3

[jerry Jaborek]

All of the rants here boil down to this:

1) Many, including myself were expecting more from this product.

2) What EZ Keys does well, it seems to do very well.

3) There are more then a handful of what seem like obvious no brainer editing options missing.

4) The current “Extensive Midi Library” is in reality, very small and limited.

5) The history of Toontrack products suggest that the release of EZ Keys was possibly rushed and doesn’t really stand up to the past standards of the company.

6) Having to purchase future expansions only to bring the current state of the product up to expectations, would be a let down.

7) Pre advertisements don’t seem to mesh totally with what the product actually does.

[jerry Jaborek]

It might help if I put the link in.

http://www.toontrack.com/tv.asp?channel=products&item=186

Again, I’m trying to locate that one too.

[jerry Jaborek]

Are you guys talking about this piano riff? I agree it’s cool. I was trying to find it myself in the library.

[jerry Jaborek]

This topic is so tired and lame now. None of this would be an issue if the library wasn’t so small, and if some seemingly obvious editing features had been implemented from the get go.

Can you please everyone all of the time? Of course not…but then again, there are people who don’t like pizza.

I fully accept that new programs have some quirky issues upon release. That’s no big deal and a byproduct of the fast moving technological world we live in. What makes this so maddening is that these seemingly simple issues were somehow okay-ed by management and sent out for release.

[jerry Jaborek]

Somebody said this elsewhere that they think the library is limited so expansion packs will be offered. I’m all for that. I rather concentrate on the kind of music I do being put in the preset library than have a ton of presets I wouldn’t use. At the same time… somebody tell Toontrack to hurry up with those things!! (with the expansion packs I mean).

I really hope someone over at Toontrack steps up and decides to beef up EZ Key’s current library to something worthy of $179.00.

If we have to shell out another $89.00 (on top of the original price) for an expansion that only then brings it up to snuff, I’m gonna be disappointed in their company goals. Especially in todays current economy.

[jerry Jaborek]

Look, it bums me out that I have to be a member of the downer club here. All I can say is that at this point, after working with the demo myself, discussing the product with fellow engineer / song writing friends and reading other posters comments . . . EZ Keys seems to falls short of the mark set by prior products. Where I and others feel it falls short are seemingly EZ fixes. At best, the reaction to EZ Keys is divided. This was never the case with EZ Drummer. From it’s release, EZ Drummer was a home run. Hell, I’m still considering buying EZ Keys. I just wish it was a no brainer decision.

I LOVE EZ DRUMMER! I LOVE SUPERIOR DRUMS! I LOVE SWEDISH PEOPLE! I LOVE SWEDEN! I LOVE THEIR MEATBALLS! I LOVE THEIR HOT AIRLINE STEWARDESS! I LOVE GIRL WITH A DRAGON TATTOO and I even love Mr. Yngwie J. Malmsteen . . . kinda.

VIVA SWEDEN ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[jerry Jaborek]

ORIGINAL: Whitten

I just spent a few minutes with EZkeys, but I found one of the swing pattern jazz grooves was like a basic rock ballad.
I agree with John, you need to explore outside the song categories.

Sweet, five choices.

[jerry Jaborek]

Hey John, I’m sorry if I’m being a drag. I along with others here were wanting and maybe expecting something a bit more versatile and extensive. That’s all. I LOVE EZ Drummer / Superior Drummer and use them all the time. If I were in another stage in my engineering knowledge, I’d absolutely buy EZ Mix as it appears to be another great Toontrack product. Here’s a loaded question for you. Do you honestly think that the amount of drag and drop loops that are given in EZ Keys is up to par with your other past products? If yes, we will just agree to disagree.

PS: I’ve been watching the Swedish film versions of the Girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy….makes me want to visit Sweden in the future. Beautiful county.

[jerry Jaborek]

Ok, without beating this dead horse into further oblivion…this is how EZ Keys looks to me in it’s current state. Would you be happy with EZ Drummer if this image was your EZ Drummer?

http://i42.tinypic.com/34euh3p.jpg

[jerry Jaborek]

ORIGINAL: Whitten

I disagree with you on EZdrummer.
You’ve never constructed your whole drum performance in EZdrummer, you’ve always dragged short clips into your DAW and put together the arrangement there.
That for me is how EZkeys currently works.
However, I see the mention of a ‘song track’ in the product description certainly implies you should be able to collect and edit clips in the ‘song track’, which you guys are saying isn’t working at the moment?
Also a gripe that there aren’t enough midi files.
That’s fine….. there aren’t enough midi files as yet. It’s a limited library.
The doesn’t mean it’s an unfinished plug-in. It just means we need more midi clips.

At $150+ for this product, I’d like to have more than four choices to choose from while writing a pop/rock song.

[jerry Jaborek]

ORIGINAL: Whitten

I just think we need to get out of the headspace that EZkeys is a one stop shop for piano composition.
It’s aptly named EZ, in that it most closely resembles EZdrummer in concept.
With these ‘EZ’ products, you find midi parts that almost fit your needs, you straight away drop them into your DAW, and all the editing and refinement goes on there.
Also, you aren’t limited to one instance of EZkeys.
If you are really worried about losing something you’ve slowly built up in the EZkeys songline, then create another VI track and launch a second instance, then switch between the two.

EZ Drummer IS A ONE STOP shop for drum composing, that’s what I wanted EZ Keys to be. Listen, you’re kidding yourself if you think the current amount of drag and drop performance are enough to justify a $150+ plugin. There is no arguing this fact, if you do, you’re wrong. I guess some people might argue that the sky is red.

If I want to create a standard 4/4 pop or rock song, I have 6 choices to choose from. Actually four, because the last two options are already completely recognizable past hits, Walking In Memphis by Marc Cohn and Bruce Hornsby’s The way it is. So, I get a whopping FOUR choices. FOUR.

Look at it this way, if you had bought EZ Drummer…installed it…Then opened your DAW to write a song only to find that EZ Drummer gave you just 4 Pop/Rock grooves to choose from, would you have been satisfied with your purchase? Even if those four Pop/Rock beat options let you have four variations such as: beat played with ride, beat played with high hat, beat played with brushes and beat played with mallets?

The editing features we all want are going to happen, I have no doubt in that. They are must have editing changes that will be patched in at sometime. The small library issue is an easy fix, simply make the current standard version have a true extensive library to work from. Have Pop/Rock contain at least 40+ patterns to audition. You’ll still be able to sell more content and styles as expansion packs in the future. Hell, I’ll buy more. But please, understand that as a writing and composition tool, as is stated in the product description, four 4/4 options is being seen as a joke. Toontrack and your past track record is way better than this. Step up and give us a library to actually work with.

TOONTRACK WILL RULE AGAIN ! ! ! !

[jerry Jaborek]

ORIGINAL: pdlstl

Well, I agree it seems somewhat”unfinished” at this point but I’m still happy I purchased it. Even in it’s infant stage it will see use in my studio.

My experience with Toontrack products has been quite satisfactory and I know they will continue to work on EZKeys. When they do I feel confident we will see updates that will include additional features that are sorely needed.

Is this a great product now (ie: Superior)? No, but I know development will continue and it will become a powerful product.

Just my 2¢…

I think the issue with this type of thinking is that we, the customers, are going to need to purchase upcoming expansions to complete what should have been implemented in the original product. With EZ Keys being sold here for $179, it seems too expensive for what it offers in it’s current state.

[jerry Jaborek]

ORIGINAL: rgarber

Well as much as I appreciate your guess, having the program and guessing what it can do is so far two different outcomes. I guessed too, and bought it. After a few hours staring at it, I’m still puzzled what programmer looked at EZ Keys and yelled, “it’s finished!” It’s quite the disappointment because the potential is there, I can see that, but why would they go this far and then just stop? It’s begging for completeness. Buy it and see for yourself if you don’t say the same thing like I did, “where’s the rest of it?” But thanks for the guess, it’s the most anyone’s offered yet.

Sadly, I agree with this completely. I REALLY don’t want to beat up on Toontrack because so many of their offerings have been stellar, but the EZ Keys demo stunned me in it’s limited edit ability and lack of drag and drop content. One sweet patch could get this product right back on track, yet at it’s current price, I’m just not seeing value.

[Author]

Replies