Is it fair to pay for a plugin update?

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Hey guys,

I'm in a bit of a moral inner dispute. And no, this is not about Avid this time

I bought a mastering EQ plugin in April. I paid 300 euros for it.

Now they dropped the iLok format to join a new plugin alliance, and added AAX and 64 bits support. Good... Except that they ask for 20 dollars for the update if you purchased the plugin after May (actually 19 days after I purchased). This update only adds those 64 bits and AAX support, and to be fair I don't really understand what 64 bits can bring to an EQ...

What do you reckon about this?

 

[drew_drummer]

I think you need to pay the $20 and recognise that those improvements cost money to make. You want them. You buy them.

 

[Wohma]

20 bucks being less than 10% of the original price, I'd pay it (providing the update was useful to me).

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

You want them. You buy them.

That's all there is to it, really.

 

[greyskull]

It's a Bitter pill to swallow, but some companies will charge as recoding a plug-in is not a 5 minute job.

 

[John_C]

It's pretty reasonable to charge, seeing as it's new features not bugfixes. You almost certainly don't need it though, so unless you feel like throwing money away....

 

[-Noodles-]

It completely sucks and my principles say that I wouldn't want to pay for it - but I'd probably pay for it and enjoy the features..

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I agree that 20$ is not much, and I will most probably end up buying it, but for that price, seriously, you get nothing, no new feature... Unless someone can explain to me what 64 bits can do for an EQ plugin. So it's not as much for the money as it is for the principle...

 

[drew_drummer]

I agree that 20$ is not much, and I will most probably end up buying it, but for that price, seriously, you get nothing, no new feature... Unless someone can explain to me what 64 bits can do for an EQ plugin. So it's not as much for the money as it is for the principle...

What is the principle?

 

[Mutant]

Bugfix only update = free.
New features = pay.

 

[John_C]

Bugfix only update = free.
New features = pay.

this

That's the bottom line. Anything more is them giving you something for nothing which is great and all but not something to expect.

A new format is a new feature, as is 64 bit support. It's up to you to decide how valuable those features are.

 

[Danny Drama]

Presumably they mean it'll run in a 64bit Daw natively, nothing to do with 64 bit sound. I'd pay if I liked the plugin tho a lot of manufacturers gave 64 bit updates for free.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'm assuming that the cost of the plugin after the May purchase date is exactly the same as what you paid the month before but now including those updates?

If so, yeah thats a bit goofy but if you already spent that much on the plugin and you stand to benefit from what the update offers you just need to suck it up and drop the extra $20

Don't know if it would help to contact their customer service department and explain the situation. I mean, 19 days difference ... maybe they'll comp you the update?

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Keep in mind they not only added 64bit support, but also rewrote the plugin for a completely new plugin format, which probably took quite a bit of labor.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

No they don't
I'll just wait for now, the plugin still works with iLok, until they offer something more than a 64 bits version which doesn't change a single thing (Pro Tools is not 64 bits yet anyway...).

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I agree and understand that creating a new plugin version (which is not out yet though...) is time consuming indeed, but, well, a lot of other competitors give those new versions for free. Just wanted to get some opinions on this, I'm glad I'm among the only ones thinking this is a bit sneaky. Just a bit though, as I said 20$ is not much and I'll probably end up getting it someday, but when you pay so much for a single EQ plugin you don't expect to have to pay again for "updates" and stuff.