|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225
Apprentice
|
OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225 |
Hi guys,
I just received the hard drive with the 2017 upgrade to my 2016 Audiophile version. Thank you. I'm very happy with it :-)
However, as I live in Europe, I had to pay 75 euros (almost 90 dollars) in customs fees and duties. That's a lot of money (for me at least). Especially because I'm paying for something I don't really need (the physical hard drive).
So, I was wondering ...
I understand that for 1st time Audiophile buyers it is necessary to receive the hard drive - the download would be too large.
But for Audiophile upgraders (those who already have a previous version of the Audiophile hard drive), why not allow a download only option?
The only thing that we would have to donwload would be the program folder and the new real tracks, NOT all the real tracks.
I know that the Everything pack, for example, has a download only option. My guess is that downloading the whole Everything pack with ALL the (compressed) tracks would be much larger that downloading just the new, uncompressed tracks for Audiophile users.
So, why not?
We would have several benefits:
- no delays in shipments
- no risk of receiving damaged hard drives
- faster (immediate) delivery
- no costum duties
Honestly, I would be happy to even pay a little more for a download option, as I would save money anyway because of the duties.
So ... why not?
Thank you for your attention.
And thank you for this great product and company.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,057
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,057 |
In past years, I manually added the new RealTracks I wanted by copying from the new drive to my computer. It wasn't so large that a download would not work. This year, though, they re-recorded (remastered) some of the older tracks so the download would have been larger.
Still, your idea sounds reasonable to me.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225
Apprentice
|
|
OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225 |
Thank you Matt. I think it's reasonable too, but of course maybe we're missing something that the PG folks know and we don't. There would be several advantages, and it would make it more desirable to buy the product for overseas customers. A win-win. And, quite honestly, saving 90 dollars or so per year ... multiplied by several years of "faithful" upgrades ... in the end, it becomes quite a significant saving! ... enough money for a new guitar, for example  (but don't tell my wife though ..)
Last edited by Jon Thomas; 01/11/17 05:04 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954 |
I have a big pile of pg audiophile hard drives I don't know what to do with, one would be enough to just update with downloads each year.
The new Realtrack/Drums downloads for 2017 in wma were about 6.5gig, the wav files are are just over 10 x the size, so over 70gig download I would say.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225
Apprentice
|
|
OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225 |
Yes, and the Everything pack total download I think is quite larger than 70 gig (very rough estimate, but it seems to be that way). So ... I don't know, it seems to me that if the download option is ok for the Everything pack, it should also be feasible for Audiophile upgrades. As I said, there may be reasons why this is not possible, I don't know. We'll see next year I guess. I'm sure PG folks are reading this. I'll remind them after the summer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,057
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,057 |
Jon, what would the customs impact be on a flash drive?
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225
Apprentice
|
|
OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225 |
I think it's a percentage of the value of the item, declared by the seller. I don't think it has to do with the weight or size of the item. So, I paid 75 euros for a value declared of about 260 dollars (I think, I dont have the receipt in front of me, but I think it's about right, as my purchase also included the xtra style pack). Actually, I think there was also a 10 euro administrative fee or something like that as well. So i guess in my case (Italy) the percentage is about 25% or so of the value, plus other fees, but I'm sure it varies with the country of destination. As I said, not a very pleasant thing Just one more thing. Pipeline's estimate about the size of the new uncompressed real tracks is correct, however they could be downloaded in a zipped format, and that would certainly reduce the size of the download in half or even more. So, if I'm not wrong, the download for the Everything pack, as it is now, is probably double in size or so of what it would be the download size for the Audiophile upgrade.
Last edited by Jon Thomas; 01/12/17 09:20 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,674
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,674 |
Unfortunately, Zip isn't going to get you 50% compression on audio files. There are some options in Zip, but whoever receives the file must have a version of WinZip/7Zip/etc capable of decoding those options. And Zip is really designed for general purpose, not audio-specific.
You would have to use a lossless CODEC instead - maybe FLAC or APE (Monkey's Audio), which are optimized for audio. But then, of course you would need the drive space to download the files, and then take the time and additional drive space to decompress them.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2025/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225
Apprentice
|
|
OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 225 |
John you're right about ZIP. But with FLAC you can get almost 50% of compression (lossless of course). Then you need to uncompress it, yes. I'd rather do that than spending 90 dollars every year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954 |
Rar will compress wav files down a lot more that zip and rar is supposed to be lossless from what I have read.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,674
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,674 |
From the sites I took a look at (where folks have posted results), for the most part standard Zip might give you about 10-15% compression at most (although Zipx format could give you 30-ish%; RAR is up around 30-35%, but FLAC (which is optimized for compressing audio specifically) will generally give you 40-50% compression on WAV files. Your results, of course, will vary depending upon the size of the files and he content of the files.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2025/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954 |
There's also http://www.wavpack.com/ I think moving to a lossless audio compression would be a good thing, the internals of the program would need to be change to work with the lossless formats, most of them will do multichannel so you could have your 5-10 or more Drum channels within the file, moving realdrums from stereo to multichannel. WavPack is a completely open audio compression format providing lossless, high-quality lossy, and a unique hybrid compression mode. For version 5.0.0, several new file formats and lossless DSD audio compression were added, making WavPack a universal audio archiving solution. In the default lossless mode WavPack acts just like a WinZip compressor for audio files. However, unlike MP3 or WMA encoding which can affect the sound quality, not a single bit of the original information is lost, so there's no chance of degradation. This makes lossless mode ideal for archiving audio material or any other situation where quality is paramount. The compression ratio depends on the source material, but generally is between 30% and 70%. The hybrid mode provides all the advantages of lossless compression with an additional bonus. Instead of creating a single file, this mode creates both a relatively small, high-quality lossy file that can be used all by itself, and a "correction" file that (when combined with the lossy file) provides full lossless restoration. For some users this means never having to choose between lossless and lossy compression! WavPack employs only well known, public domain techniques (i.e., linear prediction with LMS adaptation, Elias and Golomb codes) in its implementation. Methods and algorithms that have ever been patented (e.g., arithmetic coding, LZW compression) are specifically avoided. This ensures that WavPack encoders and decoders will remain open and royalty-free.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,057
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,057 |
That's very interesting info. I had not heard of them.
Monkey's Audio was the most lossless compression for audio that I've seen, and it is 50% at best. If this can go higher, especially with no license costs, that's extraordinary.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,819
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,819 |
+1
While it doesn't personally affect me I think the suggestion is well thought out and would directly benefit both PG Music and its international customer base. Definately worthy of consideration by PG Music's marketing and Sales teams.
Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (Build 1128) RB (Build 5) - Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,786
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,786 |
I'm on the same boat as the OP, overseas and massive VAT are a big deterrents with any online purchases (which I guess in the case of my country at least is somewhat the whole point), so this is an easy +1 And like Pipeline, I've lost track of the number of external drives from PG I've been sent over the years and have no idea what to do with 
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BBox 2022 Audiophile, Mac Pro Intel, OSX 10.6.8, 800x600 (TV VGA)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box Wishlist
|
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 154
Apprentice
|
|
Apprentice
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 154 |
+1 for me being I from Italy!
I muri sono creature... scontrose
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2025!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
Check out all the 202 New RealTracks (in sets 456-467)
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
The 2025 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2025 49-PAK!
Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
- The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
- Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
- Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
- Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
- Playable RealTracks Set 4
- RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
- SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
- 128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
- Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
- Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
- Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
- RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®!
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Windows!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
Join the conversation on our forum.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums58
Topics84,390
Posts778,608
Members39,643
| |
Most Online25,754
Jan 24th, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean