marcL Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 It seems that IK hasĀ removed offline authorization secretly! <rant> Generally I don't put theirĀ decision into question, butĀ absolutely I have to comment the how! It seems that in their company theĀ leftĀ handĀ doesn'tĀ knowĀ whatĀ theĀ rightĀ handĀ isĀ doing. In the FAQ and in the documentations you still find the instructions for doing offline authorization! Also the support tells you some cloudy,Ā abstruse things about offline authorization ("What App do you want to authorize? and you know that in the first step it is not relevant.Ā - Newer products (available for a lot of years!) cannot be offline authorized anymore. - ...). IMO you cannot trust in such a company anymore! They are not capable to organize their things! I am just glad that I did not invest in their T-Racks lately (I nearly did)! Also looking at their strange software implementations in T-Racks and Amplitude raises hackles! You always have to install the full package even if you only own a fraction of the modules (It is not only the installer, but also the installed files: 1 T-Racks module > 2 GB)! And they tell you the whole time that the product is updated when only new modules have been added! And looking at such companies I wonder why some people attach importance to support? It's almost useless IMO! Regrettably another company that gets on my "not-to-buy-anymore" list!</rant> 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, MarcL said: It seems that IK hasĀ removed offline authorization secretly! To me it looks more like a process in time with regard to changes they've undertaken to authorization managers of their software. 3 hours ago, MarcL said: In the FAQ and in the documentations you still find the instructions for doing offline authorization! Also the support tells you some cloudy,Ā abstruse things about offline authorization ("What App do you want to authorize? and you know that in the first step it is not relevant.Ā - Newer products (available for a lot of years!) cannot be offline authorized anymore. - ...). Exactly my point there. With time, they have moved over from the old type of authorization manager that handled both, the online and offline authorizations, to the newer Product Manager that seems to work just online, sucks I know. Also that's why all the questions in the first about which exactly app you're trying to authorize because with all that mess now it seems relevant, otherwise it won't work if you try the wrong way. There's this paradigm shift now onto everything online and subscription and perhaps we users don't do much enough to express our objection, or maybe there is already enough acceptance in the amount of customers taking theĀ offer. 3 hours ago, MarcL said: Also looking at their strange software implementations in T-Racks and Amplitude raises hackles! You always have to install the full package even if you only own a fraction of the modules (It is not only the installer, but also the installed files: 1 T-Racks module > 2 GB)! And they tell you the whole time that the product is updated when only new modules have been added! Well, to me the T-Racks suite is great, if not a bit too CPU intensive, and I'm too long with these products now that I'm just used to all be bizarries. I think if you're new user then you might need to weight for yourself the pros and cons of having a good sounding and quite versatile suite of effects that will come with a convoluted way of installing tied to it. The download alone is over 2GB (edit: as you pointed out promptly). Guess the new IK Product Manager had been introduced to simplify the authorization process, at the same time bringing a harm to users like us that would want an offline method, you can't please everyonešš. 3 hours ago, MarcL said: And looking at such companies I wonder why some people attach importance to support? It's almost useless IMO! Yeah in my case they've eventually (wish some push ) been helpful with some sales or account issues but never got to resolve a bug I reported. I've seen other users saying their bug fixes were done so there's that. Edited June 13, 2023 by chris.r 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Dang, IK! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfrobert Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) I like their vintage style plugins. However, I am doing most of my work on a weak notebook, and they are a bit heavy on the CPU so I can't use many of them. Any ideas on lighter alternatives to T-Racks? Regarding authorization, installation etc , I've given up on this company. Hot mess, nothing else.Ā Edited June 13, 2023 by ralfrobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, ralfrobert said: Any ideas on lighter alternatives to T-Racks? Plugin Alliance comes first to mind, especially great when on sale!Ā I always thought Slate plugins are the direct competitor to T-Racks but they were always dongle'd so I avoided them until today, not sure it's still the case but for me too late. So I can't say if they are lighter or not since I don't have any. Edited June 13, 2023 by chris.r 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfrobert Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Just now, chris.r said: Plugin Alliance comes first to mind, especially great when on sale!Ā I always thought Slate plugins are the direct competitor to T-Racks but they were always dongle'd so I avoided them until today, not sure it's still the case but for me too late. Good idea... I have to check my PA account and see what I have, give the plugins a spin and investigate. Sometimes I am blind to what I already own... Weird. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 LOL, same here. I just spotted old Fix Phaser license in my iLok account, when installing a fresh new oneĀ š Ā ...but the price was so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 8 minutes ago, chris.r said: Plugin Alliance comes first to mind, especially great when on sale!Ā I always thought Slate plugins are the direct competitor to T-Racks but they were always dongle'd so I avoided them until today, not sure it's still the case but for me too late. So I can't say if they are lighter or not since I don't have any. Slate is still iLok, but without the dongle if youāre on their sub.Ā Theyāre my favorite rack.Ā 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfrobert Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, Fleer said: Slate is still iLok, but without the dongle if youāre on their sub.Ā Theyāre my favorite rack.Ā I completely avoid ilok and subscriptions, so Slate is not an option. Sadly, as they are light on the CPU and very powerful.Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 3 minutes ago, Fleer said: if youāre on their sub.Ā Acha! ... no I don't do subs. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 4 minutes ago, chris.r said: Acha! ... no I don't do subs. Me neither Got them āperpetualā ones (on the dongle).Ā 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) One thing I'm trying, since the prices are much more accessible over last couple years, is to build an alternative plugin collection to the online only ones, that I can install and authorize any time with a simple license file on disk, so that I can even go back to the idea of building a completely offline workstation one day shouldĀ I get fed up with subs and the like. There is quite a broad variety of choices there: United Plugins is giving best prices when on intro sale AudioThing have some intriguing plugins to look for Audiority good for some vintage flava Boz... can't be sure if it's challenge/response? Melda Productions maybe not exactly into vintage but very versatile Final Mix Software for quick effect Hornet Harrison, but some of them are buggy on my system Kazrog Klevgrand Overloud Sknote (didn't use them in long time though, but sound great once they work) ...and then there's a bunch of challenge/response type of plugins that need internet at least for authorizing,Ā like Baby Audio or denise, Cherry Audio being probably worst of them because I can't see how I can install it offline - it's impossible! Edited June 13, 2023 by chris.r 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfrobert Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 We should open a dedicated thread on these "independence plugins". Or does this already exist? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Not of that specific FWIK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno de Souza Lino Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 This is clearly a response against piracy measures although I don't see what makes them think they'll accomplish anything because Waves plugins use an even more complicated scheme and they've been successfully cracked, so does uhe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralfrobert Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 I put the off topic stuff here: So we can get back to IKM in this thread.Ā 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcL Posted June 13, 2023 Author Share Posted June 13, 2023 5 hours ago, chris.r said: Well, to me the T-Racks suite is great, if not a bit too CPU intensive, and I'm too long with these products now that I'm just used to all be bizarries. I think if you're new user then you might need to weight for yourself the pros and cons of having a good sounding and quite versatile suite of effects that will come with a convoluted way of installing tied to it. The download alone is over 2GB (edit: as you pointed out promptly). Guess the new IK Product Manager had been introduced to simplify the authorization process, at the same time bringing a harm to users like us that would want an offline method, you can't please everyonešš. Regrettably it is not only the installer (download) that is that big! I could accept that. Even if you install only ONE SINGLE plugin you get over 2GB on your drive, the most are not the plugins files themselves (vst3/dll, you can delete the ones you don't need), but there is a common base (.pak) in "Program Files" that's about 1.7 GB!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
projectm Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 I got rid of all my IK stuff years ago. Never really missed any of it. Seems Iāve saved myself a lot of headachesā¦ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno de Souza Lino Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 3 minutes ago, MarcL said: Regrettably it is not only the installer (download) that is that big! I could accept that. Even if you install only ONE SINGLE plugin you get over 2GB on your drive, the most are not the plugins files themselves (vst3/dll, you can delete the ones you don't need), but there is a common base (.pak) in "Program Files" that's about 1.7 GB!!! The worst offenders of that are Amplitube and TONEX, the latter will happily install all the training models and other stuff along with it regardless of which version you have and that amounts to a nice 7 GB of stuff. For the free version is worse because you're forced to give 7 GB of stuff for maybe two dozen presets you can only do minor tweaks on. And this is the annoying part of having those licensing schemes. Where are the fixes for the bugs people keep complaining about? Is their development time entirely dedicated to copy protection now? Cause I was using a plugin last time I checked and not an antivirus or other protection related stuff. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 12 minutes ago, MarcL said: Regrettably it is not only the installer (download) that is that big! I could accept that. Even if you install only ONE SINGLE plugin you get over 2GB on your drive, the most are not the plugins files themselves (vst3/dll, you can delete the ones you don't need), but there is a common base (.pak) in "Program Files" that's about 1.7 GB!!! From what I understand the big file is bitmapsĀ for allĀ plugins....? I agree altogether it's bloatware but because early on I did start with IK instead of Slate, I'm keeping with them nowĀ even though the loss of space is more and more painful. If only they were bit more CPU efficient. I like the sound though Ā 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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