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"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
There are some in the community that maintain a whole lot of 'never gonna happen' loyalist ideas about Propellerheads, yet the unexpected has happened for two instances in the space of six months.

1. Backwards Compatibility will be redundant when the original amp sims are gone.
2. They are deleting the forum.

So what's next ? VST hosting gets a bit of the 'nevers'. But my concern is that if the company flops, that we will lose the ability to reinstall and authorise our licences. These turn of events, coupled with the desperation shown by all the spam emails about Reason 8, the ridiculously good-value new user bundle, and the somewhat strange idea that a hosting service for poor quality MP3's would be an enticement, make me think I will stop buying Rack Extensions. There's one last must-have for me (JP's Hammond simulator) but after that I will be focusing on using my existing arsenal to tools. Reason is already a powerful DAW for my requirements, and I have about 15 RE's already so I think it's time to play it safe and stop buying. Sorry to the developers.

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by zeebot
I think the phrase 'VST' should be banned from this forum :)

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by avasopht
Backwards compatibility was not Propellerhead's choice. They were foolish in the agreement made with Line6 that allowed them to be able to pull out. I asked Propellerhead for a response to whether Rack Extensions could suffer the same fate, and they gave this response to share, "Rack Extensions are not Line6 devices." I happen to know more details that I cannot share because of NDA, but I wouldn't be using Reason if I feared I might not have access to Rack Extensions I have purchased (nah'mean).

zeebot wrote:I think the phrase #### should be banned from this forum :)
What is #### ;)

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
zeebot wrote:I think the phrase 'VST' should be banned from this forum :)
After using Cubase for a while, I have decided that unless Reason goes kaput, I have no interest in learning new software. And I find that the floating window VST's are messy, compared to the elegance of rack-mounted tools. I'm also not inclined to have to deal with multiple developer auth methods every time I do an OS reinstall. This isn't really a thread about VST, because I don't own any. It's about people clinging to the 'it'll never happen' idealism, when there's lot's of serious stuff that's happened of which nobody would have dreamed of in the past.

I did try a few guitar amp sims because I don't feel too connected to either the Line 6 or the Kuassa tones. I didn't find any nice ones in Cubase or VST either, although the Blackmore tone is OK. So I figure it's just the nature of the beast, and that all amp software sounds unconvincing. It's reinforced my decision to buy more hardware in future.

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
avasopht wrote:Backwards compatibility was not Propellerhead's choice. They were foolish in the agreement made with Line6 that allowed them to be able to pull out. I asked Propellerhead for a response to whether Rack Extensions could suffer the same fate, and they gave this response to share, "Rack Extensions are not Line6 devices." I happen to know more details that I cannot share because of NDA, but I wouldn't be using Reason if I feared I might not have access to Rack Extensions I have purchased (nah'mean).
While I touched on a few topics in the OP, I'm not comparing the Line 6 demise to the uncertainty of un-authorisable products. I have no doubt if an individual developer pulls out, then Propellerheads will still honour the license. I think one such instance already exists.

My concern is if the authorization server simply disappeared, then I would be only one OS reboot away from a redundant product. It's happened with other Devs apparently, so the 'will never happen' crowd cannot speak with any confidence. Is it likely? Probably not. Is it possible? Absolutely.

If there is a workaround to use both the DAW and Rack Extensions to use without authorizing the product, it should be common knowledge. That said, I don't expect you to elaborate if you're bound by a disclosure clause.

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by normen
Well for any software if it stops being developed you basically have to try and preserve a complete set of hardware and software. If you unlock the software on your current system it will run forever on that system. But after some years you won't even be able to buy the same hardware and OS to be able to run that software anyway. Just like I can't run my copy of ProTools TDM anymore because I can't buy a PowerPC Mac anymore :) I'm sure everybody has some old floppy of some software floating around that they paid some decent amount of money for some years ago but that simply won't run anymore on any current system. Software has never really been an investment that carries over for years. So to me factually theres not much difference in this case.

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
normen wrote:Well for any software if it stops being developed you basically have to try and preserve a complete set of hardware and software. If you unlock the software on your current system it will run forever on that system.
If I'm understanding how the anti-copyright keys work with Reason, it's impossible to run in full featured mode (ie being able to re-open rns files) without authorising everything. So I can only 'preserve' the software as a current installation. Being that I completely strip my OS and do a reinstall every six months as a security protocol, I would be, at most, only 24 weeks away from redundancy.

normen wrote: But after some years you won't even be able to buy the same hardware and OS to be able to run that software anyway. Just like I can't run my copy of ProTools TDM anymore because I can't buy a PowerPC Mac anymore
That's a salient point you're making here, but old Windows computers will be around for decades after they become redundant. If I wanted to run Reason 7 in 2025, I could pick one up for a few dollars. If of course I could authorise the software !

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by jfrichards
People being ripped off by the cutthroat planned obsolescence of computer hardware and software?!?!  Say it isn't true!!!!  I can't imagine such a horror.  (note to self: do not throw away the Akai DPS16 in the flight case in the basement)

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
Good to know there's a solution, George. Perhaps I should try and find your thread and back things up, or do whatever needs to be done. Not quite sure how it would work, but I'll work it out.

PSoames wrote: Yup, never say never, but also, I'll worry about it when it happens.
Howdy. I'm not worried as such, but it's changing the way I'll be spending my disposable income on studio toys in future. Which is not a bad thing... I don't need even more distractions from songwriting. I curse Jiggery Pokery daily for making such a great delay device that keeps me from actually doing anything but jamming with guitar using the reverse patches.
PSoames wrote:For me, given everything I've seen and they way the market and technology are going; I can see a time when the Reason sequencer is pushed out into the cloud. The mixer, racks etc will be on our mobile devices, the tunes will be out there for storage and sharing.
The idea of tablet based production is very unappealing. Small, fiddly operation. I'm already having trouble with the size of the graphics on RE's and I'm using a 27 inch screen. As for the sharing, I suspect Discover isn't really taking off. I don't know how popular collaborations are, on a percentage basis.



"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
jfrichards wrote:People being ripped off by the cutthroat planned obsolescence of computer hardware and software?!?!  Say it isn't true!!!!  I can't imagine such a horror.  (note to self: do not throw away the Akai DPS16 in the flight case in the basement)
We are guitarists, so shall survive the end of days :thumbup:

Unless Propellerhead own the string manufacturers.

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by Namahs Amrak
PSoames wrote: It is excellent. My old Steve Hillage album collection is once again turning and being listened to as reference material.
Have you heard a recent album he did with a Japanese prog band called ROVO? It's very different to the 'L' period of course, but well worth a listen.

You've just inspired my playlist for tomorrow. It's going to be a Gong marathon.

"It's Never Going to Happen"

Posted: 17 Jan 2015
by ScuzzyEye
GeorgeFeb wrote:I tested pretty much every possible mode! :D
This only works if you have an Ignition Key or Balance. If you're using a soft key stored on the computer, and/or online authorization, you won't be able to run on a new computer if the Props' server goes away.

People who purchase Reason as a digital download don't get an Ignition Key. I do recommend buying an Ignition Key, if you don't have one. https://shop.propellerheads.se/product/ ... ition-key/ But buying an extra is only slightly useful, as you have to de-auth the old one before a new one can be added. If the old one is lost, that de-auth process involves intervention from the Props.