I just happened to visit the Sonic Foundry site tonight to
see what was new with my favorite products like SoundForge
and CD Architect. Upon reading the CD Architect Forum and
seeing that CD Architect is discontinued, it kind of
knocked the wind out of my sails. For the past two and half
years, I have used Sound Forge and CD Architect in my hobby
of archiving live shows, rarities, and vinyl to CD. The
flexibility and intuitive interface made it a fun
activity...and I often recommended it to anyone who would
listen. I have not used other CD layout packages and hoped
I would never have to.
When I first began using Sonic Foundry's products, I was
impressed by the clean interface. I know that one or more
key employees came from Microsoft (a company I used to work
for myself), and it was clear that they took Microsoft's
User Interface guidelines to heart in designing a UI that
would be very familiar to users of other Windows
applications. Lately, though, with the focus on low-end
products Siren, it seems like some of that original vision
has been lost. I understand the necessity of forward
thinking in business, and it is clear that internet-
delivered audio will be the way of the future, but I think
the decision to discontinue CD Architect is premature. The
compact disc is still a standard and well established
medium for storing and distributing high quality audio and
will be around for some time to come.
Also, I feel that Sonic Foundry is doing a disservice to
it's loyal CD Architect users by quietly discontinuing the
product without an official and consistent explanation. The
only official bits of information seem to come in the
response to questions from disappointed users (see quotes
below). In one message (#549), Sonic Foundry implies that a
new program will be out before Christmas that will contain
similar functionality. In another (#561), they state there
will be no replacement application. In a third message
(#568), they state the reason it was dropped was to focus
on internet delivered audio and that the application was
too difficult to maintain do to the number of new CDR
models introduced each year. Yet in a later message (#594),
they state that CD Architect supports all MMC drives and
that most drives being introduced are MMC-compliant, so it
is unclear exactly how much specific driver support is even
necessary for the product. I wish they could be a bit more
consistent on their reasons for dropping the product and
what, if anything, will replace it.
I suspect that if the product had generated decent revenue,
they probably would have kept it around. Ironically, I
think they doomed it by never dropping the price to $99 or
so. At that price point, I think they could have maximized
their sales and revenue. At $299, it was clearly only going
to appeal to people in pro- or semi-pro audio. It was just
out of the reasonable price range that most home hobbyist
types would be willing to pay, so most people didn't even
bother to check it out.
Anyway, I hope that some other software company recognizes
how great this software is and licenses it or buys it from
Sonic Foundry. It's too good to just orphan indefinitely.
Regards,
Brent
(The references above are taken from the following quotes
from Sonic Foundry personnel posted on Sonic Foundry's CD
Architect Forum at http://www.sonicfoundry.com/Forums/
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 1 (Forum Message #549)
Yes unfortunately we have discontinued CD Architect but we
still offer support if you own it. If not, keep on the look
out for a new program that may be released before Christmas
of this year. If you have any further questions please feel
free to contact any of our Customer Service Representatives
weekdays from 7:00am to 10:00pm CST at 1-800-57SONIC or
reply directly to this email.
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 2 (Forum Message #561)
It was an overall company decision since there were a
decrease in sales. To my knowledge there will not be a
replacement application. Customer service and tech support
will continue to support CD Architect, however we no longer
will carry it.
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 3 (Forum Message #568)
CD Architect has reached it's end of life with Sonic
Foundry because we are focusing on internet content
delivery and there were too many new drives coming out each
year that we could not keep up with for support with CD
Arc. Sonic Foundry is looking towards new methods of multi-
media delivery and are constantly developing new
technologies in the internet delivery area. I hope this
helps to clarify.
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 4 (Forum Message #594)
Enabling drive support for any MMC Compatible drive should
require no coding effort on your part...(CD Architect) will
continue to work fine with any drive that is MMC compliant.
Since the majority of drives arriving to market are fully
compliant this should allow a large choice of drives for
you to use with your copy of CD Architect.
see what was new with my favorite products like SoundForge
and CD Architect. Upon reading the CD Architect Forum and
seeing that CD Architect is discontinued, it kind of
knocked the wind out of my sails. For the past two and half
years, I have used Sound Forge and CD Architect in my hobby
of archiving live shows, rarities, and vinyl to CD. The
flexibility and intuitive interface made it a fun
activity...and I often recommended it to anyone who would
listen. I have not used other CD layout packages and hoped
I would never have to.
When I first began using Sonic Foundry's products, I was
impressed by the clean interface. I know that one or more
key employees came from Microsoft (a company I used to work
for myself), and it was clear that they took Microsoft's
User Interface guidelines to heart in designing a UI that
would be very familiar to users of other Windows
applications. Lately, though, with the focus on low-end
products Siren, it seems like some of that original vision
has been lost. I understand the necessity of forward
thinking in business, and it is clear that internet-
delivered audio will be the way of the future, but I think
the decision to discontinue CD Architect is premature. The
compact disc is still a standard and well established
medium for storing and distributing high quality audio and
will be around for some time to come.
Also, I feel that Sonic Foundry is doing a disservice to
it's loyal CD Architect users by quietly discontinuing the
product without an official and consistent explanation. The
only official bits of information seem to come in the
response to questions from disappointed users (see quotes
below). In one message (#549), Sonic Foundry implies that a
new program will be out before Christmas that will contain
similar functionality. In another (#561), they state there
will be no replacement application. In a third message
(#568), they state the reason it was dropped was to focus
on internet delivered audio and that the application was
too difficult to maintain do to the number of new CDR
models introduced each year. Yet in a later message (#594),
they state that CD Architect supports all MMC drives and
that most drives being introduced are MMC-compliant, so it
is unclear exactly how much specific driver support is even
necessary for the product. I wish they could be a bit more
consistent on their reasons for dropping the product and
what, if anything, will replace it.
I suspect that if the product had generated decent revenue,
they probably would have kept it around. Ironically, I
think they doomed it by never dropping the price to $99 or
so. At that price point, I think they could have maximized
their sales and revenue. At $299, it was clearly only going
to appeal to people in pro- or semi-pro audio. It was just
out of the reasonable price range that most home hobbyist
types would be willing to pay, so most people didn't even
bother to check it out.
Anyway, I hope that some other software company recognizes
how great this software is and licenses it or buys it from
Sonic Foundry. It's too good to just orphan indefinitely.
Regards,
Brent
(The references above are taken from the following quotes
from Sonic Foundry personnel posted on Sonic Foundry's CD
Architect Forum at http://www.sonicfoundry.com/Forums/
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 1 (Forum Message #549)
Yes unfortunately we have discontinued CD Architect but we
still offer support if you own it. If not, keep on the look
out for a new program that may be released before Christmas
of this year. If you have any further questions please feel
free to contact any of our Customer Service Representatives
weekdays from 7:00am to 10:00pm CST at 1-800-57SONIC or
reply directly to this email.
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 2 (Forum Message #561)
It was an overall company decision since there were a
decrease in sales. To my knowledge there will not be a
replacement application. Customer service and tech support
will continue to support CD Architect, however we no longer
will carry it.
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 3 (Forum Message #568)
CD Architect has reached it's end of life with Sonic
Foundry because we are focusing on internet content
delivery and there were too many new drives coming out each
year that we could not keep up with for support with CD
Arc. Sonic Foundry is looking towards new methods of multi-
media delivery and are constantly developing new
technologies in the internet delivery area. I hope this
helps to clarify.
SONIC FOUNDRY QUOTE 4 (Forum Message #594)
Enabling drive support for any MMC Compatible drive should
require no coding effort on your part...(CD Architect) will
continue to work fine with any drive that is MMC compliant.
Since the majority of drives arriving to market are fully
compliant this should allow a large choice of drives for
you to use with your copy of CD Architect.