Announcing the launch of ULTRA

[Dr.Gunjah]

User-tracking.
Relying on the other end being online.
Try "accidentally" logging out of the synth, offline, then use it. Then report back here.

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?
You don't have even one valid point of why we should need to log in to a VST, and stay logged in.

Dude, you're rather naive if you think logging in or not to a plugin makes any difference in the tracking part. The dev has stated multiple times now that after "logging in" you are supposed to use it offline. That means, you're probably logging in to a remote server to generate a token/keyfile/whatever on the client to authorize it until that thing expires (maybe the dev can confirm the TTL). Staying "logged in" in this context does not mean there is an active server side session still alive, but merely that you didn't de-authorize your client application.

It's really just semantics, most companies call it "online authorization" vs. ULTRAs "login". The real question is, if you start your DAW and load up ULTRA, do you need an active internet connection? From what the dev says the answer is no, and it really is quite easy to test.

You don't like online authorization? Fair enough - but don't pretend ULTRA is some kind of outlier here. There are really a lot of companies doing exactly the same, including Arturia, UAD, Waves, NI, IKM, D16, or even small ones like Cytomic... just to name a few. Many more if you include iLok, which also requires you to be online for the authorization process.

[paramita123]

I had never heard of it, and after 20+ years hearing and testing lots of synths, I have to say this is a very cool surprise, geeky concept yet seems fun to tweak, the UI looks very well designed.
There are plenty of superb inspiring presets, for EDM, all kinds of pop and more genres - also my compliments the reverb sounds gorgeous. I'd wanna write a full album using only Ultra !
Found a YT video to listen to presets

[paterpeter]

This is launching the synth in your DAW.
Is this "being logged in" clear enough for you?
And then you have to STAY logged in, or you get this screen again. Try being offline when that happens...

But what do you think being logged in does that you do not want? That's not clear to me yet.

[Echoes in the Attic]

User-tracking.
Relying on the other end being online.
Try "accidentally" logging out of the synth, offline, then use it. Then report back here.

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?
You don't have even one valid point of why we should need to log in to a VST, and stay logged in.

Dude, you're rather naive if you think logging in or not to a plugin makes any difference in the tracking part. The dev has stated multiple times now that after "logging in" you are supposed to use it offline. That means, you're probably logging in to a remote server to generate a token/keyfile/whatever on the client to authorize it until that thing expires (maybe the dev can confirm the TTL). Staying "logged in" in this context does not mean there is an active server side session still alive, but merely that you didn't de-authorize your client application.

It's really just semantics, most companies call it "online authorization" vs. ULTRAs "login". The real question is, if you start your DAW and load up ULTRA, do you need an active internet connection? From what the dev says the answer is no, and it really is quite easy to test.

You don't like online authorization? Fair enough - but don't pretend ULTRA is some kind of outlier here. There are really a lot of companies doing exactly the same, including Arturia, UAD, Waves, NI, IKM, D16, or even small ones like Cytomic... just to name a few. Many more if you include iLok, which also requires you to be online for the authorization process.

But but but, what if you log out before you go offline? Like you just can’t help yourself and are compelled to hit the log out just before going offline and then you need to use it while offline. THEN WHAT? Do you need this spelled out for you or something???!! If you do I’m not here to explain to you, only to argue.

[starflakeprj]

But but but, what if you log out before you go offline? Like you just can’t help yourself and are compelled to hit the log out just before going offline and then you need to use it while offline. THEN WHAT? Do you need this spelled out for you or something???!! If you do I’m not here to explain to you, only to argue.

Yeah, sure, we can argue. But that scenario is basically self-inflicted.

Isn’t that a bit like locking yourself out of your own house? You leave the keys inside, close the door, and immediately realize what you’ve done. Do you blame the construction company for building the house with a lock on the door?

The software works offline as long as you don’t log out and deactivate it. Logging out is the equivalent of throwing away your own access and then blaming the construction company.

[nusound mind]

Agreed. There has been a couple of dozen posts about this, and it’s still not clear. As if they are dancing around the issue without answering directly.

I happen to agree. The dev also replied to one comment while completely ignoring maestro's honest question last page, which is a bit of red flag imo. He's not obligated to reply to everyone of course, but that's just my impression from skimming recent posts in this thread.

Someone earlier argued many vst activations operate this way, but none of the (way too many) softsynths licenses I have compel me to stay logged in to their website in order to use the synth. I still see no clear explanation of why that's necessary.

Also find some of the replies over the top. If it doesn't bother you, ok. Others will have different priorities before they put down cash on new software. Esp. one w/ suspicious activation requirement anomalies.

Pers. sp. having to be logged in to the website in order to use the synth offline is weird to me, idc what anyone says.

[anevva]

This whole thing about being logged in or not logged in and what constitutes an authorisation and what doesn't is just a bit over my head. It is what it is. The dev is listening to feedback and implementing a better system. I've every confidence he will deliver. (This turned out to be quite a long post and almost a sort of mini-review, so apologies for that, but maybe people who are on the fence about buying this synth will find it informative.)

First of all, Ultra is a phenomenal synth. It needs to be at that price! Like a lot of people, I count myself lucky to have just about all of the main super synths, so I don't even need another synth, even one of higher quality. But like many, I loved the graphics and the sound is a winner. Not sure how absolutely unique it is among all the super synths, but it seems to have a few tricks up its sleeve. I'm still learning it so I'll let other more pro sound designers chime in on that.

With that said, I absolutely hate intrusive or compromising copy protections. I don't use iLok for one. Nothing unusual there. But what I really dislike is those companies that only give like 2 authorisations, or worse, just one! I do make exceptions for even these based on merit, but I use a handful of computers regularly from laptops to desktop, from Pc to Mac. So ideally I'm looking for at the very minimum 3 installations without faffing around.

Then there is the deauthorisation process. That in itself can be a major pain if you need access to the computer in question to deactivate. You can usually beg the dev for another one if you run out but I prefer not being in that position. Some companies are relatively easy to authorise / deauthorise. I won't list them here and sidetrack the thread further. I'll give one quick example though: Steinberg. Relatively painless to switch over to machines that you are using at the present time from ones for whatever reason you just aren't using that much. Could it be better in certain circumstances depending on what you want to do? Yes! But no system is ideal for everyone. I think you get the picture.

And for me that is why I really like Ultra and its copy protection system. It is super easy to have as many installations as you like and just log in from a new machine when you will be using that for a while. I'm sure there are checks in place for abuse, but so far I've been switching machines around every couple of days and back and forth and not had any problems. I'm confident of installing Ultra on all my computers I use. It will be better of course when you can have 2 machines (or more) that don't force you to log in, but it's all heading in the right direction.

As a dev, you have to come up with some kind of system and I've seen far worse than this. With Ultra I can install it on every computer I'm likely to use it on, and I don't even have to log out or have access to the machine I want to deactivate - I just log in on the computer I want to use Ultra on and I'm in! Takes less than 30 seconds.

So without getting lost in the weeds about semantics and all that it means for this system the dev is currently using, that's my use case and my perspective and it should put anyone's mind at rest who is thinking about taking the plunge with this beautiful synth. I'm not forced in to deciding which of my half a dozen computers that I use regularly I have to install Ultra on. And I don't have to worry about deactivating any of those. And I don't have to worry about having access to the machine to do the deactivation either. Really, I don't see how it could be better, other than to do what some devs do (like U-He and Korg and AudioRealism and Sonic Charge) that license the software to the person not the machines you own. For me, this is the next best thing.

And the system works. No hiccups. This dev looks like he knows what he's doing, so this shouldn't be too surprising. Another thing I really like is the preset system. Do I wish it was different? Well, yes and no. After initial hesitations I've come around to it. It's got its pros and cons, and I'm really liking the pros. When I install Ultra on a new machine, all my presets are there for me in the synth when I open it up. Along with all the Factory and 3rd party soundsets I've bought of course. I don't have to be organised or transfer stuff from usb from computer to computer or over a network - they are just there for me in the cloud, as if they were local, effectively.

I would like to see the dev allow 3rd party sound designers like Simon Stockhausen be able to sell their wares from their own website. If this doesn't change it will be alienating a lot of the best preset designers because pretty much all the best ones (or a lot of them anyway) have their own websites to sell their stuff. Like Sound Author who does those amazing U-He presets - it's on Gumtree IIRC, but it's still an independent way for them to keep track.

If I remember (and please correct me if I'm wrong) the dev takes 30 percent of the payment from these sound designers so I can see why he would want to keep things that way. But I'm not sure of his long term plans. I think, or at least hope he will see this as a little short-sighted in the long run and he will open up the way these presets are handled. I'm not going to lie though, I absolutely love the way it works so far. And it is clever and it does entice you in to buy more packs or even just individual presets. It's another well thought out system that works. It's just that it's at the expense of alienating the very best of the sound designers around. I understand it might be a bit 'fiddly' or inelegant to some how recoup that 30 percent, but I'm sure that other people find a way, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

For me, this is more a synth I will be programming myself rather than relying on 3rd party sounds, but sound design is not my strongest suit and I would absolutely love to see what a genius like Simon or Sound Author could do with this little beauty. This is a synth that isn't just pretty to look at, it sounds great as well, as well as being very functional and quick and intuitive to operate.

As a way of saying thanks for the unobtrusive and super easy authorisation system, I bought some new credits tonight to buy some more presets. It cost me $20 and even though a lot of the packs don't contain an awful lot of presets, the sounds themselves are decent enough for every day use and bread and butter kind of territory, with some being handy to reverse engineer later on to get to know the synth better, so I consider them decent value. This is not a cheap synth, that goes without saying, but I'm hoping the free updates will go some way to make up for the cost. It's free updates for life as well, so when you add all that up and the fact that you can install it on as many of your computers as you want, this synth starts making a whole lot more sense and doesn't seem such bad value after all (at least at the discounted price).

I'm looking forward to the extra authorisations (without having to log in) just for convenience and time's sake. And I'm also hoping that the dev opens up the whole preset shop concept to encourage 3rd party sound designers to actually create their own unique patches for this wonderful VST (in a way that makes sense for them as well).

I think the dev is on the case and he must be super busy, but he has another talent as far as I can see, and that is the fact he is an excellent teacher and can explain his concepts very well. I wish he would make more tutorials to explain exactly what's going on under the hood with this synth and how us mere mortals can get the best out of it without tearing out too much of our hair. That is a gift in itself and I suggest you take the time to watch everything that is on his youtube channel, as sparse as it is.

To charge the kind of money the dev is asking for this synth in today's over-saturated market (even at the discounted price), it's got to be pretty special to even stand a chance. But I do think it's special, and I do think it's got a bright future. It's probably not anything most of us who collect super synths could do without - life would go on. But it's nice to have, even for us, and for a newcomer or even a semi-experienced punter who wants to up his game or just narrow his focus to a few choice workhorses, well I think that Ultra should be on that shortlist, along with Halion, say, or Zebra3, Phaseplant, Icarus, Serum...

Ultra covers a lot of ground. It's versatile and flexible and a pleasure to use. It's relatively easy to use for even a noob (well as easy as any of the super synths are). People need to test things out for themselves of course. Me? I find it hard to get my head around Serum (1 + 2) and a lot of people tout how simple that is, yet for me it's not. YMMV and IMHO and all that.

Now I'm going to go and finish selecting the rest of the patches I'm going to get to burn up my 200 credits. I got the ones I really wanted and I have about a 100 left over which should get me another few packs at least.

Hopefully after my little ramble, people can see how activating and deactivating this synth works in a real world use case. I'm not that different to many others I'm sure, with a handful of different devices that I use fairly regularly. Ultra has been very easy and straightforward to work with so far, so I can just crack on and focus on the music. Which is how it should be.

One final note: I use a VPN with a kill switch and in lock down mode, and on my main production machines this is usually off so I have no internet traffic at all in the background using up resources. Ultra works just fine without an internet connection. It doesn't seem to be phoning home, at least not on a regular basis, otherwise it just wouldn't work. I'll usually connect after a few days though so I can't say more about it than that, but no, you don't need to be connected for it to work. The synths that make you do that? Well, that's just insanity as far as I'm concerned. Using Ultra now is a very laid-back experience and couldn't be easier, and whatever minor teething problems it had on initial launch, they all seem to have been solved and things are running super smooth now (for me at least).

The whole design of this 'thing' took a lot of thought and effort to get right. And I think it's largely succeeded and can only get better. Some times it's the little touches that make you appreciate something. Tonight I also spent a bit of time (more than I should have really) editing my profile picture, as it allows you to load up whatever image you want and then do some basic editing on it to get it just right (all from within the synth). Experiment with that and you will see it subtly alters the overall background and colour contrast on that page and for when you are looking through your own personal presets. That's a nice touch for me what with having slightly dodgy eyesight - it made things easier on my eyes and not just more aesthetically pleasing. When you spend a bit of time with this synth, you come to appreciate the nice little touches like that.

[starflakeprj]

Then there is the deauthorisation process. That in itself can be a major pain if you need access to the computer in question to deactivate.

I absolutely hate when you have to email the developer and ask them to reset your activations. For me, that’s the worst system.

I don’t mind iLok personally, because it gives me more control and keeps more of my licenses under the same protection. I also use an iLok dongle, so I can easily switch between computers if needed.

But when developers don’t make it possible to reset licenses from your own account, that is beyond stupid. Ultra Audio doesn’t currently support this, but I hope they will in the future.

[TheMaestro]

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?

No, why? I want to annoy you as much as possible. Spoon-feed me more. Maybe type it slower next time so even someone as slow as me can keep up. I’m waiting, genius. Don’t stop now, your superiority complex is the most entertaining thing in this whole thread.

Still no valid arguments I see. You seem slow enough already.

[TheMaestro]

This is launching the synth in your DAW.
Is this "being logged in" clear enough for you?
And then you have to STAY logged in, or you get this screen again. Try being offline when that happens...

But what do you think being logged in does that you do not want? That's not clear to me yet.

Maybe you should read more then.
Also use two braincells on the general issue.

[TheMaestro]

User-tracking.
Relying on the other end being online.
Try "accidentally" logging out of the synth, offline, then use it. Then report back here.

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?
You don't have even one valid point of why we should need to log in to a VST, and stay logged in.

Dude, you're rather naive if you think logging in or not to a plugin makes any difference in the tracking part. The dev has stated multiple times now that after "logging in" you are supposed to use it offline. That means, you're probably logging in to a remote server to generate a token/keyfile/whatever on the client to authorize it until that thing expires (maybe the dev can confirm the TTL). Staying "logged in" in this context does not mean there is an active server side session still alive, but merely that you didn't de-authorize your client application.

It's really just semantics, most companies call it "online authorization" vs. ULTRAs "login". The real question is, if you start your DAW and load up ULTRA, do you need an active internet connection? From what the dev says the answer is no, and it really is quite easy to test.

You don't like online authorization? Fair enough - but don't pretend ULTRA is some kind of outlier here. There are really a lot of companies doing exactly the same, including Arturia, UAD, Waves, NI, IKM, D16, or even small ones like Cytomic... just to name a few. Many more if you include iLok, which also requires you to be online for the authorization process.

Another one that doesn't understand.
Does any other of those plugins you mention require to log in to the plugin itself, require you to STAY logged in, and if you log out and is offline you can't use them?

And no one said "supposed to use it offline". That's just even sillier.

[TheMaestro]

User-tracking.
Relying on the other end being online.
Try "accidentally" logging out of the synth, offline, then use it. Then report back here.

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?
You don't have even one valid point of why we should need to log in to a VST, and stay logged in.

Dude, you're rather naive if you think logging in or not to a plugin makes any difference in the tracking part. The dev has stated multiple times now that after "logging in" you are supposed to use it offline. That means, you're probably logging in to a remote server to generate a token/keyfile/whatever on the client to authorize it until that thing expires (maybe the dev can confirm the TTL). Staying "logged in" in this context does not mean there is an active server side session still alive, but merely that you didn't de-authorize your client application.

It's really just semantics, most companies call it "online authorization" vs. ULTRAs "login". The real question is, if you start your DAW and load up ULTRA, do you need an active internet connection? From what the dev says the answer is no, and it really is quite easy to test.

You don't like online authorization? Fair enough - but don't pretend ULTRA is some kind of outlier here. There are really a lot of companies doing exactly the same, including Arturia, UAD, Waves, NI, IKM, D16, or even small ones like Cytomic... just to name a few. Many more if you include iLok, which also requires you to be online for the authorization process.

But but but, what if you log out before you go offline? Like you just can’t help yourself and are compelled to hit the log out just before going offline and then you need to use it while offline. THEN WHAT? Do you need this spelled out for you or something???!! If you do I’m not here to explain to you, only to argue.

You can just say out loud that you don't understand, and just want to argue.
I wont judge you.

[TheMaestro]

And still nothing from the developer.
Wonder why...

[starflakeprj]

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?

No, why? I want to annoy you as much as possible. Spoon-feed me more. Maybe type it slower next time so even someone as slow as me can keep up. I’m waiting, genius. Don’t stop now, your superiority complex is the most entertaining thing in this whole thread.

Still no valid arguments I see. You seem slow enough already.

I honestly feel sorry for you.

[TheMaestro]

Should I stop, or do you need to be spoon-fed even more?

No, why? I want to annoy you as much as possible. Spoon-feed me more. Maybe type it slower next time so even someone as slow as me can keep up. I’m waiting, genius. Don’t stop now, your superiority complex is the most entertaining thing in this whole thread.

Still no valid arguments I see. You seem slow enough already.

I honestly feel sorry for you.

So still nothing. Gotcha.