they find out for sure.

Anyway, I had one backup as I bought the external drive version. Then files were corrupt and I had to re-download gigabytes of content so I ended up buying a second drive to backup these. Should I now get a third drive in case the second drive fails? Or will you send me a new original drive with all the updates and fixes applied?

On a side note, I wouldn’t mind downloading with slower speed as long as I at least can re-download.

If you have our libraries backed up and have a catastrophic failure or similar, the team is very understanding in these cases. And, as stated above, we also offer the applicable products on physical media (and understand if something happens there too).