EWQL or VSL?

[wcreed51]

No, they have their own sample playback engine, Play. It comes with no extra charge. Earlier versions used Kontakt (or Kompakt to be exact), and the first version used GigaStudio.

[mrarnesen]

No, they have their own sample playback engine, Play. It comes with no extra charge. Earlier versions used Kontakt (or Kompakt to be exact), and the first version used GigaStudio.

OK, thanks, their website is quite messy

[wcreed51]

You WILL need an iLok USB key, in case that's not clear on their website...

[GaryExo]

You WILL need an iLok USB key, in case that's not clear on their website...

Wow, I hadn't realised that, Bill. So that adds another $50 to the price!

[Surfwhammy]

You WILL need an iLok USB key, in case that's not clear on their website...

Wow, I hadn't realised that, Bill. So that adds another $50 to the price!

THOUGHTS

In "old school" computer jargon, the iLok USB is a "dongle", and as a general rule I hate dongles, but one of the realities at the dawn of the early-21st century is that Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software) and the MachFive 3 synthesizer (MOTU) require dongles, so I relented and got the required dongles, where Reason 6.5 has its own dongle, but MachFive 3 uses an iLok USB dongle . . .

The other way licensing is done is via computer software, where for example IK Multimedia and Notion Music products use server-based computer software licensing technology and what happens is that special software installed onto your computer for this purpose, and the special software is there running in the background all the time, although mostly it is not doing anything, except perhaps every once in a while it does an online verification of the license(s), except that most of the time this occurs very infrequently and generally just happens at the specific time you activate the license(s) for the software, which is easily verified by the fact that once you install and activate NOTION 4, you can disconnect your computer from the web and have FUN with NOTION 4 essentially forever . . .

In contrast, when you run Reason 6.5 with its dongle and want to purchase a new Rack Extension (Propellerhead Software), the Authorization Manager for Propellerhead Software launches and the download, installation, and authorization of your new Rack Extension component is handled by the Authorization Manager and involves updating and adding specific licensing information to the Reason 6.5 dongle, which is fine with me, but there also are scenarios where you can use web-based authorization with Reason 6.5 and your Rack Extension components, but this mostly is for running FREE TRIAL version of Rack Extension components, since this is the way the FREE TRIAL versions are authorized temporarily for 30 days so that you can see how they work and so forth . . .

And as another vendor example, Vienna Symphonic Library has its own dongle, so depending on the specific blend of software, VSTi virtual instruments, and sampled sounds libraries you are using, you might have three or so dongles and perhaps an equal number of constantly running real-time software-based licensing software, but so what . . .

So what!

For reference, it is important to understand that the various authorizing and licensing dongles and software only do what they are specifically designed to do, which is to ensure and to verify that you are using the respective instruments and sampled sounds libraries as a legally authorized and licensed user, hence I have no concerns whatsoever about this mostly "behind the scenes" hardware and software doing anything other than what it is supposed to be doing. In other words, it is not spying on you and doing anything like that, and the reason I am comfortable in stating this is that any type of spying or whatever would have the real and tangible consequence of ruining the vendors and the companies that provide the authorizing and licensing dongles and software . . .

Regarding the iLok USB dongle, it is possible that it can be used for other products than just one product from a specific company, where for example the same iLok USB dongle that is used for MachFive 3 authorizing and licensing might be able to do the authorizing and licensing for the EWQL products, which saves a little bit of money and conserves the available USB ports on your computer . . .

One of the advantages of using a dongle is that it becomes a portable "key" which enables you to run the software essentially on any computer, where for example if I want to show a friend how to do some interesting things in Reason 6.5, I can tell the friend to download and install Reason 6.5, and once that is done I can visit for a while with my Reason 6.5 dongle and my friend's computer temporarily will be fully authorized and licensed for me to run Reason 6.5 with all my Rack Extensions, and so forth and so on. And while I have not tried this, all the documentation says it is the way it works, and I am comfortable with the capability being there if I need it, which for some types of work can be very handy, since instead of needing to bring my computer, I can tell someone what to install on their computer and once they install the demo or trial versions, when I arrive and connect my fully authorized and licensed dongle, their computer for a while becomes "my computer" with respect to my being able to do what I need to do, which certainly can be handy for the scenario where one is working as a "recording session VSTI music technologist or performer" or perhaps in a private music lesson or teaching scenario . . .

The companies and individuals who design, program, play, and test all this software and sampled sounds libraries need to be paid for their work, and dongles and other activating and licensing software ensures (a) that users are able to use the software and sampled sounds libraries they purchased and (b) that the designers, developers, and performance musicians get paid for their work . . .

It might not be necessary in Utopia, but in Utopia everyone is honest and there are no pirates, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

P. S. Another key aspect of dongles and other software activating and licensing systems is that it is a bit like being a farmer and selected a John Deere tractor for all your plowing needs, where it is to your great benefit for the John Deere company to continue to be in business in case you need some repairs or new stuff . . .

In other words, when you select NOTION 4 (Notion Music), Digital Performer 8 (MOTU), MachFive 3 (MOTU), Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments), Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software), and various EWQL, Vienna Symphonic LIbrary, IK Multimedia, FabFilter Software Instruments, Wave Arts, and other products as part of your complete system for digital music production, then you want these companies to be in business successfully so that over the long run (a) there are improvements, enhancements, and new products in the pipeline and (b) if you need help with something then you call customer support or submit a trouble ticket to get help, where your time is important and the time of the companies who provide the hardware and software you use is important, hence it is not a one-sided type of thing, really . . .

Really!

P. P. S. At the dawn of the early-21st century, when you are working on a song in your sound isolation studio and decide that it needs a string section or perhaps a Dubstep DJ, so long as you have the required hardware and software and the ability to describe everything in music notation, then there you are, and this is simply amazing, because in great contrast if you rollback the clock half a century the only people who could do this where folks like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and so forth and so on, because it required hiring a real string section or whatever, as well as having a professional caliber recording studio and all that stuff, which overall mapped to millions of dollars of stuff, hence it was a rare luxury available only to top artists . . .

Today, everything is vastly different, and while some of the capabilities where present earlier, I think that it having everything available is a very recent thing, which for all practical purposes started when NOTION 3 was released . . .

There were vastly elaborate synthesizers (Moog, for example), and there were vastly elaborate programmable synthesizers like the KORG Triton Music Workstation (88-Keys) that could be operated via MIDI and stored scripts, but all that stuff (a) cost a lot and (b) was complex to the point of being nearly absurdly difficult, which overall limited it to a small number of advanced music technologists . . .

Once you get everything generally to a professional level in your sound isolation studio, you have the real and tangible possibility of being able to compete with anybody on a generally level playing field, and as an example once you have a calibrated full-range studio monitor system with a flat equal loudness curve at 85 dB SPL, what you hear in your sound isolation studio when you are mixing and mastering is just as accurate in every respect as what George Martin, Geoff Emerick, and the Beatles heard in Abbey Road Studios when they were creating "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" or what Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien, and Michael Jackson heard when they were creating the stellar hit song "Billie Jean", and while the dinky bookshelf studio monitor nonsense was becoming popular by the time "Bille Jean" was being recorded, mixed, and mastered, the recording studio had what one might call the "old style" big and heavy calibrated full-range studio monitor system with a flat equal loudness curve at 85 dB SPL, where the "big and heavy" aspect is not optional, as explained in my ongoing topic in the IK Multimedia FORUM, which is fabulous . . .

The Fabulous Affordable Studio Monitor System Project (IK Multimedia FORUM)

And the intriguing aspect of all this stuff is that it is not based on opinions and beliefs, although I suppose that initially it requires a bit of trust with respect to understanding that the information I provide is the best, most accurate, and verified information available to me at the time I write about it, because ultimately it is a matter of science and facts, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!