Native Instruments walking on the moon

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Yes, I remember your crusade...and I thought it was a bit over-the-top. But I also give you a lot of credit for coming back and noting that you have changed your mind about NI. That truly is "fair and balanced."

I have had very good luck with the service center, except for a few times when the server was down. As (bad) luck would have it, the very first time I used the Service Center was when the server was down, and it confused the hell out of me The coolest thing was when it refused to authorize one of my Kontakt Player-based programs. I wrote NI's tech support and when they studied the file I sent them (another great aspect of the Service Center), they concluded there had been a problem with installing the program, even though it appeared to be installed perfectly. So I re-installed it, and they were right: It authorized just fine.

On a broader scale, though, I have to agree with you about the quality and level of innovation of their products. I used to do manuals for them, because it was a great way to learn every nook and cranny of the software which helped me use it much better, and also, because they are obviously a very dedicated and intelligent group of people. My favorite example of that was when I had to write about one function based only on a vague spec. So I guessed at how it was supposed to work, and asked them if I got it right. Well, it turned out I had not gotten it right -- but dig this -- they changed the software to match the manual because they liked my idea of what the workflow should be more than what they had done. Frankly, that blew my mind.

With HC's continued success and growth, as well as the same thing happening at EQ, I haven't been able to do their manuals any more. I don't miss the hard work, but I really miss working with the people at the company.

They were also pretty understanding when I was working on the Battery 2 manual while living in Florida and we got hit with a hurricane that left me without power or phone for two weeks. As far as they knew, I just disappeared off the face of the earth, and the manual chapters stopped coming. Luckily, I had an iGo adapter and would sit in my VW bug, working on the manual with the air conditioning on and the windows closed (the mosquitos were out of control) and when I finally established contact, they were more concerned about me than the lack of a manual .

They're a good company and need to protect themselves against software theft. Their current method may not be perfect, but on balance it's genuinely helpful to legitimate customers, while discouraging software thieves. I wish them continued success.

I was unaware of your campaign, but had a similar experience. I had a motherboard replaced in a computer, and as a result, NI would no longer authorize, as my hardware profile had changed. My emails to tech support went unanswered for well over a month. Eventually they responded with cryptic instructions. I emailed back for clarification, and eventually they responded and I was able to re-authorize.

I don't have a lot of NI stuff, so I wasn't really put out by this, it was more of a back burner annoyance. However, it's great to know that they've updated their system so that when you do things like swap out a mobo, it doesn't require a long journey back to reauthorization.

My experience wasn't enough to motivate a campaign (before this post, I don't believe I've even mentioned it to anyone). However, my experience gave me the impression that there was a level of complexity and uncertainty in relying more heavily on their software, and I have probably put off buying some cool NI wares as a result.

All of which is to say, this is good news and I would now be more apt to buy NI.

Kudos to them for fixing this, kudos to you for posting this!

This worries me a bit because I liked their system and never had a problem. It worked well for me because every 6 months I'm either upgrading a desktop or laptop and have never had issues unauthorizing an old computer and installing on the new computer. I wonder if they are now using a timed allotment for determining how many installs you have? If not, what method?

Last year I had a big problem with NI Komplete not running due to their broken Service Center app. Fortunately, it was on my 2nd computer, and while it was broken, it was only a minor headache since I usually don't use the NI stuff on that computer that often.

Still, it REALLY angered me at the time.

Since then, the new service center has worked flawlessly, and I'm so happy they've fixed it and made it easy for paying customers to use NI software.

In general, I love the NI plugs, especially Kontakt, Guitar Rig, and Massive.

For now, I just wish they'd come out with a software-only version of Kore. It's great software, but I don't need and don't have room for the hardware Kore unit.

Craig, would you please throw your weight around and convince NI to sell Kore without the hardware?

If you compare NI to Waves, NI looks like a model citizen.

I had some real issues getting my Waves plugins reauthorized to my iLok, and it took a LONG wait on the Waves tech support line before I could get to somebody who could help me. They did finally fix my issue, but with the new NI service center, that is a call I wouldn't have had to make.

Arguably, if you compare any other plugin company to Waves, that other company will look like a model citizen!

The new system is kind of an "erase and rewind" of the very same system. It was just highly improved on the user's end. Ie, the system is the same, but the possiblities of users having trouble were highly reduced, from what I can tell.

Agreed. Excellent description of the process.

a mutual expression of humility is always good.