Fathom Synth Development Thread

[FathomSynth]

Well this is interesting.

I'm doing a quick bug fix release 3.2 with some important fixes.

And the idea occurred to me since I now have proven code which can ping the server why not add a settings page where users can just press a button to find out if they need an update.

This would be instead of having to send out emails to everyone which is filled with problems.

You would enter your email in the settings upgrade page and it is remembered for all time. Then you press a button and Fathom pings the server to find out if there is a new release and if so it fills in a download link edit box. Then you can use the link to get the latest update.

If you don't need an update the server tells you no update necessary or you already have the latest.

It automatically knows which product you have and which update you need.

No more having to send emails to find out what you need or having to ask for it.

[zzz00m]

Great idea Everett! Automation is always the best time saver!

[ahanysz]

Sounds cool, especially the bit where you press a button when you want to check, rather than having popups appear at inconvenient times.

While you're thinking along these lines, let me remind you that you still need a mechanism for people to change their email address :-) It doesn't happen often, but can come up a few times per lifetime. I changed mine a decade ago when an ISP went out of business. I'll probably change again in the next year, because some idiot put my current address on a web page and the amount of incoming spam has skyrocketed. Using email address as a permanent lifetime identifier isn't a great system.

[FathomSynth]

Sending me an email from the original email requesting an email change is not a problem.

Sending an email out of the blue from a different email claiming you are changing your email could be a problem because that is exactly what someone would do if all they had was your email and the wanted to take your Fathom license from you for free. Then when you try to update your license you find out it was transferred to someone else without your knowledge. Very Bad. On rare occasions people ask me to change their email from a different email and when this happens I look at all the user data including the name of the person sending the email. If the names are the same and the emails are obviously for the same person, then I might consider it. However if it looks fishy then I won't respond no matter how much they beg because that is exactly what a pirate would do if they were trying to take your entire Fathom account from you without your knowledge. Personally I would not risk it. Your email is literally the only way to identify you as the owner of that license. If you know you will have to change your email then it is best to inform me from that email before you lose access to it otherwise there is no guarantee I will believe you. If this sounds overly strict then just imagine how you would feel if you bought Fathom Vector and you found out someone else just sent me an email asking me to give them your license. You would want me to refuse that request no matter how much the person insists they are you.

Definitely do not buy Fathom Vector using an email which you can not depend on staying the same.

[ahanysz]

Right, and that's why a lot of vendors invite people to setup an account with username/password and recovery email. If the email address changes, you still have the password to authenticate. If you forget the password, you still have the email. More opportunities to recover from user error or misunderstandings.

[zzz00m]

Right, and that's why a lot of vendors invite people to setup an account with username/password and recovery email. If the email address changes, you still have the password to authenticate. If you forget the password, you still have the email. More opportunities to recover from user error or misunderstandings.

Plus there are secret Q & A's, two factor authentication, etc. Email alone is not the standard these days.

[zzz00m]

It doesn't happen often, but can come up a few times per lifetime. I changed mine a decade ago when an ISP went out of business. I'll probably change again in the next year, because some idiot put my current address on a web page and the amount of incoming spam has skyrocketed. Using email address as a permanent lifetime identifier isn't a great system.

That's why I abandoned my ISP email. So that I wouldn't be tied to an email address that might go out of business, or if I decided to switch ISP providers.

Recommend signing up for a free Google or Microsoft account. They should be around for a while. You would be less likely to lose access to any of your registered products that way.

Google has really good automatic spam filtering. And if you dislike that they may spy on you, just get a 2nd email account from them for free, and use that to register your products. Then keep your private ISP email address for personal stuff.

[ztrauq]

It doesn't happen often, but can come up a few times per lifetime. I changed mine a decade ago when an ISP went out of business. I'll probably change again in the next year, because some idiot put my current address on a web page and the amount of incoming spam has skyrocketed. Using email address as a permanent lifetime identifier isn't a great system.

That's why I abandoned my ISP email. So that I wouldn't be tied to an email address that might go out of business, or if I decided to switch ISP providers.

Recommend signing up for a free Google or Microsoft account. They should be around for a while. You would be less likely to lose access to any of your registered products that way.

Google has really good automatic spam filtering. And if you dislike that they may spy on you, just get a 2nd email account from them for free, and use that to register your products. Then keep your private ISP email address for personal stuff.

Yeah, ISP email... lost a few of those over the years, would not rely on it. But yeah, if you have a modern Windows machine these days, unless you really went out of your way, you probably already have a MS email address (pretty sure it's the same with Apple/iCloud). So most people probably already have a more long-term address at their disposal.

Just an aside on the actual process, I did need to change my email address during the beta (see the aforementioned ISP email issue...), and it was sorted out fairly quickly through an exchange of emails. License server seemed to pick it up just fine.

That being said, re. the email-only approach, some food for thought: it is trivially easy to forge an email address (as testament, just look in your spam folder and note all the messages that you apparently sent yourself). Which means that if, say, someone did want to grab someone's license and happened to even just know their target's registered email (not even have to hack into it), they could send you an email that appears to come from the registered user, asking for an address change. So even though you recognize the email, that doesn't mean the request wasn't spoofed somehow (unless you go into the headers and try to match up intermediate servers, etc.). Which is why a more secure approach would indeed be to use a second factor, such as a login system, two-factor, shared secret, or similar approach.

[Rumdrum]

Hi!
MAC Platform.
Been experiencing heavy crackles on some of the poly presets, especially on the newer add on preset packs. One key pressed is ok, a 3 key chord is absolutely insanely distorted. Also seems to be conected to how long time the keys are pressed and that the problem increases with increasing velocity. I can run several instances of Omnisphere without problems. Likewise with other synths. The problem with Fathom must be connected to the way the AU and VST is programmed. It is really sad as Fathom sounds Incredible good and has grown to be one of my favorite synth, alas only as a "mono" synth. Anyone else experiencing the same?

[FathomSynth]

I have software which shows the real source of the email and if the IP address does not match it will be ignored. Also if there are any license requests for a single license from different global regions the entire license is terminated and the original owner informed of the activity.

I would recommend we not discuss this openly in the thread for obvious reasons.

Maybe specific security questions and comments should only be sent to me directly please.

For Mac performance issue there is a section in the manual for conserving CPU. I have not yet figured out how to make the Mac run as fast as a PC.

[Tj Shredder]

Thanks for the links - though the Mac version does not seem to be Vector or AVX...

[Tricky-Loops]

Would be better to have accounts like many other software programmers where you can log in with a password and change your postal adress or email adress yourself.

Cableguys for example sent me a new password when I told them my new email adress. I didn't have any problems with Image Line and Rob Papen, either, and at Applied Acoustics the founder personally even responded at weekend because I had to create a new account but my many years ago bought products didn't show up there. Problems solved.

The email-only-without-changing-IPs approach doesn't make me want to buy Fathom or Vector. Because if I lose my email adress (and this happens a few times in life because of changing providers), everything is lost (and Vector isn't cheap, either).

[FathomSynth]

Yes, that's correct, definitely don't buy it if you are planning on changing your email.

Gmail is free and it never changes so I'm not sure why that would be complicated for anyone.

[ahanysz]

Yes, that's correct, definitely don't buy it if you are planning on changing your email.

Gmail is free and it never changes so I'm not sure why that would be complicated for anyone.

(a) I wasn't aware of the "never change your email" policy when I first bought Fathom (I've never come across another retailer with such a policy), so I signed up with the address that I most commonly use, which is different from my gmail account.

(b) Gmail has never changed yet. I don't think they've made a promise to keep it unchanged for ever. It's a free service and they could withdraw it at any time.

[Tricky-Loops]

Yes, that's correct, definitely don't buy it if you are planning on changing your email

Sometimes it can happen in life - unpredictable as it is - that you could get financial problems, cannot pay your provider fees anymore and you lose your website and all your custom email adresses. Happened to me and surely to others, too.

Or a provider disappears, like Hotmail.

In any case, if I had to change my email adress and then as a honest customer I were treated like a criminal and lose my license, I'd be very angry.