V collection 5 concerns re. Spark.

[MajorFubar]

Hi all

I notice Spark is no longer part of the V Collection. I bought Spark 2 as part of the V Collection 4 bundle. Forgive me if this seems a stupid question but if I upgrade to V Collection 5 will I lose Spark 2?

Sorry if that's a dumb question

[CC4]

Nope. You won't lose Spark. In your Arturia Software Center you would just need to make sure that your V4 Collection is authorized along with the V5 Collection.

[artao]

My concern is that once they do update Spark 2, they're going to charge us for the update.
Also, they damn well better not drop support for the CDM controller.

[MajorFubar]

Thanks for the assurances. I've got 'til 30 June to decide whether to take advantage of the upgrade offer...still undecided, but I'm liking the sound of the new instruments especially the Synclavier.

My concern is that once they do update Spark 2, they're going to charge us for the update.

Yeah quite probably they will. Not too long ago we accepted that kind of business model as normal, but now it kinda looks greedy. They even want $99/€99 just to upgrade the instruments I already bought to their latest versions. But conversely, if they gave updates away for free, the only people who would be paying for anything are new customers. Unlike huge businesses like Microsoft and Apple who can afford give away new OS updates because they have a whole barrel-load of alternative income streams, smaller companies like Arturia probably cannot afford to do it.

[artao]

At $400 bucks, I'm sure they'll make plenty of money on new sales of the V Collection ... (and then it'll go up to $500, after the intro price)
Also, remember: the V Collection isn't their only income source. They're selling all that hardware now too. And from what I can tell, selling a good deal of it. I've seen TONS of people using MiniBrutes and the Beat Step Pro, as well as other Arturia hardware.
So I hardly think giving us prior owners free updates (particularly when they've been this long in coming, especially the GUI resizing) is going to affect their bottom line very much.

[mixalis]

They did a TON of updates free for Spark... So i dont think its unfair if they charge the updates from now on if its going to help Spark future! 

We have at least a stable version now so if someone want the new features can update...If not no problem!

[artao]

They did a TON of updates free for Spark... So i dont think its unfair if they charge the updates from now on if its going to help Spark future! 

We have at least a stable version now so if someone want the new features can update...If not no problem!

Except that Spark 2 has some pretty nasty bugs remaining in it that ALL current owners deserve to have fixed.
<cough>Modular View<cough>The Library<cough>The Sampler<cough>Inaccurate Manual<cough>
Also, they removed a bunch of features from Spark to Spark 2 .. features which need to be put back; particularly in regards to the Spark CDM controller (which is what I have, and is clearly better and more feature-ful than the SparkLE)

[jeffikovski]

It seems to me Arturia struggle to generate income form the software sales.
So refining and optimizing the software is not the top priority. This confirmes the fact that they are charging 100 € only for the updates of V-Collection.

They push SparkLe units for discounted price, with underdeveloped software which by the way although released not that long ago has a classic "vintage" 90s look.
And that is not a complement.
Secrety I was hoping by selling discounted units they'll generate a wide user base which means they will refine and update the Spark software constantly.
That was not the case. It took more than a year and a half for really serious bugs to be ironed out.

Everything works - kinda. There are so many features, none of them well executed, some work not as expected, some doesn't work at all.
Spark is the most disapointing instrument purchase I've ever done.   

The most frustrating thing is that Spark does have a lot of potential and could be a serious competitor to NI's Machine.
But they way the things are Spark is barely competitor for anything.
Hey Arturia!!!!!! Look at Geist 2, look at Xfer Nerve, look at Sonic Charge Microthonic - that's how things are done properly.

I hope Arturia has decency not to charge us for Spark 2 update/upgrade!!!!!!!!!! We struggled enough!
 

[019297]

I'm not sure if i would be willing to pay for any spark upgrades at this point. A agree with some of the other frustrated users. I really love spark and find it very easy and fun to use, but I really wish long standing bugs would get fixed soon. We shouldn't have to pay more for bug fixes. New features, yes I would pay if they seemed worth it, but ONLY if bugs are fixed.