KVR Audio

memyselfandus · Post by **memyselfandus** » Sat May 17, 2008 6:30 am

Just looking for feedback

What do you guys think of ilok?
There are a few vsts and such that I might want to
get in the future and one uses ilok.

I have a couple syncrosoft programs but have not used ilok yet.

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat May 17, 2008 6:55 am

[Grab can of worms, pry open, stand back...]

Cordelia · Post by **Cordelia** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:09 am

There are a lot of VSTs I'd buy if it weren't for iLok. About two years ago I watched as my friend Erin struggled for weeks to get things up and running smoothly after installing Pace iLok. I don't know if it worked out OK in the end or not, honestly, but at the time there was a lot of cursing and yelling.
Things can change quite a bit in two years in the world of computers, but I vowed right then to avoid it, and I will.

cleverr1 · Post by **cleverr1** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:58 am

Hi,
In general iLok just works ok here. However, I used to run a virtual machine for internet and Office on my DAW. Whenever anything called the iLok VMWare crashed. I raised this with URS who in turn raised it with Pace - all they got back was "virtual machines are not supported". So that was that. I now run another PC for office/internet and connect from the DAW via terminal services. This is clearly a waste of energy, and in this case an example of how Pace/iLok is contributing to global warming.

Micha · Post by **Micha** » Sat May 17, 2008 9:31 am

Syncrosoft (for Korg) and Ilok (for Quantum Leap) work fine together but Syncrosoft is way easyer to handle.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Sat May 17, 2008 2:36 pm

PACE.

'Nuff said.

[can of worms open]I won't ever touch them with a barge pole ever again. Apparently it works alot better nowadays, but nevertheless PACE gave many people unusaeable systems and infected them with what would be defined as a virus by many definitions. Personally I won't buy anything with any type of PACE system. The dongle is fine - I've no issue with that. I have a long memory and PACE are not a good company to do business with. Some will forgive and forget - I won't. It went on for too many years for them not to know how they infected DAWs with their old viruses.

I'll give anyone several chances - I defend Crysonic even (against the general flow here at KvR) - but PACE had chance after chance after chance to put right their damage and chose not to. What was it? Version 5 or something before the PACE C/R didn't disrupt the average DAW?

Apparently the iLok dongles now work OK (and again it took a long time before they got it right). To me that's not the point though. Your choice if you can live with a bad company...I choose not to.[can of worms closed/]

beej · Post by **beej** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:08 pm

Kritikon's opinions are largely based on old and outdated reports, as he himself realises. While his opinions were valid ten years ago, they are less so now, and he chooses to blindly stick to his opinions based on data that has been irrelevant for some time.

Calling them a "bad company" is his own interpretation of those past events. There were certainly some worrying issues back then, but the fact that those reports do not happen in this day and age certainly suggests that Pace have indeed invested to get everything working well - and hence they are still in business.

I have no problem if Kriti chooses not to use Pace products for his own reasons, that's fine, but to state as fact things like "Pace are a bad company" is going a little too far in my book.

Unfortunately, all forms of hard protection have some pitfalls and may well cause inconvenience to the end user. In the same way as having to lock your house when you go out is an inconvience... but a necessary one in this day and age...

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:16 pm

Fascism is an outdated and discredited political stance. But it doesn't stop military juntas around the world from employing it and from skinheads in democratic nations harking back to the "good old days". Just because a new form of fascism comes along in nice fluffy pink slippers doesn't stop it from being a bad system. Yes, PACE seem to have a workable system now. Yes, Sony have some products that work. Doesn't mean that if anything goes wrong with their system that they won't hark back to their usual methods of disdain for the customer. Bad companies can still have good products.

beej · Post by **beej** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:30 pm

Since when did you think that any business is in it for the customer?

Business operate in the best interests of the business. Some companies have great people that care about their products, services and their customers, but most do not, or at least, those people are outnumbered on the inside.

I would point the finger at banks and credit card companies long before I got down to a small software copy-protection company that had some badly behaving software an *age* ago in software terms... but...

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Sat May 17, 2008 4:01 pm

I don't for one minute assume any company is in it for the customer. I'm very much a realist. But many companies at least give a nod towards good customer relations as a means to obtain and secure repeat business. Some companies can still manage their business with bad customer relations. It's the customer's choice either way - personally I just choose to not do business with the bad ones. Many people obviously don't place any importance on some aspects of a company's business or business ethics. That's their choice too. If the product is something you simply must have, then feel free to buy it. Personally I draw a line and will do without. There are only 2 companies I won't buy from in the nearly 20 years I've been making music. So I really am not that picky. I also can't think of any other company in other spheres of business that I won't deal with either - at least not because of their business ethics. I might simply not like their product, but that's different entirely. I won't slag a company simply because they make something not to my taste. E.g. the TimewARP emu - sounds to me like it's a fantastic product at a really good price. I'll just never know because to use it, I have to use PACE.

Sony have made some cracking little audio tools in the past - I'd love to use them but I won't because they're Sony. Anyone who has spent 500 quid on a DAT player (back in the day when 500 quid was alot of money) which very quickly broke down and then were told tough shit - you should have bought a pro one for 1000 quid instead and no, we're not going to fix it because you're recording professionally even if you aren't (i.e. a product that is not fit for the purpose it was sold for is not refundable!

) will know exactly what I mean. Frogive and forget...no.

I will for minor stuff, but why should I forgive and forget after being repeatedly screwed up the arse by a particular company? And for me...credit card companies etc - I get to choose if I want to go into debt with them. I know beforehand the interest rate etc. As do everyone else - they make the personal choice to live in debt - no credit card company forces anybody. If you pay the money back quick enough you don't even have to pay any interest. The difference is that when you get a faulty product that doesn't actually do the job it was sold for but can't get it sorted or refunded and takes how ever many years for the company to bother to listen to the hundreds of customers that repeatedly tell them their product isn't working...well we get the choice of never buying from them again and subsequently calling them out for being a bad company - which they are.

brok landers · Post by **brok landers** » Sat May 17, 2008 5:00 pm

beej, but you are on a mac, that's a completely different thing ...
i never heard any macuser complaining about ilok/pace ...
but not too long ago i made sounddesign for pace protected software, and it was a mess ... i'm so happy that i just don't have to keep it installed ...

on my pc:
synchrosoft dongle? anytime ...
pace? never again ...

Brittlestem · Post by **Brittlestem** » Sat May 17, 2008 5:12 pm

memyselfandus wrote:Just looking for feedback

What do you guys think of ilok?
There are a few vsts and such that I might want to
get in the future and one uses ilok.

I have a couple syncrosoft programs but have not used ilok yet.

I was put off initially by some of the frankly hysterical reactions from people on KVR but I've had an ilok with 3 Windows machine over the last 2 years, not a single problem.

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Sat May 17, 2008 5:51 pm

You had to be there a few years ago; it was a disaster. I think anyone who used the old Pace is justified in being completely put off by the company. Mine works fine now, so I can live with it. But I do much prefer Syncrosoft's license system; iLok is a PITA.

beej · Post by **beej** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:11 pm

brok landers wrote:beej, but you are on a mac, that's a completely different thing ...

Yeah - but I haven't always been on a Mac. I'm well aware of the PC Pace issues back in the day...

CANE CREEK · Post by **CANE CREEK** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:14 pm

im running Ilok and syncrosoft on a mac , they both work fine apart from the fact im missing 2 USB ports