I don't think they are paranoid, or that they really think that much about crackers. I don't think that the most important thing for a company like Steinberg is to be uncracked. They just wanted to make their licensing system more modern, like Ableton, Image-Line, Presonus ect. without dongle. Because they saw, that most newer users are ignoring Cubase.

 

Dongle rage.

 

I suspect folks in the end H2O's statement when they cracked the first dongle back in the day probably finally sunk in. H2O basically said there were 1,000 hours plus into cracking it, but that something to the tune of 70-80 percent of the apps resources were dedicated to the copy protection........so once it's cracked then what?
H2O had a good point, video games and movies pirated does seriously affect sales, audio software I believe is a tad different yes it affects sales and dont fool yourself into thinking corporate is ok with it, it's not not by any means, however if one is looking at the situation realistically - those that are going to buy - will eventually buy, those who aren't won't.
What corporate does know however is that anybody that starts making money with warez has no choice but to purchase because otherwise they end up losing their credibility as an artist. Personally i consider pirated audio software as an extended demo. There is no freaking way I can afford the software I need to make the god awful racket I make, however should the new generation want to listen to music that pisses thjeir parents off, well thats me lol. so maybe i suddenly become the next thing to listen to while smoking k2 and sniffing special k. well then I will pay for the software that I used because I will have the money to do so.
companies try to come up with solutions like their free daws n such but in the end the only free version that actually cuts it would be traction as they provide fully functional daws and even if i don't use 500 tracks im crazy you never know i might get a wild hair some day (500 tracks is ridiculous though the phase cancellation alone would be a freaking nightmare and nobodies ear would be able to break that down enough anyway hell i baffle the brain with less than 30 tracks total to the point that most never quite get that its not out of time its multiple tempos lol. specially in the US where the only thing anybody listens to is the beat like oh yay heres another 4/4 beat havent heard that before lol. Americans sigh indoctrinated to the point of mindlessness anyway i digress
The fact that their stuff got cracked so quick indicatres that there is a deeper game affot. These guys are german very precise culturally and steinberg is anal about copy protection, unless they have new management they are either facing serious issues in sales or they are changing tactics, it's safe to assume they are still anal about copy protection but the daw has kind of faded into obscurity these days so they need to appeal to a broader audience. If they have new blood in they might just focus on a better product over better protection. that after all has been a consistant appeal from crackers - no matter what you do its going to get hacked, so why waste a massive amount of resources on preventing something that is inevitable?
in the end whatever extra profits come out of keeping hackers from getting in gets wasted keeping them out lol so what is the point of stepping into the game? you can then lower your price and more people buy shazam

 

cubase didn't get cracked for over a decade though, so it worked and it was possible. (or, whatever, it didn't get publicly released, etc).
so if they wanted to prevent piracy, they successfully did it. whether that's good or not is another question. apparently it was a pyrrhic victory

 

Here's an interesting statistic that may reveal part of what's happening to Steinberg. Loss of interest (as many have mentioned previously).

 

The first time I opened Cubase Vr it worked,,,today, the second time...it wouldn't open.
they missed the boat with me. I couldn't try it for all these years - after starting with it on Atari-
then they are stupid enough not to do a reaper thing and just let people use it until they can pay.
what's the point of even trying it if you-ve already got a Daw?

@synths4grins looks like it going to be shareware soon

 

Both Cubase 12 Pro versions (V.R & TC) call home and if you don't block it and you're online it will disable Cubase. For the V.R version you'll have to add an outbound block in your firewall for C:\program files\common files\steinberg\activation manager\SteinbergLicenseEngine.exe which prevents it from calling home. It's best to do this before installing Cubase 12 Pro. On the other hand if you use the latest TC version during it's install you'll run a blocking script to prevent this. That might be the reason it wouldn't open the second time you tried it and you were online.

 

Last edited: Mar 10, 2022

thanks, I usually keep it offline but I connected for some Reaper stuff and maybe the vst3's communicated...

 

Steinberg has a web page with all the hostnames and ports used by their apps (for network admins, etc),
Accessible here:
https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/...vers-and-ports-used-by-Steinberg-applications

If you block all the exe, dll, ocx, vst3, etc, inside the program files/steinberg folder, as well as the elicenser manager folder, and any eventual folder created by cubase 12 + you add all the hostnames to your hosts file + you disable all network adapters, Lan or wifi + disconnect the ethernet cable from the adapter + you add a layer of 10cm of lead to all walls and ceiling,
You should be fine...

I copy/ paste the hostnames/ ports in here:
The page layout gets broken, during the copy/paste. It's better to check the url, and save it to the ssd
--------‐---------------------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Servers and ports used by Steinberg applications


Below you can find an overview of all the relevant servers and ports that are used by our applications. This information may be useful in certain network environments.


Program/Component/Service Hostnames Used Ports Comment
Steinberg Download Assistant
eLicenser Control Center (server side)

• pathfinder.mb.steinberg.net
• client-update-provider.mb.steinberg.net
• product-line-management.mb.steinberg.net
• product-download-provider.mb.steinberg.net
• download.steinberg.net
• client-access-gateway.mb.steinberg.net
• id.steinberg.net
• flow.steinberg.net
• r.mb.steinberg.net
• licensetransfer.elicenser.net
• license-activation-collector.mb.steinberg.net

80/443/8443 product-line-management.mb.steinberg.net (Steinberg Download Assistant older than version 1.19 only)
Steinberg Activation Manager

• pathfinder.mb.steinberg.net
• entitlements.steinberg.net
• signin.steinberg.net
• flow.steinberg.net

443
Steinberg Hub

• hub.steinberg.net

443
Network Collaboration
6990 (UDP)

6991 (TCP)

6992 (TCP)

6997 (defaultNMS)


VST Connect
51111 (UDP)

51112 (UDP)

51113 (UDP)

51117 (UDP)


Game Audio Connect 4444 (default can be changed) Game Engine Connection dialog (steinberg.help)
GoPro VR Remote User setting GoPro VR Player Remote window (steinberg.help)
OSC Object Position Tracking User setting OSC Object Position Tracking dialog (steinberg.help)
External OSC Renderer Setup User setting External OSC Renderer Setup dialog (steinberg.help)
iC Pro (mobile remote app) Client
SKI Remote for iC Pro (server side of iC Pro) 45000 - 45010 tries to pick the first free port starting at 45000

 

I use tinywall on my DAW PC to block everything (including microsoft update), fully open the LAN (a simple tick box, saying deblock lan) for Vienna ensemble pro and connecting to my internet home PC and backups PC, and for the rest open what is needed when it is needed like spitfire labs and accustica. I do all downloads on another PC, also with tinywall but a little more relaxed (firefox edge chrome waves centre torrent client etc).
It's free and solid for me (based on windows firewall)

 

@2poor2 thanks for the info. Steinberg thinks they are very smart, but I'll use Reaper. I don't want to get political, but I love Cockos politix.

Steinberg fux the world with a dongle for decades and when they realize they had cut their own balls off, they let it be cracked? Why didn't they just let it out for free and put the price at 100 euros? It's just a redundant DAW. I'm going to wait for them to pay me a monthly subscription and a month of paid training in my personal closet studio.

And just think I was a client of a cracked version on atari. if they had let it for free then, there might not be any other Daws now. Don't cry for me Argentina, not even if you are a crocodile.

 

Last edited: Mar 11, 2022

I for one have no sympathy for the company; The last few years of updates have been nothing more than a cash grab with insignificant updates and nothing useful added (for me at least), while the upgrade price remains among the highest in the industry. Even though I own the legit version, I'm glad i don't have to carry around that damn USB key everywhere, and worry about it getting broken or lost. But even with all the hype around cubase in the last decade (most of which has been created by the very fact it could not be cracked), the DAW's bloated and unoptimized core is showing it's age IMO. The clunky window management, many half-baked and half-implemented features and an overall windows 98 vibe of working are getting me to a point where alternatives such as bitwig seem to be a lot more inspiring and modern way of working. YMMV as this depends on the genre of music and your preferred workflow.

 

Didn't that dongle just burn your ass?

you want to bet cubase will go the way of cakewalk?

 

Exactly this, Tried ARA support this week. I am thinking about immediately uninstalling again.

 

As far as I've noticed, no one has pointed out the obvious fact that this was made during the time people where being topld to be in lock down for COVID.

My Brother is a computer games programmer and from what I've seen.

All computer programmers have been sent to work from home, and in many cases the company owners have decided to keep them at home and save on the office rental space.

This means things are being made that are half assed and most the time with only 1 persons input. Think about it, if a programmer has a problem they can't just walk over and ask a work mate. normally, you'd ask a mate and he'll call over a few others to get the best solution. Now you phone 1 person and they have a go at helping, phoneing 2 or 3 people is just a pain so who'd do it? you go with the first answer you understand.

The other thing worth considering is, has the software been tested as much as it would have in the past? My brother go asked to fix a bug that occurs when 4 people join a online game on a ps5 game. in the past he'd get the consols together and test it around 50 to 100 times. Now as he only has 2 consoles with him (that I'm not allowed to play on) he has to phone people and organised testing with other collegues over the inter net. Because of how much of a pein it is, and how you can't see how buisy they are to schedule whens best to do it. They're happy if they test it 10 to 20 times.

So this security flaw may just be something that slipped through.

I mean this is just a possibility, they may also just be saving money on the producing the security system since it's inevatable that someone will crack it any way.

we'll never know.

 

I just thought, this new system is probably in preperation for setting it up so monthly subscriptions can be done.

 

well dude, R2R arrived late to the party ahahaha

 

Only if you think R2R cares about racing. Which I'm sure they do not.

 

I suppose I'll finally get around to updating to Windows 10 now then...

 

R2R has entered the chat.