Anyone use an iLok dongle?

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
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MrFigg
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14 Nov 2021

Took a look at my plugins and it would seem I've got a good few of them on iLok. In the event of a world crash I could live without them, for the most part in any case, but was curious if anyone here was using/ has previously used an iLok dongle?
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Neo
Posts: 487
Joined: 21 May 2015
Location: Melbourne Australia

14 Nov 2021

Thanks to our unreliable NBN (National Broadband Network) AKA No Bloody Network here in Australia I ended up buying one. Im sure I paid around 75$AUD for a Pace iLok 3rd Gen.
:reason: :re: :ignition: Atari 1040ST | R11 Suite 🡭 R12 | i7 | RME

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MrFigg
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14 Nov 2021

Neo wrote:
14 Nov 2021
Thanks to our unreliable NBN (National Broadband Network) AKA No Bloody Network here in Australia I ended up buying one. Im sure I paid around 75$AUD for a Pace iLok 3rd Gen.
But it works as it should?
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huggermugger
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14 Nov 2021

I used to use one, it worked fine but I had to be careful not to lose or misplace it of course. Now I use computer or cloud iLok authorization, and it works beautifully.

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Billy+
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Joined: 09 Dec 2016

14 Nov 2021

I've got one somewhere but I don't put licensing on it I use the manager instead, it all works and most ilok software should work using just the manager which is free and doesn't require any actual hardware dongle.

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MrFigg
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14 Nov 2021

Ok thanks. I just got that lurking paranoia which rears it’s head sometimes. The one where my pc packs in and the licenses get eaten. I’m pretty sure there’s no need to concern myself.
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Billy+
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14 Nov 2021

MrFigg wrote:
14 Nov 2021
Ok thanks. I just got that lurking paranoia which rears it’s head sometimes. The one where my pc packs in and the licenses get eaten. I’m pretty sure there’s no need to concern myself.
If you are using ilok it's basically like ignition where by the license is added to the ilok account so you just use the manager to login and can then access your license information, when you get a license you will need to add it to the account during activation.

Even though I don't particularly like using these systems it's actually less problematic than ignition and much more popular than e-license which is one reason why I've always refrained from buying anything that relies on e-license dongles which now looks like getting removed from the market at cost to the users (glad I dodged that)

When I tried something awhile back that needed ilok after setting the manager up it restored an old protools license that I had completely forgot about so on that alone I feel better about trusting it even though I don't like the idea in general.

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DaveyG
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Joined: 03 May 2020

14 Nov 2021

I used to used an iLok dongle. Now I use the software equivalent. Once you have authorised a PC you never need to be online again unless you want to add or remove a licence. Most iLok-ed things come with more than one activation so if your PC explodes, gets stolen or sinks into a swamp you can go again with another activation.

Unlike the flaky RS licenser, the iLok one stays in the same state as you last left it. I've never had to re-authorise anything in iLok whereas with Reason I regularly have to "Sync All" for no good reason. It did it to me yesterday. I had no trials, rentals or changed REs but suddenly it was prompting me to login again. It never used to be this flaky so RS have changed something at their end. It's a bit shit really.

So iLok good, Codemeter bad.

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jam-s
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Location: Aachen, Germany
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14 Nov 2021

The hardware iLok is basically a bet on what's more likely to happen:

a) your PC burns down/corrupts/gets stolen while your licenses are authorised to it --> licenses gone
b) your iLok gets stolen/destroyed --> licenses gone

(You can pay iLok some protection money to have some kind of recovery service for these events, thou.)

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DaveyG
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14 Nov 2021

jam-s wrote:
14 Nov 2021
(You can pay iLok some protection money to have some kind of recovery service for these events, thou.)
I had a friend of a friend who did that. iLok did eventually honour the deal but it took them weeks, which meant that he ended up buying a couple of licences for stuff he already owned in order to finish the project he was working on for a client. He is no longer a fan of iLok and is not shy about telling everyone he meets. Customer bad service.

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Neo
Posts: 487
Joined: 21 May 2015
Location: Melbourne Australia

14 Nov 2021

MrFigg wrote:
14 Nov 2021
Neo wrote:
14 Nov 2021
Thanks to our unreliable NBN (National Broadband Network) AKA No Bloody Network here in Australia I ended up buying one. Im sure I paid around 75$AUD for a Pace iLok 3rd Gen.
But it works as it should?
Yes. No issues.
:reason: :re: :ignition: Atari 1040ST | R11 Suite 🡭 R12 | i7 | RME

danc
Posts: 1017
Joined: 14 Oct 2016

15 Nov 2021

All my iLok licences are stored on a dongle and it's been rock-solid for years and years. It's been stuck in a 10-port USB hub and I don't even think about it - it just silently does its thing. These days I'm not sure I would buy one now that there's a cloud based offering. But at least if my PC goes bang I won't need to deal with setting up all the licences again.
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LABONERECORDINGS
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Location: UK
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15 Nov 2021

Yep we use ilok, e-license (Cubase mainly), Codemeter (Reason Key) and a USB stock for Waves plugins, so we can virtually plug in across the airwaves. We use Virtualhere and connect the keys into our NAS, then we 'look-up' our dedicated server address then we can virtually plug in the keys remotely, so we never have to take them out of the studio. Handy as hell. All the dongle softwares work fine (Cubase has a bit of an 'episode' with Audio Alignment adding readin gthe key but we unplug then replug virtually then Cubase plays ball)

296 licenses (a few doubles in there) on the ilok, we're more than happy :D Gas? sure... where we go, we don't need... roads

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MrFigg
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15 Nov 2021

It surely was a mixture of panic and GAS which was making me think of getting one. Once I realised that, I channeled my GAS elsewhere and ended up buying other stuff for 10 times as much. Usch! :)
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DaveyG
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15 Nov 2021

MrFigg wrote:
15 Nov 2021
It surely was a mixture of panic and GAS which was making me think of getting one. Once I realised that, I channeled my GAS elsewhere and ended up buying other stuff for 10 times as much. Usch! :)
That's experience that is. A rookie GASer might have jumped at the first thing they could think of but a battle-hardened GASer such as yourself knows that there is always something else more expensive that you also don't need. :clap:

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MrFigg
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15 Nov 2021

DaveyG wrote:
15 Nov 2021
MrFigg wrote:
15 Nov 2021
It surely was a mixture of panic and GAS which was making me think of getting one. Once I realised that, I channeled my GAS elsewhere and ended up buying other stuff for 10 times as much. Usch! :)
That's experience that is. A rookie GASer might have jumped at the first thing they could think of but a battle-hardened GASer such as yourself knows that there is always something else more expensive that you also don't need. :clap:
In the half hour I’ve been waiting for my daughter to have her violin lesson I’ve found a half a dozen more things I don’t need. :)
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tronam
Posts: 486
Joined: 04 Mar 2015

17 Nov 2021

I have 90 iLok plugins on hardware key and love the simplicity of it. Since most devs provide 2 or 3 licenses per plugin, I can either use them on a 2nd system with machine authorization or keep them as cloud backups in case my USB key is lost or stolen. I resisted iLok for years, but now find it to be one of my favorite CP schemes for how convenient and easy it is to move licenses around.
Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilized into time and tune.

kitekrazy
Posts: 1036
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

27 Nov 2021

huggermugger wrote:
14 Nov 2021
I used to use one, it worked fine but I had to be careful not to lose or misplace it of course. Now I use computer or cloud iLok authorization, and it works beautifully.
I went hack to the hardware. One time I upgraded a system and had to contact every developer to have my license reset.

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