@DavidPackouz. I’m glad to see that you’ve made progress on your other projects, but please don’t forget the BB. (It’s like an elder sibling when a baby comes along - the baby gets all the attention!) What are the timescales for getting the updated BB Manager working properly for Windows? And getting another firmware upgrade that’s squashes the last of the bugs?
Thanks
4 Likes
Hi Tim, you’re absolutely right about the new baby analogy. We are very much focused on getting the Aeros and MIDI Maestro working to the level people are expecting, and that is our top priority. That being said, we very much would like to get back to fixing the BB manager and firmware. The developer who is working on the MIDI Maestro App is the one who will work on the BB manager, so as soon as that’s done to a MVP level, we’ll get him back on that – hopefully just a few more weeks 
BB firmware should come a bit sooner, since we need to update it anyway to work properly with the MIDI Maestro. Hopefully we’ll release that in about 2-3 weeks.
2 Likes
An update of BBmgr should have been there much earlier. Annoyed with your policy not the old customers of the BB because these are certainly new customers for the Aeros! There will always be something new in between, so it would be better for your future to strengthen you in this area otherwise the circle of dissatisfied customers will be bigger and bigger!
5 Likes
Getting new product out generates new short term sales and therefore new short term cashflow. Supporting the existing product generates minimal (if any) new short term sales and therefore minimal (if any) new short term cashflow. SS have indicated they have limited resources, so it’s no surprise higher priority is given to new hardware products to keep the $ rolling in.
Good support for existing hardware products is more of a long-term business return (repeat customers, reviews, reputation, etc.). Important, yes. Priority over keeping the lights on and making payroll, not so much.
I don’t like it either, but it is a business reality. All of these products are basically computers, and functionality is therefore almost entirely dependent on rock solid software. Alas, the software element of these (and so many other such devices) always seems to lag the hardware side. Very frustrating.
3 Likes
One could argue they are not managing either end of their business (support and new products) as well as they could. Announcing a release 1+ years ago that never came to fruition, consistent delays in product releases, lots of “in the next release” jargon and marketing for product features that don’t yet exist in the product.
With that said, I do want Singular to be successful…and I am hopeful. If I am frank though, I don’t hold my breath for deliverables. I am interested in the looper but will certainly wait to see the features all come into existence before considering a purchase. It is not cheap. Like I said in previous posts, the interface looks pretty but holds no value if the looper features don’t exist or are subpar.
6 Likes
@classicrockguy
yes I understand that but the customers who have already bought a product expect that at least once a year the software is improved because there are many requirements or improvements. A good support should be included in the price already. I’ve been thinking of buying an Eros Looper, but I’m running out of it right now because I fear a similar support as the Beatbuddy. I think that I am not alone in this way of thinking!
6 Likes
I agree!!!
1 Like
I love the BeatBuddy, but the flaws in the Manager make it unusable for creating anything but the most basic of 4/4 beats, and even then it’s painful to use (why can’t we at least copy/paste sections in the sequencer?). This is especially frustrating because many [most?] of us purchased the product in order to create–not just play covers. I didn’t expect to need to also go out and purchase sequencer software and learn how to use it (still haven’t) in order to fully utilize your product–which was marketed as an all-in-one drum solution (it’s about 75% of one, in reality).
The language in your reply doesn’t give any confidence we’ll see anything change anytime soon: you confirm you’re not currently allocating any bandwidth to addressing the issue [that’s been a problem for 3 years now?], you say you “very much would like to get back to fixing the BB Manager and Firmware,” and you say that you’ll “hopefully” start working on it again in a few weeks. Fixing firmware is great–but fixing the Manager is the glaring issue, and it doesn’t seem too important to your company’s leadership . . . . which doesn’t give your customers the warm and fuzzies.
I know you guys are a small company, and again: I LOVE PLAYING WITH THE BEATBUDDY. But it’s not complete, and you’re not exhibiting a desire to make it right–and there’s no way I’m buying your looper until I can have confidence you’ll support your products and your customers at full strength.
9 Likes
I see that, and I think many others exactly the same. Now the new baby is called AEROS and everything else is put back. This will annoy all the buyers of the Beatbuddy and I hope that many will read this post before you even buy an AEROS because when a new product is due, then it will be the same with the support of this looper as the Beatbuddy.
Maybe Singular Sound should fundamentally rethink its strategy and realign its action?
Sometimes less is more
Too bad that only the money counts and not the satisfaction of the customers.
5 Likes
A lot of us have complained about the manager for some time now. And I’ve been disappointed in some of the functionality ( push vs release for starting the unit for one). I also understand the business side of getting new products to market. However, your reputation is suffering a great deal by not upgrading your products. I for one will not buy the Aeros because of the lack of support I’ve seen for the Beatbuddy. Time will tell. You said Beatbuddy update in weeks. Again time will tell.
4 Likes
I heard a story a few years ago about a travelling salesman who stayed in a small hotel in New York in the 1990’s. During his stay he was plagued by small cockroaches in his room. As he had to leave early he left a note at the unmanned front counter telling of his experience. A few days later he received a letter in the mail saying “Please excuse the roach infestation it was due to a building being renovated next door”. Unfortunately accidentally attached to the back of his letter was a Sticky Note saying, “send this soon of a bitch the roach letter”. After a little investigation he found there was no building being renovated anywhere near that hotel. I think we are all getting “The Roach Letter” about the BeatBuddy Manager upgrade. Good story, different reality.
2 Likes
if singular sound does not pay attention, this can give a blow backwards.
2 Likes
I might be being naive, but I think that Dave is making statements in good faith. Singular Sound fails to make their deadlines but they think they are realistic when they set them. (Whether SS are over optimistic, unlucky, or poor business people is another question).
2 Likes
I use the BeatBuddy for very basic accompaniment, so am not as concerned as several people here rightly are about certain missing or buggy features. That said, I have been following forum entries for years, and noted that certain issues have still not been properly addressed. This kind of lackadaisical development delivery doesn’t impress. And still I loved the concept of the Aeros looper so much that I got one, and had it shipped all the way to Germany. Well, the firmware was buggy (screen froze up on me twice in the first hour of use). Hope the most recent firmware will solve that. This thread is not about the Aeros, but several people have mentioned their hesitancy to get one based on the company’s track record with BB Manager updates and other fixes. And I share their doubts. Also worth mentioning that the switches on the Aeros emit rather loud, metallic sounds when pressed and released - sounds that echo in a twangy, high-pitched way in the cavernous housing. Jay says they might consider putting a rubber washer under the switches in the future. Hey, guys: What about thinking of such basic stuff before shipping? I feel a bit like a guinea pig. In my acoustic duo, such loud noises will detract from the performance and make folks notice - again and again - that I am using a looper. I am throwing this into to the discussion because I’m getting the feeling that the company is not paying enough attention to detail in general, whether with regard to hardware design or in terms of firmware and BB Manager updates. Companies that are successful and therefore should have enough cash to do so tend to eventually ramp up their development capacity when they see bottlenecks. The company is coming across a bit like a “one-man band”. If the one dude who needs to mop up all the messes gets overwhelmed, well, tough luck for the customers. Disgruntled, indeed. So should I cancel my Maestro Midi pre-order? Losing faith… P.S.: The power jack on my BeatBuddy has gone bad twice (!) in my period of ownership, and that’s under normal use in a tame acoustic duo (no rock-band antics on stage, and no wild jerking of cables). Had to replace it, this time with a wire that comes out of the chassis and ends with a jack. That way the connection between power supply and jack should not end up going intermittant any more (I hope).
3 Likes
exactly the same is my opinion. If Singularsound does not change anything fast here, you will be shipwrecked. As I said “sometimes less is more”
Hi Everybody, for the record, there is a new version of the BB Manager, but the windows version had a bug that disabled the audio playback when previewing a song in the software (pretty serious bug, I know) because of some weird interaction with the newest version of windows (older versions don’t have this bug). Mac version should be ok though. This is why we didn’t make an official release of the BB Manager - but if you guys want to use the beta, please email support@singularsound.com
@BrewerGuy it was never our intention to make the BB Manager a MIDI composition tool, and we never portrayed it as being one. There are many sophisticated DAWs out there (some are free) that can be used to compose MIDI beats, and you can import those beats into the BB Manager. And since most BB users just play and do not compose their own beats, we mainly focused on using the BB Manager as an arranger of MIDI beats into BB songs – which it does quite well. We only included any MIDI editor at all because one of the BB users volunteered to build it, and he only built a basic version. So while we would like to improve the MIDI editor, it’s not a high priority.
@Frankstew you can set the BB to start on the downpress, instead of the release of the pedal by changing the setting: Main Pedal > Start Beat > Press
@User_Name most of the major functionality of the Aeros has been completed with the latest firmware release. There are some features (freeform mode, SD card file saving) that we are currently building and we are extending the start of the 2 year warranty and the 60 day money back return period to begin AFTER these features are released. So don’t hesitate to get an Aeros now 
@Offbeat not to downplay your concerns, but you are the first person to have an issue with the sound of the switches and they don’t seem to make any more noise than most other pedals out there – but because of your feedback we are looking at possible solutions to this issue. We also haven’t seen your issue of the BB’s power jack… so I’m not sure what to say there, other than that we stand by our products and will fix anything within warranty and even make certain exceptions for units out of warranty if we feel it is fair. The most recent Aeros firmware should have solved most bugs – if it hasn’t for you, please contact support@singularsound.com
And yes, we’re almost done with the new BB firmware and MIDI Maestro – but I’m not going to give any release dates anymore. Because I want you guys to like me 
2 Likes
Yes I know you can. However when giging with the beatbuddy I end songs for the band buy hitting one of the extra foot switches and pausing. Than i just hold down the main pedal and I’m back to square one and can scroll through my set to the next song. Setting it up the way you have suggested would start the Beatbuddy when I’m trying to hold it down.
@DavidPackouz Your comment about BBM not being a composition tool is spot on. I would bet that well over 50% of the gripes about BBM relate to the midi editor. Really, from my first post on this issue until now, my advice has been to abandon it, and either get, or recommend a 3rd party editing tool. Future BBM development should be focused on clearing up the other gripes and bugs that we have advised you about. BBM as is presently stands does 90% of what we need it to. Personally, I want BBM to show an Alpha sorted list on drum kits from within a song. Really, everything else works for me. I am sure there are other tweaks which could make it “nicer.”
3 Likes
yes, there are some improvements you can do. Some time ago it was already mentioned in this forum but I do not know if that arrived at SS.
For example, “Merge Drumsets into Folders or Sort Drumsets Alphabetically?” or “find out which drum sets are not needed to delete them”. I think if you ask heir users, you will find enough suggestions to improve the BBmgr.
1 Like