4.10 release ?

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by admin

We are expecting to finish Hoster 4.10 (hopefully) Final Release Candidate today or tomorrow. If all goes well, it will release next week.

This was posted 22nd Jan. Any more news as to release.

Sorry I'm inpatient.

[RIKKI TIKKI]

According to the notice on the product page, January 31 is the target date, but I don't want to put undo pressure by assuming that is written in concrete somewhere. It lists the features that the beta testers have been checking, and fixes that have been installed to exterminate a few bugs. I was hoping the garbled titling of the Nikkodo discs would be addressed in this release, but it looks like that it's still on the back burner. Anyway, look at the bottom of the latest products page and it lists that upgrade 4.10 is due to release tomorrow some time.

Rick
Rikki Tikki Karaoke

[ddouglass]

As you said it isn't set in concrete. There is still work going on so it won't be tomorrow.

[crazycarl]

Is there a page on MTU that I can see what will be included in 4.10. And does anyone know how to play music visuakizations through Hoster.
Crazycarl

[Beavis]

http://www.mtu.com/basics/karaoke-hoster.htm

[Roy Dennis]

This page tells you what will be in 4.10 http://www.mtu.com/upgrades/hoster.h...1843c15d00e041

Scroll down just under the picture of a girl holding a disk.

[johnocolin]

Rename your Mp3´s to mpg and open as videos in Hoster.Ensure the Visualisations are switched on in media player.It works until MTU incorporate this function.

[Roy Dennis]

I noticed it's gone to Feb 15th now

[Beavis]

i know MTU wants it to be right this time !

[ddouglass]

I can only state what has happened since I have been a MTU programs user. This happens all the time. The tentative release date usually gets pushed back at least once or twice. Keep in mind those dates are not set in stone.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by johnocolin

Rename your Mp3´s to mpg and open as videos in Hoster.Ensure the Visualisations are switched on in media player.It works until MTU incorporate this function.

I tried this and it works. It will also work on WMA files renamed to WMV. I have not tested WAV as I am not sure what format would work with it.

[WaltR]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

I can only state what has happened since I have been a MTU programs user. This happens all the time. The tentative release date usually gets pushed back at least once or twice. Keep in mind those dates are not set in stone.

Yesterday the projected release date was Feb 3, now Feb 15. I realize that these dates are not set in stone but it is getting more common than not that the projected release dates are not met. I would prefer that MTU would not get our hopes up and just release it when it is ready and go back to sending emails when updates are ready. Continued missed release dates does nothing more than to cause frustration. 4.00 was released much later than was promoted and for my money I had no problems with Hoster until 4.00 and now 7 months later we still don't have a system that is real stable and we still don't have the items that were supposed be available by this time frame. I for one am disappointed. I have upgraded my computer with more memory (XP) another 50 bucks. I have done all the things recommended to run holster with my system and I still don't have a program that runs as well as the older holster and more importanly a system that I have no confidence in as far as running shows. It get embarassing to have to stop the show to reboot to get the system runing again. Please don't tell me to go to 3.40, that isn't what I paid for. Now we have another 2 weeks to hope that 4.10 will be the answer and without all of the frills we have been waiting for. No bash, just making it real.

Disappointed,

Teddy

[ddouglass]

Whether they put a date out there or not does not stop people from asking when. They know its coming so they constantly ask. Would you rather not have a projected date that they are shooting for?
If MTU had waited until this stage of development to release 4.0 everyone would have been really upset. This was why they released 4.0 when they did. Every upgrade since then including 4.10 and the future 4.20 to add the rest of the feature items asked for and granted have been and are still free upgrades. MTU has spent enormous amounts of money trying to develop all of these features and has not seen a penny for it other than your initial upgrade cost.
I don't know exactly what you are doing or what is causing your problem, but I have been running shows with 4.XX since the beginning and have never had to restart Hoster or reboot the computer during a show, except for one computer error (not Hoster related).

[WaltR]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Whether they put a date out there or not does not stop people from asking when. They know its coming so they constantly ask. Would you rather not have a projected date that they are shooting for?
If MTU had waited until this stage of development to release 4.0 everyone would have been really upset. This was why they released 4.0 when they did. Every upgrade since then including 4.10 and the future 4.20 to add the rest of the feature items asked for and granted have been and are still free upgrades. MTU has spent enormous amounts of money trying to develop all of these features and has not seen a penny for it other than your initial upgrade cost.
I don't know exactly what you are doing or what is causing your problem, but I have been running shows with 4.XX since the beginning and have never had to restart Hoster or reboot the computer during a show, except for one computer error (not Hoster related).

You are fortunate that you have not had problems. I have read many posts on this forum and many have had problems and are still having problems. My post was not intended to be a bash but was a opinion. I understand that MTU has put much time and money in their efforts. I also understand that most of the problems and time they have put in has been in dealing with Vista. They haven't recommended using Vista for awhile and still don't recommend it. I don't have Vista (thank god!) and I am stating that for MY money I have been disappointed with Holster since 4.0. I understand that the upgrades have been free and righfully so. When a product is loaded with problems the upgrades should be free to fix all the problems. I hope the next release is more stable than what has been offered to date. I, like you and many others, have been using holster since it's inception and until now have been more than satisfied. If prior to 4.0 I had no problems and now I have more than is acceptable, I don't feel it is unreasonable to not be happy with the product just as many people including MTU is not happy with Vista. As I stated in my previous posts I have spent more money on memory upgrades after paying for the 4.0 upgrade. I hope I don't have to purchase a new computer to run hoster. If so, I believe it will be time to go another direction. I have enjoyed all of the MTU products for many years but I can't afford to continue running shows and having to delay the shows by rebooting. Most of my problems have been due to lyrics out of sink with the music. Again, I am not intending this to be a bash but I believe MTU needs to know when customers aren't happy and I don't mind the occasional missed target dates but when it becomes the rule rather than the exception, I would prefer to wait until they are confident about a release date before posting it. Remember, 4.0 was about 2 months late from the original estimated release date. I respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it.

Teddy

[RIKKI TIKKI]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

I don't know exactly what you are doing or what is causing your problem, but I have been running shows with 4.XX since the beginning and have never had to restart Hoster or reboot the computer during a show, except for one computer error (not Hoster related).

Teddy/WaltR says:I hope I don't have to purchase a new computer to run hoster. If so, I believe it will be time to go another direction.

To WaltR,

Teddy, I agree with your frustration, but not your recourse! I too have lyric sync problems that have occurred since installing Hoster 4.xx. I have employed a work around that has worked for me, and is allowing me to run my shows with the current version (4.06) by restarting the first song in the playlist (Usually Mine) prior to starting show! Not saying it will work for you, but I suspect your problems, like mine is trying to run 4.06 with an older laptop that has a video card that is malnurished with dedicated video ram. We have a decision to make involving whether to buy another computer that has the recommended power, and memory resources that the next upgrade may require to run all the great new buzzers and whistles, or staying with the last stable version that our current computers can handle, and not worry about upgrading and using all the great new features that future Hoster applications will offer. I for one have been shopping for a better computer.... because I've looked at the other KJ software, and still am a big Hoster fan!

Rick
Rikki Tikki Karaoke

[WaltR]

Ricki Ticki I understand what you are saying. Here is my point. MTU has contiually added features to holster trying at least in part to incorporate ideas or request that their customers have requested through their wish list. As this has happened I as a customer have over the years paid for upgrades when the free upgrades had run out. I paid for the upgrade to 4.00 when it was released last July only to discover I had to now pay again to upgrade my memory. Now maybe more money to upgrade a video card or eventually a new computer. Now with the cost of 4.00 and the additonal memory I have a little over $100 dollars invested to try to run holster. Future upgrades may or may not fix my problem but as stated these upgrades are going to require more resources or addtional computer upgrades and most likely a new computer. Depending upon what computer one would purchase, I may be looking at $1000 or more. Close to double that if I were to purchase a laptop from MTU. If you consider these cost just mentioned and all the upgrades from the original holster, at some point it is no longer economically fisable with gigs decreasing due to the faultering economy and money getting tighter. If you remember it wasn't to long ago that we were advised that we would have to eventually go to Vista. Now Microsoft is coming out with a new operating system to replace Vista. XP will be history and MTU won't continue to support it forever as we were advised. Most likely the laptop I have now even if 4.10 fixes the problems won't support the new windows operating system and now we will have to have another holster upgrade for that system. Compare all of these cost and what appears to be future cost at some point must be weighted, at least by me. I still have my old systems that still play my karaoke disks the old fashion way with a little less convenience but at this point seems to be more dependable and no more future investmenst short of equipment failure. They even make players now with hard drives built in them. Hind site for me is that I should have stayed with the older version of holster that gave me no problems and did not require me to add more memory, possibley another video card and most likely another computer. MTU has been great over the years but for me all the frills and extras going into holster now is not worth it. Thanks for your input and I do respect yours and others opinions, but I have mine as well and I don't have the time or money to keep dealing with the problems and upgrades in programs and hardware. I remain disappointed in 4.XX. Hopefully 4.10 will be a better product and I can use it on my present computer. If not I can't afford to make another big investment right now to run holster.

Thanks,

WaltR (Teddy)

[ddouglass]

Walt, just what is your problem with Hoster 4.06? I went back through all of your posts and have not found any that listed a problem other than with the Songbook. The only thing you mention is having to stop and reboot. Are you losing sync at that point or is something else happening?
There could be a simple solution to your problem but if you don't post it anywhere how will you know and how will MTU know what to fix if it is something they need to?

[WaltR]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Walt, just what is your problem with Hoster 4.06? I went back through all of your posts and have not found any that listed a problem other than with the Songbook. The only thing you mention is having to stop and reboot. Are you losing sync at that point or is something else happening?
There could be a simple solution to your problem but if you don't post it anywhere how will you know and how will MTU know what to fix if it is something they need to?

The big problem is that I can't get through a gig without rebooting 3 or 4 times to get the lyrics back in sink with the music. I upgraded my memory and I am now at 1.2 gig. It didn't help. I have done everything that is posted to correct the problem and have followed every step that is posted for xp. Also another problem is trying to add cd's for DJ'ing by importing them through holster. I import them into a folder "My Music" but they don't show up. I worked for sometime trying to incorporate this into holster. I finally gave up and went back to Window Media which works fine. This isn't a really important issue to me but I can't live with the out of sink issue. I haven't posted all my problems because others have posted some of the same and for me to post would be redundant. If some one else had an idea on a problem I was also having I tried and some helped some didn't. Nothing has cured the out of sink issue so far. I just am not going to keep pouring good money on top of bad to try to resolve problems that weren't there before 4.0. It doesn't make since. I posted a while back before 4.6 and 4.6a was released that I felt MTU should abandon working on Vista until they get holster working with XP. The thought then was we were going to all eventually have to go to Vista because at the time MTU's postion was they weren't going to support XP at some point. Now they have pretty much given up on Vista and advised everyone to go back to XP. Had I purchased a new computer with Vista I would definitely be a unhappy camper! How can I be expected to like 4.xx when it is the only version of holster I have ever experienced a problem with. The video and intermission and all the other frills aren't important. What is important is that holster play karaoke files in sink. There have been to many bugs in 4.0 and they are still being worked on 7 months after 4.0 was released. Yes I am frustrated and I am embarrassed to have to stop shows to reboot which I have never had to do before. My next gig will be the old fashion way using disks. I won't put anymore money in this system. Hopefully 4.10 will solve my problems but I don't have much confidence in that happening. I am not going to buy another video card or a new computer, especially without some assurance that the problems will disapear. I can't afford a hit and miss process. There is something wrong when some people are working fine with 4.6a and others are still having problems with it. I thank you for your offered help and again I don't mean this to be a bash, I am just stating my opinion as previously stated. I am terribly disappointed with holster at this point. I just don't have the time or patience or money to keep fighting the problems that started with 4.0 and I repeat as my original post stated, I think their is a credibility issue when release dates are posted only to continually push them back. Your opinion is that everyone will keep asking "When will the new version be released"? I guess you feel comfortable with the dates being pushed back. I got my hopes up that on Feb 3 I may have my problems resolved maybe only to find now it is moved again to Feb 15th.....maybe.
You apparently aren't having problems so you don't feel the urgency of the next release. Anyway, let's put this to rest and agree to disagree on this issue.

Thanks,

Walt


EMachine, AMD Athlon 64
ATI Radeon 9600 Video card
XP home addtion with all the upgrades.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by WaltR

The big problem is that I can't get through a gig without rebooting 3 or 4 times to get the lyrics back in sink with the music. I upgraded my memory and I am now at 1.2 gig. It didn't help. I have done everything that is posted to correct the problem and have followed every step that is posted for xp.

If I remember right this is a laptop. Do you use a laptop cooling pad or stand? Laptops tend to run hot and when they get hot the operation deteriorates and this can cause the out of sync problem.
Just as a side note AMD processors have been a source of problems (not necessarily this one) for a long time with programs, because they do not (and can't) use exactly the same command structure as the Intel processors.

Originally Posted by WaltR

Also another problem is trying to add cd's for DJ'ing by importing them through holster. I import them into a folder "My Music" but they don't show up. I worked for sometime trying to incorporate this into holster. I finally gave up and went back to Window Media which works fine.

What type of file are your music files (MP3, WAV, WMA)?
What program did you use to import them to the hard drive?
If you used WMP it has invoked the DRM and won't let any other program use them. I ran into this too when I was importing some selcted audio songs that I need for a special show. I wanted them in WMA format because it is a smaller file than WAV and much less loss of quality than MP3. What I ended up doing was import them as WAV with Microstudio (DRM not involved) then using Songverter to convert to WMA. Kind of a round about way to do it but it worked. They imported into Hoster (and it is HOSTER and not HOLSTER) and work just fine.

You may be right that I am confortable with the delays in release. That would be because I am one of the Beta Testers that knows when it isn't release ready. I would not feel right if they released before it was ready to go and working.

[WaltR]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

If I remember right this is a laptop. Do you use a laptop cooling pad or stand? Laptops tend to run hot and when they get hot the operation deteriorates and this can cause the out of sync problem.
Just as a side note AMD processors have been a source of problems (not necessarily this one) for a long time with programs, because they do not (and can't) use exactly the same command structure as the Intel processors.



What type of file are your music files (MP3, WAV, WMA)?
What program did you use to import them to the hard drive?
If you used WMP it has invoked the DRM and won't let any other program use them. I ran into this too when I was importing some selcted audio songs that I need for a special show. I wanted them in WMA format because it is a smaller file than WAV and much less loss of quality than MP3. What I ended up doing was import them as WAV with Microstudio (DRM not involved) then using Songverter to convert to WMA. Kind of a round about way to do it but it worked. They imported into Hoster (and it is HOSTER and not HOLSTER) and work just fine.

You may be right that I am confortable with the delays in release. That would be because I am one of the Beta Testers that knows when it isn't release ready. I would not feel right if they released before it was ready to go and working.

I have tried a cooling pad and no difference.

AMD is what I have used for years and I am aware of some patent issues that Intel has and AMD can't produce those paremeters yet. Also, as I mentioned, this laptop has been what I have been using for Hoster since I first purchased Hoster

The music files that I was speaking about are imported cd's. I tried to import them directly from cd to Holster into a folder (My Music). I assume that Holster converts the WAV file to KMA. When I go to the "My Music" file they aren't there or at least if they are there they are hidden. I had a few already in Windows Media Player but recently I have been getting request to do some DJ shows so I thought I would try Holster. Since the few I loaded into Holster didn't work for me I have been loading my cd's into Windows Media Player and it works very good.

Sorry about the Hoster spelling. Bad habits are hard to break.

I didn't ask that MTU release updates prematurely. I said I would prefer they not post projected release dates since they don't seem to make those dates. I would suspect that the 4.xx releases have been released prematurely.
They used to send emails when updates or new versions of programs were ready. That doesn't seem to happen anymore, at least in my experience.

Also, I am curious. You said that you were a beta tester. I know that there are many beta testers. How do all these problems not occur when they are being reviewed by so many beta testers? This is not meant to be a wise remark. I am wondering if the beta testers are using only high end computers and possibly these problems aren't showing up. Just a thought.

Walt