Dirac (for PC) stopped working today

[Trell]

If you'll sell your AVR, you can sell the license with it and we'll assist you with the account and email for your buyer

What should I do if the AVR breaks down and it’s out of warranty? Buy a new license for the replacement AVR?

In case I sell the AVR it’s unlikely that I’ll recoup the expenses for a new license.

From what I’ve read you’ve got a very nice product but your current licensing leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[FANCI]

It is incomprehensible that a company like Dirac, after having achieved good results, throws everything away due to an obvious commercial error on licenses, however they can do what they want but I don't buy a license every time I change the avr, are we kidding??? all audiophile friends are amazed at this attitude

 

[Keith_W]

@FANCI
You expect us to give you a free Bass Control license as a beta tester and you provided no feedback.
Then you'd sell it together with your license with a 100% profit:

Dirac Live Studio multichannel sell

hello, I have for sale my multi-channel license bought directly from DIRAC I also have DIRAC authorization for the sale as I have to buy another one dedicated to a specific hardware, if you are interested I will gladly sell it to you, 100% DIRAC guaranteeac Live Studio multichannel

www.audiosciencereview.com

We know well that our customers are not idiots, quite the contrary... but we aren't either

If your beta software was advertised that it does not expire, and if he paid money for it, then you should honour the terms of the contract and let him continue to use the beta software. I would like to see a photograph or a screenshot from @FANCI outlining exactly the terms of the contract that he was buying into before passing judgement, however. But unilaterally changing the contract after purchase is unethical and has been subject to class action lawsuits in the past. I am not directly accusing you of unethical behaviour, but if it transpires that this was the case I think most ASR members would take a very dim view.

I suggest the following resolution: FANCI shows us the contract of sale. If there are provisos in it for license expiring, then he has not read the contract properly and he has no case. OTOH if it does show that the license never expires, then you should honour the terms of the contract.

 

[DWPress]

If your beta software was advertised that it does not expire, and if he paid money for it,

This is the crux. The beta was free for testing for people who already had a Dirac license so no money exchanged hands. Dirac did indeed indicate that the beta license would not expire on the website customer portal but in the end it is proprietary software and validates itself and functionality via an internet connection.

Nothing is stopping Fanci from selling his AVR with Dirac and Flax has already indicated they would transfer the license to a new owner. Fanci also owns a PC version of Dirac which he paid money for separately and can continue to use indefinitely at no additional charge. On my customer portal Bass Control shows up as a separate license from Dirac 2ch so even if someone sold their PC version of Dirac it would entail 2 licenses.

Not trying to defend Dirac here, the license system leaves a lot to be desired but I can understand why they do it this way to accommodate all the various markets they are in and in the end it is just software. Feature rich physical devices like AVRs, DSP processors, pro gear and cars are all prone to breakage or age so it is a consideration if your software is part of the package.

 

[FANCI]

thank you all for your precious comments, I am attaching the screenshot of my DLBC license where you can see the never expiration, but despite this dirac has removed it and this in my opinion is incorrect, then even if it was free Dirac's commitment was that it expired, nobody gives anything away, so if Dirac did it is to use the beta testers to see if there were any problems before going on sale. Dirac accused me of not contributing on the forum, but the reason is luckily DLBC was fine, so what was I supposed to say? I was looking for problems but if there are not ? With regard to the 30% discount, it means that they subsequently changed their mind and from a license that was valid forever they unilaterally transformed it into a 30% discount on the new one (which then doesn't seem to even work), does that seem correct to you? I purchased the multi-channel license regularly while the DLBC was given to me in exchange for the tester, I don't want the paid version that I will buy in the future perhaps if I want a normal license with all the updates and the service. As I said I am contesting this commercial attitude of Dirac because for me it is not correct and it must be said.

 

[FANCI]

About the new licenses on Marantz ....... I'll say it clearly, my plan was to buy dlbc , but this will be released in 2024 in the meantime if I wanted to buy the full DL it would cost $349 and I don't know how much DLBC will cost ... .. certainly a good cost commitment, to this we add that the licenses will remain attached to the device so if I wanted to upgrade to the marantz av10 I would have to pay all the licenses again, of course, as Dirac says, resell the "old" ones .... .... but you who are audiophiles like me think it's an acceptable system?? for this reason I stopped and I want to consider other alternatives, in the meantime I expect Dirac to reactivate my DLBC beta license as due, know that I am a supporter of Dirac and I have spread my positive thoughts in many audiophile chats where I participate , so all the more reason I 'm suffering from these behaviors of Dirac , if I were not interested in anything I would not waste time and make you lose too , thanks again to all

 

[Flak]

@Trell
in case your AVR breaks, and you get a replacement unit, we'll reset your license so that it's ready to be used with the new AVR... we already had many cases like this
@Keith_W
We never said that the beta license would never expire and no such contract was ever agreed upon... we offered a 30% discount to beta testers taking into account that the beta was made available on simple request and beta testers could get the discount even if they didn't provide any feedback.
The status of the license shown in the account as perennial is simply a material error (as is the "null" description)... beta testers (who often provided useful feedback) have then purchased the license without claiming a right to a free license because of it.
@FANCI
Please realize that the concept of a license that is transferrable to any device is unsustainable... for example, we have customers who purchased a Full Dirac Live license for US$99 (NAD has a certain licensing agreement), JBL provides Full Dirac Live, and Dirac Bass Control free of charge (that doesn't mean that you can use that Bass Control license with another device)
If we'd follow your concept we should provide a Dirac Live license to Volvo customers as well...

Thank you all for your understanding!
Flavio

 

[tomchris]

I must say, I have never heard of a trial/beta license never expiring.

A trial/beta license or trial/beta period is by definition a version which may have limited features and is limited in terms of the length of time the product may be used and will cease operating after a predetermined amount of time.

If you have entered a trial/beta agreement, I would think that it would be obvious that this is a test arrangement which is limited in both timeline and use.

If you subsequently looked up your licenses and concluded that your trial/beta would unlikely never expire, just because the beta license erroneously was listed as "Never expires", I would say that you are clutching at straws.

 

[FANCI]

@Flak
so, how much do i have to pay now in total to get dlbc on my marantz cinema 40? and how do you intend to apply the 30% discount?

 

[Keith_W]

After looking at what has been said, I think Dirac has no case to answer. If it is a free trial of beta software meaning that you did not have to pay for it, then you have not lost anything. What is fair is to buy a license if you want to continue using it. End of story.

 

[SorenTyson]

I think being able to use a beta version for free for a limited period of time is great and I’d be happy to provide feedback in return. Would never expect to keep it, and come to think of it, where I work we also don’t give away our products for free…

 

[FANCI]

I must say, I have never heard of a trial/beta license never expiring.

A trial/beta license or trial/beta period is by definition a version which may have limited features and is limited in terms of the length of time the product may be used and will cease operating after a predetermined amount of time.

If you have entered a trial/beta agreement, I would think that it would be obvious that this is a test arrangement which is limited in both timeline and use.

If you subsequently looked up your licenses and concluded that your trial/beta would unlikely never expire, just because the beta license erroneously was listed as "Never expires", I would say that you are clutching at straws.

I think being able to use a beta version for free for a limited period of time is great and I’d be happy to provide feedback in return. Would never expect to keep it, and come to think of it, where I work we also don’t give away our products for free…

yes, it had been clarified, they were communication errors, in fact we moved on to the next and final step how much does the total license cost

 

[Trell]

I think being able to use a beta version for free for a limited period of time is great and I’d be happy to provide feedback in return. Would never expect to keep it, and come to think of it, where I work we also don’t give away our products for free…

From what I’ve seen in this thread that was the case. So Dirac messed up.

In this case I suggest that the affected poster and the Dirac employee work this out in PMs.