I’m a longtime user of Cubase, I’ve used every relevant DAW out there at least once; but, Cubase always gets the job done most efficiently and effectively for me.
All I need: PLEASE FREE US FROM A MANDATORY DONGLE!
Music is a social game and we modern musicians move around. Our laptop workstations do not stay stationary in some one studio. We mingle, we play, we connect to lots of different WIFI signals and people. The dongle just doesn’t fit in with the lifestyles of many modern electronic music producers.
This is already felt to be the three trillionth thread on this topic. As long as there is no alternative protection that is just as secure as the dongle solution, nothing will change in the first place.
Is there a smaller dongle option? I have a purple e-license sticks out about an inch. I figure the insides could be fit into something a bit less prone to snapping off like the tiny mouse dongle I use.
I use a laptop and keep the dongle plugged into a USB hub while at my home desk. When away, I usually don’t bring it because it uses one of the two USB ports in the laptop, and because of risk of it snapping off. So I end up using Ableton or Studio One in those cases.
The dongle keeps me from buying other Steinberg plugins that require it, for the same reason. A dongle made sense in the days when desktop towers dominated computer usage. Fast forward to today, where laptops are more commonly used, and USB ports are extremely limited, and they don’t make any sense to require. Not to mention, standards have changed and some manufacturers have moved on to USB-C, which the dongle needs an adapter for.
The prevalence of most other DAWs and plugins authenticating without a dongle proves that there are other options. This is an unnecessary burden on the customer. It has become beyond obvious that the dongle needs to go. At the very least, a software licensing option needs to be added.
Steinberg promised to fix this already some years ago… We should be able to install Cubase on two or more computers as long as we do not use them during the same time (like many other programs offer).
I do like Cubase, but my workflow has changed over the years. Now I’d say it’s about half time stationary desktop work and half time laptop/away from studio work. Having to bring dongles and clog up ports on laptops with them isn’t really an option for me (well it’s an option, but I choose other DAWs until the dongle is in the bin).
My E-licenser is getting very wobbly from hanging out the side of my laptop and getting knocked around. Won’t be happy when it falls apart and I need to buy a new one.
+1
the main problem is the obligation of keeping the usb dongle connected.
one good solution would be the obligation of connect the usb when launching cubase, and once cubase is running remove the usb licenser
