I think you are misreading this article. I read it as SYNCROSOFT LIcense Control Center is discontinued and the eLCC is the replacement. The article continues on to say that the product is reliable and successful. The dongle is still persistent, I think it is just the software involved that has changed.
I am not certain though…
Sincerely,
J.L.
In a few words, if eLicenser provides a way to secure the user if the dongle is lost or broken, then my answer is NO.
I find eLicenser much more straightforward and easy to use, I don’t have to login to the stupid and clumsy iLok website and remember a million passwords. I have both dongles and my vote goes for eLicenser. However, I would like to see Steinberg take care of these cases when a dongle is lost or physically non functioning.
The only reasons I would prefer to use an iLok are because:
a) I already have one
b) It will mean I only need to carry one USB dongle around and not two
c) It will give me an extra USB slot as I will no longer need the current Syncrosoft dongle
But it will never happen. I think there’s more chance of Steinberg going completely dongleless than switching to an iLok.
In the past 10+ years, Pace / iLok has never provided real security.
Most of the time it has caused severe problems ( up to forcing complete OS reinstalls ),
for the legal users, while the ‘pace free’ versions have worked flawless.
At some point Pace has forced me to use a ‘pace free’ version of Autotune, for 3 weeks,
as the latest waves update ( incl. a new Pace driver ) made all Antares products non functional.
At another point, I had to wait for Pace 1 year to fix an incompatibility
between their ‘highest protection level’ ( which was usually ‘Pace free’ after 2 weeks )
and numerous other plugins.
Half a year later another Pace update brought back exactly the same incompatibility !!
Well, that was many years ago … so You might say they’ve learned their lesson
and today everything works flawless for everyone …
Nope !
a few month ago, I lost 2 days, investigating severe crashes of Melodyne and other Pace protected software.
Turned out to be yet another incompatibility. This time with another ‘Copy Protection’ used by an NLE.
Not to forget Slate Digital, trying for nearly a year, to get VCC to work reliable,
using the latest, ‘highest protection ever’ Pace iLok2 / Eden.
All I can tell from ‘direct’ contact with Pace ( being a Waves beta tester for 7 years ),
is, that they are very slow in fixing issues and that they will always cause issues.
Even Waves was close to dropping them, at some point.
Many other companies have dropped Pace and I’m sure many will follow.
The eLicenser ( though not flawless ), is definitely smoother sailing, all along …
I hear what many of you are saying about iLok and I respect all of your comments. I have been using iLok for about 5 years now and (knock on wood) have had good luck so far. I am a Waves mercury user, melodyne, all slate digital plugs, pod farm platinum, all the abbey road plugs, all the SPL plugs, Pro Tools 9 …among many others and so far so good …no compatibility issues. 1 simple fact would be that it would mean 1 dongle for everything for me and not have all these dongles sticking out I would only have to carry 1 convenient stick. Just my 2 cents.
This poll is still very interesting to me to see what kind of results we get…
OMG, it looks like dongles are huge suitcases without handles and filled with bricks. syncro dongle is very fragile and this is the only shortcoming of the device.
Good for You !
… but as a VCC user, You didn’t have any ‘random GUI freezes’ ??
AFAIK everyone experienced them from 1.0.0 till 1.2.2.
I still see them a few times a day. Not as severe, but one time it hit me, exactly when pressing record :
system stalls … no record … client ‘confused’ …
Not good.
Yep, good point.
Anyway, Steinberg would have to pay Pace.
Now that they have acquired Syncrosoft, this will never happen.
Besides not having to pay any fees, they even make money, with the eLicenser CP.
I have no experience with iLok, but what I’ve seen from eLicenser so far is very good. The software is easy and just works, it’s just the build quality of the dongle itself that could use some work.
I have many experiences with iLok over years, and have many technical problems with it. Sorry man.
So, I prefer steinberg´s elicenser al lot over iLok: eLicenser is very easy to use, up-to-date, and very stable (!)
And remember: Steinberg has bought the department of this ControlCenter/LicenseStuff,
now both together - cubase and eLicenser - were developed. I think this is a perfect solution, for us as well.
I have accidentally lost my USB key! Does it get replaced by Steinberg?
Again, the USB-eLicenser is the most vital part of your product!
Please make sure to have all keys registered in MySteinberg so that the key number is known. Without a MySteinberg account and a USB-eLicenser registration, no replacement is possible.
Now, in case the USB-eLicenser has been lost or stolen, please contact your local support for further information on how to proceed.
It might make sense to have an empty spare USB-eLicenser at hand as we only replace the licenses stored on the lost/stolen key (if all preconditions are met).
The USB-eLicenser I just bought does not work (the red LED inside the key does not light up when connected). It appears to be just dead (Dead On Arrival, manufacturing error). How do I get it replaced?
Please return the whole product package to your dealer or contact our technical support for a replacement.
My USB-eLicenser worked fine but now it has ceased to function and appears to be defective without any physical damage.
In this case please contact our technical support for a replacement USB-eLicenser and licenses. Please make sure that the key has been registered in MySteinberg before contacting us!
I broke my USB-eLicenser!
You need to buy a new empty USB-eLicenser.
Please make sure that the defective key has been registered in MySteinberg before contacting us for any license replacement.
The new activation code(s) can then be downloaded to the new USB-eLicenser using the License Control Center.
…good to know Chris. Thanks for chiming in. I think this is an interesting topic By the way, I don’t mind the e-licenser. I think it’s fine. I just thought it would be nice to just have 1 dongle to carry for everything
I would only have to carry 1 convenient stick. Just my 2 cents.
Please do not curse in the church!!