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#359783 08/06/16 07:50 AM
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I presently have BIAB 2014 and am considering the upgrade to 2016, but I am wondering if I might be better off waiting for 2017. If it's happening soon I might just wait. Otherwise I will upgrade to 2016 now, as there are some great features I would like to have.


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We are just users and can't answer that, and PG Music does not pre-announce releases.

Though there is no guarantee it will continue this way, the new annual release for the PC has been in early December for several years, and later the following spring for the comparable Mac version.


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Originally Posted By: John F
I presently have BIAB 2014 and am considering the upgrade to 2016, but I am wondering if I might be better off waiting for 2017. If it's happening soon I might just wait. Otherwise I will upgrade to 2016 now, as there are some great features I would like to have.

Wait! You'll typically get a much better deal around December 1. If you buy 2016 now and want the 2017 upgrade you'll have to pay again for the 2017 upgrade as if you had bought the 2016 upgrade last year!

Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 08/06/16 08:40 AM.
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John, on the other hand, BIAB 2016 is jam packed with great features. I bought the UltraPak and am just scratching the surface. I understand it was a major upgrade from their last release (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so it may be a while before you see a dramatic change. Just my wild guess smile.


Gear: Tyros 5, MOX8, SoundCraft EFX12 mixer, two Bose L1 Compacts, Yamaha HS-8 monitors, BIAB 2016 UltraPlusPAK, Cubase 8, Steinberg UR-44 interface.

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Originally Posted By: Lee Batchelor
John, on the other hand, BIAB 2016 is jam packed with great features. I bought the UltraPak and am just scratching the surface. I understand it was a major upgrade from their last release (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so it may be a while before you see a dramatic change. Just my wild guess smile.

In my opinion 2016 contained very little that made it upgrade-worthy from 2015 (or even 2014)...except for those amazing RealTracks! Could be just me but I have not used or noticed many new features in the past few versions. They changed the GUI a bit a couple of versions ago but it is still quirky. And some features just frustrated me! Like when they let me name the tracks in the mixer...I was thrilled until I realized that some parts of the program insist on using the old names! So I just turned that partially implemented feature off to reduce confusion.

However, with all of that said, I have upgraded every year and will continue to do so for the RealTracks they add! These are nothing short of INCREDIBLE and worth the price of the upgrade! And upgrading from 2014 will get you some great RealTracks!

Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 08/06/16 11:29 AM.
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John F, I guess you have to evaluate what four months of working with the new features and RealTracks are worth to you now.


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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There might of been talk about it being released before December as the programmers go on holidays for 4 weeks around that time so the bugs have a long to wait to get fixed. Real band was released last year with very few new features and had to wait a very long time to get fixed.
So a pre Dec Xmas rush period release would be a lot better just as the Mac very was released a lot earlier this year.

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You might want to consult http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.htm and also view the linked videos to see if there are features that make you want to make the change now.

Then you might want to do some simple math, like how much is the upgrade you have to pay now? The update in December used to be about USD 100 -- if you have the until then newest version. Updates used to have a higher price if you have to update from some earlier releases -- just as it is now: http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.packages.htm (Currently your update would be 299 to get the current UltraPlusPAK.)

You also might want to consider the new XTRA styles with the included 49PAK. In the past most of these additional PAKs have been included into the next release. (I didn't check if all the additional RealTracks have made it into the standard package.)

If PGMusic doesn't change the policy, then we all will have a chance to buy the 2017 version in December for a reduced price, especially those who have 2016 installed.

Good luck with your decision.


Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
Laptop: i5-2410M, 4 GB mem, Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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