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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31 |
Hi all, Could anybody please explain what the various upgrade options are, as I'm finding it rather confusing. I bought the 2011 Megapak for Mac - which arrived just over a week ago by airmail. I'm now working my way through both the manual and the program, trying to get a general feel for it reasonably quickly. It's been something of mixture of delight at what it can do and bafflement at some weird quirks (some of which are probably user errors, but at least one of which has been confirmed by support as a bug with the current version). That's not unusual with new software though. But what I am still struggling with is trying to figure out the details of the Real Tracks, and what the options are if it looks as if I could do with more. The printed manual tells me that that I should be able to find some useful demos "from folders with names like Applications/Band-in-a-Box/RealTracks - Demos/RealTracks102 Demos" but no such useful sub-folders exist. Instead, there is one huge folder with over 300 files in, all of which have cryptic names that aren't very helpful and don't include the RealTrack set numbers. The only simple name among them was "RealSaxDemo.MGU" but when I clicked on it and opened it with BiaB it was a Jazz swing style track which didn't feature a sax at all??? The name that showed in BiaB was then "RealSaxdemo - see memo". Memo? What memo? There does seem to be a lot of loose ends with this current compilation and I'm having trouble finding the useful string amongst them all. I'm sure that the manuals and general layout and installation makes reasonable sense to users who are familiar with earlier versions and have been along for the ride as it grew. But to a newcomer it can be pretty cryptic. Mostly the demo have names like: Guitar,Acoustic,Rhythm,Jazz Freddie sw 140 A only #559solo.m4a or _BLSHUFF.SGU =NEALGP Demo.MGU There doesn't seem to be a list of what belongs to which pack or collection. When I've looked at this site the options also seem hard to fathom. On the one hand there's a list of 120 RealTrack sets at $29 each (for a rather unattractive total of over $3,000 - plus 29 Real Drum set, which would cost over $800 more. There are bundles of sets available at less stellar prices, but these are far too big for me to download, and I can't spot any option to buy them on discs. On the other hand, buying the UltraPlusPak on a hard drive would seem to give the lot for not a whole lot more than the cost of a Megapak and a hard drive.???  I gather than there is some kind of 30 day clause with BiaB and I'm still within that (order processed 16th May, received here on 27th May) but I don't know if whether that would apply in practice to overseas orders (I'm in Australia). Could anybody please suggest whether there is a reasonable upgrade path other than downloading lots of small sets over a long period of time, at considerable expense, or having to buy the whole lot again on a hard drive? Thanks for any help or enlightenment, Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,493
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,493 |
Hi Chris,
PG Music are a sensational company to deal with. They honour the 30 cay money back guarantee worldwide. I'm not sure how it works but I'd get straight on the phone on the toll-free number if it were me and find out. There's probably some small charge to cover freight if two shippings were involved. I don't know this for sure, though.
Like you, I started out cautiously because I wasn't sure how good the program was. After a few months, though,I upgraded to the UltraPlusPak.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,897
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,897 |
Quote:
Could anybody please suggest whether there is a reasonable upgrade path other than downloading lots of small sets over a long period of time, at considerable expense, or having to buy the whole lot again on a hard drive?
Thanks for any help or enlightenment,
Wow, so many questions.
This is why I alway have two recommendations:
1) By the ultrapak on HD - best bang for the buck adn you need all those addons.
2) Buy it when it is on sale.
Yes there is an upgrade path to go Mega to Ultrapac. You simply have to pay the difference (within the 30 day period). Best to call PG direct to arrange.
To your other questions.
1) This app takes a looooong time to learn.
2) Go to Help - What add on's do I have to see a comprehensive list of what you got and what is available.
Good luck.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31 |
Thanks very much for the prompt and thoughtful replies guys. I guess I'm rushing things a bit - as Jazzmandan says it takes a long time to learn, and that was expected. But 30 days isn't much time to review it all, especially when a chunk of it gets eaten up by the shipping across the world. The tip about the "What add-on do I have " button was very useful - thanks for that. It showed that I have a number of RealTracks, including "11 - All Bluegrass Rhythm". Yet when I used a style that required that set, I got a message saying that some of 11 was missing and that I had no mandolin. So I guess that they make choices with the less than complete Megapak version, about which files to include. Normally, I'd expect to take a lot of weeks or months to work through exactly what you can and can't do with new software, but the range of options is so big here, and the task of trying to assess each element so huge that I think I'll just have to make something of a guess whether to stay with what I've got or take a leap of faith and shell out some more dollars. I guess you can't take it with you.... I'll email the sales guys later today and see what they can suggest or offer. Thanks for the help Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,493
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,493 |
Chris,
One other thing I discovered is that once you have the complete version of BAIB, it's very reasonable to keep up-to-date with upgrades every 6 - 12 months.
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944 |
Hi Chris,
With the posting of your song. As you suggested, I tried to move the post to the User Showcase Forum. But it got accidentally zapped instead - I don't know why. Sorry about that. So please repost that thread in the User Showcase Forum. It's a real nice tune and performance.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944 |
Chris,
The Pro Pak come with about 20 RealTracks.
The MegaPAK comes with about 80 RealTracks.
The UltraPAK comes with all of the RealTracks - which is over 600!
The RealTracks on the Pro and Mega are grouped into "Combos" (which are like bands). So they aren't grouped according to RealTracks Set #. That's why there is no folder to see the demos, just a big list of all of the demos that you get in the RealTracks - demos folder.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31
Enthusiast
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|
OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31 |
Thanks everybody for all your patience, and for the useful suggestions and explanations.  Cheers, Chris
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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.
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Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
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