Great deals, and then the deal killer

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
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Hi all,
I opened up my email this morning to find some nice black Friday offers from East West. I don't currently have any East West stuff but went to their website to check them out. I was blown away by their Ministry of Rock 2 instrument and was ready to purchase it via download. That's when they tell me I'll need an authentication device for 50 bucks. Hey, don't I have one of these things in back of my computer already authenticating my Cubase 7, Wavelab, and some other things for me? Turns out no, because what I have is an Elicenser and what I'll need for this East West instrument is an Ilok2. Well, this is the deal breaker for me because A) shouldn't all these companies get together and standardize the authentication? and B) Shouldn't the Ilok come with the purchase of the software?
Am I out of line or is this a legitimate beef? Thanks in advance for replies.

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mykvr wrote:A) shouldn't all these companies get together and standardize the authentication?
well, there are actually only two dongle systems used for audio software these days, its just that you're unfortunate enough to have the 'other' one.

as for standardising -all- authentication systems; aint gonna happen, sorry.
B) Shouldn't the Ilok come with the purchase of the software?
only if you want to pay extra $$ for each and every plugin that uses it, and wind up with a pile of them.
my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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mykvr wrote:B) Shouldn't the Ilok come with the purchase of the software?
No, because then you'd have one dongle for every piece of software - you'd end up with 20 of the things, rather than one as needed. The whole point of dongle systems like this is one dongle can contain authorisations for multiple pieces of software. Some software in the past did come with dongles (eg, eLicensors with Cubase or the Korg instruments) but after a point the manufacturers are charging for dongles in the price of the software when the user already has them, so it gets a bit pointless.

Anyone who's buying music software will usually end up with an iLok, and an eLicensor anyway (I have both, along with some others) and once you have them, then obviously it's a smallish one-time expense that you never need to do again.

As for standardisation, different companies come up with competing products because they think theirs is better, and companies choose which to use based on advantages and costs - that's market forces. So, if you want to buy dongle protected software then at some point you have to get the dongles - otherwise, you look for software that doesn't require them as an alternative.

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mykvr wrote:what I'll need for this East West instrument is an Ilok2.
So EW still requiring the physical dongle, other vendors like UVI have luckily ended the need for it, and make do with PACE licensing system, downloading a licence in the PACE manager without the need for a dongle.

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Look on the bright side: It's stopped you buying an East-West product.

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whyterabbyt wrote:well, there are actually only two dongle systems used for audio software these days
Three. Synchrosoft, iLok, CodeMeter (Reason). Optionally, you could take Waves mechanism (storing licence on any USB thumb drive you might have) a fourth one, and hardware USB device (ReValver 4) fifth.

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EvilDragon wrote:
whyterabbyt wrote:well, there are actually only two dongle systems used for audio software these days
Three. Synchrosoft, iLok, CodeMeter (Reason). Optionally, you could take Waves mechanism (storing licence on any USB thumb drive you might have) a fourth one, and hardware USB device (ReValver 4) fifth.
:hihi: should have been less precise. iLok and eLicenser are the only two being used by more than one company, AFAIK, which is what I should have said.

Codemeter Ill give you, but Waves authorisation doesnt need to be on a USB thumb drive. Not sure what 'hardware USB device' means that differentiates it; they're all hardware USB devices... Is it the Aladdin one they're using? Thats been used in the past but seems to have fallen out of fashion for audio.
my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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Using a hardware device meaning you can tie your licence to any USB device, not just a thumb drive. So, an audio interface, or a keyboard, or a mouse... that's what Revalver 4 is using.

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EvilDragon wrote:Using a hardware device meaning you can tie your licence to any USB device, not just a thumb drive. So, an audio interface, or a keyboard, or a mouse... that's what Revalver 4 is using.
Oh c'mon, thats not dongle-based, thats just regular hardware-based authorisation, like using a MAc address or hard drive serial number. License dongles are devices which only exist for authorisation.

Now Im gonna have to point out that the CodeMeter Ignition Key dongle has been optional since Reason7.
my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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spirit wrote:Look on the bright side: It's stopped you buying an East-West product.
:tu: +1

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mykvr wrote:A) shouldn't all these companies get together and standardize the authentication?
They should just quit the dongle BS entirely. It probably does more to drive off potential buyers than anything, fighting the DRM war is a losing battle to begin with and done intrusively simply creates ill will that contributes to the acceptance people have towards piracy in our modern culture.

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TheNickC wrote:
mykvr wrote:A) shouldn't all these companies get together and standardize the authentication?
They should just quit the dongle BS entirely. It probably does more to drive off potential buyers than anything, fighting the DRM war is a losing battle to begin with and done intrusively simply creates ill will that contributes to the acceptance people have towards piracy in our modern culture.
It does for me. Although I have an iLok I hate to purchase stuff that require it.
I hate to have to attach a stupid USB dongle when I'm traveling or moving my laptop around my studio. BS.
Anechoic Chamber Screaming :o

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Whereas, I just purchased a new studio computer and spent a good part of the last three weeks running around re authorising serial, key file and challenge response plug ins (and I'm fairly organised) but the dongle protected stuff was working after a quick copy from the old computer.

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