January 2023 Update: After using Le Bounce Factory I can attest it is superb, and totally worth the cost. Contrary to my original post below : )
Hey folks, I was keen to check out Bounce Factory, and I will. However, I find the pricing too steep for me. Mainly as I already have a workflow using SoundFlow that bounces mixes, stems etc. As well as other 3rd party options that cost less.
Just wanted to drop my initial feedback so you know at least one potential users view.
Cheers!
Andrew Scheps @Andrew_SchepsHi Matt,
Thanks for the feedback. As you can imagine I spent a very long time trying to come up with pricing that made sense.
The only other 3rd party solution I’ve found that comes close to the functionality Bounce Factory has is actually more expensive. I know there will be plenty of SoundFlow users who have already developed automation for their specific workflows, and this might not be for them, but for people who aren’t of the technical nature we are, I think this offers a really attractive way to save a lot of time. Plus, who knows, there might be enough extended functionality to make it worthwhile even for experienced SF users. That’s why there’s a 30 day trial.
Once you’ve had time to see what it does I’d love some additional feedback.
Thanks,
Andrew- MMatt Foster @Matt_Foster
Thanks Andrew, I can only imagine how much time you invested in this!
I will for sure take it for a good spin, and I only wanted to share my initial thoughts with the view of being helpful ;) I will of course offer more once I have given it a lengthy tryout.
Much thanks,
Matt
- In reply toAndrew_Scheps⬆:MMatt Foster @Matt_Foster
I have to circle back to correct myself and my misguided thread starting.
Having used Bounce Factory recently, I can say that the pricing is actually indeed completely worth the price of admission. It is an extremely helpful, complex yet elegant application - and actually very much suits my workflow with printing and storing alternate mixes and stems.
Please accept my apologies and maximum respect for creating such a useful application!
Andrew Scheps @Andrew_SchepsThanks @Matt_Foster , that's really great to hear and I appreciate you circling back!
- MIn reply toMatt_Foster⬆:Matthew Styles-Harris @Matthew_Styles_Harri
+1 on this unfortunatly. might have to just occasionally dip into it when there is a whole LP to stem out, I stopped using the other service becuuse was also too much on a recurring basis.
- Andrew Scheps @Andrew_Scheps
That’s why the pricing is set up the way it is. You can absolutely grab it for just one month at a time, and you can use the Basic tier if you’re ok to bounce one session a time. Something for every level of user. But again, definitely use the 30 day demo to see how much time it can save you.
- MMatthew Styles-Harris @Matthew_Styles_Harri
awesome thanks, now its clear, appreciate your efforts on this!
- Andrew Scheps @Andrew_Scheps
Definitely check out the webinar tonight, I'll go through all of it.
https://bit.ly/3IEN4cg- MMatthew Styles-Harris @Matthew_Styles_Harri
it is pretty amazing i just prepped mixed groups of an album for a client in short timeand let it render while I took my kids to their music class...I think If i do an album once a month its worth it, if its less demanding projects the lower tier is fine.
- TIn reply toMatt_Foster⬆:Toby Lloyd @Toby_Lloyd
Yeah; Agreed! It looks absolutely amazing and I felt the same way when I first saw Bounce Butler. A really powerful and well thought out tool....But the problem is; that this is priced at twice the price of Pro Tools (Which is an insanely complicated piece of software that has been developed and improved over 25+ years); so most people I think will immediately see that this tool (that basically communicates with PT) is twice the price of PT itself and I think that will turn a lot of people off. Even a subscription to Plugin Alliance and gaining over 130+ incredibly painstakingly made plugins are half the price. It feels like its one of these things that at this price; very few people will jump onboard and sign up (the 1%ers of the industry) whereas if this was priced at a more affordable rate; you would have almost every Engineer and Producer signing up. With that obviously comes with a lot of admin and support though; so I can see why its probably priced in this way. I know it would be an incredibly powerful tool....but instead I just will carry on using the macros i've made myself to do a much more rudimentary version of it :(
- Andrew Scheps @Andrew_Scheps
Hi Toby,
You could be proven right, we'll have to see. I talked a lot about the reasons for the pricing decisions on the webinar last night (which is archived if you want to wade through it), so I won't reiterate them here. It basically comes down to how much time it can save and what that time is worth.
And also, if you can manage to build something for yourself that works you definitely don't need it!
Thanks,
Andrew- Andrew Scheps @Andrew_Scheps
I would reiterate though, get the trial and see if it does things that might make it worth your while a month at a time for bouncing one session at a time. You can always grab it for a month if you've got a lot going on and then cancel.
- TToby Lloyd @Toby_Lloyd
Oh dont worry; im gunna be demoing the shit out of it :) I have a bunch of albums that i've finished recently that I was about to start doing the stems for backup purposes for so I will give this a spin. Because I mix Hybrid its generally only ever going to be a song (Or an album if I keep the settings the same across an album) anyway. I can totally see the logic of the pricing; completely agree that time is valuable. I was more speaking for the common man/woman as not everyone will think about that and instead see the price and notice it being double most audio subscriptions and will likely just be turned off straight away. I used to work on the big budget films (Leaving to Produce and mix music full time) and any time we would finish a film; the deliveries were an absolute nightmare and would take us days. So this pricing for a facility is a no brainer and in fact is insanely cheap! But for the average full time Music Producer who has kids to feed and a mortgage to pay; they'll likely be the ones that wont bite :( I've been known to be wrong a lot though so who knows :)
- Andrew Scheps @Andrew_Scheps
Believe me, I get it! There is so much blowback already. The only thing that I need to communicate better is that the Basic Tier could well be enough for most people and is much cheaper...
- AAdrian Breakspear @Adrian_Breakspear
Firstly Andrew - thanks, I literally don't understand how you've got the brainpower and time to mix as you do AND develop this, but I appreciate it!
I don't think the pricing is too much (but then I make a living at this - does anyone who doesn't need it?!). It's far less than an hour's billable rate per month at the pro level; and personally I see me setting up one song at the end of the night, running it overnight and then doing the next one the following night. In which case 1 song at a time is fine, and that's much less.
Just need to sort out my teething issues!
- In reply toAndrew_Scheps⬆:
william wittman @william_wittmanThe one thing I'd love to see is a "middle?" tier that for example bounced one version of a mix from multiple sessions.
There are many cases where, for example, i'd need to go back and bounce 24 bit versions of all the sessions for an album that had only previously been bound for approval at 16 bit... but I don't need stems or alt versions, etc.- Andrew Scheps @Andrew_Scheps
It's an interesting thought. I'm not sure off the top of my head how to organize the code but I'll ponder...
- MIn reply toMatt_Foster⬆:Matt Foster @Matt_Foster
I think the pricing is mostly relative rather than how much time it will save you. Pro Tools is $35 per month, Soundflow is $10. BF at $20 and $50 on top of the $10 Soundflow is steep imo. My feeling is that it is going to be a hard sell for non Soundflow users. In addition to pricing there is also a learning curve to Soundflow which I believe will be an extra barrier.
For me personally, I already use Soundflow for automated bouncing of stems and alternate mixes so I can't justify paying for something that I can already achieve. Granted it is nowhere near as slick and fun to use, but functionally does a very similar thing.
To get down to brass tacks, $10 and $25 per month would be something I would be more likely to pay for.
I only mention this to offer hopefully helpful feedback, and I actually wish to be proved entirely wrong and my view gets smacked down like Chris Rock at an Oscars awards ceremony :)
In reply toMatt_Foster⬆:Ryan DeRemer @Ryan_DeRemerTo those talking about the price difference between SF/BF and Pro Tools, I would point out you're only considering the price of PT Standard. I have Ultimate, and am paying $80 per month for that subscription. So my, and many others', perspective is a bit different. I think the pricing is spot on, and reflects the abilities of the app at different tiers.
SF may host the app, but @Andrew_Scheps has basically coded an entirely independant app himself. If he wanted, he could probably figure out the logistics of making it a standalone app, considering he's been a beta tester for PT since the days of floppy disks. Instead he's chosen a more or less open-source platform where he can get the app out quicker and have this kind of interactive experience with us, as well as providing us with the most advanced bounce utility on the market. Short of having an app made by the souless Avid, or direct integration with their software, this by far the best designed third party utility for Pro Tools.
That being said, if you have a working script for bouncing that fits your established work flow, then it's probably not for you. If you're like me, you dabble in this coding stuff, and can do basic scripts and macros, but the amount of time, energy, money (time is money), and overall headache he has saved me by creating this app (I'm sure from the moment he started with SF, this was always a big goal, so years in the making) is well worth the price, especially since it's essentially free money when you consider the time cost. If i can ever get my back-end script for zipping and sending files to work, or if he adds that functionality (AHEM), it's game over.
Long winded post I know, but something I was thinking about when he posted the pricing. Realistically, all things considered, 1 song per month consisting of 4 mix passes and mix stems (even just the basic food groups) and the app has paid for itself. SoundFlow also pays for itself in spades, with or without Bounce Factory.
Just my 2 cents. I definitely can understand the hesitation from a different perspective.
In reply toMatt_Foster⬆:Chris Tabron @Chris_TabronThought I'd just chime in here to say the pricing seems spot-on to me. No one loves subscription things and such, but this app—even within a few days of being released—has proven to save me and my assistant heaps of time, and also eliminate a lot of human error that happens at the finish line at 2am.
However, this is my perspective based on doing this for a living, and I'm a nerd who marvels at the prospect of running a more efficient operation for myself and my team.
Finally, it's obvious to me that @Andrew_Scheps is providing unparalleled support and transparency all along the way (how many builds have you done over the weekend alone?) and for him to build an app for what is arguably the most...ahem...discerning demographic (engineers!) and to be so on top of everything, willing to implement new features, etc. he might as well be taking on the Eye of Sauron.
So yeah, the pro version ain't cheap. But it's 100% worth it IMO. How else can Andrew afford to Team Viewer into each and everyone's rig once you click "bounce all" and start printing passes for you? That's how this thing works, right? :)