# Any advantage to iLok 3 over iLok 2 or 1? Result



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

Hi all,

Apart from being smaller and having more capacity than the earlier incarnations, is a new iLok 3 a good idea to replace my rather ancient iLok 1s? How about iLok 2?

The new one looks a lot less fragile but who knows.

Opinions welcome.

Thanks,

John


----------



## Virtuoso (Dec 31, 2020)

Most plugins now require at least an iLok 2 these days, but you might as well go for the iLok 3 - it's much smaller, the case is metal and there's no end cap to lose.


----------



## jules (Dec 31, 2020)

To avoid the hassle (zdt, broken key, etc) i change my dongles (elicencers ilok codemeter) every ten years (approximately), but except the fact the new ilok is made with metal... I heard some say the licence access is way faster with gen 3, coming from gen 1.


----------



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

Ok -- I have actually four Gen 1 iloks in use, so I will replace those. They are at least 15 years old.


----------



## kgdrum (Dec 31, 2020)

I have version 2 which is way better than iLok 1 but from my understanding the iLok 3 is more durable than #2 and will hold more licenses.


----------



## MarcelM (Dec 31, 2020)

i dont see any, and i dont get why some plugins or developer doesnt support version one anymore. i got two of them and both are still working like a charm after all those years.


----------



## babylonwaves (Dec 31, 2020)

JohnG said:


> Ok -- I have actually four Gen 1 iloks in use, so I will replace those. They are at least 15 years old.


get a v3 ilok. it'll hold all the licenses on your 4 dongles and project loading times will go down a lot (also with a v2). and, if you have ZDT, you pay 1/4 in the future because you only need one insurance.


----------



## JonS (Dec 31, 2020)

JohnG said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Apart from being smaller and having more capacity than the earlier incarnations, is a new iLok 3 a good idea to replace my rather ancient iLok 1s? How about iLok 2?
> 
> ...


If you need a new iLok only get an iLok 3 so you have the latest technology as some plugins won't work with iLok 1 and may eventually not work with iLok 2. I have no issues with my iLok 3 keys.


----------



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

babylonwaves said:


> get a v3 ilok. it'll hold all the licenses on your 4 dongles and project loading times will go down a lot (also with a v2). and, if you have ZDT, you pay 1/4 in the future because you only need one insurance.


They are on three different computers. I don't pay for ZDT mostly because I would need it for five computers. A bit annoying.


----------



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

MarcelM said:


> i dont see any, and i dont get why some plugins or developer doesnt support version one anymore. i got two of them and both are still working like a charm after all those years.


Mine also work fine, but they are certainly more fragile, being plastic, than the iLok 3. Besides, they stick out pretty far in a dark little niche behind my PC rack. Don't want to snap them off some time when in a hurry and not paying attention (i.e. all the time).


----------



## JonS (Dec 31, 2020)

JohnG said:


> Mine also work fine, but they are certainly more fragile, being plastic, than the iLok 3. Besides, they stick out pretty far in a dark little niche behind my PC rack. Don't want to snap them off some time when in a hurry and not paying attention (i.e. all the time).


If they all work fine then I would just leave well enough alone.


----------



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

JonS said:


> If they all work fine then I would just leave well enough alone.


I mostly agree, Jon. I'm just replacing the ones I know are from 2004, stick out quite a bit, and made of plastic. I have an iLok 2 on my main computer and one of the iLok 3s on Pro Tools.


----------



## Zero&One (Dec 31, 2020)

@JohnG how do you know what version you have? Mines massive and plastic like the one you mention


----------



## kgdrum (Dec 31, 2020)

Zero&One said:


> @JohnG how do you know what version you have? Mines massive and plastic like the one you mention


That sounds like an iLok 1


----------



## Zero&One (Dec 31, 2020)

kgdrum said:


> That sounds like an iLok 1


Great... the crap one


----------



## kgdrum (Dec 31, 2020)

Well you’ve probably had it for a while and got good use out of it.
I moved to the ilok2 several years ago and it’s much better than #1.
Many users report the ilok3 is even better(durability) and holds way more licenses than the ilok2.
I already have a blank ilok2 as a backup for mine if need be but if I didn’t I’d make the move to ilok3 without hesitation.


----------



## GtrString (Dec 31, 2020)

I upgraded from iLok 2 to the iLok 3 (the small metal one), and found it to draw resources from my system. I don’t think the iLok 2 did that.

Anyone else experienced this with iLok 3?


----------



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

kgdrum said:


> @JohnG how do you know what version you have? Mines massive and plastic like the one you mention





kgdrum said:


> That sounds like an iLok 1


I agree -- it does. iLok 1 looks like this:


----------



## Virtuoso (Dec 31, 2020)

If that's yours, you might want to blur out that serial number.


----------



## JohnG (Dec 31, 2020)

Zero&One said:


> @JohnG how do you know what version you have? Mines massive and plastic like the one you mention


see 2 posts up ^^


----------



## heisenberg (Dec 31, 2020)

gotta be iLok 1. I have an iLok 2 and it appears to be more fragile than an iLok 1, based on the above appearance. However, if the new one draws more resources, personally I am going to leave well enough alone at the moment. 

I feel pretty fortunate that I have not had any crippling downtime with my iLok. Sometimes I see the iLok servers have gone down but I have never been a victim of "cannot use said plugins" but I am confident that day will happen.


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Dec 31, 2020)

I'm not particularly interested in iLok 1 or 2 or 3 - they're all dongles you stick in a USB slot and hopefully forget about for years.

But one thing to be aware of: recent versions of Play (like the last couple of years) will simply not start up if you have an iLok 1 attached to your computer, whether or not the EW licenses are on it.


----------



## babylonwaves (Jan 1, 2021)

heisenberg said:


> gotta be iLok 1. I have an iLok 2 and it appears to be more fragile than an iLok 1, based on the above appearance. However, if the new one draws more resources, personally I am going to leave well enough alone at the moment.


I had a v1 which just stopped working after 10 years, and a v2 which physically fell apart for no really good reason (but kept working).
I don't see why v3 would draw additional resources, in fact how would you measure that at all? I don't think that's something that happens in general. yes, copy protections require resources but the actual CP is identical in the v2 and v3. and if you compare v1 to the newer ones, you'll see a speed bump because the USB interface is much quicker.


----------



## MarcelM (Jan 1, 2021)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> I'm not particularly interested in iLok 1 or 2 or 3 - they're all dongles you stick in a USB slot and hopefully forget about for years.
> 
> But one thing to be aware of: recent versions of Play (like the last couple of years) will simply not start up if you have an iLok 1 attached to your computer, whether or not the EW licenses are on it.


thats not true. play will only take about 1 minute to load for the first time but everything else is just running fine.


----------



## Saxer (Jan 1, 2021)

I had problems with iLok2's because they had higher power consumption than iLok1. At least they didn't work on USB hubs with smaller power supplies. Took a while for me to figure it out.


----------



## ReleaseCandidate (Jan 1, 2021)

You can see which program needs which version of the dongle (V1 or later) in the Ilok License Manager.
EW/play officially supports Ilok 1, Exponential Audio doesn't, for example.


----------



## GtrString (Jan 1, 2021)

Saxer said:


> I had problems with iLok2's because they had higher power consumption than iLok1. At least they didn't work on USB hubs with smaller power supplies. Took a while for me to figure it out.


Ahh, that could be it. Will check that. Tnx!


----------



## Proteinshake (Jan 1, 2021)

So nobody who has yet a horror story of an iLok 3 USB Dongle failure to tell? As mentioned before, Version 2 is notorious for going apart.


----------



## heisenberg (Jan 1, 2021)

Good info. For once talking about dongles has done some good. Dongle.


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 1, 2021)

MarcelM said:


> thats not true. play will only take about 1 minute to load for the first time but everything else is just running fine.


Is too true. I'm right and you're wrong.

(Unless something has changed.)

EDIT: WAIT! STOP THE PRESSES! THEY FIXED IT! YOU'RE RIGHT!

Cool. That solves a problem I was having.


----------



## GdT (Jan 2, 2021)

I recommend RckLocker boxes to protect the dongle:
https://roklocker.wazala.com/
Also you can get insurance to replace a damaged dongle.


----------



## JohnG (Jan 11, 2021)

I replaced all my old iLok 1s with iLok 3s. I have noticed that my teeth are whiter, and I have more definition in my abs than ever.

So don't tell me there's nothing to it, ok?


----------



## kgdrum (Jan 11, 2021)

@JohnG 

I sense your renewed confidence might be due to a new improved .....d.....
dongle?


You look fu*kin marvelous! 😘


----------



## heisenberg (Mar 9, 2021)

In anticipation of this migration to iLok that Steinberg is apparently undertaking, at least the preliminary work on the process is taking place, I decided to migrate to the newer Ilok 3 That JohnG and others have done. Process seems to be going well. 

First thing to do when transferring your licenses from one Ilok to the other, is to revoke the license back to the unregistered pool of licenses AND THEN move the license from one dongle to the other. When you stick the new dongle into the machine in question, you are asked if you want to register your new iLok to your account. That seems to be the only prep work that needs to be done.

Only tried a few licenses so far but things seem to be working with the moved plugin licenses.

The process is probably a bit different if your license has more than one activation available.

I understand that this may seem obvious and trivial so some but when you begin moving around what are very expensive licenses, your concern level goes up considerably during this process.


----------



## heisenberg (Jul 9, 2021)

Well my newish iLok 3 just stopped working yesterday. Sending it in for inspection and license retreival via an RMA. Fortunately, my eLicenser still works but oh the irony that is a brewing.

Guess I will have to be selective about the software I use over the next number of weeks, until this gets sorted. It's been nice knowing you Adaptiverb, R4, Falcon and Blackhole amongst many, many others.


----------



## kgdrum (Jul 9, 2021)

heisenberg said:


> Well my newish iLok 3 just stopped working yesterday. Sending it in for inspection and license retreival via an RMA. Fortunately, my eLicenser still works but oh the irony that is a brewing.
> 
> Guess I will have to be selective about the software I use over the next number of weeks, until this gets sorted. It's been nice knowing you Adaptiverb, R4, Falcon and Blackhole amongst many, many others.


Wow the iLok 3 is supposed to be extremely reliable,I am surprised.
I have a iLok 2 and a spare. I’ve been thinking it might be a good idea to just move to the iLok 3 as they have a rock solid reputation. I guess anything and everything can fail at some point.
I hope you get this resolved ASAP,Good Luck.

👍


----------

