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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Just wondering if it is possible to sell a BIAB licence? I have the USB3 hard drive version of 2023, but I want to upgrade to the Audiophile MacOS version, and was hoping to sell the existing Windows 2023 Hard Drive to help affray costs.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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My guess is PG Music Sales would be the best folks to ask since the question is pretty unique.
One thought I had when I read your question is I believe PG Music offers cross operating system pricing. I wonder if you sell the Windows 2023 hard drive then you would lose the cross operating system pricing?
A second thought is you likely upgraded to the Windows 2023 hard drive from a prior version of Band-in-a-Box. I don't know how PG Music treats operating system changes when the Windows version is an upgrade not purchased at the new user price.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Jim...The USB Drive version was bought as a full package (cost me nearly $600 AUD) I can't recall if there was any discount at all.
I investigated the cross grade and there is no serious reduction in price. It will still set me back another $600+
Pretty much all other software I have licences for, simply allow you to use either version, with no penalty. PG certainly do things differently!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Joden, I'm sorry PG Music doesn't offer a serious reduction in price when a user wants to switch between the Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
Perform a forum search and I believe user Musocity has discussed using the Windows version of Band-in-a-Box on Macintosh computers. One obstacle is the wma audio files should be converted to wave or MP4a files. He uses the Reaper DAW to perform a batch conversion process. Another obstacle is you have to install programs that run Windows on a Macintosh.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks again Jim.
Yes I have read that and indeed he replied to my query describing the steps in another thread, however it is a bit convoluted and I am SURE I will stuff it up somewhere, hence looking at buying the full version, with all the full audio files available and in order. I am trying to divest myself of everything MP3/AAC as the WAV/AIFF versions are much better considering there are no space issues any more.
*sigh* I might revisit though (that method) , particularly as it looks like transferring a licence may not be possible.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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First, I do not know for sure and Jim is right to ask PG Music directly. I first thought the same as he did, to ask whether you had an upgrade license or a 'full' new license for BIAB 2023. It does sound like you should at least call PG Music Sales and give it a try to negotiate something. You have nothing to lose.
I read that thread as well, about buying only the Pro version for your Mac and then converting the format of all the audio files. I guess it boils down to the value of your time to go through that conversion.
I assume you would have to deactivate all three licenses of your existing Windows installation to get any hope of transferring it to another user.
Let us know what you decide.
ps it's good you asked this question publicly. There must be others wanting to transfer platforms and the cross grade pricing might be prohibitive for some.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Matt - I did approach support initially, and they said that as I was still within the 30 days for the 2024 purchase, I could claim the return and refund which I could then apply to the new purchase, but only of the upgrade as for me, 2024 was an upgrade to 2023 USB Drive version. She made no mention of just deactivating licences, however even if I did I suspect it would make no difference.
The time to do Musocity's plan is not daunting time wise, more a case of I'd probably muck something up and then not be able to use it properly. And as I would also need to format the USB Drive to APFS (for optimal use with MacOS 14) I'd then be risking losing everything on it, with no guarantee of success, in case I ever wanted to (but I seriously doubt it) return to Microsoft.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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The Win Audiophile drive will work on Mac, you just need to batch convert the wma demos.
You can copy it to a Mac format drive.
Last edited by musocity; 01/28/24 02:55 PM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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The Win Audiophile drive will work on Mac, you just need to batch convert the wma demos.
You can copy it to a Mac format drive. Sorry, my bad, and it is confusing. I have the Ultra Pack on the USB Drive, not the Audiophile. I just checked it is the 2022 drive I bought, not 2023. I think maybe the simplest is to just buy the cross grade and pay via instalments - PayPal in four or similar.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It's $669USD compared to $79USD for that app only and converting is easier than trying to learn Biab.
PG should have a crossplatform format so it will install and work on both platforms.
As I said the only difference in the directory structure is Library > LibraryM
For $79 only it's worth trying first, it all worked for me I'm sure it will work for you.
If you are using AUD it's ridiculous the exchange rate at the moment to USD that's why I did an app only upgrade this year as the Audiophile was too much.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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There is a PG app decompress.zip that will decompress all the wma to wav (wav will work on Mac) I can't remember if it does subdirectories or only the folder you run it in, you can download this one or do a search in the bb\ folder and you may have it. I think Biab has an option in RealTrack/RealDrums Preferences to decompress/archive RT/RD.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I did a google search and here are a couple of free wma to aiff and wav to aiff file converters. It looks like it is a batch conversion. Don't ask as I don't have any experience with either. https://convertio.co/wav-aiff/https://www.freeconvert.com/wma-to-aiff
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It's $669USD compared to $79USD for that app only and converting is easier than trying to learn Biab.
PG should have a crossplatform format so it will install and work on both platforms.
As I said the only difference in the directory structure is Library > LibraryM
For $79 only it's worth trying first, it all worked for me I'm sure it will work for you.
If you are using AUD it's ridiculous the exchange rate at the moment to USD that's why I did an app only upgrade this year as the Audiophile was too much. Can I use the same USB drive?I mean, when you point it out in that way, it's a huge amount of difference! My plan would be to transfer all the data to a separate drive, format the existing BIAB USB Drive to APFS, then install the BIAB macOS version and transfer back all the data. I guess it would be better to do all of that first and THEN do the conversion as transferring that much audio data as uncompressed (ie non-mp3) data would take forever! PS: oh and I did a search for that Library>Library M folder and could not find it.
Last edited by joden; 01/28/24 06:12 PM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Oh and an ancillary question - Is the Mac 2023 the same as windows 2024, or is the Mac version a year behind?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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The Macintosh release is generally 6 - 8 months after the Windows release so 2024 Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh may show up in June or July.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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BIAB for Windows has had an uncompress utility since the early days of RealTracks in around 2009. In those early days there was a real benefit to uncompressing those WMA files. See my article in Tips and Tricks about the differences between the regular and the audiophile versions.
The downside was that it required about 11 times the storage space to do this. Of course, we also had a few who did not understand that an uncompressed WMA would not be the same quality as the never-compressed WAV files of the audiophile version.
So, if you have the space, before you make the conversion to Mac, you could use BIAB to uncompress the files.
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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Just came across this as an alternative (maybe short term) using either CodeWeaver’s CrossOver, or Wineskin Winery. Anyone had any experience with these? Installation seems pretty straightforward, albeit a bit convoluted, so I am more interested in if anyone managed to get it to work.
Considering I have BIAB that runs from the USB Drive and not the Mac system drive it might be a viable option. As I wrote, maybe if only for a short term.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Biab Win needs Window Media Player, see here It would be easier to install Windows on the Mac and dual boot, the Win version just keeps working on any Win OS version whereas with Mac when they update the OS things stop working and you have to wait for fixes. If you want the Win version to work on Mac use https://www.parallels.com/au/ but it's like $179.00 AUD
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Biab Win needs Window Media Player, see here It would be easier to install Windows on the Mac and dual boot, the Win version just keeps working on any Win OS version whereas with Mac when they update the OS things stop working and you have to wait for fixes. If you want the Win version to work on Mac use https://www.parallels.com/au/ but it's like $179.00 AUD Thanks - what did you think of my planned process I outlined above (a couple of posts earlier) ? That would be buying just the MacOS program only...any issues doing it all that way? PS: Crossover is getting a pretty decent rep...it's still a buy option, at $79 - BUT I am going to do the conversion to WAV you explained in any case as I want all wav files, even though I assume the factory version audiophile is "native" wav, rather than converted MP3/WMA to WAV...I think there may be a difference, anyhoo time will tell. PPS: sorry to be doing this "thinking out loud" stuff, but as Matt pointed out, someone else might benefit from my stumbling steps 
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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