I find it very disappointing that if you already own Cubase (and for that matter, a spare blank usb dongle ready to go) that there is no discount for purchasing additional licenses or provision for buying an additional license only, and not buying the whole box set again. We are taking some cubase sessions to a film final dub in another city and need to have access to the cubase sessions in our studio as well, yet we have to buy a full version of the cubase again just to do this. Surely you can offer some sort of scaled pricing system for Cubase owners needing to but additional licenses? this is a very normal procedure for other companies.
You can install Live on two of your own computers (Mac, PC or both) if you have registered your serial number on our registration page and you will not be using both computers at the same time.
If you want to run Live on several machines simultaneously, or if your personal hardware set-up includes more than two computers, you can purchase each additional license for half the price of a standard full version.
If you send us your address, your registered Live serial number and what you want to order, we can process your order right away.
The dongle method is great when you are moving between many setups. I like the above ableton view of giving 50% off to additional licenses, but they don’t use a dongle. Also, I have noticed that propellerheads has got the dongle verification thing nailed right. If you forget your dongle, you can start your daw just by getting on the internet and it verifies your account and away you go.
I wish the above methods could be merged and applied as a standard method of validation. Great for the company protection and good for the user in terms of function and expanding licenses.
Some local Steinberg rep offices will offer a significant discount on a second licence especially if you own other Steinberg software/hardware bought from them. This may not be in accordance with Steinberg HQ policy so I won’t go into details
+1 for a sizable discount for a second license, or at least Propellerheads concept of verification by several differnt means. HINT: It’s already being done by other forward looking companies!
+1 on having a method to use Cubase without the dongle temporarily.
It finally happened to me – I got all the way to the session with all my gear except the dongle. Previously when working on a remote project I put the dongle on my keyring, but after a period working only at home the dongle sat in my USB hub.
I had to drive back home and get it, and lost an hour.
Some kind of emergency, temporary and automatically available solution would be great. It’s such an enormous issue, and I would gladly change to another DAW but the reason I haven’t comes down pretty much to one thing, Cubase permits multiple video clips in projects, and also permits cutting and pasting them.
I could change the way I work maybe, for the next project I do. Actually, I think I’ll post a new thread about that…
One should have a checklist of regular equipment for every gig. Count it out the house/office, count it into the gig, count it outta the gig, count it back in home.
Now, if a drummer forgot his sticks you’d all go “DUH!?” right?
But. Steinberg I feel does have enough information at the registration stages to implement at least some of your suggestions which are mostly reasonably considerable. The dongle isn’t the jewel in the crown it once was.
Yes, I have learned this. But my need is to work on the same file collaborating with people. I appears that I must suck it up and carry the dongle around.
Unless anyone can point me to a DAW that is equal to Cubase, works on Mac, handles multiple video files, let’s me cut them and move them around, like cubase, walks like a duck, etc., etc., etc.
Yes its a shame that Steinberg dont look after their customers in the way that many of their competitors do. Its just silly and a waste of resources (steinbergs and mine) going and ordering another boxed version with a dongle we already have, a Halion demo we already have and never use and a manual thats a waste of paper. When all we need is another licence. I dont get it.
I’ve never forgotten the day that our drummer forgot his cymbals(!!), and it was a two hour round trip to get them, which I had to do, because he never would have done it in his van in time before the gig started.
Back on topic, discounted licensing would be a good thing. I’ve been a loyal Cubase user for 10 years now, buying all versions since VST.
I’d like to have a backup dongle incase the main one ever fails. I guess a dongle failure is no different to your favourite hardware synth breaking down and having to go away for repair, but if my dongle fails, I lose access to Cubase, Virtual Bassist, Virtual Guitarist, Groove Agent, a plethora of other soft synths. You get the picture. A dongle failure is pretty catastrophic.
I also have a general issue in moving over to a live rig that relies more of dongled software, in that I don’t want to be plugging/unplugging dongles and potentially forgetting/damaging them. The solution for me I think, will be to permanently keep the dongle attached to a USB hub inside my gigging rig, which connects to my computer when I’m in the studio.
The real kicker is that Cubase created VST System link for the user who uses 2 or more computers linked together to compose a CPU intensive song, then charges you for two licenses using two computers in the same studio… How is this fair in any way shape or form? A license should be able to activate up to 3 dongles so that Cubase’s VST system link can be used. It’s abominable.
How is it unfair? From Steinberg’s point of view they have a great product that people love, so they expect people to pay for it. And of course there are lower, cheaper versions of Cubase that you can use for a System Link slave.