I’m curious about what’s happening over at Harrison Mixbus. Ben Loftis has left the company, and the issues with version 11 still haven’t been resolved. Their forums are basically silent from the company’s side. Could this be the beginning of the end?
I want to emphasize that I’m a passionate fan of Mixbus, as well as Ardour. I don’t wish any harm to anyone, but I’m genuinely concerned about this treasure, especially its future on Linux systems.
Which issues are you referring to that are still present in 11.1-rc7?
Also this topic should really be discussed over at https://forum.harrisonconsoles.com
Keep in mind that all developers of Mixbus work on GNU/Linux.
Which issues are you referring to that are still present in 11.1-rc7?
I can’t really say, as the only version available right now is 11.0.289
Also this topic should really be discussed over at https://forum.harrisonconsoles.com
And believe me, it has been. But so far, there hasn’t been a clear answer from Harrison/SSL.
Keep in mind that all developers of Mixbus work on GNU/Linux.
I wasn’t aware of that. So all of the developers are working on Linux? Knowing that really shifts things in a more positive direction and keeps hope alive.
I appreciate your answer.
Why?? Presumably the developers of Harrison plugins were also mostly working on Linux and yet Linux has been abandoned for their plugins.(I’ve no idea why - but it has…)
No they were not.
I did an initial effort to port the AVA plugins to Linux and set up a build system a few years ago, but overall interest in that was low to begin with, and with the introduction if iLok for those plugins on other platforms I refused to work on them.
Only the newer AVA ones.
The XT plugins are available on Linux and maintained.
Ah I see… I remember it all coinciding with iLok but it wasn’t explained that that was the reason (or if it was, I didn’t see an explanation anywhere)
Frankly, the Mixbus forum has been at half-mast for a few months, as much because of the lack of satisfactory answers from the Mixbus team as because of the desertion of its members since the release of version 11 which is a total failure, having by the implementation of their new licensing system, that the new features are bugs in the operation, especially the piano roll.
The answers of mixbus - when there are answers- about these failures are incredible! Such responses in the world of video games, for example, would have led to the direct fall of software development.
Personally, I bought a Mixbus Light license at the end of the 2024 just before the release of the 11 and when I saw the release of the 11, I was totally incomprehensible. I tried to register on the forum and only got the authorization in the return of the email 3 months later. I even admit that the attitude of mixbus made me fear about the development of ardour but I am reassured a little since then. So I fell back on ardour and I gave up mixbus.
I’m not sure that at the margin, mixbus’ attitude on the release of version 11 didn’t scratch a little by rebound ardour. But I hope I’m wrong.
I am convinced that SSL no longer has any interest in the development of the DAW software part of mixbus. The proof of this is that it pushes a lot before their mixbus channel strip emulation plugin and especially their own SSL DAW.
And I really think, with all due respect to the mixbus developers, who are in my opinion also a victim of SSL’s policy, that the release of version 11 was in fact a real SCAM. (we’ll see the version 12)
Finally as for the consideration of linux in the SSL policy, you just have to go to their site and the store to realize that you really have to… really; really well look for that there are still linux versions of the harrisson XT plugins. (For the record, I downloaded the plugin that was free of delay 3d and… No mention of a downloadable Linux version… I downloaded a Windows version that I use with Yabridge)
All this long text to say that it is a real waste on the part of SSL and a bleak future for mixbus in my opinion.
I hope I’m wrong.
viva ardour.
(traduction automatique du français…sorry)
Please stop spreading FUD.
Harrison is an independent company, and like SSL, DigiCo, Slate, A&H and others owned by Audiotonix. Hence also the other collaboration which lead to LiveTrax.
Hmmm,
I got back to using Mixbus (still loving Ardour) near the end of v.10 and I have more hours under my belt with v.11 than any previous version and I think it’s pretty great to be honest, sure some big changes but once you stop expecting it to be v.10 and start giving the developers some credit for having some kind of logical reasoning for the workflow changes they made it’s pretty cool. I’m not a big MIDI User so perhaps there are improvements to be made there but they are on rc7 of a development release and are addressing a decent bug list so somebody somewhere is listening even if they aren’t talking on the forum.
Also if I’m not mistaken they dropped the initial price of ‘Pro’ for people getting started and within a couple of weeks of release they added 2 more machines to the token so again clearly listening to User Input. Looking as objectively as possible at some of the posts on the Mixbus forum after V11 was released I’d have to say some people were behaving quite entitled and hostile. I don’t pretend to know Ben very well but I know him enough to know he is a good and fair person who passionately cared about his work on Mixbus and he had a LOT of stuff to juggle between the sweeping change of company ownership and getting a new and contentious release out the door in the same rather short timeframe. It’s difficult to talk to angry and rude people at the best of times and even more so when you’re juggling several other knives at the same time, if you want developers to continue talking maybe treat them with the respect of any other person and don’t say things in print that you wouldn’t say to a person’s face…
I didn’t know the term “FUD”. I looked in Wikipedia. Thank you for this new vocabulary term.
Joking aside, I just gave my opinion, based on what happens on the Mixbus forum… And especially on what is directly visible on the Mixbus and SSL sales site.
In this case, I paid a certain amount to buy a mixbus license, based on a certain trust and a model, certainly commercial, but based on the development of an open source software, which I also support financially (at the level of my small financial means).
So I hope I don’t overstep the rules of the discussion by giving my opinion on SSL. It still seems a bit logical and inevitable that given the lack of satisfactory answer on the mixbus site and forum, we look for the beginning of an explanation elsewhere.
Once again, if I’m wrong, I’ll be very happy, and will make my mea culpa on this forum, and on the Mixbus forum.
but if I have to pass for a FUD man, I’ll stop on this subject.
sorry.
From the other side of the world, I hope my critical and thought-provoking messages haven’t offended anyone or come across as rude. It’s important to remember that we can’t always know what personal challenges or work-related difficulties others might be facing, including dealing with frustrated users. I apologize if anything I wrote caused discomfort unintentionally.
I consider everyone here my friends in music and in this community, and I truly hope for constructive discussions and enjoyable moments in all your projects and work!
I expect most of the shortcomings that Mixbus has are also still present in Ardour/git, and are the reason why Ardour 9 has not been released.
These are predominately related to MIDI and the pianoroll. Harrison focuses on mixing, notably the channelstrip, and while it inherits features from Ardour, there are different priorities.
Mixbus 11 not only brought a SSL channelstrip (also to Linux users), but multi-touch support, amongst many other audio and mixing related features, which are too good to be delayed for another year or two for MIDI fixes to roll in. As for the pianoroll, the initial decision was to just hide it, then again, workflow dependent it’s fine for some users… so a release early approach was taken.
Ian (dingo) is very active on the mixbus forums. Isn’t he?
Yes, he is active, indeed. Apparently he is a volunteer moderator. Of course, it’s valuable work, and he has to keep an eye on fools like me. 
He’s been involved with Harrison for decades…
So was it maybe Harrison’s own decision to introduce the new licensing scheme? And the iLok requirement for their AVA plugins? Both have caused ructions among MB owners but Harrison itself has kept silent whenever probed about them. And along with Ben’s departure, it’s only served to fuel suspicion - perhaps wrongly - that those decisions were likely imposed upon them.
For the record, not everyone hates the new licensing scheme necessarily. I certainly preferred the older one, I figured there was a requirement to move to a newer one in the acquisition, but iLok is not what I want to touch in any way shape or form, which is what most people seem to want there, so to each their own.
Seablade
It seems like a large part of the confusion is that often AVA Plugins and Mixbus are mentioned in the same sentence. They are entirely separate projects.
As for the new Mixbus 11 licensing, that was first implemented in LiveTrax2 (another Ardour derivative). Due to the simplicity (a user no longer has to manually copy a file) it was decided to use it for Mixbus as well.
If you search the Mixbus forum there is an equal number of users who are vocal against that change as there are users to whom it does not go far enough and they’d prefer if Mixbus would use iLok for their convenience. I expect this further lead to the rumors.
Sorry I’m not criticising the changes - just wondering whose idea they were… 'cos anyone who believes that parent companies acquire child companies and then keep themselves at arm’s length is frankly being naive. Parent companies will often have one “favoured” child who they tend to leave alone. But for all their other acquisitions, they’re sticking their oar in left, right and centre…
The first audio manufacturer I ever worked for was called AMS, located in Burnley, UK and over the years it’s won more awards than any other company I know. It’s also been merged or bought out more times than I’ve had hot dinners! The first one I remember was in the 1990’s when it got acquired by a German conglomerate called Siemens. Siemens had also bought Neve (the console manufacturer) and quickly merged both companies to produce AMS Neve. I can’t speak for Neve (which got closed down) but from AMS’s perspective it was probably the only merger / acquisition that proved beneficial. Later ones were mostly detrimental and AMS Neve’s been left a pale shadow of its former self 
With company acquisitions, the acquired company often sees an initial injection of capital and sometimes there’ll be opportunities for collaboration e.g. AMS & Neve - or Allen + Heath / Harrison. But from then on, in my experience at least, who’s making the decisions can be tricky to identify
I will agree with you that when a long running foundational developer and key person like a ‘Ben’ leaves it does get your spider senses tingling a bit… 