Future-proof friendly synths?

[Frankie.T]

Hi, i'm wondering if there are any synths that with the latest version is able to load something created with a previous one. Such SynthV3 load and play a project made with SynthV1.

That also comes with a friendly authorization system (key file or SN) without the any online request (such Melda, FabFilter and U-he)

[OzoneJunkie]

Most plugin developers make attempts to maintain backwards compatibility: loading previous version patches AND retaining the sound of that patch in new versions. Sometimes that's not possible. Sometimes plugins have a 'legacy engine' type of feature where the newer version of the plugin sounds different than the older one given the same patch, but you can turn on this legacy mode and have it sound like the original.

Future-proof: I sort of look at this from an angle of - will a plugin be supported in the future, when operating systems change, plugin standards change and are deprecated, a company goes out of business (can I still activate the plugin), and so on. That type of thing is hard to judge (nigh impossible), but the choices in which companies we support can help improve our odds there.

[Lbdunequest]

Uhe plugins, sylenth1

[egbert101]

Nevermind.

[Frankie.T]

Uhe plugins, sylenth1

Sylenth1 require account authorization. I asked to them if they consider a change but got no reply

Newer u-he plugins load projects made with older version?

[chk071]

Are you sure that you want to limit yourself like that? I mean, you're basically excluding 99% of audio software out there, just to keep off the internet, or even doing offline activation.

[Frankie.T]

I'm trying to find the options first then i see what i can really do

[OzoneJunkie]

I've almost completely limited myself personally to stuff I can carry on using without the internet. Have the installation files, and buy software that use serial numbers for activation. It doesn't protect from hardware/software/OS changes that might leave something unusable, but it's better than other options.

[Examigan]

Tone2 synths may work for you. They stopped development of new synths, but you may be in luck for basic updates going forward.

[Frankie.T]

Ozone may you list your plugins?

Examigan thanks for the suggestion

[audiojunkie]

Hi, i'm wondering if there are any synths that with the latest version is able to load something created with a previous one. Such SynthV3 load and play a project made with SynthV1.

That also comes with a friendly authorization system (key file or SN) without the any online request (such Melda, FabFilter and U-he)

Regarding authorization, I’ve recently come to discover that some developers have discovered ways to use challenge/response authorization, with the ability to revoke access, even when using just a serial number or keyfile. The plugin may do an active search to see if there are other copies on the internet that are using the same serial number or keyfile, and shut down if the total number of copies exceeds the allowed limit. They may also call home to the company to see if the account has been black listed for some reason, and shut down if so. There are also now serial or keyfile plugins that tie themselves to a particular machine, and won’t activate if used on another machine.

I’m finding that these days, buying a plugin that just uses serial or keyfile authorization is simply not enough anymore.It is important to also ask a couple of questions as well:

Does this plugin tie itself to a hardware ID?

Does this plugin “ever” use the internet for any reason?

If your company were gone, would this serial or keyfile be sufficient to authorize this plugin?

I’m finding that some developers avoid answering these questions, or if they do answer, they try to assure you that they have a means in place to allow for continued authorization. Avoid these plugins as the thing they are—challenge/response authorization masquerading as serial number or keyfile authorization.

[OzoneJunkie]

Ozone may you list your plugins?

Sure!

Cableguys: Half-Time, Kickstart, Shaperbox (with all shapers) - this one requires online to pull noise samples and reverb IRs. (all use serial number license files)

Devious Machines: Duck, Infiltrator, Pitch Monster (all use serial numbers)

FabFilter: full bundle (serial numbers)

Minimal Audio: Rift (this requires being online for activation only. I've considered removing it from my stuff because of it, but I try not to be too crazy about my rules - sometimes I have to bend them. I'm strongly considering Current).

Native Instruments: (Reaktor instruments) Form, Razor, Mikro Prism, TRK-01, (Kontakt libraries) East Asia, India, Middle East. NI requires online challenge/response. NI has been around for decades, so mostly trust things here.

Reveal Sound: Spire (serial number license file)

Sonic Academy: Kick 2 (online C/R). Not a big deal for me since I wouldn't personally keep an instance of Kick in a project - I'd create a kick and render it out as a sample, so if this evaporates in the future, doesn't affect my projects.

Sonic Charge: Microtonic, Synplant 2, actually all of the SC stuff. (online activation OR serial numbers, I use the serials)

U-he: Diva, Hive, Repro (serial numbers)

Valhalla: everything. serial numbers

Vital Audio: Vital. I think this actually requires a login, or did when it first launched, but I think it's just a serial number now. EDIT: actually, I don't think this even has a serial number. I think you just get a clear installation file, and there's no copy protection. It is, after all, a free synth. You have to log in to use the text to wavetable feature, particularly if you bought the pro version and want to do this over a certain number of free times. For me, Vital is great. A couple small bugs, but I think I could live with just Vital to be honest. The reverb definitely could be better. I will say, the developer support seems.... sparse right now. And that's ok for me, since it works and I can install it wherever, without hassle. The problem is, when things change in the future and if there's an operating system change that would require an update by the dev in order to make it work on the new OS, well, it's possible we'd be out of luck. That's true for other plugins too in some cases, but given Vital is a one-man show and the support/updates aren't 'regular', it's potentially a higher risk here. But I do love the synth.

Xfer Records: Serum (serial number)

Also worth mentioning: I use Ableton Live, which is online C/R. But it's the only DAW I want to use, so it's fine - it's what it's.

Edit: stuff that I own that I have stopped using for various reasons:

Parawave: Rapid. Great synth, but multiple times it dropped my activation, even without hardware changes. I think there may be some time duration thing built in where if you don't use it for a certain amount of time it deactivates (but not positive about this). To be fair, re-activating is fairly painless, but I decided I won't deal with it because of this. If I could sell it, I would.

Lennar Digital: Sylenth1. Stopped because it requires online activation now (used to be serial number), and I have Spire which is just as good or better, for me.

Some other stuff that I won't list, because I don't want to have things appear negative for some smaller companies that make great software, but I just didn't/don't use anymore, so I abandoned them. Some of which I could actually sell, some I cannot, but for the stuff that I could sell, it's not so worth it to me, and these are smaller companies so I don't mind that I'm abandoning without recouping anything.

Another EDIT:

While I'm at it, I'll also say, there's definitely plugins out there that I would buy except I don't want to support the copy protection choices that the companies have made. At the same time, I don't deny any of them the right to protect their software.

And I've seen companies (outside of the above mentioned Lennar Digital) change their copy protection scheme. In one case, I owned a synth that was great, and did use serial number, and then they changed to a different protection method that I absolutely would not use/install on my machine, so I sold that one.

[Frankie.T]

Thank you very much!

[Lbdunequest]

UAD synths dont require online activation if you have a physical ilok

[chagzuki]

Regarding authorization, I’ve recently come to discover that some developers have discovered ways to use challenge/response authorization, with the ability to revoke access, even when using just a serial number or keyfile. The plugin may do an active search to see if there are other copies on the internet that are using the same serial number or keyfile, and shut down if the total number of copies exceeds the allowed limit. They may also call home to the company to see if the account has been black listed for some reason, and shut down if so. There are also now serial or keyfile plugins that tie themselves to a particular machine, and won’t activate if used on another machine.

I've assumed serial authorisation systems must do something like this, otherwise the developers would lose too much revenue. But should the company go out of business, authorisation would still be possible.