You call your eLicenser a dongle??? That’s not a dongle.
Now THAT’S a dongle!!!
LOL 
Die Wahrheit.
Der Schrecken…
Sturm und Drang.
Copy protection that has not been compromised during the last years: Pace iLok 2/3 since 2015, Steinberg eLicenser (USB) since 2009, and a few smaller companies with very good protection (Moddart, LennarDigital and a few more). Everything else - including Steinberg’s SEL - is widely available fully working without paying. Your investment is only safe and you’ll only be able to sell stuff later on the used market if it’s iLok or eLicenser (USB) protection. For now.
I bought quite a lot of Steinberg’s stuff, and if you ask me if I’m happy that Steinberg moved HALion, Groove Agent, Dorico, Iconica, Cubase Elements, Wavelab Elements and more to SEL: I am not and I wish they would stop doing so. And if you ask me if I will buy more SEL stuff: I probably won’t. No chance to sell it later, the used market for these products is non existent.
I bought some stuff in the past that is only serial protected (e. g. Valhalla), because that’s fair: You are an honest user without any disadvantages compared to the stolen stuff. But SEL means you pay and have to accept all the disadvantages of the system, and the freebie kids use it as often as they like on as many computers as they like without any limits. In short: If you pay, you’ll be the dumb one.
So Steinberg: Make SEL safe and not compromiseable, then it may be an alternative solution. As long as it isn’t (like currently): Keep away from it and please use your dongle system for the time being.
Just my 2 cents.
I am à Pro Tools user, and when I had the opportunity to use Pace’s Cloud, I tried it. But one morning I had not been able to work because Pace’s Cloud was broken. I decided to stay away from that and came back to that old but working iLok.
Das Boot!
Sorry, I don’t speak german. “Das boot” seems to mean “The boat”, according to a famous movie.
Or maybe we should give this thread das boot…?
Related:
I’ve never had an issue with the dongle… it comes with me most everywhere!
But I do agree that it would be nice to have two instances… say one installed as a “soft” key on a computer ( perhaps it has to check in with a management account to make sure two versions aren’t running simultaneously ) and one on a Dongle to move around. I’m always terrified of losing the dongle when ‘out’ and then being crippled at home in the ‘studio’. Although I guess there’s always the “demo download” or Dongle replacement Program to fall back on … but somehow I know there would be an issue when I really needed it! 
I do also have a Cubase license ( not fully up to date… left over from teaching days ) which is on another Dongle so if push came to shove I could get something done. If I updated it to V10 it would be like having 1.75 Nuendo licenses! lol
I’m still sinking about that one.
(I saw someone had directed to this forum after posting my comment below in another forum. I’m posting the same comment again in here in hopes I’m putting it in the right place for Steinberg to see)
Hello,
Long time Steinberg user and supporter here but quiet in forums. I know replacing the physical dongle with soft licensing has come up many times across different topics.
But please, Steinberg, offer an alternative to a physical dongle with soft licensing for your digital workstations.
I work on windows and mac, but have to be mobile often and prefer the mac by far. It is simply inconvenient to have to dig for a dongle plus USB-C adapter and use up a port whenever I have a few minutes and would like to work on a project on the go. It’s just not as simple as opening the laptop and starting work straight-away and I have wished so many times it could be that simple. Those moments away from productivity do matter when time is limited.
Hope you hear us–it would add tremendous value in my opinion to the product and bring Steinberg a step closer to a more modern digital era of license management.
Many thanks
As if you would be able to enable/unlock Nuendo/Cubase on different machines without going through some kind of authentication.
So you still would have to “transfer” your license from the eLicenser to the Soft Licenser before you can work.
Which seems more complicated (Wifi connection required) than moving the physical dongle.
Fredo
I’ve been working with DaVinci Resolve Studio for quite a long time Their method is excellent: what you get is one hardware dongle + another two serial licences. If and when the serial numbers might expire (say, new OS install, new boot disk, new computer) - then the re-auth process is also friction free: the software simply re-sets all s-no installs & you enter the code again to go.
Fits my current setup well: the dongle is installed internally on my primary workstation; another s.no on another workstation; and most usefully, the third licence on my laptop for mobile work, travel abroad etc.
In any case, I completely agree with the sentiment here: at the very least provide one dongle and one HD install.
In the last 3 years since I started working in multiple environments, the dongle became my nightmare.
That is true if one is using different machines, Fredo. But I am frequently using the same machine in studio and on road. Moreover, for my particular workflow, the less dongles and dongle adapters I need to run what’s required–and the more ports available to me for other peripherals, the more desirable the software. Just my personal preference. Cheers
You are, presumably, using other software that doesn’t require a dongle, right? So you know there are alternatives that do just that?
Unfortunately yes. Because I haven’t find alternatives that work as well.
I they would exist (and they might), I would buy them in a heartbeat.
Fredo