• These commercial threads are for private transactions. diyAudio.com provides these forums for the convenience of our members, but makes no warranty nor assumes any responsibility. We do not vet any members, use of this facility is at your own risk. Customers can post any issues in those threads as long as it is done in a civil manner. All diyAudio rules about conduct apply and will be enforced.

GB for Virtins MI Pro for RTX6001 autoranging/autoscaling & for soundcard end users

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Hello Chris,

Thanks for your comments. With software keys, they typically are not the types of keys that can be entered on multiple computers, i.e., many of the non-hardware (software) keys are “tied” to the specific computer via looking things like the computer’s hard drive’s master boot record (MBR) and firmware SN, etc. and then via a complex algorithm, the “unique” key only works to unlock the program on that particular computer, etc

It is not as though you can “transport” the SN unlock from computer to computer, it is “locked” to that given computer. Many firms that offer such software unlock solutions as I’ve described also have a way of “returning” the software key back to the computer’s servers (thereby requiring an Internet connection naturally…akin to an “ET phones home” type of situation [for those whom remember the old 80s movie “The Extra Terrestrial”).

For example, I own Rational Acoustics Smaart v8.x program (see Smaart v8), and it works via the above paragraph’s way. One has to “return” via a secure (encrypted) Internet connection the Smaart license key back to the Rational Acoustics server, the license is than “stored” on the Rational Acoustics servers and you can than reinstall the license back onto a different computer via a reverse process, (yes, again, it required the Internet connection so the computer can get the license stored on Rational Acoustics’ server and authorize the install [transfer the key] to the computer, etc.

I have had mixed results with all protection schemes, i.e., both hardware (e.g., USB dongles) and software type of keys have their pros and cons. Let’s just briefly explore them from my perspective:

1. If for example, LinearX Corporation who had been in business over 20+ years were to have used software keys, I and all other LinearX LEAP and FilterShop customers who own such programs would have been out of luck. After Chris Strahm died in Nov 2016, LinearX quickly went totally belly up / out of business, ergo if I had a software type of key, the company that had the servers to transfer them as per the Rational Acoustics Smaart software protection model, their servers no longer are running, ergo you’re out of business as a paying customer. This could happen to any software based protection schemes in the event the company folds, etc. This is a risk one takes via a software protection scheme like this.

2. Additionally, when someone has a software key, and the hard drive dies (mechanical failure, etc.) before one had the chance to transfer the software license back to the company’s server, again the customer is left to get the computer back up and running and to beg the company for a new license key, etc. Even imaging ones computer to an external hard drive prior to the crash using Norton Ghost or any other software imaging system isn’t guaranteed to resolve this problem for if the software protection is based on the “unique” serial number of the bad hard drive, even if you get a new hard drive, the software protection scheme will not restore properly (again, it depends totally on the way such software protections are done, but I’ve dealt with a lot of them and still do).

3. Hardware protection (USB dongles, etc.) forgo the problems with # 1 and # 2 above, i.e., company goes belly up / out of business, no problem, you still have your USB protection dongle and you’re good to go. Same thing with a hard drive crash as per # 2 above too.

4. The negatives of hardware dongles is you, as the end user, have to be responsible for securing them, taking care of them, etc. But the same can be said of cash you have in your wallet, etc. If one is careless and they lose their cash, they can’t run to the bank or their employer and say “..Hey, I inadvertently lost my cash, can you please replenish my loss, because you know I just took it out of the ATM, etc...” Each person is responsible not be careless with their cash (for natural reasons). So is it with hardware protection dongles.

5. Additionally, hardware dongles can be a pain in the butt to use, but I have grown very use to using them, and now it is almost second nature for me. Most, but not all of them, can be used in a USB hub, (I have to try out my MI dongle with one of my USB hubs for one of the diyaudio posters who has asked a question about this…even if it works for me, it could be a “hub” specific type of thing, i.e., one given make, model of USB hub may work better than another…powered USB hubs vs. unpowered USB hubs, etc. (I haven’t tried them all to be sure :)

I understand your frustration with the hardware dongle thing (as you can see from just a sampling of my existing dongles in my earlier post). However, if you treat your USB dongle like you treat your cash, you’ll find that they aren’t that bad of a thing and they work very well from my experience.

Again, many, many audio companies have the same sort of polices. Pro Tools and Steinbeg for example are HUGE industry standard audio companies, and they have the same sort of dongle polices.

I hope that the above helps to clarify the pros and cons of the two different software protection schemes a bit.

V/R,

MI Pro
 
Last edited:
Dear Modmix,

...

With respect to the lost of the USB dongle, it is the same for me for other USB dongle protected programs I own / use, e.g., LinearX LEAP v5.x, FilterShop, LspCAD v6.x, etc. (if I loose them, I have to buy the programs again - - well, not the case with LinearX since when Chris Strahm died in Nov 2016 LinearX went out of business, but you get the point). I will ask Virtins about the issue if your USB dongle isn't smashed, crushed but for some reason stops to work (I am fairly certain that so long as it wasn't physically damaged, you could mail the defective one in and get a replacement in exchange, but I will have to verify that).

...

Hello Chris,

...


5. Additionally, hardware dongles can be a pain in the butt to use, but I have grown very use to using them, and now it is almost second nature for me. Most, but not all of them, can be used in a USB hub, (I have to try out my MI dongle with one of my USB hubs for one of the diyaudio posters who has asked a question about this…even if it works for me, it could be a “hub” specific type of thing, i.e., one given make, model of USB hub may work better than another…powered USB hubs vs. unpowered USB hubs, etc. (I haven’t tried them all to be sure :)

I understand your frustration with the hardware dongle thing (as you can see from just a sampling of my existing dongles in my earlier post). However, if you treat your USB dongle like you treat your cash, you’ll find that they aren’t that bad of a thing and they work very well from my experience.

Again, many, many audio companies have the same sort of polices. Pro Tools and Steinbeg for example are HUGE industry standard audio companies, and they have the same sort of dongle polices.

...


I think that this usb dongle policies must be redefined.
I believe that many are afraid about this policy and sometimes they have true!
Allready, I had a contact with another member about this.

Usb can be destroyed under physical conditions without the owner's responsibility, such as earthquake, fire and many other physical disasters.
Probably, there are some world regions free for such disasters but many are.

In my region happened recently and many people had drowning!

The software is not a computer's hw and should not be treated with this logic, normally.
I'll wait for Virtins to review this policy.
I do not say that this should be free, but not 100% of the software price.
It is not fair!
 
Member
Joined 2002
Paid Member
Interesting discussions.

I too hope the USB dongle is well-marked (preferably engraved with some form of serial number) and has a cap. Hopefully the failure rate of the USB dongle is low enough that dongle exchange will be a rare occurrence.

I think from the vendor perspective, an unaccounted for dongle is a copy of the software out in the wild that can be used. Unless the lost dongle can somehow be disabled remotely, a vendor might assume that it may be used at some point.

While I understand a vendor's point, a user may be rather annoyed if a dongle was lost during a move and then need to repurchase the software. Said user may feel that the vendor is at best unsympathetic, and at worst, simply does not trust the user.

I'm not trying to argue any position here.

Anyway, I will need to study the packages. Current thinking for me is just the test plan.

Cheers, Dennis
 
Yes Dennis, you have done very well description.
I can not describe this theme better, the English language is not my mother language.

As you can see, I participate in this GB without the usb dongle policy prevent me from participating in GB, but I think many people are skeptical about this.
 
Dear Virtens

I am trying to test out more of your package, but am unable to register for the forum usage as the captcha is out of date and you cannot pass the security process.


Alan

Thanks for finding and notifying us the forum registration issue. It used to be working. We have just informed our web hosting services to diagnose and it should be fixed soon.

By the way, we have already changed "Hanning" to "Hann" and uploaded the software. Thanks.
 
Virtins USB dongle working with non-powered USB hub

As modmix's posting # 30 asked if the MI USB dongle works with a USB hub (please see: GB for Virtins MI Pro for RTX6001 autoranging/autoscaling & for soundcard end users - Page 3 - diyAudio) a quick test by me just now shows the answer is “yes.” The attached two JPEG pictures shows the HooToo HT-UE01 USB hub that was used to do this test, (a non-powered type of USB hub).

Note that I had to let the Windows 7 O/S on one of my laptops load the drivers automatically for the HooToo HT-UE01 USB hub prior to putting in my MI USB dongle, (and then I had to wait for the MI drivers to load). However, it worked perfectly and without any problems from the get go thereafter.

Note too that if you have “power hungry” USB devices hooked up to your non-powered USB hub, (e.g., USB powered hard drives, etc.) it could be that the MI dongle wouldn’t work due to too much power being sucked by the other USB devices out of the hub. If this happens, I would suggest you either disconnect the power hungry USB devices from the USB hub or purchased a powered USB hub (one you plug into a wall outlet, so it is not trying to pull its power from the USB port of the computer it is plugged into). I only tested the USB hub with the MI USB dongle attached to it, (no other USB devices were plugged in).

The pictures of the MI USB dongle show that it does indeed have a cap and I turned over the MI USB dongle for the two different pictures so you can see what it looks like on both sides, (some posters have asked about the appearance of the MI USB dongle).

V/R,

MI Pro
 

Attachments

  • Non-powerd USB hub & MI USB dongle (front side).jpg
    Non-powerd USB hub & MI USB dongle (front side).jpg
    79.5 KB · Views: 279
  • Non-powerd USB hub & MI USB dongle (back side).jpg
    Non-powerd USB hub & MI USB dongle (back side).jpg
    63.4 KB · Views: 282
Last edited:
Hi Chris,

I would highly recommend to you and everyone else, regardless of if a person participates in the MI Pro GB or not to give serious thought to the purchase of left and right angle USB 3 short extension cables (please see attached picture) as well perhaps at this eBay URL: Super Speed USB 3.0 ports Male to Female Extension Cable Left and Right Angle | eBay

It is simply too easy to damage one's USB ports or the USB (memory or other) stick, etc. due to their sticking out too far (it doesn't take much to have the bumped and due to physics of leverage forces working against you / your USB port, it or the USB device can become damaged).

It is for this reason I have purchased both left as well as right angled USB short extension cables like the ones seen in the attached picture. I use such cables to plug into my computer's USB ports before I plug any USB device into my PC (I plug it into the extension).

I do this for plugging in USB hubs, USB memory sticks, etc., (the right and right angle extensions keep the extension length off of your PC's USB ports as short as possible which is just what you want, so they aren't inadvertently bumped, etc., damaging either the USB port on the PC itself, the USB device or both).

Consider these super inexpensive short right and left angled USB extension cables to be a type of insurance for the above, thereby minimizing the probability of any mishap. Again, these USB extension cables are lifesavers for any USB device you plug into your PC, not just a USB software protection dongle IMO. After all, they only cost $3.79 USD for two such cables (left & right angle respectively) with free shipping via the eBay URL link I provided above.

You definitely want both a right as well as a left angled USB extension cable so that you can use it on either side of your laptop PC (depending on how the USB port layout is on your laptop PC).

V/R,

MI Pro
 

Attachments

  • USB Right & Left Angle Extension Cables.jpg
    USB Right & Left Angle Extension Cables.jpg
    32.8 KB · Views: 264
Last edited:
MI Pro in Linux

Does the software get along with Linux?

Dear keantoken,

I do not believe so, but I will verify, please see virtins.com • View topic - Ubuntu Support (although this URL is a bit dated admittedly, I don't believe the status on this matter has changed). If I'm wrong, either I or Virtins will post a correction to this posting, but I am fairly confident the answer is no. Please note the comment in the URL link about it working in Linux using "Windows emulation mode," but I have not tried that myself so I can't verify if it is true or not.

V/R,

MI Pro
 
Last edited:
WINE is the software used to run Windows programs on Linux. WINE development lags behind Windows so new Microsoft SDKs tend to not play well with it. Compatibility is highly dependent on the developer's choices. It would be good to know if the programmer is at least open to accepting feedback to improve support on Linux.
 
What happens if 42 or higher MI Pro GB are not paid for?

Hi everyone,

What happens if one is signing up for the group-buy, but there will be less than the required 42 for the RTX6000 autoranging? I guess then this groupbuy would be dead and everyone free to step out of it (as no offical orders then were sent to Virtins yet).

What happens if 42 do sign up, but then later on less than that will buy the MI Pro via Virtins WebSite (people stepping out of group-buys are not that uncommon)? Would the autoranging feature still be developed? If not, would it be possible to step out of the contract (as then quite some people already would have bought the software officially via Virtins 'special website')? Would all USB sticks be held back until the required 42 needed orders are 'officially' in?

As one of the group-buy participants of the RTX6001 i mostly would be interested in this because of the close interaction of MIPro and the RTX 6001, so the autoranging feature would be, at least for me, a prerequisite in this groupbuy.

Maybe i did overlook it, but i haven't seen this answered in neither this thread nor the attached pdf.

Regards, Clemens


The above posted questions in MI Pro GB posting # 31 (GB for Virtins MI Pro for RTX6001 autoranging/autoscaling & for soundcard end users - Page 4 - diyAudio) are indeed excellent questions to address and this posting provides the detailed answers to them coordinated between myself and Virtins.

The MI Pro GB officially ends after 31 July 2018. Let’s say for hypothetical purposes, that we only have the bear minimum number of MI Pro GB members required to enable this GB signed up, i.e., minimum number to facilitate the MI Pro GB is 42.

So in this hypothetical case, we have 42 people signed up. In the first week of Aug 2018 Virtins will setup a special diyaudio MI Pro GB website on their Virtins Internet domain (so you know it is legit). Emails will go out to all MI Pro GB members whom have signed up asking for them to place their orders, i.e., actually pay for the MI Pro plus any add-ons, etc. that they’ve signed up for.

If by the end of the payment period which will end on 7 Aug 2018 the actual number of paying MI Pro customers is less than 42, (for hypothetical purposes, let’s say 31), then everyone that signed up and paid for the MI Pro GB will be given a 100% refund of their funds and they are under absolutely no obligations to stay in the MI Pro GB.

No shipments of any paid for MI Pro GB orders will ship out until after the magic number of 42 (or higher) are actually paid for.

In the event that the paid for MI Pro GB is very close to the 42, a decision will be made by Vitrins to “potentially” offer an extension period of the MI Pro GB by one to two weeks (maximum). Again, if this hypothetical situation arises, and even after the extension period we do not have 42 MI Pro paid orders, than 100% of all MI Pro GB orders will be fully (100%) refunded and the MI Pro GB will be over (as will the idea of the custom API for the RTX6001…and I will be VERY bummed out!!).

Hopefully the above answers all questions related to the excellent questions posed by the above poster.

V/R,

MI Pro
 
Administrator
Joined 2004
Paid Member
Hi MI Pro,
That would be very depressing. I would still buy the program. It's still the best option out there in my opinion. The 10% price reduction isn't really make or break at all. However, the integration is a serious advantage. The only single reason I don't have MI Pro running right now is to gain the integration. I'm willing to wait in other words.

-Chris
 
Hello Chris,

It is my sincere hope that it doesn’t come to pass, and in my humble opinion, it won’t, i.e., call me an optimist, I’m fairly confident that the MI Pro GB will end up surpassing the 42 number. I say this for the following reasons:

1. The custom API for the RTX6001 analyzer allowing true autoranging and autoscaling. The RTX6001 is truly a superb work of engineering (big time thanks and nod to Jens & RTX Corp). It is far more than just a sound card, but without the “turnkey” solution that true professional audio analyzers like Audio Precision, dScope and a handful of others have, it is not nearly as good as it has the potential to be. Sure, these other professional grade audio analyzer start retailing at $8,000 USD and go up to about $28,000 USD, yet all of these were developed in a true “turnkey” solution, i.e., the companies made both the hardware as well as the software. This latter fact gives them a huge advantage over non-turnkey solutions like the RTX6001. All of the professional grade audio analyzers have their software control the hardware’s internal attenuators and gains, to achieve autoranging and autoscaling. So my belief is that most RTX6001 owners will want to push the technological envelop and get their RTX6001’s to perform like an AP, etc.

2. Virtins MI software has been on the market since 2005 and therefore has a proven track record of success. Just check out their documentation and the superb reputation they enjoy. For example, Stuart Yaniger, an engineer who has written a superb series of articles on data acquisition cards for AudioXpress magazine (just Google search his articles - - they are available for free online), has stated about MI “…it's amazingly powerful, worth every penny…” which is high praise indeed. Additionally there is the NCD & GedLee Metric (Gm distortion) that no other audio analyzer in the world has, and perhaps soon, “Perceptual Assessment of Headphone Distortion, by Louis D. Fielder, Dolby Labs, AES paper, Oct 2017,” (working out a few things on this latter one, but it probably will be included into MI Pro as a free update in the not too distant future as well). MI Pro is so packed full of features, coupled with the free updates for life at no extra cost to be incurred by the end user for future updates, etc. (lifetime updates for the same version of MI purchased, e.g., MI Pro to MI Pro, etc.).

3. I opine that a lot of non-RTX6001 end users (soundcard based) will also be opting to get in on this MI Pro GB too, (for the discounts and for the unique features that no other audio analyzer in the world has, e.g., GedLee Metric, etc.). Remember too, if we get 112 MI Pro GB orders (or more) the price per MI Pro license drops by 21% down to $190 USD per license which includes the USB dongle and free worldwide express registered mail shipping).

4. Finally, the cost being asked for MI Pro is, in my humble opinion, very low when one looks at the competition, (considering no other audio analyzer has a custom API to remote control the RTX6001; the NCD and GedLee Metric, etc. With the free lifetime updates, why wouldn’t individuals whom are interested in making state of the art objective audio measurements jump on board? What’s not to like?

There will surely be some end users whom decide the above is not for them, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s a free world after all, and I’m not trying to twist anyone’s arm. To me, the logic of the above makes a lot of sense. I fully can respect others who may have a different opinion, that’s what the free marketplace is all about.

It is still very early in this MI Pro GB, (it started ~6 days ago). I therefore think it is far too early to base any assumptions on the total number of MI Pro GB orders that will eventually come in prior to the end of the GB (end of July 2018). I’m confident that we’ll be successful, and so I’m looking forward to getting the custom API for my RTX6001 to take it to the next level!

V/R,

MI Pro
 
Last edited:
WINE is the software used to run Windows programs on Linux. WINE development lags behind Windows so new Microsoft SDKs tend to not play well with it. Compatibility is highly dependent on the developer's choices. It would be good to know if the programmer is at least open to accepting feedback to improve support on Linux.

Thanks for the question. MI supports Windows and has been tested on various Windows versions only. But I am open to any feedbacks. If something can be done to improve MI's support on Linux, then it will be done, as long as it is not so difficult :).
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.