The Spire Studio...

[Captain Jim]

Yes, I know there are past threads regarding the Spire Studio. iZotope (the company behind the Spire Studio) has taken away a major function of the Spire - the ability to share your "Spire Project" (in .spire format) with other users. I have been having a "back and forth" with a Spire specialist for several days now, and he had no idea what I was talking about... seemed that he didn't really consider what I was ticked about until I dug in my heels.

Yes, you can share your tracks as a single file in .wav or even save each individual track as a .wav file. Try sending that to another Spire Studio user for editing/adding tracks and returning the project to you. To me, that was one of the best features of the Spire Studio; in conjunction with the ability to do a 10-second "sound check" and start recording (fast and easy).

In its current iteration, the Spire Studio is just another portable recording device - nothing that sets it apart from other portable recorders. It is the ability to collaborate seamlessly with another Spire Studio user in a very portable manner that was the strength of this device. Some of you know I have been an enthusiastic proponent of the Spire Studio since it first came out... but, if iZotope doesn't return the functionality of that "project sharing" feature, well, not much else I can recommend about it.

iZotope does respond to feedback from customers. I have found their customer service first rate in the past. It took A LOT of explaining to get them to understand the issue here. It gripes me when a business takes away something useful in their product, after a customer has already made the purchase.

If any of you Spire users (or potential users) agree, take a moment to write to iZotope and ask them to bring back the ability to share a Spire Project with other Spire Studio users.

https://support.izotope.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Today, that Spire specialist finally understood what they took away and said he would "bring this to the attention of the team." I'm thinking it would help if they heard from more owners/users and potential customers. Drop them a note at that above link and let them know you'd like that Spire Project sharing feature back.

Thanks,
Jim

[KevinH]

I'd be happy to do that. I have a Spire and really like it. But I've never tried collaborating by sending a .spire file to anyone.

I just updated the software on the Spire, made a simple project, hit the Share button at the bottom of my iPhone screen. There are various options to share the project. I don't see email or messaging as an option. Is that how you used to do it? I do see an option to save to a Dropbox account. Would that be a temporary fix until they hopefully restore whatever they deleted?

Just curious how it used to work so I'll know what to complain about

[KevWind]

Not a user so ,,, just academically curious
#1 How was the share ability "taken away" or I suppose the question is what was (.spire format) ?
#2 How was it functionally any different/better than simply sharing a WAV File ?
#3 Was it some kind of on iZotope only, on line project sharing ?

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

In its current iteration, the Spire Studio is just another portable recording device - nothing that sets it apart from other portable recorders. It is the ability to collaborate seamlessly with another Spire Studio user in a very portable manner that was the strength of this device.

Sorry to hear it lost that functionality - I know that was important to how you and your recording partner worked together long distance. I've never used that feature. I'd try to help but I'm not sure I understand the problem well enough to explain it.

But I will quibble with your contention that in it's current iteration, the Spire Studio is just another portable recording device. I've used a few and tried the DAW route as well, and I find the Spire overwhelmingly more user friendly for a hobby recorder like me than anything I've ever used before, going back to four track cassette decks in the 80s. Between the easy level setting with the "soundcheck" feature, the graphic oriented mixing feature, the simple and clean interface when used with a phone or tablet, I find the thing so much quicker and easier to get up and running with on a day to day basis than ANYTHING else I've ever used. I just find it invaluable. Anytime I'm working on a song and feel like I'm playing it pretty well or singing it less badly than usual and want to check myself, it's a matter of a couple of minutes to be recording it. I have a vocal mic set up on a boom and use the built in mic on the table top for the guitar and I can make a reasonably high quality recording (performance quality aside!) almost instantly. With most recording setups I've used, by the time I've got everything set and ready to go, I've often lost the thread of what I was doing. If I don't like the recording, it was a good reality check of how I was ACTUALLY sounding and I'll dispose of it straight away. But if I like it, it's a small matter to play around with maybe a second rhythm track, a lead track, sometimes a second vocal track, whatever. I'm not trying to make professional level recordings with this - my performance will always be the weakest link in the chain. But as a tool to help a bit with self-critique and improvement, and just plain a FUN process, the Spire Studio, even without ever using the collaboration features, has been and continues to be a game changer to me.

Regardless, I hope you can either get them to replace the option lost, or else come up with a good workaround. They haven't changed the hardware, so the capability should still be there. Maybe they can get you a copy of a previous OS that had the functionality you were using?

-Ray

[Rudy4]

Not really bashing the Spire, but I can see the problem with anything that has firmware or is controlled via phone app as far as being a quick-n-EZ recording device for capturing song ideas and "first drafts". That's probably still ruled by the small handheld recorders like the Tascam DR-05.

If I have a Zoom R8 and a pair of headphones I can go "multi-track" under a shade tree in the park, leaving the smart phone at home. It might be because of my familiarity with these recorders that I think they require so little effort to use.

Doing project sharing over the internet is of course a whole other thing and seems to be one of the selling points for the Spire.

[KevinH]

To be clear, you don't need the app to use the Spire. So, as with the Tascam, you can leave your phone at home. To make a recording:

1. Turn the Spire on
2. Hit the Soundcheck button and play as normal to set the recording level
3. Hit a button to start a new song.
4. Play, then stop the recording

Done. The Spire is about as easy and quick to use as it gets. The app is used to manage your projects (delete, export, etc) and if you have an external mic (or two) plugged in, you can do some rudimentary mixing, which is often enough for the quick captures the Spire is really designed for. The app is also used to install firmware updates to the Spire which, evidently, is the source of the OP's issue.

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Not really bashing the Spire, but I can see the problem with anything that has firmware or is controlled via phone app as far as being a quick-n-EZ recording device for capturing song ideas and "first drafts". That's probably still ruled by the small handheld recorders like the Tascam DR-05....

[KevinH]

Another temporary workaround is to share the project to Files, either on your phone/iPad or to your iCloud Drive. Then you can email the file to your friend. Or, as I mentioned above, just export the file to a public Dropbox where your friend can get it. That seems like the easiest way.

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

... iZotope (the company behind the Spire Studio) has taken away a major function of the Spire - the ability to share your "Spire Project" (in .spire format) with other users...

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by KevinH

To be clear, you don't need the app to use the Spire. So, as with the Tascam, you can leave your phone at home. To make a recording:

1. Turn the Spire on
2. Hit the Soundcheck button and play as normal to set the recording level
3. Hit a button to start a new song.
4. Play, then stop the recording

Done. The Spire is about as easy and quick to use as it gets. The app is used to manage your projects (delete, export, etc) and if you have an external mic (or two) plugged in, you can do some rudimentary mixing, which is often enough for the quick captures the Spire is really designed for. The app is also used to install firmware updates to the Spire which, evidently, is the source of the OP's issue.

Right, for just a basic one track recording using the built in mic, you're fine without the phone/tablet app. But if you want to use multiple tracks, add any sort of effects (which are all at the front end - no changing the effects on a track once it's recorded), do a mix and then export or share it - for anything beyond a basic one track recording, you really do need the app. And it's insanely easy to use and can all be done wirelessly, so bringing a phone along for remote recording wouldn't be difficult at all...

-Ray

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by raysachs

Right, for just a basic one track recording using the built in mic, you're fine without the phone/tablet app. But if you want to use multiple tracks, add any sort of effects (which are all at the front end - no changing the effects on a track once it's recorded), do a mix and then export or share it - for anything beyond a basic one track recording, you really do need the app. And it's insanely easy to use and can all be done wirelessly, so bringing a phone along for remote recording wouldn't be difficult at all...

-Ray

It's good to know that a phone isn't a prerequisite to do basic recording with the Spire.

It does seem odd if the OP's comment about making it more difficult to do easy remote sharing of a project is indeed the case.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

It does seem odd if the OP's comment about making it more difficult to do easy remote sharing of a project is indeed the case.

I'm wondering if project sharing is still doable but the complaint is mainly about having to do it a new way.