Ahhhh. No big trick, you just pressed the right button..... So you got a special deal and are complaining because that same deal isn't being offered with this version. Ridiculous. 

<p><br><br>My response:<br></p>
<p><br></p>
<p><strong>Start sarcasm:</strong><br><br>It certainly is interesting, its only me that is making bets and assumptions, none of you have done that, no, of course not.<br><br>Of course, there has been zero hyperbole on this subject since the announcement, no one blew this out of proportion, of course not.</p>
<p><strong>End sarcasm:</strong><br><br>My explanations have been on this issue, wait and see. It isnt me who has made any assumptions, except maybe that VEP6 can be installed alongside VEP7 (note, I didnt say, will work together).</p>
<p>Im calling people out for making assumptions on things they know nothing about, being shitty about it, and throwing out personal insults. While I only quoted two shitty comments directed at me, there are a plethora of them littered throughout this thread, and at least two directed at Paul. This is unacceptable.<br><br><strong>We are all adults here, act like it. If you dont have anything nice to say, dont say it at all.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Don't be a dick</span>" - Whil Wheaton<br></strong></p>

With all due respect, perhaps reading comprehension amongst some of Vienna's user base is a bit lkacking. I stated several things I have issues with Vienna about. I even stated some oddities regarding this announcement.
What I have taken issue with is the complaints and how they have been worded. Words have been used that completely and inaccurately describe the situation, and people have placed the blame on the wrong people.
I will reiterate.
This is NOT a downgrade. That is absurd and stupid, period. The purchase of one or multiple licenses for VEP7 is not a downgrade. You are not loosing something by purchasing a license. In point of fact, you are keeping your VEP6 licenses. A downgrade would mean you are getting less than what you already have. That is not accurate.
I am willing to bet, just as Cubase 9.5 and Cubase 10 both COEXIST on my machine currently, I am able to run both Cubase 9.5 and Cubase 10. VEP6 &amp; 7 will not likely communicate with each other. Sure. That doesnt mean you cant keep VEP6 installed until you have all your licenses for VEP7. Id be willing to bet, you can even keep VEP6 and 7 both installed and use whichever version you need to, because you arent losing a VEP6 license in this upgrade process.
In addition, ya'll have been pretty disengenuous about the price, with comments in here stating that this upgrade is double the price of VEP6. This is also patently false. Perhaps this upgrade is more expensive than the upgrade path was from VEP5 to VEP6, fine. I wasnt around for that. However, that is not how the comments were worded. People are stating that the upgrade from VEP6 to VEP7 is double, implying that the price of VEP6 is the same price as the upgrade price of 3 VEP6 licenses to VEP7. This is wrong (even if you dont take the sale price into account), and fails to take into account that VEP7 upgrade prices will continue to remain discounted as they currently are for several weeks after the launch of VEP7.
Ya'll also are bitching about an update you know nothing about. I realize you are scratching your head at this point saying, "yea dipshit, thats what we are trying to say". However, on the other side of the coin, this might be offer something gamechanging. The point is, you dont know. Is the upgrade worth it to you? I dunno, maybe wait and see what they announce before you start screaming the world is going to end???
No one is forcing you to upgrade and your shit aint going to break the instant VEP7 releases. VEP6 will still receive maintainence updates, Paul has stated that. If VEP7 doesnt offer anything you need, dont buy it. The point is, you dont even know anything about it, you're just bitching about a paid product update sight unseen. Unable to contain your need to complain because, and I get this, no one like to be nickled and dimed, and that is unfortunately what alot of paid software updates feel like these days, you have blown this way out of proportion, going to the point of being dishonest in your description of what this is, using terms like downgrade and paying double / the same price as VEP6.
Paul is a big boy, he can handle the criticism, I certainly dont need to defend the guy. What I can tell you is, I know what PR is like. Paul is taking the brunt of this and unfairly in my oipinion. The guy is just delivering a message. Paul isnt in charge of what information is released. He is not in charge of what gets announced. Someone there tells him, its his job to organize the information he is given and arrange it in a press release.
I am not a fanboy of Vienna. This announcement was certainly weird. The pricing is a little high in my view, but not outrageous, especially when considering that you should be making this purchase when it is on sale. I dont like Synchron player, the ui is horrible. I hate that they have split their userbase by having two seperate groups of sounds that require either VI or Synchron, rather than making both players compatible with all of Vienna's sounds. I think it is bizarre that the VI solo strings have no ability to control vibrato. I think charging additional money for polyphonic legato (having to purchase Instruments Pro) is wrong. Synchron player was released apparently not thoughrally bug tested with some huge issues that should have been easily caught before it was released to the public.
I have issues with Vienna. It doesnt mean I dont like their products. No company is perfect. Using hyperbole to overstate an issue does no one any good. That is how Im reading this situation. Ya'll have overblown this. It could have been handled better on both sides. Vienna gets that Im sure. Im saying what they cant, the way the community has addressed this is, well, in standard internet fashion, like shit.

Ensemble is more than just networking, it is also a nice host for gathering all those pesky VST windows like Kontakt, Play, Omnisphere, etc into one place. I will also add, its a nice simple mixer with very convenient routing options. The Pro version also has convenient ways of keeping channels organized and is lighter on the CPU than its free counterpart. Whether the majority of people purchased Ensemble Pro only for its network hosting of VST plugins, I cant say, but it wasnt one of the reasons I purchased a license for it.

By the way, I never said keep using your VEP6 license indefinitely. I said, keep using your VEP6 license and upgrade when VEP7 goes on sale. Everyone is using the "when it isnt on sale" prices to suggest that this way to expensive, I am saying, if you are buying anything from Vienna when it isnt on sale, you are throwing money away, because everything Vienna sells is discounted several times during the course of the year. Buy the upgrade when it goes on sale.

By the way, Reaper has some of this functionality, however, there is talk of removing the Reamote code from Reaper.

Oh, and with regards to 'treating you with respect', that is a laugh. Nothing they have done here has been disrespectful. In fact, quite the contrary, they have announced a new version is coming and the pricing. They arent ready to announce features. They never made fun of your mother. They didnt insult you. They didnt accuse your father of smelling of elder berries. They simply announced a new version and pricing.

On the other hand, reading the comments in the thread here, the community has done the opposite. Paul has been blamed for this, and Im pretty sure the poor guy is merely the messenger. Someone in a smoke filled dusty room said, we have a new thing, go tell the masses. I dont think anyone at Vienna expected this kind of blowback. They have a new thing, they are excited about it. They underestimated the fact that people arent happy to pay money sight unseen. The guys in the smoke filled room clearly think this thing is awesome and worth the price of admission, however, they arent ready to spill the beans. Its really hard to get someone hyped about something if you cant tell them what to be hyped for. I only hope this is a lesson Vienna has learned, because especially when it comes to paid software upgrades that are pretty much required, no one is thrilled about them. Add the additional question of, is this a paid upgrade for the sake of Vienna trying to make money without providing anything in return and it tends to make people feel nickled and dimed.

I am not a fanboy for Vienna. The upgrade is a bit pricey, but it will go on sale. If you pay sticker price, you are a fool and no, your shit aint going to break before youve had ample time to purchase the upgrade when its already been on sale numerous times.

That is irrelevant.  We bought a 3 machine product.  It is now being downgraded unless we want to pay substantially more.  

Right, so VSL will be downgrading them, even though they originally purhased a product that would work on 3 machines, now they will feel compelled to be downgraded to a much more limited capacity.  In my view, the base product should include at least one local and one remote server license.

Yes you should be. 

That is not intellectually honest.  They are providing new purchasers with an opportunity to get in for a bit less with one license option, and I do think that is a good idea.  But existing customers that already purchased a more expensive 3 machine product are being punished.  They do not need to make it more expensive for existing customers while getting new customers in cheaper then ever.  There are plenty of ways they could "fix" the problem you surmised without doing the latter.

 

At a bare minimum all upgraders should at least wait to see.  All we konw as of now is that it will have FX added.  Me personally, even to justify $85 for one license I would need to see substantial improvements to the product.  But the simple truth is that I am being asked to pay money for something, that as far as we know has FX added, and we are expected to lose multi-machine networking unless we want to pay kind of a tidy sum...for as yet unannounced features.  As I have said, if VSL comes out with some breakthrough new thing that is so incredibly amazing that I can't imagine not paying another $250 for it... ($500 total in one year's time)...they will probably get my money...but I really am not expecting that.  I am expecting a few little things updated + FX...and unelss I want to pay through the nose.....LOSS of functionality in terms of networking a few extra machines in a pinch.  I will gladly stick with VEP6 and wait for VEP8 someday to reconsider.

Vienna isnt removing a license. You KEEP your 3 VEP6 licenses. By doing the upgrade, each license upgrade ADDS a VEP7 license to your existing VEP6 licenses.

I have 3 VEP6 licenses. I bought 1 upgrade. I now have 3 VEP6 licenses and 1 VEP7 license.

As to Cubase, yes, I just looked, I guess they upgrade only yearly, but it certainly feels like twice a year, so thanks for the correction.. It is still an expensive upgrade, Ive had it for 4 years and paid $300 to upgrade it.

And again, I dont understand why you guys are all upset. Do you know how many times over I have paid for Cubase? Its $150 yearly ($100 for the end of year upgrade and $50 for the mid-year upgrade). Having had a license for Cubase for several years now, I have paid once for Cubase Pro initially ($600), and in the four years Ive had the license, another $600.

Just for comparison, VEP6, in case anyone forgot, was released in late 2016.

Maybe you dont need epic orchestra, and I do completely agree, it is disengenuous for VSL to say you are getting it for free. You arent, you are paying a 30 Euro premium for epic orchestra. However, let me get this straight, you are complaining because the purchase price is 30 Euros higher for the first license? Put this in perspective, how many thousands of dollars have you spent on hardware and software? How much of it turned out to be for something you dont ever use? 30 Euros is the least of my concerns honestly.

As was previously stated, this is VSL pushing people to use Synchron. Personally, I hate the layout. I despise it. I think it was a piss poor decision to split their userbase into two groups. Their sounds should be compatible with both engines, allowing users of a more modern UI to use Synchron, while allowing those that like the look and feel of VI to use Instruments Pro. I have plenty of critiques for VSL, Im no fanboy by any stretch.

However, I see no issue with what VSL is doing here, other than forcing users who wish to upgrade to VEP7 to pay extra for EO. However, its only $30 Euros, and I am a bit biased, I love the epic orchestra 2.0 library, even if it is in the terrible Synchron player ui. Considering I have very few libraries that are any good for sketching (my libraries are all hundreds of gigabytes, thus, by the time they load, Ive taken the dog for a walk, taken a shower, and brushed my teeth), EO in combination with Smart Orchestra are alot of fun.

Oh, and as to my comments about free addons, what the heck is wrong with free addons? You dont have to use them.

Hi, 

The introductory price will be available until the software is released, and we will announce all changes in pricing agead of time. 

45 EUR for an additional upgrade license is the introductory price, like it says on the VE PRO 7 product page: 

Upgrade Offer
The upgrade price to Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 is currently €75 (reg. €95) for the first license, and it includes Epic Orchestra 2.0, free of charge. Additional Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 upgrade licenses are offered at €45 (reg. €65) each. When you're logged in, the reduced price is automatically shown as “Your Price” if you’ve already registered Vienna Ensemble Pro 4, 5 or 6.

Full Purchase
If you’re new to Vienna Ensemble Pro, now is a great time to jump aboard! The introductory price of Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 including Epic Orchestra 2.0 is €145 (reg. €195). To run Vienna Ensemble Pro on more computers, additional licenses are available at €65 (reg. €95) each. You may download and install Vienna Ensemble Pro 6 from MyVSL anytime.

Best,
Paul

Hi,
The Bonus Taiko is an enthusiastic gesture to thank ourearly adopters for their trust, and also to welcome everbody who is just getting to know our products with VE Pro 7. There's so much to discover with our Synchron Series products, and Epic Orchestra 2.0 is the perfect tool to dive in and check out the possibilities.
Who knows, maybe there will be more free add-ons?
Best,Paul

VEP 6 is $285.
VEP 7 is $75 for the first license...
plus $45 for the second...
plus $45 for the third...
My math shows that to upgrade all three is $165. That is 58% of the cost of VEP 6, not double.

You don't lose two licenses. You don't lose any licenses. However you do have to pay to upgrade each license if you want them to be on version 7. Nothing is stopping you from using your other 2 version 6 licenses as nobody has taken them away from you. I am not trying to be unsympethetic to your situation, but upgrades are completely at your discretion. And it sounds like you only need one license for a Master and a Slave computer....

We're not so much asking for answers to individual license quantities going from VEPro 6 to 7 but are asking if say people with the stock 3 licenses we get in VEPro 6 wil be grandfathered over to version 7?

Hi everybody, 

Highly interesting speculations there, LAJ... 
I can respond to this one quite clearly Vienna Ensemble PRO will not be a notation program. 

Regarding multiple licenses: I'm sure you understand that we can't answer individual quantity discount requests in a public forum. With previous upgrades, different combinations of license amounts, there are simply many parameters to consider.

@kristijan999: Sorry to see you so upset, especially after you hesitated to contact us via with the first troubles... and after so many successful support interactions in the past. I hope you will change your mind when you see what VE Pro 7 can actually do for you. 

Best, 
Paul

Hi everybody!

We are also excited about VE Pro 7, and we want to announce and highlight each feature properly in the next days.
It will take some more time until we are ready for a release, but we are definitely getting close.  

There is no pressure to purchase VE Pro 7 right away.
Please don't forget: You didn't know about VE Pro 7 before yesterday evening... We're happy to hear that everybody is happy with VE Pro 6!

Here are a few answers to your questions regarding VE Pro 7: 

1) License policy: We noticed that more and more VE Pro users don't use the network function, so we decided to make single licenses available optionally. Again, this is only optional and comes with some great advantages, e.g., if you need four licenses you no longer need to purchase two bundles of three licenses...

The first license will come with Epic Orchestra 2.0 and it will have a higher price tag than the additional licenses.

2) "Although I appreciate all the work that’s gone into upgrading Epic Orchestra, is there an option to not install it with VEP7?"

=> Sure, you don't have to install Epic Orchestra 2.0: You can also install only portions of the Epic Orchestra 2.0.

3) Now here is the deal with Epic Orchestra 2.0: This is simply a great opportunity to check out our Synchron Series. It's a free add-on to VE Pro 7 and it's very impressive. Check out those audio demos again. If you think you can't use such a library, this could be worth a second thought....

More details will be posted soon. 

Best, 
Paul