Acoustic Samples Dumps Kontakt and embraces iLok

Yes it does.

If you're ready to wait... Manufacturers seem to be slowly coming to their sense w/ all that iLock non-sense.

Me I'm done fighting an uphill battle and waiting for another "standard". Kontakt it is, so be it. Let's just hope they don't make me deny my German ancestry. ;)

I have Mach 5 and a few Acoustic Sample Libraries - whilst no lover of iLok, I have had iLok stuff for some years now and never had a problem so far - in fact when it comes to re installation (as I did recently when I upgraded my main Computer) I hate to say it but it actually makes things easier - however I do agree the world would be a far better place without iLok!!
Mach 5 and Acoustic Samples I think is generally good news (they are certainly exceptionally good quality) - the more Library Suppliers that start to look at this combination, I think the better for us end users - I have recently recommended one of the smaller suppliers (Pendle / Sound Dust) to have  a look at the free UVi player etc and I believe he is doing this - I am still holding off any further upgrades to anything NI - the longer I can make Kontakt 4 last the better - it really would have to be something exceptional Library wise for me to spend anything substantial with NI ever again!
Nigel
 

bitflipper


Sure, iLok is widely despised, but then so is Native Instruments.

Truer words have never been spoken   

JonD


I'm glad I grabbed the libs I wanted before they went iLok. 
 
I truly wish the best of luck to AS....  they're going to need it.
 
 

Its not just iLok, they are now very close to MOTU, many of the products are in the Mach 5 factory library. Logically I suppose their intention is to concentrate their development on the Mach 5 platform. Dropping Kontakt formats and the iLok probably something to do with the deal they got with Motu.
 
Kontakt could do with a bit of competition. Yellowtools mentioned encouraging third party content for Independence a long while back but nothing seemed to come of it, Looks like they are just standing still at the moment, maybe there is a new version with scripting in development but some how I doubt it. Independence could have rivaled Kontakt with the right development.
 
Mach 5 seems to be the only thing that comes close at the moment, with quality developers like Acoustic Samples on board they stand to pick up some business.
 
SampleTank 3 is on the horizon - I wonder how this will fit in to the picture.

Just so you know, we just released new version of our products and they now don't require an iLok key to be used ;)
You now have the choice to use one or not.

OK, just went to the site for the Kawai EX-Pro.  Copy protection says:
 
You can register your library to your computer or to an iLok key. All of our libraries are protected with the iLok system, and you can use our libraries with or without an iLok usb key. Both V1 and V2 iLok usb keys are working with our products. To authorize your library, you will need to download the iLok authorization manager from here: https://www.ilok.com/ilm.html and simply authorize your iLok key or your computer to use the library.
 
The way I read it you still need an ilok account and have to use the ilok auth manager.   I'll pass...  
 

vintagevibe
I don't get all the NI hate.  I rarely have issues and when I do they are one of the few companies left that you can call for free support.

Ya. The only issue I can see is they overcharge for individual products. If you just want Kontakt, that's $400. For $500 you get Kontakt + a whole ton o' other stuff in Komplete. Seems like the individual prices are a bit of a ripoff, but whatever. I guess they want to push you to buy bundles, though I'd rather they priced individual products more in line.
 
Their code seems to be really solid. Their product works well, gets regular updates, doesn't seem to have many bugs, etc. In terms of support they aren't the fastest, but they seem to respond and take issues seriously. I sent them a ticket relating to Bandstand not appearing in the Kontakt libraries list. Took them a couple weeks but they responded, let me know why it was happening (when it didn't with other stuff), and said they'd see if it could be fixed, and told me of workarounds.
 
Oh, and they let you use their products to release free libraries. If you have the full version of Kontakt, you can release libraries for other full versions of Kontakt and pay no royalties. That's pretty nice, particularly for smaller shops. Of course if you want to use their player and DRM, they want royalties, but you have the choice. They don't say "All stuff sold must be in player format and pay us!" They let the company/individual choose.
 
I don't see a whole lot to dislike about them, personally.

I think I must be the only person on the planet that is OK with dongles - for me they work really well and save me loads of time - I suppose this is mainly because I live in two countries and travel between the two.
Again I take on board you have to be VERY careful with them and if they go wrong you have some downtime - I have tried to mitigate this by having a number of different dongles (I am talking iLok and Elicenser here) and have spread my licenses over them meaning if one should go wrong I don't lose everything.
I've just upgraded my system in Cape Town and I was up and running in no time - saved me loads of time.

It appears you've made the physical dongle optional, but not the Pace driver, which is where most of the problems occur.
 
I am generally dubious of protection schemes that emulate the dongle without an actual USB device, such as that employed nowadays by Waves. When they did away with iLok I bought some Waves products, only to experience recurring issues with the new copy protection. Give me a license file, or the option of leaving fingerprints and a DNA sample in escrow. Just assure me that the software will work every time.

My position is the same as Bitflipper. I will not have the Pace system on any of my machines for any reason. There are too many other good/great libraries that do not use that system. I currently have an iLok account but I refuse to use or support it. Too many problems. I have asked them several times to cancel the account and they still have not done it as I just checked it a few moments ago.
 
I appreciate your position as a Software Dev/Sales and wish there was some way to put a permanent end to software piracy but I don't believe that system currently exists not even the iLoK system. I do not have pirated software on my machines and do Not support pirated software. If this New iLok manager works just like the NI Service Center then why are you not using the NI Service Center vs. the iLok system???
 
As you said in an earlier post it is my call if I choose to use the iLok manager just as it is Your call to use it for protection, I hope that is not just an expensive false sense of security for you. I support Your choice just as I support my own choice which is Not to use it.  Wishing you the best.
 
Kind regards,
Rick

Yeah, It's going nowhere but I did enjoy hearing your side of the story. I think it was a very nice gesture for you to try and eliminate the cost of the dongle but the dongle is only a small part of the iLoK issues for myself.
 
Again, wishing you the best.
 
Kind regards,
Rick

acousticsamples
We don't use NI service center because... well... it is provided by NI and requires to use Kontakt and their inefficient protection.
One of the most feared situation of sample libraries developers is to release a Kontakt powered library and see it the next day on top of the pirated library list...
 

Well just be careful you don't start walking down the road of caring more about piracy than you do about sales. Remember that piracy, in and of itself, doesn't matter, at all. What matters is sales, and more to the point profit. Piracy only matters if it is translating in to lower profit. If piracy doesn't affect sales, because the pirates aren't people who would buy, or increases sales (not that is likely, but just saying) then it isn't a problem.
 
More than that, if you use a DRM method that is disliked, like the iLok, you have to consider all the costs. There is the direct cost of licensing the technology. It is not trivial, as you well know. So it has to at a minimum increase revenue by enough to cover all those costs or it is losing you money. However there's also support costs. The more intense the DRM, the more users that will have problems and thus the more you spend on support. Harder to measure, but equally important. Then of course there's the lost sales. Some people will just not buy things with intense DRM, and we don't lack for good options of samples these days. So you need to consider that as well.
 
Now maybe you guys have run a good actuarial analysis of all this and determined you make more money. However to me, it sounds more like you've done what many devs did: Got mad that your stuff is on torrents and decided that piracy has to stop, without doing a cost/benefit analysis.
 
I mean let's look at NI: They have this very weak protection, yet they are the dominant force in sampling. They sell their stuff left right and center; they managed to sell out of their Komplete and Komplete Ultimate bundles and are a number of weeks backordered. Clearly, despite the ability to pirate their stuff, they still make sales.
 
Same deal with Cakewalk. Sonar has minimal protection. That is part of why I buy it. I appreciate not getting jerked around with DRM, I want to just use my software. I'm not as anti-DRM as many but I still appreciate things that don't have it, and it factors in to my purchasing decision.
 
So just make sure you consider everything, and keep your eye on what matters: Increasing profit. Decreasing piracy doesn't matter if it doesn't lead to more money.
 
I like to give an analogy of a retail store: Shrinkage (shoplifting) is a big problem for all stores. Unlike piracy, there is a direct cost for each item stolen. Well, a store could probably stop it completely if they wanted to. Hire armed guards that strip search all customers and employees going in and out. That would probably do it. It would also lead to there being zero customers, thus no revenue, and so be a losing proposition. All the steps stores do take against shrinkage are weighed against costs, both the direct cost to implement the measure and the cost of customer satisfaction. The balance they strike is imperfect with regards to stopping shrinkage, but best for making money.
 
NI may have weak DRM. They also have $750 of my money recently because they have good products, more than that if you count the license fees they got from 3rd parties I also bought. EastWest has much better DRM. They have gotten zero dollar of my money recently and will not be getting any because their software sucks.