Future of GLD: A&H Anyone?

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  • #60506
    Profile photo of EdiEdi
    Participant

    Hi Nicola and everyone else from the A&H Team!

    There have now been several posts from users committed to the GLD series asking for at least a short info about the future of the GLD system.

    The current firmware still has known bugs (strip dissapears on scene recall although globally safed, etc.) and the work on a maintenance release was told in Sept. 2016. Additionally countless feature requests have been posted, but enhancements have just been to the bonus of other series like the great QU IPad app…

    So far nothing happened… Neither was there an update for the GLD in the last 2years nor has there been even a single statement to ease our minds or to keep our hopes alive.

    Instead the new dLive C class was announced at NAMM…

    We all know that development resources are short and have to be prioritized on the new products, but please see also the value of the long time users of existing product series and at least comment on the numerous questions about the GLD’s future.

    Thanks & Regards!

    #60509
    Profile photo of GCumbeeGCumbee
    Participant

    It is very irritating with the lack of response. To be noted that C Class dLive announced this week and Nicola has made several posts and replies.

    I agree that owners are owed and explanation. Potential buyers look at these forums. Right now I don’t tell any further customers about it.

    #60514
    Profile photo of Nicola A&HNicola A&H
    Keymaster

    Hi Edi, George,

    GLD is still very much a current product in our range. It is a stable and mature platform, with an ecosystem of accessories and cards to make it the console of choice for many venues, regional rental companies and productions. It is a very strong proposition at its price point, and in my opinion offers so much more than other consoles in the market in terms of features and usability.

    Although we are not planning any major firmware release in the short term, we are working on a maintenance release to address a number of minor issues, some of which have been reported here. We constantly review our roadmap and development plans so this might well change in future.

    A lot has been said on these forums about user expectation for constant, free updates. But as I said before, we do need to make tough choices on where to deploy our finite resources.

    #60516
    Profile photo of EdiEdi
    Participant

    Hi Nicola,

    I really would like to thank you for your attention on our concerns and absolutely agree in your opinions about the GLD ecosystem. Glad to hear about the maintenance release to address minor but sometimes really annoying issues.

    Not to have a major firmware release in short term does not exclude to have one in general. 😉
    In my opinion not each update has to be free, everything that has a worth can have a price and users are willed to pay if the upgrade makes sense to them like the Stealth Core upgrade from Digico.

    We all know that finite ressources have to be deployed in the order of priority (where new products have a higher priority for sure), but it really helps and ease our minds to know that the existing cutomers and owners of proven series like the GLD are not forgotten and at least get an sincere answer to their concerns.

    Is there any (rough) schedule about the maintenance release?

    With best regards,
    Edi

    #60521
    Profile photo of dcongdondcongdon
    Participant

    Thank you for responding, Nicola. The hang up for me is that the life cycle of A&H products is undefined. This gives A&H maximum flexibility, but leads to unnecessary anxiety for consumers. Anxiety leads to assumptions and assumptions often result in distrust.

    I think A&H could really help us by defining the life cycle of their products. Let’s be honest, new mixers are released without core features. We assume mobile apps, deep processing features, or expansion hardware will be added eventually. In light of this, there are major benefits to owning a “mature” product. What we are anxious about is if “mature” means EOL. It doesn’t…but again, anxiety, assumptions, and so on. How long does a mature product remain a stable platform? Can A&H communicate where a product is in its life cycle and what to expect from A&H during that stage?

    I don’t think we’re put off by GLD being mature… it’s that we did not know it was mature. Thank you for saying this. Until now, We felt pent up disappointment as a result of suggesting features for a product we hoped was still in development. It’s not, so we feel like we have egg on our face. We came to expect regular updates for a product we stand behind. After a year without communication or updates, we had to assume GLD is no longer being developed. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but again, market anxiety and assumptions don’t favor product loyalty. For most of us, updates=relevance. But really, if maturity was presented as “fully featured” and stable for 3-5 years, we would be fine. Some consumers would not buy a GLD because it doesn’t have the right features…but no one would go elsewhere thinking GLD was EOL.

    Here is what would help me:

    1. In the “Software Timeline” tab provide a legend identifying different stages of the product’s life cycle by the color of the line in the timeline
    2. Identify each stage of the life cycle and what to expect from A&H
    a. Beta/New Release Stage:
    • Product Training / Demonstration
    • Free Core Feature Firmware Updates
    • Mobile & desktop applications
    b. Development Stage:
    • Free Core Feature / Maintenance Firmware Updates
    • Expansion options (new hardware, cards, etc.)
    • Case studies
    c. Mature Stage:
    • Free Maintenance Firmware Updates
    d. EOL
    • 36 months of free maintenance updates

    Just MHO.

    #60534
    Profile photo of John-SJohn-S
    Participant

    I would pay for an upgrade to my GLD if it gained the features I want. We see your stable mates getting an upgrade for a fee. It seems it can be done but I do no know microprocessor development.

    John

    #60535
    Profile photo of GCumbeeGCumbee
    Participant

    I ditto with John. I would pay for an upgrade if it added anything significant.

    #60536
    Profile photo of gumaguma
    Participant

    I’m hoping too that giving the side chaining channel to channel to GLD as you did for the ducker in the Qu range of consoles will be one of the minor issues you want to address.

    #60564
    Profile photo of John-SJohn-S
    Participant

    Do you hear the chanting:

    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain
    Side-chain

    I know if you want me to increase my investment in this ecosystem I need it.

    Available on cheaper mixers everywhere. Just sayin

    #60613
    Profile photo of studiostevenstudiosteven
    Participant

    hai Nicola , we don’t need any software update for gld , we want some kind of hardware update like soundcraft did . https://www.soundcraft.com/en-US/products/vi400-600-upgrade . pl do something so we can use gld 112 surface as a controller for the new CDM 32 . we are ready to pay

    thanks

    steven

    #70879
    Profile photo of OrionXOrionX
    Participant

    I know this is an old thread, but I think it needs a bump. I ran across it doing a bit of digging as I am working with a client to decide whether they invest in GLD or SQ, and I think this is a great example of how frustrating the current state of information flow is.

    It’s now May 2018. We’ve seen some -minor- additions (Dimensional Chorus FX unit, “ProFactory” PEQ Presets, AMM Follow Fader and Global In/Out), and a couple of bugfixes, but not a lot else. Certainly nothing along the lines of some very sought after features (Ducker, Compression side-chain).

    Nicola’s statement above, which starts out “GLD is still very much a current product in our range”, sounds very similar to the statement made about iLive roughly 16 months before dLive was introduced, at which point iLive was moved to the “Discontinued Products” graveyard. This was pretty big blow to those of us that own iLive systems. We were told about how committed A&H was to iLive, then near silence, then the platform discontinued.

    I’d like to recommend GLD to my client, as dLive is far out of their budget, and GLD has the bus flexibility that they need (versus SQ, which is, at least presently, fixed). However, it’s really hard to make that recommendation without any concrete lifecycle information.

    Nicola & the rest of the A&H team, we need transparency on product and firmware lifecycle.

    #70883
    Profile photo of ArtArt
    Participant

    I’d like to recommend GLD to my client, as dLive is far out of their budget, and GLD has the bus flexibility that they need (versus SQ, which is, at least presently, fixed). However, it’s really hard to make that recommendation without any concrete lifecycle information.

    Does it solve their problem? If so, go with the GLD.

    Does it create a problem? If not, go with the GLD.

    Just because I want the new Porsche, that doesn’t mean I have to sell my Toyota. It still gets me to work and back everyday.

    There will ALWAYS be something newer and “better”. Just because one suffers from FOMO, doesn’t mean the GLD won’t continue to work for them 5 years from now the same way it worked for them the day it arrived. A&H will still be there to support it. They just won’t be upgrading it.

    #70886
    Profile photo of OrionXOrionX
    Participant

    Of course there will always be something “newer” and/or “better”. No one, least of all myself, is debating that. I have consoles that are no longer made that still work perfectly well (I’m an iLive owner) and do their job every time I roll them out.

    Sure, if I recommend to my client to buy a GLD today, and then it’s discontinued a week or a month after they buy it, it’ll still work for them 5 years from now. However, they’re still likely to be upset that I recommended an “obsolete” console. If it’s not discontinued for another 3 years (wide example), then obviously not.

    I see no reason that Allen & Heath can’t provide at least some lifecycle information.

    #71931
    Profile photo of RobbyRobby
    Participant

    High, i am waiting too! D-live ist too heavy and sq has only 1 bank and….

    GLD 80 and 112 are Perfect but i can Not Use it for all production‘s, because they allready want something more new!

    20 buses are Not enough anymore. But The System is Perfect. 64in/32out 24/96 and a Bit more compatibility with dLive.

    A GLD Hardware Upgrade …..?

    So it‘s Time for a new GLD!

    Please be fast!!!

    THX

    ROBBY

    #71933
    Profile photo of ArtArt
    Participant

    Perhaps a gLive?

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