Emulator X3 - another great software ruined by copy protection

[abi]

i´m missing EmuX so much. such a pity they f...d it all up. dont know why, but kontakt for example never inspired me to program patches as did the old emulator. the filters were delicious, it was fun to sample your own stuff. btw, i was in the game since v1. also, i never understood why they limited the product to windows, but well, dead and gone.

[Delfinoverde]

So the other day I dug out an old copy of E-MU Emulator X3 as I thought I could use more control over the DSF Proteus VX libraries. Installed it and was immediately reminded why I hate copy protection schemes that leave you at the mercy of uncontrollable external factors.

To my surprise the online activation still worked even though E-MU has been long dead. So I sighed of relief at first but soon enough I found out that none of my host do load Emulator X3 because the licensing error. The standalone works but the copy protection mechanism seems not to be able to connect with VSTi version. F+*-ing f*-+k.

A real pain in the @ss!
Software developers in most cases don't give a damn about what troubles their copy protections cause! Their fear of getting their stuff cracked hangs over their heads like the sword of Damocles, so they lose the sense of reality and start to build up fortresses against phantom attackers. The snag is that those 'protection shields' are then causing more issues & negative impact than their effective products. I'd suggest to boycott software developers who are playing such games… because if nobody buys they're forced to change the game.

[Compyfox]

dont know why, but kontakt for example never inspired me to program patches as did the old emulator.

Have you tried the excelltn "Hollow Sun - The Shell" script for Kontakt?
Granted, no Z-Filters or patches like in EmuX, but still great if you loathe Kontakt's system.

[whyterabbyt]

The CP scheme of Emu/Prot X that I can remember, were:
- Hardware locked (meaning, you needed an EMU card)
- later you needed at least the 1x1 MIDI device
- dunno if it ever really turned into C/R

Except we're talking EmulatorX 3 here, which isnt hardware locked, and the OP already pointed out that activation is no longer hardware based.

To my surprise the online activation still worked even though E-MU has been long dead. So I sighed of relief at first but soon enough I found out that none of my host do load Emulator X3 because the licensing error. The standalone works but the copy protection mechanism seems not to be able to connect with VSTi version. F+*-ing f*-+k.

It works here as a 64-bit VST on Windows 7, under Bidule x64, Sonar X3 64, Tracktion 5.1 x54, and Live 9.1 x64(*) and also inside MUX x64. It does whinge about the license, as per your description, on plugin scanning in most of these hosts, but that's not stopped it from working subsequently.
MetaPlugin x64 doesnt seem to like it, though.

These were all tested on an account with administrator privileges, with UAC currently off. However Ive also re-tested in Bidule x64 under both the highest UAC settings, and it still works fine. I also tested in Kore2 x64 with UAC on full, and it worked there too.

(*) Disclaimer : First time I loaded it into Live tonight, it opened an unusable tiny UI, but that hasnt reoccurred since, so Im inccined to believ that's a one-off)

[Compyfox]

Except we're talking EmulatorX 3 here, which isnt hardware locked, and the OP already pointed out that activation is no longer hardware based.

Maybe the last status is C/R. But the initial release (and I remember it all too well, I was at Musikmesse when they presented it the first time) was locked to the EMU Recording Cards.

[whyterabbyt]

Except we're talking EmulatorX 3 here, which isnt hardware locked, and the OP already pointed out that activation is no longer hardware based.

Maybe the last status is C/R. But the initial release (and I remember it all too well, I was at Musikmesse when they presented it the first time) was locked to the EMU Recording Cards.

So? We're still talking about Emulator X3' which -didn't- have it. I'm perfectly aware that earlier versions were locked, I've owned all 3. Do you own X3? Because that's the one being discussed, not an older version, and its not hardware locked.

Oh, and I've also got all the sound sets except for one, and they all work fine on Win7, so you were wrong about that bit too.

[Compyfox]

I think I'll leave it at that...

Looks like my experience with the Proteus X sets and EmuX are completely wrong then.

[himalaya]

Due to EMU X3 having much better looping functions and workflow than Kontakt, I'm going to keep using it for as long as I can! Those who have problems authorizing X3 try Creative as I found them (or the Emu support guys working there) very helpful.

[tapper mike]

X3 suffers from... stream from disc. if you have any round robin sample selections such as MSO or Combi's which use stream from disc your screwed.

[Genetic_Junk]

X3 works for me on Windows 8 64bit in Reaper 64bit.

[robotmonkey]

i´m missing EmuX so much. such a pity they f...d it all up. dont know why, but kontakt for example never inspired me to program patches as did the old emulator. the filters were delicious, it was fun to sample your own stuff.(

Kontakt has never clicked with me either. The only thing that comes close to Emulator X3 in the department of sound design is Image-Line Directwave. It's certainly is not as neat as Emulator X3 but works very well for sampling and sound programing. Obviously it lacks the sophisticated modulation options like function generators, it does not do more complex emulation of synthesis like wavestable, and its sample layering interface is not as good as EmuX but it is generally very pleasant and easy to work with.

[robotmonkey]

Oh, and I've also got all the sound sets except for one, and they all work fine on Win7, so you were wrong about that bit too.

That pretty much must depend on when you got those soundsets because the Macrovision protection that was part of E-MU Sound Central libraries really did not want to work anything newer than XP. Of course Windows 7 is much better at compatibility than Vista was so that might help. Also the Macrovision got removed later along the way as DSF started to sell those libraries as downloadable content.

[robotmonkey]

I'd suggest to boycott software developers who are playing such games… because if nobody buys they're forced to change the game.

Tend to agree. With some exceptions I've learned to avoid more and more software that can cause you cp trouble down the road. These days if I buy something that has offensive cp I always make sure first that there are countermeasures available.

[whyterabbyt]

Oh, and I've also got all the sound sets except for one, and they all work fine on Win7, so you were wrong about that bit too.

That pretty much must depend on when you got those soundsets because the Macrovision protection that was part of E-MU Sound Central libraries really did not want to work anything newer than XP.

Most of them were bought before EmulatorX3. Only a couple even indicate they're for Emulator X and Proteus X, so the rest seem to have been printed before Proteus X came out.

Of course Windows 7 is much better at compatibility than Vista was so that might help. Also the Macrovision got removed later along the way as DSF started to sell those libraries as downloadable content.

They're all original EMU discs; the ones that are basically direct ports of the various Proteus libraries. As far as I understood it, the DSF libraries are not the original EMU presets. I could be wrong on that, but the fact that they're multi-platform made me think they're samples of the presets, not the presets themselves.
However the Macrovision thing has not been an issue; X3 prompted me to insert the original discs once each to authorise them, but once I'd done that I had no issues.

I'll test it when I can on a different Win7 system, but the only thing that might be related to that if it doesnt normally work on Win7 is that I would possibly already have used the xp serial number registry hack for the Waldorf Edition software installer, as per this thread

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=259016

[whyterabbyt]

X3 suffers from... stream from disc. if you have any round robin sample selections such as MSO or Combi's which use stream from disc your screwed.

Not been a problem here, but if it is, use an SSD.