Steinberg Key USB eLicenser

The presentation picture is an older version of eLicenser key. This new version is quite small - it's pretty much, I would say, 33% the metallic part that gets into the USB slot and 66% the plastic key itself.

This is my first key, it's been a year and no problems with it whatsoever. I read lots of complains about old keys being broken, but I think this current design is really hard to break by accident.

Some people may complain about these keys taking up ports on their laptops so I found a working solution: I only have two ports on my laptop and they are not enough anyway. So I purchased a 4-port slim USB-powered USB hub and with a self-adhesive velcro tape I fixed it on my macbook's back of the screen (lid). The soft side is on the laptop so whenever I pack it it will not hold onto any stuff that gets in contact with, and the "sticky velcro side" goes to the usb hub which goes into an accessories bag when on the move. This way I have 4 ports available for eLicenser key, other keys and a portable hard drive. The second free port on the laptop is for quickly getting memory sticks in/out.

I'm sure we all have far too many dongles as it is! But this is necessary for using Vienna Ensemble products. I bought this to use with VEP 5 as it was a little bit cheaper than the alternative 'vienna key'. it works flawlessly and the license manager software was very quick and easy use - a bit better than iLok manager!

The great thing is (and the reason that I bought 2) is that this will allow you to slave a machine (either mac or personal computer - or even laptop) and run your sample libraries from that. This will alleviate some of the stresses on your main computer. Buy 2 of these, Vienna Ensemble Pro and you have a VERY VERY powerful audio production system!