Dongle / Pace / CR Free Plugs - what is your short list?

[Bill OC]

I agree with this thread! (Although it's probably, ah, "spitting" against the wind.)

The biggest fly in the ointment remains Windows XP, which requires authorization. Windows 2k is starting to get a little "iffy" here and there.

Orchestral instruments are tough, too--although there are some good SFs from Papel Music and Sonic Implants. And, if you still have HALion 2 (no authorization), Wizoo Sounds is pretty good. I think VSampler would cover those, too. Sampletekk has a very good no copy-protection collection of brass samples...

[Hink]

still it beats the hell out of spending hours recording to a cassette tape only to come up with a nice demo of mud, hiss and noise, or worse....have the tape break....

Or going for the river to get yourself drinking water...

The times when I can haul water from a spring and chop firewood are the high points of life, its most memorable moments.

yeah I agree, many fine times spent at my cabin in maine splitting firewood, chopping through the ice for water, melting snow...it's funny (I guess cause I grew up a country boy) how much beauty you can see on the way to and from the river...it's just a matter of vision...

Of course we were on a lake and went up into the woods to a spring (see if you can hold that gallon jug under water until it fills, no matter how hot the air may be, that spring is c,c,c,cold)...

[EnzymeX]

yeah, stop using software you have paid for that uses protection you don't like...that'll show em...brilliant

If you really want to show them, just stop upgrading!

I'll use my protected stuff as long as I can, but I'm rendering everything to audio in case the companies go under.

[EnzymeX]

I agree with this thread! (Although it's probably, ah, "spitting" against the wind.)

The biggest fly in the ointment remains Windows XP, which requires authorization. Windows 2k is starting to get a little "iffy" here and there.

Orchestral instruments are tough, too--although there are some good SFs from Papel Music and Sonic Implants. And, if you still have HALion 2 (no authorization), Wizoo Sounds is pretty good. I think VSampler would cover those, too. Sampletekk has a very good no copy-protection collection of brass samples...

I hear Cakewalk's Dimension Pro comes with Garritan Pocket Orchestra as well.

[Bradster]

I hear Cakewalk's Dimension Pro comes with Garritan Pocket Orchestra as well.

It does, and it's rumored that the full GPO will be available soon in .SFZ format (hopefully as an upgrade to DP users).

[Bill OC]

I hear Cakewalk's Dimension Pro comes with Garritan Pocket Orchestra as well.

That's good to know.

As long as many of the independent "shareware" companies and companies like Cakewalk steer clear of stringent copy protection, there is still hope that I won't end up playing a kazoo into a Tascam four-track.

[JackDark]

Any sort of installation program at all is the devil. Unzip and plop in the directory manually, says I. Damn the registry, damn it, damn it to hades.

[Ildon]

My list is really, really short.

-Sonar Home Studio 2
-Edirol Hyper Canvas (you need to pop the disc in the drive every 30th time you use it or so, not a big deal)
-Edirol Virtual Sound Canvas
-rgc:audio sfz (I hardly ever use this)

I bought MOTU Symphonic Instrument a while back. It was my first dongle. Never again! I wouldn't even sell MOTU Symphonic Instrument. I'd feel bad.

[friteuse]

My fav. dongle/cr-free plugins I own are:

- PSP MixPack, PSP42/84, PSP Nitro
- Kjaerhus MPL-1
- ArtsAcoustic Reverb
- Sonalksis EQ/Compressor
- Scarbee VKFX

However, I have a bunch of plugins that use c/r, iLok or Synchrosoft and I have not so much trouble with them. Most annoying thing for me yet is that dongled plugins take so much time when instancing them. But I'm really scared what happens when I have to upgrade my system a day or something else goes wrong. God bless.

My personal opinion is that all this copy protection crap brings just nothing for the plugin developers, but a lot of money for the dongle manufactors. However, it wouldn't be a reason for me, not to buy a dongled plugin when I like it a lot or need it and there wouldn't be any alternatives. When I have the choice, I always prefer the undongled plugins or those with the least copy protection pain...

[EnzymeX]

This thread on the Reaper forum made me aware of a couple of gems. All are Pace, c/r, and dongle free:

http://www.cockos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=563

Let's keep this thread going!

[Hink]

gforce retro pack, vsampler, ext, fl, aa, sonar5, voxengo, I'd say B4II but for me registering the upgrade was a pain...I never minded needing the disk once in a while before...but then it's no problem now...

[aallvor]

*cough*hardware*cough*

[TVD]

yeah, stop using software you have paid for that uses protection you don't like...that'll show em...brilliant

Sarcasm aside, I have a fair amount of software and I'm not using much freeware at all...only AVOX uses ilok...everything else is no in trusive, asspain or lame protection...this includes (but not all that I own)

FL6
AA2.0
eXT
Vsampler
DFHs
DFH1
lot's of voxengo
Sonar5
G-force retro pack
B4II
Sytrus
Camelphat

and much more I dont feel like straining my brain over

my only rule is, I wont buy a dongle to demo anything..fwiw when and where I grew up we didn't need to lock our doors....I hate the fact that I have to now...it's a pain in the ass having to fumble with keys for my car locks when my arms are full of purchases...I don't like having to lock a bike up when I run into a store for some h2o...I really hate listening to car alarms going off all the time because people fear theft...I don't like cameras pointing at me everywhere I shop to ensure I don't steal...I would like to pay for gas after I pump it so I don't need to make two trips to the cashier....along the same line, it would be nice to get my food at the drive through before I pay them (not that it matters much)...I would like to go into the bank who I trust with all my money and not have to use a pen chained to the counter because I can't be trusted...but none of those things will change and I can't go without food, shelter, transportation...I hate being herded like elephants through turnstyles to make sure I pay my fare..certain things I find very offensive I have to put up with because some people are even more offensive and too dishonest to care. I suppose I could spend my time complaining about the need for security, but then I want to spend my life happy...not some miserable hermit sitting in a rocking chair with a 12 gauge defending my property.

The same holds true for software, even though I really do not suffer from protection issues even having to save all serial numbers, passwords and codes (which I would have to do with hardware to because if it ever got stolen I need it for the police report) that's the way it is...just like I'm not going to go without shelter over a hate for not trusting people, I'm not going to deprive myself from the benefits of protected software over their protection.

It's got to be obvious even to the blindest people on the subject that because the protection causes troubles with their system doesn't mean the problem lies in the protection. In fact you only here about the problems, not the successes. A lot of dongled software is being used these days, it must be working for someone. So if I buy software and there is an issue, I think common sense suggests that the protection is conflicting with something in my system. If the protection has a conflict perhaps one day something else will too...so why blame the protection, find out what the issue is and fix it...it could be as simple as moving your video card to another slot...and who knows you might even learn something a long the way...yeah it sux having protection...yeah it's a pain in the ass if you get a new pc or hard drive...but then so is installing all the software again...so I just cope with it...this constant complaining is going to be the joke catch phrase of the future...btw at the turn of the century I didn't have any of this computer stuff...I wonder what I will own five years from now and I'm not going to get upset worrying about it

fwiw,
like I said, I would not by a dongle for trying something...but I would be willing to put a deposit on a dongle if they would be willing...

So Hink, you quit using Sonar (again!)?

[Hink]

huh? I didn't say that...I open it at least once a month

[BERFAB]

...still it beats the hell out of spending hours recording to a cassette tape only to come up with a nice demo of mud, hiss and noise, or worse....have the tape break....

Right on target. Maybe it's the perspective of having done this for so long, but I just can't get that worked up over copy protection schemes. Software is easy to duplicate, and coders have a right (obligation?) to try to somehow protect their work.

For me, this is a small price to pay for whiz-bang convenience that the technology allows me. Early hardware samplers took HOURS to complete what any DAW of today can accomplish in seconds. And anyone who actually prefers cutting tape to clicking a mouse needs their head examined.

Just sayin'.

-B