Spire Studio still usable?

[Brushwood]

I understand the iZotope Spire Studio has been permanently discontinued and I’ve read iZotope has merged with Native Instruments and a few other companies and now together they are called Soundwide. Wondering how this will affect the app and basic use in the future or even now. Has anyone who owns and currently uses their 1st or 2nd generation Spire Studios had any issues since this went down this past year?

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Brushwood

I understand the iZotope Spire Studio has been permanently discontinued and I’ve read iZotope has merged with Native Instruments and a few other companies called Soundwide. Wondering how this will affect the app and basic use in the future or even now. Has anyone who owns and currently uses their 1st or 2nd generation Spire Studios had any issues since this went down this past year?

Good question.

You point out one of the reasons why I avoid any hardware that counts on using a smartphone app to control it. It seems like more manufacturers are going this route, but it's not something that I'm comfortable with (as an old Luddite).

Gimme knobs!

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Good question.

You point out one of the reasons why I avoid any hardware that counts on using a smartphone app to control it. It seems like more manufacturers are going this route, but it's not something that I'm comfortable with (as an old Luddite).

Gimme knobs!

that's a great point, and is different from being a Luddite. Standing on your porch shaking your fist at kids on your grass is one thing, but concern for a company's commitment to ongoing support for a product is a very different thing! Especially if dropping support renders hardware useless.

I used to erroneously believe that if I was happy with a device's level of performance, I could just keep on keeping on without computer, device, or software upgrades, so long as I could live without new features. Doesn't work that way. Hardware and software are designed with inherent obscolesence, to force you to pony up every few years, whether you want to or not.

My hunch to the OP is that you will get by for one or two generations of upgrades, then things will quit working....

[raysachs]

I have the first iteration of the Spire Studio and it still works fine with both my iPhone (13 Pro Max) and IPad (mini 6). I wasn’t aware that the company had been sold, but I’d imagine that will mean at some point, there will be a system update for one of my devices and it’ll cease to work. I think I have an older iPad around - I should download the app onto it and, assuming it works, just never update the system and dedicate that iPad to the Spire Studio. The Spire isn’t very powerful, but it’s sooooo easy to use. It’s the perfect recorder for me…

-Ray

[Brushwood]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I have the first iteration of the Spire Studio and it still works fine with both my iPhone (13 Pro Max) and IPad (mini 6). I wasn’t aware that the company had been sold, but I’d imagine that will mean at some point, there will be a system update for one of my devices and it’ll cease to work. I think I have an older iPad around - I should download the app onto it and, assuming it works, just never update the system and dedicate that iPad to the Spire Studio. The Spire isn’t very powerful, but it’s sooooo easy to use. It’s the perfect recorder for me…

-Ray

Good idea on the dedicated app device. I think I’ll do the same. I also agree on the “sooooo easy to use” description.

[jjbigfly]

Not sure if this is on point……
I have the Spire Studio, but it quit working, I communicated with the company looking for some help. What I got was “ we have determined that your unit is out of warranty coverage.”

That was it. No help whatsoever. I simply wanted it the work after sitting for many months. If it is not within the warranty period I guess they have no support for consumers. I bought another brand (last week!). Won’t be using Spire products in the future. It is their product and they can do as they will.
It’s my $ and I will do as I will. I really liked the unit, too bad….

[benjamin1884]

Still have my first edition Spire, and it does work well, in addition to the interface with my IPad. If it stops, I will get something else and not use any of those brands in the future.
Rick Benjamin

[KevWind]

Rudy makes a good point

I think in general people tend to update smart phones far more often and regularly than computers so the risk of potential obsolescence is greater

However often when a Mfg drops support that does not always mean the it will not function it just means it will no longer be supported by the Mfg.
So if you do not change the software to something your hardware will not function on,,, you can get a service life beyond the dropping of support .

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by jjbigfly

Not sure if this is on point……
I have the Spire Studio, but it quit working, I communicated with the company looking for some help. What I got was “ we have determined that your unit is out of warranty coverage.”

That was it. No help whatsoever. I simply wanted it the work after sitting for many months. If it is not within the warranty period I guess they have no support for consumers. I bought another brand (last week!). Won’t be using Spire products in the future. It is their product and they can do as they will.
It’s my $ and I will do as I will. I really liked the unit, too bad….

That's pretty much how it works all over. Companies put out software dependent products and at some point they discontinue the product and at some other point they stop offering support for the product. To expect Spire Studio support to continue indefinitely is unreasonable.

Software updates require coding and testing, then re-coding and more testing. If a product isn't selling well, you can't expect a company to keep throwing money at it simply because you invested in it, especially after the company has made the decision that they're discontinuing the product.

Locking oneself in place is a real thing in these kinds of instances. It's not uncommon. At some point the computer OS and the hardware's software stop getting along. When a company discontinues a software-dependent product, they're giving you a big flashing neon warning that the time is nigh and you should start taking whatever steps you need to keep your current setup operative, if that's your desire. That usually means no longer updating your computer or it means moving onto a different recording system.

[FrankHudson]

I own a Spire Gen 1 that I bought used. I hoped to use it as remote recording device (similar to how I've used handheld Zoom recorders in the past). I also thought that I might be able to farm it out to a longtime musical collaborator who is not technically savvy or interested so that they could work on parts during the pandemic which was just underway.*

I was more than satisfied with the hardware as I tried to use it. However I grew increasingly frustrated with the software, full as it was with hidden modes and assumptions about how you will use the device instead of making it easy for me to use it for my purposes. I know others found it crystal clear to use, so that maybe was just me.

The last software updates seemed to add (and encouraged subscribing to extra services to add more yet) some of Izotope's USP of "automagical" audio effects secret sauce. I happen to use a fair number of Izotope plugins on computer-based DAWs and I actually like their presets and suggestions in that area, but with those plugins, you're allowed to see what the suggestions and presets are doing and disregard the suggestions or to modify them to taste. It may be too much to ask for that level of features to be included with the Spire software, but again for some people that "we'll just make it sound better automatically" thing may have been attractive. For me, it added nothing as I already had software from Izotrope and others to do that. Since that time my Spire has sat idle.

I don't blame Izotope, though yes, abandoned products are an inconvenience.


*That use-case just didn't seem workable. The collaborator doesn't own a tablet or smartphone and never wants to. Even my older Zoom handheld recorder would be better for this case.

[capefisherman]

Hmmmmm...thanks for posting this. I use mine every day to record and send students' lessons and so far I have LOVED the ease of use and dependability and using a couple of upper tier mics has improved the sound immensely. Frankly, I'd be lost without my Spire so I'll hope against hope that nothing too radical changes.

Gene

[Brushwood]

FrankHudson: “The last software updates seemed to add (and encouraged subscribing to extra services to add more yet) some of Izotope's USP of "automagical" audio effects secret sauce.”

Hey FrankHudson, Would you suggest then to not update the Spire Studio if I’m prompted to download the latest one? You seem to say the earlier software versions were better overall.

[Brushwood]

Here’s some of what iZotope replied with when I contacted them about this on Facebook Messenger...
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[Rudy4]

The Spire story is a good lesson to learn.

I experienced much the same thing when I bought my first audio interface for my PC, an Aardvark product that was $500 and a LOT of money for me to scrape together. It sounded great, but the company folded a year after I bought it.

I now try to buy products from companies that have longer term presence in the marketplace. That's no guarantee that a new company will last as long as their supposed warranty, but at least it offers a better chance of getting your money's worth. With the way the business world works today you almost need to figure that whatever you spend might be like facing the possibility that you're throwing your money away.

A lot of folks simply look at a new product and make purchase decisions based on reviews or what personally appeals to them. That's probably not a good purchasing philosophy now.

It's one thing if a company goes bankrupt, but it's quite another if they market and sell a lot of hardware products to consumers and then pull support because it wasn't a profitable as someone in their marketing department thought it was going to be. A company worth supporting should bite the proverbial bullet and stand behind what they sold until the "normal lifespan" of the product expires. I'm sure nobody who bought a Spire a year ago thought it was going to be obsolete almost immediately after purchasing.

[Brushwood]

Another reply from iZotope this morning on Facebook Messenger when I asked them a question on whether I should download the most current Spire app or not. At least they’ve responded and done it quickly.
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