Buyer Beware - Vegas Audio LE DOESN'T Support Direct X Plug-ins

sinteractive wrote on 4/2/2001, 3:32 PM
I just bought Vegas Audio LE last week after reading the
product information on the Sonic Foundry website. The main
reason I bought it was that it was a reasonably priced
multitrack editor with "Full DirectX Audio Plug-In Support"
as stated on their website (click on specifications or
comparison chart).

I must caution anyone looking at buying this product - it
doesn't support ANY Direct X plug-ins except those already
included in the program.

The help file for the program is actually the one for the
full version - so it isn't all that helpful after all
either... There is a reason that it is download only - it
is just an afterthought. Even their customer rep admitted
that they hadn't even re-written the help file, and just
stripped out some of the full version's features. He also
admitted that the website is misleading as to what it can
do and can't do. Anyone with a collection of aftermarket
plug-ins will understand how important this feature is.

I had to be VERY firm with him to get a refund on the
purchase (not to mention wait on hold for 25 minutes just
to get through) - he really wanted to force me to upgrade
to Vegas Pro or just live with the problem. He also said
the website would be clarified, but as of yet - its not.

As a first-time sonic foundry customer, I'm left with a bad
taste in my mouth.

Comments

nlamartina wrote on 4/2/2001, 4:54 PM
The information all looks correct to me. The only place I
see a mistake is at:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/products/NewShowProduct.asp?
PID=420&FeatureID=3983

It says "Full DirectX Audio Plug-In support". The other
pages are correct. I'm certain this was an honest mistake,
Sin. Regardless, it should be fixed soon to avoid more
confusion.

Nick LaMartina
SonyEPM wrote on 4/2/2001, 5:28 PM
If you have 3rd party DirectX audio plug-ins, they should
work fine. We did not block any 3rd party plugs out of LE.
nlamartina wrote on 4/2/2001, 9:31 PM
Whoops, I made a fatal error. Perhaps I should check my own
software next time to make sure my assertions (or
confirmations, in this case) are correct. My mistake and
apologies.

Nick LaMartina
SonyEPM wrote on 4/3/2001, 8:53 AM
No worries- this is about the first time I've seen you make
a mistake on this forum....a badge of honor!
sinteractive wrote on 4/5/2001, 1:02 AM
You have to agree that this is a major feature to leave
completely unmentioned on the website. Even one of the
developers thought the feature was included - its a pity
they decided to remove it. It's the difference between a
real tool and a toy.

On the comparison chart it also goes unmentioned as a
reason to upgrade to pro version. When you quit the LE
program it lists reasons to upgrade to pro version, and it
isn't listed there either.

This IS a major difference between the LE and pro version -
why hide it?

SonyEPM wrote on 4/5/2001, 9:23 AM
I may be confused about your complaint, so forgive me.

We did not remove DirectX plug-in support from Vegas LE. If
you are not seeing plug-ins that were already installed, I
agree there's a problem, but it's not because of some
nefarious restriction on our part.

Try re-registering or reinstalling the 3rd party plugs-
sinteractive wrote on 4/7/2001, 3:18 PM
Your customer support rep said that the capability to use
aftermarket (ie: not made by sonic foundry) Direct X
plugins WAS DELIBERATELY REMOVED from the LE version, and I
must say it looks like he was right.

I have many plugins installed on my system, and I even
uninstalled and reinstalled some of them into the sonic
foundry audio plugins folder - still no go - it can't see
any plugins except for the ones it came with...

If you have any suggestions - please let me know. This
would be the ideal program for us if it did support other
Direct X plugins.
nlamartina wrote on 4/10/2001, 10:44 PM
Sin,

I can definately tell you Vegas Audio LE does not block
third-party DX plugins. I own VA-LE. I also own a truckload
of DX-FX not made by Sonic Foundry. They all work perfectly
fine. You must have some kind of installation problem. Have
you tried completely uninstalling Vegas AND you DX-FX? Try
reinstalling the FX first, then Vegas, or vice versa. I'm
really serious, LE doesn't block third party plugins. I
could even take a screenshot of my computer taking
advantage of 3rd-party DX-FX in my Vegas projects to show
you. Check your installation. I'm sure you'll find the
problem there.

Nick LaMartina
billybk wrote on 4/11/2001, 5:45 PM
Sin,
I have to fully concur with Nick
conerning Vegas Audio LE and third party DX plugins.
I already have Vegas Video 2.0d. But, since I
bought the SF5.0 promo( with Vegas LE ), I
went ahead and downloaded it anyway. I installed
it for curiousity sake on my second PII 333 computer
and not on my primary PIII 700 DAW. I'd say it
is extra light as compared to the full Vegas Video.
But anyways, after reading your posts, I went ahead
and opened Vegas Audio LE (I've only tried it one other
time since installing it to test it out). The first
thing that happens, is it starts scanning for all installed
DX plugins. And I do mean all dx plugins on your computer.
After it finished loading the program, I loaded a wave
file and looped it. Once it started to play, I opened
the plug-in chooser at bus A ( all my installed 3rd party
plugs are listed ) and I chose Cakewalks FX3 and it
played back flawlessly.
You may have an install problem.

Billy Buck