Spectrasonics Omnisphere question

[Tim Smith]

 

I see a big swing for this program. Generally at places like Sweetwater and Musicians Friend the price is in the 479.00 range.

Some vendors though have it for a lot less like this one.

Am I missing something? Since the vendors are not as well known I question some of it. Do you know of any better known vendors who offer this product at this price?...and why is it so much less at this vendor? Thanks.

[bitflipper]

That looks like a pirate site, Tim.

As a general rule, Spectrasonics does not discount its products, You're just gonna have to bit the bullet. To quote Lucy from Disenchantment, "do it...do it...do it".

[Tim Smith]

Got it. Thanks.

[craigb]

12 hours ago, bitflipper said:

That looks like a pirate site, Tim.

So it's rated "R?" ?

[Tim Smith]

FYI This  website was a random selection representative of similar sites offering software for similar prices. I would agree first impressions are it seems a little iffy.

Here is one review of the site which leans in a positive direction but remains inconclusive. Since the site was launched in 2021 apparently there haven't been many customers that leave comments on their experiences. If Spectrasonics never offer discounts, then I  have my answer. The only caveat there might be that they are forfeiting a profit margin to make a sale. This is unlikely but possible. I'm not sure what the margin is to vendors who sell the product so I can't determine if they could take this kind of a hit and still make money. My guess is the profit margin is very small on this software.

 I think I'm going to stop looking for now. It's a waste of time. Must be a lot of money to be made in the scam business.

[Shane_B.]

29 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

 I think I'm going to stop looking for now. It's a waste of time. Must be a lot of money to be made in the scam business.

There are web sites out there that you can copy/paste their link to and they try to verify if the site is legitimate. I tried it and the site does appear to be legitimate. 

What I would do is ... contact Sweetwater and say, "Hey, I'd really rather deal with you guys. Can you match this price on this site?". They'll move heaven and Earth to try and prove you wrong and you'll get your answer right away. If it's legit, they'll either give you a good discount or match their price. If it's not legit they'll call you out on it and report them.

All signs point to it being a legitimate site. It's secure, it comes up as safe when you scan with other web sites.

Here is the site I use to check and see if sites are legit. It says it appears legit. But if you are concerned, I'd throw it on Sweetwater's lap. They just went through a 're-organization' themselves and are looking for sales anywhere they can get them ...

[bitflipper]

I use a Chrome extension called Fakespot. It's a handy addition because it warns you about fake reviews on Amazon. This is what it says about the site linked in the OP:

 

Whois shows the ownership of worldofsoftwar (sic) has been obfuscated through a third party. This is common practice when the site owners don't want you to know who they really are. Their contact info is "withheldforprivacy.com". Registrant name is "Redacted for Privacy".

[Byron Dickens]

I just use a combination of healthy skepticism, common sense and critical thinking.

 

First clue: "softwar" as in "worldofsoftwar.com."
I had to force that past the spell checker.

Second clue: just the name worldofsoftwar sounds funky. Even if it was spelled correctly.

Third clue: W10 pro for ten bucks? Yeah, right.

Autocad for $100?  Autocad is a subscription of $1,775/paid annually, $220/paid monthly or  $5,060/paid every 3 years. (Copy/ pasted from Autodesk's website.)

[sarine]

7 hours ago, bdickens said:

I just use a combination of healthy skepticism, common sense and critical thinking.

As do I.

I just avoid buying from unknown distributors, and will rather pay a little extra for the luxury of not having to worry about trust when dealing with renowned distributors. It saves me the time and effort I'd have to invest in background checks just to guess the ballpark of trust I should expect, as well as from the extra stress (that I don't need) if I decide to try my luck.

 

7 hours ago, bdickens said:

W10 pro for ten bucks?

Those are probably OEM or volume activation licenses, likely the latter if the type is not explicitly mentioned and/or we're dealing with opportunist swindling. OEM keys usually sell for a little more.

OEM licenses ship with hardware and are unique and can thus be used to activate Windows indefinitely (as well as associated with a Microsoft account which can then be used to activate Windows indefinitely). They are typically printed on the stickers on the bottom of laptops, etc.

Volume activation keys can be purchased from Microsoft as a single key allowing a large but limited number of activations. They're intended for use by large organizations that may want to automate parts of the installation/imaging/activation/deployment chore, and I don't think selling them for individual use is legal. It is the most common type of cheap Windows "license" sold on the web. You're not actually buying a license, but a shared access to the volume activation key with everyone else who bought the same "license" from the same vendor. If you buy one today intending to activate Windows tomorrow, in the meantime someone else who bought the same key might have activated twice and used the last activation on the volume, leaving you without activation. Active sellers of these keys typically have multiple volumes at hand so that they can simply hand out another key in case a buyer complains his didn't work. Even if they don't, if every buyer left feedback they'd probably get an overwhelming net positive because for most people the activation succeeded and they went on with their lives. AFAIK Microsoft can invalidate these keys/activations on a whim even after activation, if they determine they're used illicitly - and I can't blame them.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Tim Smith]

Yeah, I agree @sarine I thought the subject would be good fodder for a thread. I have seen those licenses you mentioned and yes, they are probably group licenses someone split up.

Some vendors are  more slick than this one was. It is easy to be fooled in some cases if one doesn't run a check. Online customer comments can be padded. Maybe I mentioned the time I left a less than favorable review and a manufacturer called me offing a discount to change it to a positive rating. Google can be misleading too. Send a reviewer free  merchandise to review. The inclination is often going to be to give a more positive review than if they had bought it. The advertiser sees it as advertising to send out x number of free merchandise for people to review.

Ebay has software hucksters too. Not that I'm telling you anything you don't already know. In some of those cases it would appear they cracked  software or they aren't really sending you a product. They can get your cash, fold and do it again. No factory support on stolen software.

Things have changed some over time. Gone are the days when all you needed was a serial number that could be used multiple times. Now all numbers check in with a server and tie it to a computer. This is why it surprises me these guys are still around. I remember the last software product I ordered hard copy. I basically got a box in the mail with a serial number in  it ?

 

[PhonoBrainer]

Musicians friend had 15% off codes if you create an account there. That's the best deal I could find when I finally upgraded to omni 2

[Doug Rintoul]

On 3/17/2022 at 8:45 AM, Tim Smith said:

 

I see a big swing for this program. Generally at places like Sweetwater and Musicians Friend the price is in the 479.00 range.

Some vendors though have it for a lot less like this one.

Am I missing something? Since the vendors are not as well known I question some of it. Do you know of any better known vendors who offer this product at this price?...and why is it so much less at this vendor? Thanks.

Definitely a pirate site. The first clue? 

NOTE : THIS IS A PRE-ACTIVATED VERSION (THE PRODUCT KEY WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ADDED TO THE SOFTWARE DURING THE INSTALLATION PROCESS)

In other words, you will not need to authorize the software with Spectrasonics. There is no way this is legit.

[Shane_B.]

2 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

Things have changed some over time. Gone are the days when all you needed was a serial number that could be used multiple times. Now all numbers check in with a server and tie it to a computer. This is why it surprises me these guys are still around.

Exactly. It's why it almost seems legit to me. The internet bots are really coming down on pirate sites now and bots take those sites down almost immediately. That place has been around for year.

From what I've seen pirated software has mostly gone to private bit torrent servers that you pay a fee to be a member of and then you download whatever you want. It's how the torrent site's get around being responsible for what is posted. I discovered this when I was trying to find ways to download digital copies of movies I own and it led me down that rabbit hole. In the end it was easier to just buy a cheap disc drive and use a tiny free utility and do it myself.

There is enough free stuff out there that I see no reason for pirated software. Between Gimp, Blender, and Open Office and the plethora of free plug-in's for both I waved goodbye to Adobe and Microsoft a very very long time ago. And there's more free DAW's, VST's, VSTi's, and samples of every size, shape, and genre you could ever want or use in a lifetime.

But again, before totally writing this site off, I would seriously check with Sweetwater or the company who makes it. It could be returned software. Who knows. It's legal to transfer licenses. That's what BiaB was when I got it from Sweetwater. It was a return that they used for demo's at shows and then I got it. I know it was a return because it still had Christmas wrapping paper on the bottom of the box. They all do that stuff all the time.

The only reason my scale is tipping toward it being a legitimate site is the fact they've been around so long. But I could be wrong.

[Tim Smith]

On 3/19/2022 at 12:44 PM, Shane_B. said:

Exactly. It's why it almost seems legit to me. The internet bots are really coming down on pirate sites now and bots take those sites down almost immediately. That place has been around for year.

From what I've seen pirated software has mostly gone to private bit torrent servers that you pay a fee to be a member of and then you download whatever you want. It's how the torrent site's get around being responsible for what is posted. I discovered this when I was trying to find ways to download digital copies of movies I own and it led me down that rabbit hole. In the end it was easier to just buy a cheap disc drive and use a tiny free utility and do it myself.

There is enough free stuff out there that I see no reason for pirated software. Between Gimp, Blender, and Open Office and the plethora of free plug-in's for both I waved goodbye to Adobe and Microsoft a very very long time ago. And there's more free DAW's, VST's, VSTi's, and samples of every size, shape, and genre you could ever want or use in a lifetime.

But again, before totally writing this site off, I would seriously check with Sweetwater or the company who makes it. It could be returned software. Who knows. It's legal to transfer licenses. That's what BiaB was when I got it from Sweetwater. It was a return that they used for demo's at shows and then I got it. I know it was a return because it still had Christmas wrapping paper on the bottom of the box. They all do that stuff all the time.

The only reason my scale is tipping toward it being a legitimate site is the fact they've been around so long. But I could be wrong.

One thing I haven't done so far is a license transfer. To me that would seem legit if I knew the person or was familiar with their site. I don't think I would deal with a site like this with no reputation along with all of the other shady things mentioned about it.

Some financial services like Paypal have certain protections a customer can fall back on. Most credit cards have protections in the event of fraud. I wouldn't order in the first place, but if I thought I might be getting into something I could regret, I would at least check my credit card company's protective measures beforehand so the "just in case" the deal goes sour you can get your money back.

I only had an issue once and it wasn't online. I traced it back to a hotel  I stayed at. I immediately called the cc company and got it cleared up.

I love this guy's videos, he really knows how to play scam telemarketers-

Scammer Payback

 

[Shane_B.]

12 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

One thing I haven't done so far is a license transfer. To me that would seem legit if I knew the person or was familiar with their site. I don't think I would deal with a site like this with no reputation along with all of the other shady things mentioned about it.

Some financial services like Paypal have certain protections a customer can fall back on. Most credit cards have protections in the event of fraud. I wouldn't order in the first place, but if I thought I might be getting into something I could regret, I would at least check my credit card company's protective measures beforehand so the "just in case" the deal goes sour you can get your money back.

I only had an issue once and it wasn't online. I traced it back to a hotel  I stayed at. I immediately called the cc company and got it cleared up.

I love this guy's videos, he really knows how to play scam telemarketers-

Scammer Payback

I've only ever had to get my CC involved once.

I bought a new TV direct from Samsung a few years ago. They sent a damaged return someone had and sent back at least once before. You could see the box was really messed up and a lot of packing material and a few small parts were missing. They refused to swap it out and refused to give me a refund until they got the damaged one back. They got it back but never refunded my money so I had to get my C.C. company involved.

My wife travels a lot for work. She had a waiter at a restaurant in Oregon steal her C.C. info one time.

I like watching those guys scam the scammers too. There is one guy I watch that also does it live on Twitch. Here's his youtube channel.

[Tim Smith]

Yeah I think this is one of the most dangerous besides buying anything from an unlocked site online. Anyone that has physical possession of your card, even if for a few minutes. That's enough time to grab the number and the code on the back. When I eat out I have my eyes on the clerk at all times when checking out, but that time in the motel the girl walked away with the card and came back. Now I register any rooms I'm staying at online. Most terminals now require a 4 digit code to bill.

Sorry to hear about your experiences. Customer service has only gotten worse after COVID. I made the mistake once of backordering furniture at a discount store. The furniture never came in. They kept pushing the date back until I demanded my money back. The fine print on the document I signed stated I would have to take merchandise instead. I could have fought it but decided to do that and never go back there. That place didn't last long. Not sure if you've ordered furniture lately but for awhile there things were quoted a 4 to 6 months out. They usually won't sell you what's on the floor. Lessons learned. Only deal with reputable people, period.