ALA-101 Hybridization (copy protection updated!)

[pekbro]

He seems to be a bit overwhelmed with all the attention and controversy. Probably would
not be too excited for another public discussion at the moment. Seems like a standup guy though.

[billinder33]

From the GS thread, it seemed like the decision to do phone home was related to an available API for the licensing auth, and it was the path of least resistance vs building a novel offline license scheme. Not really a nefarious or even well-thought out decision that he was committed to. To pekbro's point, I don't think he expected all the buzz.

[bmanic]

Ok, good to know. That gives me hope. Still it's no excuse, though I do understand and can sympathize with the "path of least resistance"..

I'll update the thread title and first post when there's a different solution available.

[c_bomb]

The plugin (1.2.0) was updated with an offline authorisation method.

[bmanic]

This is good news indeed! Seems like there's been some bug fixes and optimizations too.

There's still the A/B slot system bug where it doesn't take into account the Tube L/R or Mid/Side toggle mode. And I can't seem to be able to type in the values into the Clipper Threshold knob.

But those are relatively minor bugs. Seems to be working really well now.

[audiojunkie]

The plugin (1.2.0) was updated with an offline authorisation method.

There needs to be more details. Offline authorization can mean a lot of things. The big question is, can a new device be authorized with the company out of business and the servers down? If yes, then it’s ok. If not, it doesn’t matter if the authorization is “done off line “. The original challenge/response that was invented two decades ago was authorized off line. You had to communicate info back and forth between the company and the software with codes or files. So, off line is not good enough. It has to be able to authorize a new computer (a completely different computer), with the company being out of business and the authorization servers completely down.

And before anyone tries to say that it is impossible to do, I can name about 20 companies that provide this type (or similar) of copy protection—including TAL-Software, who switched to challenge response about a year ago, and has updated it recently to not hinder the users, while still remaining challenge response software.

Everyone should demand this from their favorite developers.

[noahrbc]

1.3.0 is out now. Such a subtle but gorgeous sheen that it adds. Now that authorization has become far less invasive, it’s a definite purchase for me.

[Morty-C-137]

This is good news indeed! Seems like there's been some bug fixes and optimizations too.

There's still the A/B slot system bug where it doesn't take into account the Tube L/R or Mid/Side toggle mode. And I can't seem to be able to type in the values into the Clipper Threshold knob.

But those are relatively minor bugs. Seems to be working really well now.

What are your main gripes with online activation?

[bmanic]

The plugin (1.2.0) was updated with an offline authorisation method.

There needs to be more details. Offline authorization can mean a lot of things. The big question is, can a new device be authorized with the company out of business and the servers down? If yes, then it’s ok. If not, it doesn’t matter if the authorization is “done off line “.

I assume it's like any other Challenge/Response system. Yes, if the developer goes bankrupt or just stops all support and shuts down the servers, then you have no chance of ever using the software on another computer.

.. but at least you can keep the software on the computer you installed it on as long as the computer functions and isn't updated. This means you at the very least have a possibility of "freezing" the system.

Yeah, not at all ideal but much better than it was before where you would with 100% certainty lose the ability to use the software after 2 months.

There's no doubt a simple serial number would be by far the best system and it can be made super secure as U-He and FabFilter have shown over the many years they have been in business.

[bmanic]

This is good news indeed! Seems like there's been some bug fixes and optimizations too.

There's still the A/B slot system bug where it doesn't take into account the Tube L/R or Mid/Side toggle mode. And I can't seem to be able to type in the values into the Clipper Threshold knob.

But those are relatively minor bugs. Seems to be working really well now.

What are your main gripes with online activation?

The fact that companies go bankrupt and developers stop all support. I'm old enough to not even have enough fingers to count on how many times this has happened in the past. It's especially typical for small companies and one man teams to do just that. When that happens, it is extremely rare that the developer does the right thing and releases the software as either freeware and removes the copy protection. It does happen, but you can and should not count on that.

.. and also I think it's a completely selfish system. If the developer doesn't bother to think of the customers best experience, I usually decline to give them any money. It really is as simple as that.

Keep in mind that I'm quite old, so I've lived through the times where you actually bought software, got it on a disk or CD and then could use that software no matter what happened to the company. It was the golden age of software as far as I'm concerned. Many things in our society now is extremely exploitative. Copy right systems are more often than not just plain incompetently or lazily implemented. I'm fighting against that with words and my wallet. It's the only thing one can do.

[audiojunkie]

This is good news indeed! Seems like there's been some bug fixes and optimizations too.

There's still the A/B slot system bug where it doesn't take into account the Tube L/R or Mid/Side toggle mode. And I can't seem to be able to type in the values into the Clipper Threshold knob.

But those are relatively minor bugs. Seems to be working really well now.

What are your main gripes with online activation?

The fact that companies go bankrupt and developers stop all support. I'm old enough to not even have enough fingers to count on how many times this has happened in the past. It's especially typical for small companies and one man teams to do just that. When that happens, it is extremely rare that the developer does the right thing and releases the software as either freeware and removes the copy protection. It does happen, but you can and should not count on that.

.. and also I think it's a completely selfish system. If the developer doesn't bother to think of the customers best experience, I usually decline to give them any money. It really is as simple as that.

Keep in mind that I'm quite old, so I've lived through the times where you actually bought software, got it on a disk or CD and then could use that software no matter what happened to the company. It was the golden age of software as far as I'm concerned. Many things in our society now is extremely exploitative. Copy right systems are more often than not just plain incompetently or lazily implemented. I'm fighting against that with words and my wallet. It's the only thing one can do.

Yep. Me too. And there are a lot of us actually.

[whassup]

This is good news indeed! Seems like there's been some bug fixes and optimizations too.

There's still the A/B slot system bug where it doesn't take into account the Tube L/R or Mid/Side toggle mode. And I can't seem to be able to type in the values into the Clipper Threshold knob.

But those are relatively minor bugs. Seems to be working really well now.

What are your main gripes with online activation?

The fact that companies go bankrupt and developers stop all support. I'm old enough to not even have enough fingers to count on how many times this has happened in the past. It's especially typical for small companies and one man teams to do just that. When that happens, it is extremely rare that the developer does the right thing and releases the software as either freeware and removes the copy protection. It does happen, but you can and should not count on that.

.. and also I think it's a completely selfish system. If the developer doesn't bother to think of the customers best experience, I usually decline to give them any money. It really is as simple as that.

Keep in mind that I'm quite old, so I've lived through the times where you actually bought software, got it on a disk or CD and then could use that software no matter what happened to the company. It was the golden age of software as far as I'm concerned. Many things in our society now is extremely exploitative. Copy right systems are more often than not just plain incompetently or lazily implemented. I'm fighting against that with words and my wallet. It's the only thing one can do.

++1

[bmanic]

UPDATE!! ALA-101 has now been updated to version 1.4.2 (beta release for now) which in my opinion vastly improves the UI and also sounds quite a bit better. On the flip side, it is now way more obvious in it's processing but now it can truly be used as a flavor box and not just a subtle enhancer.

CPU usage has also been drastically improved, at least here on my M1 Mac. I can now run the Professional+ algorithm at 2x oversampling with about 50% CPU usage and it sounds absolutely mindblowingly glorious! Try cranking up the Tube past 50% and the Transformer to 100% and hear the stuff it does on either Pro+ or Hybrid+ modes at 2x oversampling. Also if you look at this thing in Plugin Doctor, it is ridiculously good at suppressing aliasing even at 2x oversampling and if you really want to remove absolutely every digital artifact, crank it up to Extreme + 4x oversampling and it's just clean as a whistle.

Also, if you do run it in Plugin Doctor, do NOT look at the linear analysis. It'll give you complete garbage readings. You need to do a sweep or look at the hammerstein view (this should be obvious to anybody experienced with PD and real analogue hardware).

I very highly recommend everybody check out the new version.

[pekbro]

No soap for me, latest won't run at all. Which is fine as I shouldn't really be spending the coin on it atm. oh well...

*Mostly as I bought both of the recent Crane Song Phoenix clones at the same time heh.

[bmanic]

You on Windows?