Hi guys, can you confirm that it is right?

 

hi, it goes to the iLok cloud at least

 

I got offered from them UAD Spark subscription for 3 months at 99 cents, and it's tempting, but I wonder...
If I get it, and while I'm in the Spark program, I purchase some perpetual licenses from the site, if I stop the subscription, will those plugins work (the perpetual licensed ones) without owning any UA hardware?

 

Wont work, you need to have hardware registered to your account in order to purchase the plugins out right.

 

Yes, but I mean the type of custom protection is EDEN?

 

I

If you own the hardware you get separate Spark licences that you can ran without the hardware, so if you have those perpetual licenses of the spark plugins IT WILL work.

 

yes, only those available via uad spark.

 

But since I don't own the hardware if I stop my Spark sub (even if I purchase some perpetual licenses), I shouldn't be able to use them, right?

 

Yes, at least in my case.
My 8 year old computer died and my old USB 3.0 interface wouldn't work with the new one.
Traded it for UA Volt 2 and even that requires ILok just to set it up.
Bonus was I got free UA VST's.

 

If you don't own hardware, you can't purchase perpetual licenses, so it's a non-issue.
You can only buy UAD plugins if you have valid hardware registered to your account.

 

after all these years UAD is ilok again, how funny is that

 

You have to put the computer online before it works though, which kind of defeats the object of a hardware iLok IMO. Even though you own the hardware and the licenses, you still have to put the computer online. UAD puts some pretty creepy stuff in a lot of different places and even after uninstall there's an invisible box on Windows that can't be closed, where you find the 'safely remove USB' click box on the Taskbar by the clock

 

If you activate an annual license on iLok usb 3 you can work a full year offline if you want, right?

 

I don't know. I just know that you have to put the computer online, download the UAConnect Software, install the licenses, activate them onto the iLok and then you get some period to use them... Maybe that's only a year, I don't know, but your music PC needs an Internet connection to activate the iLok, which is mental IMO

 

Unfortunately, yes, in the first installation and registration you are obliged to be online, but not after that. That is, if you put the licenses in an ilok usb you can stay offline as long as the license is valid, right?

 

I believe so. I haven't heard the one year thing, but I didn't get past buying an iLok that doesn't work. My licenses are on there and the offline PC has UAConnect installed, I dragged the plugins over and they show up, but because UAConnect has never done its spyware shit it won't let me use them... Not even with the overpriced UAD dongle (Apollo)

Thinking about your original question it must go beyond Eden because you need UAConnect as well, which is a different piece of software. There's some deep spying involved, so its not as simple as just cracking Eden if that's the general idea of the question, but I still think its possible to sidestep the UAConnect or rewrite it as an emulation... They've definitely thought deeply about protecting the software, but not about protecting Customers who bought their overpriced dongles and still can't use VST3 versions, who now only have VST2 versions that are outdated already

 

Yes, I definitely think it is a complex iLok protection, with many custom layers, as well as possibly Eden. And they certainly have been working on some extra anti R2R gadgetry, to protect their plugins. The fact that it took them over 9 months to implement the Windows version means that they have been working exclusively on security.