Reason 12 is prob my last unless they add offline authorisation.

[fuego]

I’ve been using reason since 2.0. I have version 12 now.

One and only request is to be able to authorise reason 12 completely offline and use it indefinitely. I dumped version 10 running on 10.8 Mac OS on a Mac mini 2012.

I hate the fact that I was made to upgrade because the authorisation servers are gone.

I like to keep my music pc and gear in the state it works/worked best. And often disconnected from internet. And man do I hate the idea of pripellerheads taking away my ability to use what I’ve bought.

[esme]

offline authrize lasts 1 year

[fuego]

offline authrize lasts 1 year

See, this is exactly what I mean. Even this is a gimmick.

Why not forever?

For example I can wipe my MacOS9 mac and clean install reason 2 in 2024 no problem and start making music.

I know my reason versions from 7 and 10 which I own are completely useless atm.

[avasopht]

See, this is exactly what I mean. Even this is a gimmick.

Why not forever?

For example I can wipe my MacOS9 mac and clean install reason 2 in 2024 no problem and start making music.

I know my reason versions from 7 and 10 which I own are completely useless atm.

Probably because it's just not feasible now and results in thousands of support requests every year whenever users ...:
1. Get a new computer and forget to deactivate (and thought they had deactivated).
2. Reset their computer because of a virus, performance or data integrity issues.
3. The hard-drive fails so they had to reinstall Windows.
4. They've upgraded their hard-drive size (or upgraded from HDD to SSD) but didn't deactivate.
5. ... and so on.

Many things I use do the same thing.

It is a problem if any 1 of the 30 plugins you use suddenly does not work when you need it (especially if performing live), so they need to allow some sort of grace of a day or so of use the first time you use it after the activation expires.



I can't tell you how many times I've had to ask for an activation to be restored due to a botched deactivation of one of the many plugins I have activated.



It's a shame we lost Ignition.



But it's not 2005 anymore.

Maybe they'll soon migrate to a Passkey assigned to your OS or something.

[esme]

nothing is forever

[Tiefflieger Rüdiger]

offline authrize lasts 1 year

Offline authorisation means that the software being authorised is on a computer without any internet connection. Reason doesn't offer that. They just offer offline use for a year. To activate this, your computer needs to be online and contact their servers.

I hate the fact that I was made to upgrade because the authorisation servers are gone.

OK, that's quite bad? Other companies like u-he, FabFilter or Cockos just give you a personal key that you can use to activate the plugin. This works even when offline and forever.

But willingly and knowingly disabling the activation system for a software that you bought sounds very anti-consumer. They basically used their copy protection to force you to buy an upgrade you didn't need.

[kitekrazy]

That was the beauty of dongles unless they are proprietary ones like Reason had. If it were iLok that would solve some problems. Developers are making it difficult to be completely offline. Sure some still allow the option but can make it less desirable.

[Billy+]

That was the beauty of dongles unless they are proprietary ones like Reason had. If it were iLok that would solve some problems. Developers are making it difficult to be completely offline. Sure some still allow the option but can make it less desirable.

i cant remember the last time i had to install spire vst, but i do know is that i can download the latest version and use my saved license file to authorize the software and it just works - thats what i want reason to be like.

i dont care that i have loads of re's i would gladly keep the license files safe.

[esme]

offline authoristion that lasts one year is offline authoristion that last one year
nothing last forever

[avasopht]

If they've taken down the authorisation servers they are obligated to make it freely available or at the very least, hassle free for paid users to access.

I missed that part.

[Tiefflieger Rüdiger]

If they've taken down the authorisation servers they are obligated to make it freely available or at the very least, hassle free for paid users to access.

I missed that part.

So essentially even buying Reason at full price is a subscription and Reason Studios are the ones deciding when your subscription ends.

[avasopht]

For clarity: https://help.reasonstudios.com/hc/en-us ... nd-earlier

It says Online authorization is available for Reason 8 and above (suggesting it's not available for Record and Reason 6-7).



The problem of rolling out your own authentication server is that you must maintain it. That means applying security patches and upgrades. It might require maintaining codebases with different version of the build system.



On one hand Reason 7 came out over 10 years ago, so a lack of support could be forgiven. On the other hand, giving a free upgrade to the earliest supported version is good customer support and relations.

[ShadowMatriks]

offline authoristion that lasts one year is offline authoristion that last one year
nothing last forever

Unless I did something wrong it didn't fully work for me. When I had no internet Reason 12 crackled every time I used it. Once connected it was back to normal, no more audio dropouts.

[OverneathTheSkyBridg]

Reason 12 is my off ramp, but for different reasons. It allows me to take everything I purchased with me to another DAW (probably Ableton). It's also pretty solid as a standalone DAW, so I'll likely use it in this capacity for some time to come. The browser addition was a definite turn off for me, and the new devices don't really compete with the third party stuff I've already bought. Reason rocks though, I hope they find a way to win people back. Maybe their internal data is telling us more than we know on the internet about what customers want.

[Rakun]

Sorry for resurrecting this. I just got back into Reason full force after quite a while even though I owned almost every version since version 2. I now have the 13 and can't stop thinking what will happen if Reason Studios goes under. I don't so much mind the policy they have now, but they will, in such a case, inevitably shut down activation servers. Can we just hope they give us offline authorization keys for our products so that we can be able to even use them if this happens, or should we just print all to audio back-ups and be done with it?

[Whoopdee]

Sorry for resurrecting this. I just got back into Reason full force after quite a while even though I owned almost every version since version 2. I now have the 13 and can't stop thinking what will happen if Reason Studios goes under. I don't so much mind the policy they have now, but they will, in such a case, inevitably shut down activation servers. Can we just hope they give us offline authorization keys for our products so that we can be able to even use them if this happens, or should we just print all to audio back-ups and be done with it?

Welcome to the Swedish circus.

[selig]

Sorry for resurrecting this. I just got back into Reason full force after quite a while even though I owned almost every version since version 2. I now have the 13 and can't stop thinking what will happen if Reason Studios goes under. I don't so much mind the policy they have now, but they will, in such a case, inevitably shut down activation servers. Can we just hope they give us offline authorization keys for our products so that we can be able to even use them if this happens, or should we just print all to audio back-ups and be done with it?

Nothing in this universe is permanent. Even with offline keys, everything eventually ‘breaks’.
Ask yourself, how long do I need for these things to last? Work from there.

What if you died tomorrow, what shape would all your files be in for anyone to recover or even listen to them? In that case, audio versions would come in handy, assuming you don’t die in a nuclear holocaust that also wipes all media, of course…

I’ve always heard it put this way. NOTHING exists in the digital world until it exists in at least three places, ideally using different tech (magnetic, optical, stone/chisel, etc).

All this talk about “permanent” reminds me of this Shelly poem:
Ozymandias
BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

[Rakun]

I understand this, it's not like they are the only company opting for such measures. But Reason is something I would miss dearly. For example I am contempt in knowing my Renoise, FabFilter and Valhalla FX installers are stored safely on my back-up media with their corresponding licenses, ready to be installed on something, and used if dark times come.

[selig]

I understand this, it's not like they are the only company opting for such measures. But Reason is something I would miss dearly. For example I am contempt in knowing my Renoise, FabFilter and Valhalla FX installers are stored safely on my back-up media with their corresponding licenses, ready to be installed on something, and used if dark times come.

My point was not about Reason, it was about permanence (or the illusion of it).

Installed on what after how long?
In 10 years are you sure you could still be using those plugins? In 20? 30?
Nothing lasts forever, so I have to wonder if we need to define more useful terms than "permanent", since that is an unrealistic term.
I've already seen SO much software that is no longer able to be run on anything I have that still runs...

What does "permanent" actually mean to you?
What is the oldest software you currently run, from the date it was first installed to now (without any updates or support from the dev)?

[Rakun]

I still use Subtractor. And Fast Tracker for that matter. Virus can be emulated now to a great degree. Many people still use their Synths from the 70's. But I do get your point. I don't have a problem with supporting further development, in fact I do it on regular basis. My reservations are for a possible post mortem. Guess I will be just sad not to have Reason as it is now (or better), since I do really enjoy it. But there is hope that at least they will go ahead and leave us means to use the software in worst case.

The situation just gives me bad vibes, like the time I got to know how a food company deliberately trashes unsold fruit instead of letting it be distributed for free - even when such logistics were offered to them free of charge.

[bxbrkrz]

After Armageddon there is a 50/50% chance to spin a mechanical drive found in an underground super secret bunker and playback wav files created from a DAW like Ableton, or Cubase, even if you can't open the original live or Cubase file.

There is a 0% chance you will be able to open a .reason file. It's a password protected zip file. To me it would be fair for the license owner to own a key linked to your name and ID and being able to open the .reason files you've created, even if you can't launch Reason anymore. That key would ONLY work with your .reason linked to your ID, A simple way to access the audio files inside, if any exist. It would be your responsibility to never delete that key. Could be a simple txt file.

Always back up to a format anyone can open, way after your departure.
Just like Bach and Vivaldi did

[Rakun]

Solid advice

[Tiefflieger Rüdiger]

Well, it does worry me that should there ever something happen to Reason's activation server (bankruptcy, bad business practices wanting to nudge users into upgrading, ...) Reason will stop functioning on all of my devices a month later. The alternative is it would stop a year later if I'd use it on a single device which I don't. It feels really fragile.

Also, Reason encrypts your project files which technically enforces that you'll never be able to open a Reason project once their activation server for whatever reason isn't there anymore. I don't know if that changed when Reason changed to their own copy protection but that is definitely the case for pre v12.6. You basically don't own the data you created yourself.

I find this quite bad from a consumer rights perspective. It reminds me more of a ransomware than a copy protection.

[jam-s]

Best practice when a project is finished is to bounce all tracks/mixchannels and the master to wav and archive those. That way if something goes wrong with the DAW or a VST or an RE you still have the audio file to reconstruct the missing element.

[motuscott]

I've been using V10 with the dongle at my rehearsal space as a tape machine for years, am I doing this wrong?

Running V12 at home for the heavy lifting.
Never at the same time since I am only me and have yet to pull off that two places, one time thingy that all the philosophers are so on fire about.

Tried it once
Stereo way out of wack.

Plus Props threatened to shut down my Itsy account.