UAD still worth it?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Effects Discussion
Post Reply New Topic

Post

Yes, it’s terrible. Sorry you didn’t know beforehand. We covered it in this thread.

Post

osiris wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2024 3:07 pm I got some UAD stuff but I don't understand why I can't keep my licenses on my machine. I had Air stuff that was iLok and had the licenses on my machine. They tell me the alternative is an iLok USB, but no. I also wish this had been explained to me before I bought them.
Yeah ilok cloud sucks balls. The guys at UAD know that people hate it. The last update I saw on the UAD forum was "nothing to announce right now, but we are listening"
So I have hopes they'll open up machine auth. I hate how long it takes things to load, and it's baffling that they have like literally ONE machine auth plugin. It's one of the synths, polymax or opal, and everything else is dongle or cloud.

Post

Pretty much all the free stuff can be machine authorized.

Post

iLok machine auths got cr*cked years ago. So UA, and many other developers, are squeamish about going to to that method in the fear it could happen again. PACE apparently tells folks that the dongle is the most secure approach, and machine auths are at higher-risk. I'm assuming the Cloud is also much more secure than machine-auths.

So I get it. But if you can tolerate the iLok dongle, it's the best approach IMO. It just works. No hassle other than the dongle itself.

Post

Yepp. I didn't even know about the cloud authorization before I got UA stuff. Basically, no internet, no usage. Even though, this is not a big deal, I always have the internet connection. But I heard, that SOMETIMES there can be some intermittent problems with the cloud itself. So I had to buy the USB ilok. 60 Euro! Unbelievable. Now it is plugged into one of my my monitors USB port. But I think is way more stable to do this that way, rather than using a cloud. And when the system (machine) dies (you know, it can happen), it is not a problem anymore. It can be problem if you always on the go with a laptop or mixing with it while lying on the bed, lol.

Btw, I've never heard of cracked UAD stuff.

Post

iLok needs to make a dongle that sits flush.

Post

Uncle E wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2024 8:34 pm iLok needs to make a dongle that sits flush.
This.
We should start a letter-writing campaign.
THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED LOUD SO TURN IT UP

Post

I'm sure they would be more than happy to take more of our money.

Post

I would gladly give them my money for a flush USB-C dongle that never has to leave my MacBook port.
THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED LOUD SO TURN IT UP

Post

Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2024 6:20 pm iLok machine auths got cr*cked years ago. So UA, and many other developers, are squeamish about going to to that method in the fear it could happen again. PACE apparently tells folks that the dongle is the most secure approach, and machine auths are at higher-risk. I'm assuming the Cloud is also much more secure than machine-auths.

So I get it. But if you can tolerate the iLok dongle, it's the best approach IMO. It just works. No hassle other than the dongle itself.
I don't keep up on this stuff but I used to frequent communities where this subject was not treated as taboo, and it's not just machine auth that was beaten. Cloud was beaten almost immediately after they rolled it out. I specifically remember complaining to a dev that cloud-only authorization was stopping me from buying and had already been available to pirates on release day.

Plenty of dongle-only plugins as well, though that was several years ago and I have no idea anymore about the particulars with ilok gen 3. If UAD is still protected that's good, but it's probably a matter of time. eLicenser is supposed to be even more secure, and to their credit they were for a long time. I'm getting emails from Steinberg about how I need to upgrade to a version of Cubase Pro that uses their new licensing system or effectively lose my upgrade path. I can guess why.

Post

I'll prob pick up their save the music bundle or whatever since I like a few things in there. Their UA Connect app uses a lot of drive space on my system, but that's the biggest problem I have with it. I do greatly prefer the overloud versions of the Pultec EQ and LA comps in that bundle though.

Post

pekbro wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 10:31 pm I'll prob pick up their save the music bundle or whatever since I like a few things in there.
Best VFM right now is the Producer bundle (or potentionally the Luna Pro one if you use Luna).

Post

It's not one of the synths because I got the bundle and they are all Cloud ilok. It's a shame because they are all three pretty good synths.

Post

Recently bought some classics as emu's and start to like them a lot :) Not that i needed such,cakewalk has some really dope stuff like 1176 ,but the 31 euro price made me curious ...
Some stuff from PA are for like 20-25 euro, but the uad version is 200-300 eu,who buy it with such a big difference,for example elysia alpha compressor...isn't this the same plugin?

Post

VELLTONE MUSIC wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 5:15 pm Some stuff from PA are for like 20-25 euro, but the uad version is 200-300 eu,who buy it with such a big difference,for example elysia alpha compressor...isn't this the same plugin?
Well everyone and their mother has released an 1176, are those all the same too? I guess we should all just pick any random one and call it a day..

Post Reply

Return to “Effects”