CRACKED SOFTWARE

[nowaysj]

mark if you like cubase, and you don't like their copy protection scheme (seriously, FUUUCK them) try reaper. It is highly customizable. More intuitive, isn't stuck in the 90's with the 90's shit paradigms, only costs 60 bucks until you're balling, and is free to demo unlimitedly.

Everyone always says you have to pirate because you can't afford the software, that is not true. There is drippingly awesome software within your reach. A daw for $60, from a company that trusts you enough to give it to you, and doesn't require you to stick a dongle up your ass... a bevy of freeware synths and fx that are top notch, and a bevy and a half of low cost super high quality synth and fx processors... I understand wanting the latest shiny toys, but don't pretend like you can't make A level pro music on the super cheap. This has been posted in this thread like 8 times, and I've personally seen this point made... at least 21 thousand times in my life.

Oh also, I always post up when I see super cheap deals, and there are many. Fucking d16's ENTIRE silverline collection of fx for 50 bucks... holy cow was that a good deal. Rob Papen's delay for $10. Damn Zeta was $10... there are mad deals out there.

[legend4ry]

None of the torrents for Cubase work, As much as you think they will, they are full of bugs and that no dongle crack will play up after a few months. I tried whilst getting into music production and then just brought Cubase 4 at educational price as the amount of crashes was stupid. Cracked software never works how it should.

Thats because how cracking works.


They have delete/edit source code from the software so it doesn't need whatever the devs have coded to stop pirating.

When you're a dev and have to write more and more complicated code for your software due to all the people who pirating it and using it for free; there becomes points where the crackers have to take away things which deem it unstable but launch-able.



Cubase is notoriously full of bugs and steinberg are shit at fixing them, even before the next version of the software. This is just 'known' in the music world but I must say; I own Cubase4 and mine has never crashed once.

[VirtualMark]

well the point i'm making is that certain companies will have to buck their ideas up if they intend to survive in the modern world. i'm much more inclined to spend my money with a decent software company, with reasonable prices, good support and non intrusive copy protection.

for example, i will never buy from native instruments, as i've got one of their soundcards. i had a problem with latency, and after 10 emails to their support, with replies asking me stuff that i'd already listed in the email, i solved the problem myself. they didn't bother reading my emails properly, they sent one line responses and just seemed like they didn't care at all. i had to list and relist points, and continually go back and fourth over a few weeks. so i will never be spending money with them again, as i know they don't offer decent support. i will however torrent their products as i like to use them, and there is no advantage to buying them.

another point, although not music related. i've been through 2 xbox 360's with no refund from microsoft. i have now vowed to never give them another penny, as they literally didn't care as my system was out of warranty. piracy is my payback to them for stealing from me in the first place, and i am running windows 7 for free and proud of it.

as for the free upgrades, i'd already listed that in my disadvantages to pirating software. i'm well aware that i lag behind with patches, but i'd rather that than use a dongle. whats the point in a dongle anyway? they always get cracked in the end, so its just the customers that suffer by paying higher prices for their software's anti piracy. plus anti piracy routines are surely taking up cpu cycles that could be used for music!

as for pirated software being unstable, mine works fine. i'd say its your system that had problems if cubase crashed all the time. mine does crash occasionally but not often at all. as said above, steinberg are rubbish at fixing bugs, yet people still buy their stuff! i've seen on the cubase forum, bugs that people have been posting on for years, that they still haven't fixed. and they haven't replied either, which says to me that once they take your money, they no longer care. so i'm afraid that my opinion on piracy from companies like this will never change, unless they change first.

the only people i feel guilty about ripping off is the smaller companies who may struggle to survive. more than often the smaller companies provide better support and care for their customers. i shall have to work out what plugins i need to buy, but i will remain against the larger less caring companies who force dongles and expensive support numbers down my throat.

[deadly_habit]

I have an issue with guys like Cuckos or similar small companies having their software pirated.
Reaper is free to use with just a nag screen.
But yet it is pirated.

they all started as small companies at one time
just because they were successful means it's ok to pirate them?

[deadly_habit]

None of the torrents for Cubase work, As much as you think they will, they are full of bugs and that no dongle crack will play up after a few months. I tried whilst getting into music production and then just brought Cubase 4 at educational price as the amount of crashes was stupid. Cracked software never works how it should.

Thats because how cracking works.


They have delete/edit source code from the software so it doesn't need whatever the devs have coded to stop pirating.

When you're a dev and have to write more and more complicated code for your software due to all the people who pirating it and using it for free; there becomes points where the crackers have to take away things which deem it unstable but launch-able.



Cubase is notoriously full of bugs and steinberg are shit at fixing them, even before the next version of the software. This is just 'known' in the music world but I must say; I own Cubase4 and mine has never crashed once.

the dongle emulators run more solid than the actual dongle and save on system resources and calls to them though (i hate usb dongles be it the steinberg ones or ilok, have em since you have to use em, but they take up usb ports, on my last pc i legitly owned cubase 4 but ran the pirated version for the dongle emu as i didn't have the usb ports to spare and the usb hubs i had were fucking with my system)

and i think the only version of cubase that i ever had issues with crashing was sx2 back in the day

honestly the only thing cracked software is good for legitimately is legacy products that have been discontinued and there are no legitimate download links available to em, or trying before you buy if the company doesn't offer a demo (or a really limited feature wise demo)
now if you're too stupid to read a .nfo file describing how to install and run the programs meh
and as is repeatedly stated there are so many free and cheap alternatives there really is no reason to have a necessity to have pirated software just because "that's the program/plugin x uses"

[VirtualMark]

I have an issue with guys like Cuckos or similar small companies having their software pirated.
Reaper is free to use with just a nag screen.
But yet it is pirated.

they all started as small companies at one time
just because they were successful means it's ok to pirate them?

.... yeah?

seriously, if you can tell me how me using a pirated version of a companys product will hurt them, vs me using freeware, then i'll stop using it now. the fact is, it makes no difference whether or not i use it if i were going to use a freeware alternative instead. either way, the company gets no cash.

on the plus side, i am becoming familiar with their products, and am much more likely to buy and use their stuff should i ever make money from music. i'll also tell people what software i used to create a tune which may inspire them to get the same product. so its not all bad.

[-[2]DAY_-]

^ that is actually a good point. I think it comes down to if you have the means to pay for your stuff, even if you have to make some other minor sacrifices, then you ought to pay for it. If you don't have the means, well, you aren't going to pay for it, whether you use the stuff or not.

[deadly_habit]

just because a pirated copy is just that, a copy, doesn't mean there are no lost sales
yea there are some people out there with good sense who say, "hey i use this a lot, i'll buy it now and support the company", but on the other side the ease of availability of the pirated products you get the lol why pay for it when i can get it for free crowd who would be the ones normally legitimately buying the products if not for the widespread availability

[legend4ry]

I do think more bigger companies should do donationware..

I mean for things like Razor ( I know it was built but a non-company member and they bought it, but for things LIKE it) having it for free then donating how much you think its worth will earn a company more props (cause people will spread the word more) and probably better sales (as those who LOVE it will donate more than what the price tag is at the moment.

[deadly_habit]

i think they should do more sales and deals and actually advertise them better
i mean things like no brainer deals and group buys generally tend to help a companies profile and sales

it's kinda like steam and their sales, people buy some games they had no intention of ever getting or have heard of just because it's such a good deal and on the store front page
personally i think we should have a running sticky for deals and group buys going on since a lot of times they're only advertised if you're on a mailing list or a certain forum

[Ldizzy]

wonder if industry heads give a shit about opinons from nerds like us...

they should

[-[2]DAY_-]

also, some people actually use the high end software and sample content to earn money making media... so, the developers do not want you to have their sounds and software unless you pay the price for them. Which to me seems totally fair.
If it was between freeware and cracks, they'd prefer you use freeware and not enjoy the advantages of having their products over bare-bones freebies. Why else would they invest in improving on their stuff and coming out with new, better things

[Steve_French]

Whilst this thread is still open, i didnt see the point in creating a new one just for this topic, and its partially on topic too.
what are your morals (and the unwritten rules) from 'obtaining' discontinued software? (specifically N.I's Spektral Delay) i'm in love with it, and i have 'obtained' a copy of it, but i would like to say i have it legally, but its obviously not for sale anymore.
so?

[-[2]DAY_-]

if you want something, and there's one way to get it, get it that way. More power to you.

[deadly_habit]

if you want something, and there's one way to get it, get it that way. More power to you.

this, it's not for sale anymore so it falls in the abandonware category for me since they don't stand to gain or lose any money on it

[legend4ry]

^ thats the only exception for me..

Its not really cracking, its keeping golden plugs alive.

[ekidd91]

Hey einstein your analogy to soccer balls doesnt quite fit because a soccer ball is what 30 bucks? Ableton live costs like 500+, massive is $199, Native instruments Komplete 8 is $1000+. There is a slight difference in price between a soccer ball and a midi controller.

A piece of software will last you how long? Almost indefinitely no matter how much you use it.
If football was the thing you were passionate about, you'd play it all the time. How long does a frequently used football last for? Not that long really, so it'd even out over time.

[bigfootspartan]

it's people expecting the technical support for a product they didn't pay for that irks the hell out of me

This. Pisses me off when people ask how to fix their cracked Massive when I actually paid the money for it and they didn't.

As far as Ableton being $500, NI Komplete being $1000+ and Massive being $199. There's also Reaper for $50, which has plenty to get started with. Need more synths? Then download the oodles of free ones if you don't have the cash. Crystal is a decent one to start with. Then get a job and save up.

Skream also admitted to using a pirated copy of FL back in the day. If him or Doctor P or Flux Pavillion came on and asked for cracked software, they would get identical treatment.

As far as asking about what synths to use for what... you can always look at the production bible. Not sure why you came on here expecting everyone to spoonfeed you, but I can promise you that didn't happen to anyone else here. It's like going into a library and yelling at the top of your lungs "Look at me I need some books!" and then expecting someone to pass you the latest greatest literature...

[Electric_Head]

I have an issue with guys like Cuckos or similar small companies having their software pirated.
Reaper is free to use with just a nag screen.
But yet it is pirated.

they all started as small companies at one time
just because they were successful means it's ok to pirate them?

Nah, that wasn`t my point.
I just hate seeing awesome uppencomers get ousted before they get their moment in the sun.

[Electric_Head]

i think they should do more sales and deals and actually advertise them better
i mean things like no brainer deals and group buys generally tend to help a companies profile and sales

it's kinda like steam and their sales, people buy some games they had no intention of ever getting or have heard of just because it's such a good deal and on the store front page
personally i think we should have a running sticky for deals and group buys going on since a lot of times they're only advertised if you're on a mailing list or a certain forum