My last post

Hi there dear SS crew,

This is my last post here.

I bought my aeros a couple of months
I bought it to play more music.
And now I am spending/loosing my time on a forum desparately waiting for an update that does come. Instead of playing music.
Today pointless to say I am quite disappointed. Very disappointed.

Maybe if I bought more SS gear I’d be more satisfy but that doesn’t make me want to experience any other SS stuffs.

My aeros is on the shell. Though its quite huge price. This is not acceptable.
At first I thought this was a good point to have this forum, but after so much wait in vain I must say I’ve waited more than enough.

Understood SS is a small crew that’s actually at the NAMM. Good for SS. Too bad for customers… Especially those waiting for the Jan update.

31/Jan/2020
Cheers.

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Return it. Get the thing you need. The SS guys are good guys, but they are pushing a lot of projects forward at the same time right now with a small team. To their credit, they stand behind their products and have extended the return period.

As a long-time BB owner, I am sad to see us lose a family member, especially under these circumstances; as a longer-time musician, I encourage you to do what you need to do to get back to enjoying the music.

Good luck!

1 Like

Ok thanks Joel.

To SS: How to return it from France please?
Bought it in Nov and distributor (Global Audio Store) say they are not reembursing.
Thanks.

I hope I have not mis-spoken, but, since your distributor is not honoring a return, it makes me wonder if I have it wrong. I don’t think I do: as I recall, they extended the 60-day return policy to start when the next firmware was released, and I BELIEVE that release hasn’t happened yet. @BeatBuddy_Support and maybe @DavidPackouz can chime in here.

If I have mislead you, you have my sincere apologies, but I don’t think I have. Let’s see what the SS guys have to say.

BTW, what problems are you having?

Joe

One other thing to consider: IS there something else out there that does what you need to do? If not, it may be worth finding out when your return window closes and hanging on to it until then. At this point, you own it, so, even if you have to wait it out, it might be worth ignoring it until the new firmware arrives.

But, again, if there IS something out there that does what you need, and you’re within your return policy time, get the right tool for the job.

Problems I am having:
Stereo is no true Stereo but double mono.
Headphone plug is only an aux, not even stereo.
Midi’s not working (maybe with BB it is but I bought Aeros only, expected it to work properly with any Midi device.
No tap tempo. You can’t chose to use it without a clic previously set.

  • last but not least : now I just don’t feel like using it due to mentionned above and just feel I got scammed.

@yanarchy I’m sorry to hear you feel like that.

Regarding your issues:

Stereo is no true Stereo but double mono.

The current setting the Aeros is Stereo – so if you record in the Left input, it will come out the left output, not the right output. We are currently building a setting to record and output in mono. We hope it will be ready by the end of next week.

Headphone plug is only an aux, not even stereo.

The aux out is a stereo port – if you’re only getting a mono signal then your unit might be defective. However, it is not a headphone port – if you want to use it as that, you might need a headphone pre-amp to get the signal level to your liking.

Midi’s not working (maybe with BB it is but I bought Aeros only, expected it to work properly with any Midi device.

Currently the Aeros response to MIDI Clock, Start, Stop, time signature and next part (cc-112) commands. We are working to build other commands into it and that will be the next update after this upcoming one.

No tap tempo. You can’t chose to use it without a clic previously set.

Before you record a track in a new song, the lower left button gives you tap tempo.

If you need further help with it, please email us at support@singularsound.com

Yeah, I am a long time looping enthusiast and have recorded quite a lot of music with boomerang looper.

I love Aeros and think the issues you are having are purely due to routing and getting used to it.

My only issue is that loops are not 100% seamless… which I can’t say for boomerang…loops loop perfectly.
Which makes it a bit hard to use for recording… I’m having tons of fun just playing around but haven’t recorded anything yet as well.
Sure there might be a workaround or doubling a track…etc…but yes, for the price it is a bit of annoying.

M
Dizzystrings

@marko.lipovsek what do you mean by the loops are not 100% seamless? do you hear a popping sound when crossing the loop start/end point?

Hey David,

Honestly my review was from few software upgrades ago, I just turned on the wifi the other day and updated the device and found quite a few improvments…

I haven’t had the time to really put it through its paces and listen closely… I’ll devote some time to it this coming weekend and I will give you my full report.

I have been looping for a long time(15+ years) and found boomerang absolutely amazing for the workflow with beat buddy…I see way more potential with Aeros, that’s the reason I bought it. I love your company and your products. But honestly I couldn’t get the quality and flow I could with boomerang…I am very well aware of the learning curve as well when you change loopers and as mentioned before I haven’t really had the time to get really used to all the features.

What I’d suggest is an advanced settings menu, where you can adjust this things like crossfades(you could do that with boomerang with just a few of blinking lights… frustrating but doable) and routing options…coz it would also kick ass, if aux out could provide 2extra channels for outputs. (Mind, I run my Aeros through mixing board bus…and I can loop anything I send there) so, if I could run 4 tracks each out to it’s separate channel I’d be a very happy chap😉

That would allow to create 4 instrument loops for backing that can be recorded straight from the looper…so between that and your beatbuddy you have a decent 6 track backing track before even turning on the recording device.

Anyways…just rambling. Some studio ideas.

Thanks for reaching out, really appreciate it.

Marko

Dizzy strings.com

2 Likes

Your constructive response to the poster is much appreciated. After all, none of us wish to go on a witch hunt here. However, SS has been advertising products (Aeros and Midi Maestro) as fully-featured and ready-to-go out of the box, and that there were/are not. Important (advertised!) features were/are missing, and software was/is buggy to an extent not excusable for any new product when it goes to market. Users are being asked to pay up front and then turned into unpaid beta users. Sure, we are all community members who want to spread the love, but a company shouldn’t pretend to have products/software that it doesn’t (yet) and then make users wait. I love the guys behind these products, and they have done some genious things, but based on the success of the BB I figure they could and should deside to afford a couple more staff members to iron out the kinks of new products before going to market. And if that is not economically feasible, to offer “beta prices” on their products and thus compensate users willing to pay less in exchange for receiving unfinished/buggy products/software. The informed users could then serve as beta testers, and would be sure to display the necessary patience, for they agreed to do so by purchasing a beta. Regular customers should not be unwittingly turned into beta testers, and having the option to return an item when one discovers one has bought a work-in-progress is not really cool, either. There is deception involved when features are advertised that don’t exist yet! The other alternative: SS could stop marketing products prematurely, and instead opt to market them a year or two later, when the kinks are gone. Love the guys and the spirit behind SS, but their lapsidsical development and testing processes are dreadful.

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I agree (see my response to JoelnOttawa below).
As for having the right to return: I had my Aeros and Midi Maestro shipped to Germany. Return shipping would be prohibitive, not to mention the hassle of trying to get my VAT back from the German authorities. And I have been giving the SS crew the benefit of the doubt and being patient and hopeful that updates would soon make the units the way they were intended to be in the glossy marketing promises. So I waited, updated, waited, updated… Some things got fixed; others not (yet). One never knows when the product will truly be market-ready, as in reliable on stage. Having waited a long time the “grace period” for returning is long over. If SS were willing to pay return shipping and refund the full purchase price, I’d go for that - also because of the unnecessarily loud switches on both units (not nice in an acoustic duo playing in a small venue with an attentive audience; the Aeros sonically sticks out like a sore thumb!). Nough said.

Can’t say I disagree with you – not at all. But (and you knew there was a “but” coming :slight_smile: ) I choose to have a slightly different approach.

Now, you’ve probably seen my posts lamenting the premature release of the Aeros and Maestro, and, while I’m sure there are market forces at work that pushed them to release too early (my own complaining on this very board likely contributing to that), like you, I do wish they had waited until they had 85-90% of the functionality baked in.

That said, though, I am taking a glass-half-full approach: Because they have extended the return window to 60 days starting when the functionality is in place, unless I missed something (and I may very well have), we all have these units in hand to begin to play with and can still return them any time, because the clock on the return period has not yet started. We still have 60 days from “some time in the future.”

So, unpaid beta testers? Yeah, actually, I think you’ve got it exactly right, there. But we are also in many ways getting a sneak peak into upcoming products and the chance to influence their development. I know no-one signed up for crowd-sourcing, and it really does kinda suck to have money tied up in the devices while we wait for the full-boat-real-deal software/firmware release so we can see what these devices are going to be when they mature. I definitely see how that could be a deal-breaker, and if that’s you, send it back and wait for the full-fat version to get released. You might lose your early adopter discount, but you won’t have money tied up.

Again, I am not happy that the products – especially the Maestro, in my case – came to market half-baked. But there’s opportunity in chaos, so – glass half-full – I’m playing with mine, and I got myself into the (Unpaid :slight_smile: ) Beta program for the app – about which I am complaining loudly where appropriate. And it is appropriate in some cases (although, in others, I really like what I see).

:slight_smile:

Summing up, yes, I entirely agree with you. But I trust Singular to get it right eventually, and if they don’t, back my Maestro goes. I’m lucky in that I can afford to let SS hold my money on this and that I don’t need the MM to be fully-functional RIGHT NOW(!!!). So when they handed me lemons, I decided to make no-risk lemonade.

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I love the way you write, and the way you are spreading the love. :slightly_smiling_face: And still astutely pointing things out precisely as they are, and have been. You also keyed me into a couple new points, most notably regarding the 60-day period commencing upon completion of the final firmware. Thanks very much, both for your opinions and your warmhearted approach to all this. Unfortunately shipping my units back would be too costly (unless SS flips the bill on that). So I’ll just hang on and keep waiting for Godot. :wink: After all, I’m not strapped for cash right now, and I got a BB back in the days when it was still very, very buggy, and it eventually ended up being pretty usable. I guess all this will just flow into my daily meditation, as another exercise in acceptance. :innocent:

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What exactly constitutes FINAL working firmware? Pretty nebulous.

You are far too kind. And back atcha!

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That is a really good question. I would think if it’s fully-functional (90% of planned functionality in place), all apps (where appropriate) released, working, and function-complete, then it’s final – or maybe first – working edition. Start the clock.

But what do you think?

I think that’s fair. however, there is no promise of when THAT will be. Just a few more updates… :roll_eyes:

An anecdote: Howard Davis (generally acknowledged as a looper guru) worked for Electro Harmonix on their loopers and then collaborated with Pigtronix on the Infinity. Although I can’t find the link to the original Pigtronix marketing for their looper, I seem to recall that the Pigtronix team spent several years (at least two?) to field their looper.

In sharp contrast, I don’t think Singular Sound has a Howard Davis to guide and help them implement their looper vision. Instead of considering ourselves as beta testers—which is a fair comparison—think of AEROS purchasers as the Howard Davis’ providing guidance and helping Singular Sound (SS) with their vision. :rofl:

Singular Sound learned that setting an arbitrary time-based standard for delivery did not work. Now they appear to be concentrating on a quality-based standard. It’s unfortunate that they are such a small company and don’t have the talents of a Howard Davis and a large enough stable of developers to concurrently work on the BeatBuddy (BB), the AEROS and the Maestro. Transparency in marketing might have made a difference but then again, who would have bought the AEROS had SS said it wasn’t ready for prime time yet? Just my opinion, but they needed to raise capital to fund development.

I made a comparison to Anki in a different thread. I meant what I said.