I now use Cubase exclusively to create my tracks. I know how to make it work where I only use the Manager editor to play it through and see if I’ve missed anything. Many of us have given up long ago that this software will be sorted out by SS. Straight up, it’s fucked. Simple.
1 Like
My two-pennith: BB Manger isn’t perfect, for instance it clogs up your drive, but I think it does the job. For a one-press song (which I rarely play) I use Reaper to fit my patterns together. To alter pitch and length of new instruments I use Audacity. I want to keep things as simple as possible.
1 Like
I agree, no software is perfect. For me the issue is the continued “We are working on it” and it is “coming soon”…people complain, Dave does a “we care” and no deliverables…rinse and repeat.
With that said, the BB is a game changer for me, I have bought a ton of the additional content. It is great…period. Nothing better. So I stick with all the nonsense versus cobbling together another solution.
As a software developer myself, it is very hard for me to understand why this is taking so long, but such is life…and the devil is in the details.
Anyway, I think the Singular crew means well…execution is a bit rough.
3 Likes
I’m not a software developer though I’ve been a programmer (back in the day) so I’m not in a position to either criticise or congratulate SS, however, the clogging issue aside, I’m rather fond of the current BB Manager…and it now sits on it’s own external 2TB drive, so hopefully, it’s a gorgeous beast.
soon… trying to do exhaustive testing before releasing it to the world
2 Likes
Hi all! I just wanted to say thank you for this discussion. I was in the market for loopers and read about the SS one. I nearly pulled the trigger, but as I have been getting burned a lot lately by empty promises and half baked music software, I thought I would see what issues are being discussed on the forum. I never want to read “Please be honest…” in any discussions about a software company and it’s releases. You guys have all saved me a lot of money and frustration. Thank you!
I’ve worked in software and I just don’t understand what’s so hard for product managers to understand about shopping quality. They’d rather just ship. I understand it’s a competitive market but you just can’t compromise on quality. Stop rushing crap out and start shopping quality code for fucks sake. I do not have the time to debug for you. I expect that from Microsoft, but not you. It’s costing you sales (like mine).
Rich
3 Likes
I’ve mentioned elsewhere that the basics of the BB Manager, including the MIDI editor are solid and when you know how it works it all makes sense. But it is so basic and buggy. And after so many years without updates how much longer will it work with OS updates for both PC and Mac? The time will probably come where compatibility becomes an issue and it falls over completely.
The Manager should be a complete system for the BB, including editors for MIDI and drumkits, where you can build beats and songs easily without having to use 3rd party editors etc. After such a long time I doubt it will ever get to that point. The BB is a great pedal and an awesome tool but the software is shit. Period.
4 Likes
This is exciting news. 
Awesome, please share with all! 
I join the others in saying the BBManager software is garbage. I could put up with the archaic user interface, but it is frustratingly buggy (especially for Mac users). I would never buy another Singular Sound product based on the broken promises of a software update. It’s been six freaking years!
3 Likes
How do you really feel?
We all really feel that this is a joke and that fixing the BBM software is not a priority for SS.
I am sure it may be challenging but 6+ years is ridiculous.
That’s how I have been feeling for many years!
2 Likes
I am in the same boat as everyone else…
I guess expecting something after 6 years you really have to have a sense of humor about it.
I bought the BeatBuddy with the MIDI cable adapter in 2017. I was 69 years old. I don’t play out and only use the pedal at home. While I’m pretty good with computers and figuring out things, the BBM at the time presented challenges for a lack of decent documentation and it was not intuitive on how to do what should have been fairly simple tasks. While the help here is great, real documentation that’s complete and well written is essential. One shouldn’t have to search a forum to find out how to use the pedal or its software. Singular’s website organization hasn’t been the greatest either when trying to locate something. There was an updated version of BBM a while later which did improve on a few things, but still not as easy to work with as it should have been. In 2017 I paid $278 for the BeatBuddy and the MIDI cable. When I last checked these were $394 on a US retailers site. If my BB craps out and I can’t fix it I will not buy another. It’s way over priced for a 5 year old device with crappy software. The BBM software is essential to editing and loading songs and I don’t see Singular doing anything at this point except to keep saying its in the works with no definitive date for completion. I did purchase a few drum sets and beat packs. I’m glad I didn’t do the Complete Collection, as it’s a big investment to use in a device that may someday bite the dust and I won’t replace.
I bought ToonTracks EZDrummer2 last year (upgraded to EZD3 this Spring) and several drum and MIDI packs. I’m creating drum loops, saving in a WAV format, and loading them into an older Digitech JamMan looper pedal. Selecting tweaking drums and MIDI in EZDrummer can’t get much easier and the JamMan has a loop manager/librarian software which makes sorting and arranging loops simple. Someday I may upgrade to a newer looper pedal if I can find one with similar manager/librarian software. I also have Boss DR01s which is getting much use as an alternative to the BB.
4 Likes
Does your projects work with “non-percussion instruments”? Like what is being done now for OPB songs and the like?
Thanks.
Will try and do in the next day or 2 but have a tour in a couple of days so if I don’t get the chance I’ll do it when I get back.