If we get into a vote, I've had ZERO synchro soft issues...yet, have had iLok issues with both the iLok 1 and now 2. I had to break out diag tools to diagnose and fix my own ilok2 issue...which it turns out affects every install of Win7 that is not actively on a network. 2 months after I reported in detail the problem and fix, I got a note today that they're writing up a knowledge base article. 

Anyway...i bought an iLok 1 for a single app--caused config issues in XP years ago...bought a 2 for a second app and while I ultimately fixed it for them, it caused the software I bought to not actually work for the first week or so of ownership. Time that should've been spent mixing was spent diagnosing and resolving the issue. Not to mention the time it takes Waves vintage series to open. Yank the iLok while you wait--it'll barf...that's what its waiting on. 

Two strikes. Ask me if I'm ever going to buy anything else that goes on an iLok. I vote hells no. 

well, seems easy - iLok is good on Mac and erratic on Windows, syncrosoft good on Windows and erratic on Mac. for me as well - zero problems with iLok ( but also with Yellowtools Wibu or Logic Key) - lots and never ending headaches with syncrosoft.

i mean, one buys samples for thousands of euros ( high priced product -and high quality product) and then needs to get a piece of plastic that is poorly manufactured, feels cheap and fragile ( the drivers on mac are exactly that as well) to copy protect it. if you run into problems they tell you to connect the dongle to a USB-port on the computer and not to a hub - how realistic is that as a solution? maybe they should buy Apple and other manufactures first so they can command that computers have at least 16 USB-ports for all the dongles, USB interfaces, keyboards, mices, etc. 

Alone this support answer it outrages - to me it is an expression that they are not that interested in problems their users have with this dongle. 

Best

I don't know whether anybody else has had this annoying problem, but when the VSL key is not at the back of my computer (often), I cannot start Sibelius properly. It crashes time after time as VE is trying to verify the missing key, and it must be a fault with the VSL software for it doesn't matter how many times one presses 'Abort', the program still crashes. Why can't VE just accept the 'Abort' command and not insist trying to load on?!

@Errikos said:

....when the VSL key is not at the back of my computer (often), I cannot start Sibelius properly.

I use Logic, not Sibelius, but it seems to me that you have an Autoload song (or whatever it's called in Sibelius) that contains an instance of some VSL software (VE?).

My suggestion would be to simplify your defaults so that Sibelius opens without having to look for any VSL software. I don't think you can blame this on VSL - it's your Sibelius that's asking for key because of what you have loaded - well that's my guess at least.

@steff3 said:

iLok is good on Mac and erratic on Windows, syncrosoft good on Windows and erratic on Mac

Funny - I've never had any problems with either.

 I use Syncrosoft and iLok on PC's and also, have never had any problems with either. They just both always work every day.

@Errikos said:

....when the VSL key is not at the back of my computer (often), I cannot start Sibelius properly.

I use Logic, not Sibelius, but it seems to me that you have an Autoload song (or whatever it's called in Sibelius) that contains an instance of some VSL software (VE?).

My suggestion would be to simplify your defaults so that Sibelius opens without having to look for any VSL software. I don't think you can blame this on VSL - it's your Sibelius that's asking for key because of what you have loaded - well that's my guess at least.

I also use Logic for performance and mixing but I am a composer that notates first. It's not when I open a Sibelius file (VE involving) that I get this behaviour, but when I run the program itself (default). I don't know anything in Sibelius preferences which allows one to choose whether to bypass other platforms or not... It isn't Sibelius asking for a key, but VE (which just runs itself without being asked) that does. This behaviour MUST be addressed and solved by VSL, maybe in conjunction with Avid, unless I'm the only one who experiences it - but I've had this problem since Tiger, right through to Snow Leopard, and I don't want to have the Vienna key on my computer when I'm not using VSL software. 

P.S.: I've yet to experience problems with my EWQL Symphonic Choirs key (PLAY engine is another issue).

@ Errikos:

Very strange....

Does Logic also cause this problem when you open it? If not, then there's surely something about Sibelius that causes the problem.

I just tried booting Logic with my VSL keys removed and it opens just fine. VE doesn't run by itself - only when I start it. I really doubt this is a VSL problem. Maybe you should write to the folks at Sibelius - it's almost certainly their problem. Or a user malfunction...[;)]

Hello Errikos!

The behaviour of Sibelius during startup can be set in the Preferences/Playback menu. I recommend the following settings there:
When starting Sibelius, load this playback configuration: General MIDI (basic)
Opening Files: Let me choose whether to change to the new configuration

This way you will need the Vienna Key only when you load a playback configuration with one of our collections or plugins included.
Additionally the Vienna Key will be needed whe the plugin folder gets validated, which is the case after installing additional plugins.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Andi

Thanks Andi, any new compositions coming on video? 

My default Sibelius Playback Configuration was always set to the default 'Sibelius Sounds' - I now changed it to 'General MIDI (basic)', but why this will make a difference since the default sounds do come with Sibelius I don't know; we'll see... My Opening Files settings were as you suggested anyway. 

I still don't see why Sibelius would try to find VE connections when by default I don't ask it to when I open it...

Cheers.

@musos: This user does malfunction more often than is convenient, in this case I don't think it's his fault. My Logic also opens without the Vienna key, maybe it is a Sibelius problem, it is just very annoying, very unprofessional!

Hi Errikos!

I see. In this case it will not make much difference between the Sibelius sounds and the General MIDI (basic) sounds.

Anyway, as written in my last mail, you should need the Vienna Key only when opening Playback Configurations with instruments or plugins by VSL included or after installing new plugins or instruments. Sibelius validates all installed plugins and instruments then and therefore the Vienna Key is needed. After this procedure it shouldn't be needed at the following starts of Sibelius.

Best,
Andi

@VSL Community said:

Only thing what i can say its big sad there is two different dongle standards at least why? in back in my mac mini is not much usb ports free when i maybe need two dongles one for vsl se (extended) and one for ovory for example.

One could also say that it's a shame that there are two operating systems. Since most people use Windows, Mac OS should be phased out. Much easier all round. [:P]

It's all about choice, and there is no reason that this should not extend to copy protection devices. In fact there are quite a few more than 2 choices; it's just that Steinberg and iLok are the most common, AFAIK.

DG

@VSL Community said:

ps. Windows is obsolete but i dont want fight.

Yet performs way better than OSX. [:O]

DG

 Why is it that the minority of computer users that are Mac users (only 5% of the worlds computers are Macs), seem to have the majority of problems?

Though I guess that the iLok is in keeping with a Mac users philosophy, as an iLok costs nearly twice the price of an eLicenser. So why pay twice the price for something? ask a Mac owner as they have experience in this topic, which they used when they bought their computer.

An iLok is not better than an eLicenser, a Mac is not better than a PC, and vice versa - it's just one costs considerably more than the other.

@andyjh said:

 Why is it that the minority of computer users that are Mac users (only 5% of the worlds computers are Macs), seem to have the majority of problems?

Though I guess that the iLok is in keeping with a Mac users philosophy, as an iLok costs nearly twice the price of an eLicenser. So why pay twice the price for something? ask a Mac owner as they have experience in this topic, which they used when they bought their computer.

An iLok is not better than an eLicenser, a Mac is not better than a PC, and vice versa - it's just one costs considerably more than the other.

I was sad when S.G.I.s died out, never becoming a paradigm for Apple or P.C. development, but I'm seriously going to weep if Mac OS gets "phased out". That will be the day that all beauty (or whatever beauty there was) in the machine will vanish. It's like Windows are explicitly against any interface improvement or enriching the user's experience beyond that of brute performance (as is asserted). Most programs that were developed for that operating system, even when "translated" for the Mac, they reek of their aesthetic origin. If computers were merely number-crunching boxes I could care a lot less. However, if I have to stare at a screen environment all day and interact with it, my aesthetics are almost as paramount as performance - I don't see why I can't have my cake and eat it in this regard.

Be that as it may, I'm scared that Apple is turning its face away from the artistic professionals it proudly served for the past 25 years or so, and towards silly women and lower management executives who buy iPhones and iPads, because they are the "In" apparel accessories of the "times" (frequently being incapable of using any semi-advanced function those accessories offer), as well as teenagers who see them as toys and media sharing devices (be it their own skating-videos, or pilfered MP3s). If Apple's future lies in i(t)OS, iChat, and iShat, maybe Jobs did die at the right time... 

@Errikos said:

I was sad when S.G.I.s died out, never becoming a paradigm for Apple or P.C. development, but I'm seriously going to weep if Mac OS gets "phased out". That will be the day that all beauty (or whatever beauty there was) in the machine will vanish. It's like Windows are explicitly against any interface improvement or enriching the user's experience beyond that of brute performance (as is asserted). Most programs that were developed for that operating system, even when "translated" for the Mac, they reek of their aesthetic origin. If computers were merely number-crunching boxes I could care a lot less. However, if I have to stare at a screen environment all day and interact with it, my aesthetics are almost as paramount as performance - I don't see why I can't have my cake and eat it in this regard.

In theory I would agree with you, except that:

1. I don't see anything intrinsically ugly about Windows.
2. I find a lot of things in OSX really annoying, both in terms of visuals and keyboard shortcuts
3. Once my applications are open, they look the same on both OS, so I don't really care which OS I'm using.
4. For me, performance at low latencies is extremely important, and currently performance for cross platform audio applications in OSX is way behind that of Windows. If that ever changes, I will have no problem in using OSX instead of Windows.

@Errikos said:

I was sad when S.G.I.s died out, never becoming a paradigm for Apple or P.C. development, but I'm seriously going to weep if Mac OS gets "phased out". That will be the day that all beauty (or whatever beauty there was) in the machine will vanish. It's like Windows are explicitly against any interface improvement or enriching the user's experience beyond that of brute performance (as is asserted). Most programs that were developed for that operating system, even when "translated" for the Mac, they reek of their aesthetic origin. If computers were merely number-crunching boxes I could care a lot less. However, if I have to stare at a screen environment all day and interact with it, my aesthetics are almost as paramount as performance - I don't see why I can't have my cake and eat it in this regard.

In theory I would agree with you, except that:

1. I don't see anything intrinsically ugly about Windows.
2. I find a lot of things in OSX really annoying, both in terms of visuals and keyboard shortcuts
3. Once my applications are open, they look the same on both OS, so I don't really care which OS I'm using.
4. For me, performance at low latencies is extremely important, and currently performance for cross platform audio applications in OSX is way behind that of Windows. If that ever changes, I will have no problem in using OSX instead of Windows.