Hi guys, as the title says, Surrealistic MG-1 Plus can be downloaded for free for a limited period.

Description:

BUT, there is a big but.... You have to be online to use it. When opening the plugin, you are obliged to sign in to your Cherry Audio account, otherwise the plugin does not work. And it's not explained anywhere in there site.

Such a stupid way to try to promote their business ....

Anyway, there are so many other "anal ogue emulations" out there ...

This thread is meant to prevent those who work off line to fall in the trap.

 

Downloaded it but not installed yet! Thanks for saving me the time!

 

I did try offline and it works

 

You have to sign in when you first ever use it and then after that, you do not have to be online. It is the same with all their synths. At the end of the day, it is free. And it is very good. If you never go online then that is fair enough, you won't be able to use it. I only ever go online when I have to, for instance, to activate software or update, then I just stay offline. Works for me. But not for everybody I guess.

 

How do you do this? I entered my user details but as the plugin fail to connect it does not work.

 

My daw is completely blocked with my firewall and I will not change this for that synth.
They should at least explain this. Specially if it's the same with their paid products.

 

But this means you logged out prior?
Stay logged in the first time you use plugin, see what happens next time you open it when offline?
Just a thought.
But you could also just allow this one dev with the firewall. Won't mean whole daw or anything else is chatting.

 

No I never logged in from my computer. I have account at cherry audio, as you must login to download this plugin, but I could not login from my computer, as I said.
If you had downloaded this vst you would know that you have to creat a cherry audio account to do so.

Experienced users are better to comment.

 

I am experienced generally. Obviously I didn't download this product, thanks to your warning.

With other plugs that need a first time link (ZenBeats, Momentum, Vital) you just stay logged in, so there's no trouble on plugin startup.
And what I've said about your firewall is true.
But obviously you haven't allowed any link at all, and you won't by the sounds of it, so my info is going to be irrelevant to you.
But may be useful to others who follow the link.

 

I've learned to avoid "freebies" from music software companies.
Either they're looking to nuke your cracked plugins or they're phoning home with your info.
You get what you pay for...

 

You should be able to sign in/authorize with standalone version once, and use the VST in your daw without it needing to connect. I hate online activators too but this ain't "always online" like Mixedinkey/Captain Plugins. Which I would buy if it weren't for the "always online" requirement.
edit: confirmed, if you activate with standalone, you can indeed load the VST in your DAW without needing further internet connectivity. Cherry Audio installer stupidly put 64bit VST in C:\Program Files\VST\ without asking me however.

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2020

I downloaded, installed, logged in in my cherry audio account, and registered it. And after that have used it offline since then (when it was released some days ago). As far as I am concerned, you just have to be online once, to authorize it. After that, it's not necessary.

PS: didn't need to autorize it from my daw (I keep it offline all the time), as you can do it from the synth standalone version (when there's no standalone with these freebies that require authorization, I usually use that free VSTHost to authorize them).

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2020

Good idea.