name the free version of VCV Rack v2

Ok, let me count the votes so far — yes, we have winners:

Open VCV Rack classic - the free blessed basic core community edition - for kids age 3 - 99

aaaaaaaaaaaaand:

VCV Plug

Thank you :stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes

got another one.

VCV Rack - Electric Boogaloo. (vst version)

Free:

  • VCV Rack Community Edition

<yeah, name’s perfect, this one should stick>

Paid:

  • VCV Rack Studio Edition
  • VCV Rack Extended Edition
  • VCV Rack Plugin Edition
  • VCV Rack “Plugged-In” Edition :smiley_cat:

I’d tend to think that the paid-for VCV Rack should be called something distinct, rather than just “VCV Rack” - as people are generally just going to call it that when referring to it, free or paid - so it might cause a small amount of confusion if the paid version is not specifically titled…

5 Likes

Standalone = VCV Rack

Plugin = VCV Rack Plugin

is really the only other option that makes sense and sounds good to me and makes sense marketing wise.

Definitely don’t like any of the “pro”, “+”, “lite”, “free”, etc. suggestions.

Community Edition is just on the border where it sounds neutral enough, but VCV Rack Plugin does sound better to me, and would probably appease the stallman-types

2 Likes

the free version VCV Rack CE
the paid version VCV Rack BCE

:sunglasses:

I quite like “VCV Rack Community” and “VCV Rack Studio” as a pair. (“Plugin Edition” won’t work because the product will include standalone Rack.)

It seems that most of you here are fine with the name “Community Edition” or CE for the open-source version, so I’ll go with that. I’ll likely use “Studio Edition” for the commercial version.

33 Likes

I’m not sure it’s that important. I’ve bought many a ‘plugin’ that did in fact give me the option to run them standalone, and the thing that people will be paying for is the plugin part, since the standalone software is already free.

If both names need qualifiers, this strikes me as a good balance. Community is a free modular system for the whole community. Studio has one additional feature, which is that it integrates into your studio.

People will still need a clear explanation about the differences, and they’ll still get confused some of the time (especially since the free version is so much closer to the paid version than in almost any other product line), but I don’t think any name choice could fix that entirely.

1 Like

Me too. I don’t think it will get better than these two.

11 Likes

I’ve definitely seen this where there’s one edition of a product (like the Neural DSP amp sims; they’re all called “plugins” and all have standalone versions in the same installer) but I think the bump here is that the paid standalone version of VCV Rack is the only one which will work with the VST [&c] plugin[s].

My understanding–could be wrong–is that the paid plugin component will be communicating with the paid VCV Rack Studio Edition [or whatever it’s finally called] running separately; Rack itself is not getting hosted in a plugin window, and VCV Rack Community Edition [or whatever &c] doesn’t know how to talk to the paid plugin, because that’s the bit of closed-source code on the Rack side.

I’d prefer to see VCV Rack Hey! and VCV Rack Folks!

“Guys” excludes 50 percent of the population.

6 Likes

Free: VCV Rack Paid: VCV Studio

The problem of turing what is know as “VCV Rack” into “VCV Rack CE” is that the web is full of video and article talking about “The free software VCV Rack” When a new commer will see this mention and head to VCV website, and find VCV Rack:149$, there might be some confusion.

If VCV Rack with pro support and plugin is a new product, maybe only this one shoudl have a new name

8 Likes

I changed my mind. I like “VCV Rack Pro” better than “VCV Rack CE”, and it does not stigmatize the “VCV Rack” name.

“CE” makes me think of “Windows CE”, which is what my DVR runs on. From wikipedia:

Windows Embedded Compact was formerly known as Windows CE. According to Microsoft, “CE” is not an explicit acronym for anything, although it implies a number of notions that Windows developers had in mind, such as “compact”, “connectable”, “compatible”, “companion” and “efficient”.[13][14] The name changed once in 2006, with the release of Windows Embedded CE 6.0, and again in 2011, with the release of Windows Embedded Compact 7.

1 Like

I`d like for the

free: VCV Rack CE (C = community edition)

paid for: VCV Rack PE ( P = paid, pro, plugin, prosumer, popmusic … edition)

Oh yes… windows CE … I remember that … with dread :zipper_mouth_face:

2 Likes

It was just an Omri callback

1 Like

So something like New Coke? :smiley:

VCV Rack Zero

9 Likes

While I do like VCV Rack Community Edition, personally, I would go for VCV Rack Pro and continue to use VCV Rack for the free version. It avoids breaking the past naming/associations/reputation of VCV Rack, doesn’t diminish or create confusion about the free version (and CE, to me, is still associated mostly with Windows and the 1990s), and (as much as I generally don’t like the Pro addition, nor most things to do with marketing, to be honest) it adds connotations to this new/paid version as being more desirable/professional and is a naming convention that people already understand.

From a marketing perspective it would also be beneficial to be releasing something “new” with this paid version, which is where you want to generate news. It’s easier (and has more impact) for gear/news sites to write about (and consumers to understand) “the new VCV Rack Pro” than “VCV Rack is now a paid app, but a new VCV Rack CE is still free like the old VCV Rack”.

VCV Rack Studio also works, but you’ll probably gain more from adding “Pro” because of its common use in higher end products.

4 Likes

i like the idea of retaining the most basic (and known) name for the free version and extending the name for the paid version…

  • VCV Rack and VCV Rack+
  • VCV Rack and VCV Rack Studio
  • VCV Rack and VCV Rack Pro
3 Likes