** Dec 2023 Update ** - They've now decoupled the C1 plugin from the SSL plugin and have made it possible to buy a $40 USD/Eur plugin to control this and the Fader 1. It is still cheaper to ask the person you bought it from to transfer the license through iLok as (from memory) it's only $25 USD.
Thanks for the video. I was going to buy one but I do not need more complications in my studio so I decided not to buy it just because the poor support you received. Thanks for the heads up!
If I can't learn from others mistakes and be grateful about that I am a fool so I Lk & Sb you dude... keep up the fight and don't feel it's for nothing for 100+ SoundCloud tracks I've been sponging and sporing the airwaves with just such info....just one on one with my students and friends. Good Luck Maestro
yeah, it did. Now they have separated the 'free' plugin from the SSL one so this shouldn't be a problem for anyone anymore.I think they charge $25 for it though.
My local music shop is selling these things off cheap and I was just about to grab one - thought I should just do a little checking first. Glad I did ! Dodged a bullet there. Cheers for the heads up :)
found myself in a similar quandary. it turns out that there's a release without data chunk for almost any quandary anyway. it helped me a lot plus it seems i do not need to have an account anymore. i would have pay them more then just 2 controllers with one enabled feature and a plugin bundle of 3 for the painfull registration process because it rocks. great job but they should change their mind on this specific topic. i wonder how such smart people are able to think the other smart peoples would not find a work around. why they hiding? most code their work is based on is free and open source anyway.
Yeah. I just picked one up. I bought a plugin that I would've wanted anyway. Just waiting to see that license in my account. It doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice considering, it makes life so much easier. I am virtually mouse free now. Faderport 8 and Console 1. I'm good. Way easier than trying to map out the Zed R16. That thing was a major pain. Still using it(Zed R16) for live recording though. It's not a bad unit necessarily. Just way more pain than it's worth IMHO.
I would have done that too if I hadn't just bought the Vol 3 set for $400 a few weeks before I bought the console 1! I do love their plugins though, they are pretty much the only ones I use.
and decouple the "free" plugin from the paid SSL one! Then they could just deliver the 'free' one to people! I build software and that's just bad architecture on their part!
If you’re buying from another human instead of a store, it should be ok because you can ask the person to transfer the license. Or if it’s from a store, make sure they have valid activation codes!
Similar issue: bought it as „returned“ from musicstore and code was already used. Contacted Softube (with scan of licence card and purchase info) and asked them to „free“ the code. They refuse that and sent me back to the store. Waited few days for an answer/call back. Sent device back. It would be really good customer support if Softube simply „uncheck“ the licence as used and/or clarify it further with the dealer, but they are obviously not interested to satisfy the customer. Bad business culture.
Hey Softube - how about decoupling things here and offer a license-only or hardware-only purchase option in addition to the current intractable bundle. This would be a better value proposition for your customers instead of having folks wind up with second-hand bricks. You might actually sell more overall product this way. Just saying.
i bought mine also 2nd hand and the dude did not know that we had to transfer the ilok stuff, so for every plugin that was like 25 euro's extra :d so i was lucky the dude was chill after buying the hardware i still had to pay extra for the plugins but got it all working. yeah thats the shite... also had to send thousand mails forth and back to softube to make everything work but in the end it's ok... Hope it worked out for you.
The store I bought it from took care of it since ST’s support was useless. They should have decoupled the SSL from the Console 1 plugin because the issue is they pay SSL for every license. Bad design!
you could have called that rental company and see if they knew where it was. not calling is just complaining…. and you cant be upset with them like you said you only paid 400 you want everything included and only pay 400 that’s fair for the rest of the people who paid 600. and I think their deal of buy the software and they’ll give you a free license is great, especially for you since you like their software so much…. try buying a Kontakt keyboard used and try to get the license from Native Instruments, they won’t even give you a deal, I know I tried. you also have to remember that the license code is also a discount code for other items and bundles. but hey if you don’t want it ill buy it off you
Same thing that happened to me except I was stupid enough to purchase a plug-in and i got the cheapest one they had it was 25 dollars but I was questioning the same thing
that sucks. Horrible customer service these guys have! I probably would have bought one too if I hadn't just bought the $400 Vol 4 package. They still haven't responded to me at all.
I wouldn't say it has "nothing" to do with Softube. Softube has chosen to use iLok and particular licensing scheme that puts all the onus on the consumer to which I don't think is completely fair. I get your point that this is the case with a lot of products these days but just because "everyone is doing it" doesn't make it right or give Softube a pass for pathetic behavior.
Well you pretty much covered the Dumb ass Customer, Stop Wining stuff. Saves me a couple of sentences. As to the actual issues: Yeah Softube is a software company and look at Console 1 as a software platform, and the hardware unit as a dedicated controller for their software. I bought a used unit (my second) and had a similar experience. That said Softube Support is amazing as companies go. Could they just give you or me a license in our accounts, once we prove we own the hardware now? Yeah, and they should. As to buying it, and not knowing how to use it, I'm not sure how that's on them. Every setup and review video goes over the way you load the plugin on every channel that you want to have the channel strip. The plugin alone on every channel in your session uses very little DSP. It doesn't start adding up until you start engaging the different sections of the channel strip, and even then its more efficient than adding a bunch of individual plugins. Now the good news is, that if they offered to add the base Console 1 (SSL SL4000E) license IF you purchased another Console 1 Channel Strip, AND you just bought Volume 4, Volume 4 includes both the American Class A (API) and the Summit Audio Grand Channel, Console 1 Channel Strips, plus a bunch of other stuff. So that should count. Once you get it up and running, and you get out of your feelings, let us know how it works for you. If you really are already in love with the American Class A, hands on control should be the game changer it was for me. The real magic happens though, when you develop the muscle memory for what knobs your grabbing, and your ears start directing your hands by themselves. Two additional thought: They laid out the knobs specifically so that you would develop that muscle memory, and it works great. Even when you change Strips, EQs, Comps, all the controls are still in the same place. Taking that same idea to another level though, I and many other C1 users Changed The Knobs. At the least people put colored stickers on top of the identical black knobs, in order to glance and see where you are. Some of us though, bought Sifams, changed knob sizes (Input and Output are large Unskirted, others are small skirted and unskirted), and that really lets your hands do what they do. Also, whether or not you've joined the cult of Universal Audio, even getting the single DSP Arrow/Solo, give you access to that ecosystem. Specifically though, the Console 1 Hardware can shift modes and give you hands on control over tons of your UAD emulations, and it changes everything to say grab both knobs on an LA2A and turn both without single-clicking a mouse. Anyways, stop crying and start mixing. With both hands.
The store I bought it from is dealing with it. I chatted with someone there who is the Softube rep and he said the support guy shouldn't have told me either of those options, they should have just added the free console1 plugin to my account after verifying the serial number. I have Volume 4, which is why I bought this thing. It'll get sorted out....still a shitty customer support experience anyway you slice it.
@@cleverdood Are you sure you can't use the 2 channel strips inside of Volume 4 right Now? Did you download all the manager crap, and iLok etc? You may already be set, and just have to wait to use the SSL4k.
G turns out the rep was right. He contacted Softube and got the new code so the support guy is the dude who wasn’t correct. I already had all that stuff installed but without the Console 1 plugin, it won’t work at all without manually midi mapping all the controls.
Bruh, of course any hardware that comes with a software license, if you don't have the license, you won't get the software part of it. How did you expect the device to work without the software (or verify that it came with the license)? Further, why would Softube provide you with a free copy of the software/license that you didn't purchase (and is presumably active with whomever first activated it). I would try obtaining a refund with the store you bought it from. Best of luck.
Definitely do your research, when this was first launched it was (and still is to my knowledge) hyped as softube software... WITH a piece of hardware to interface with it. They literally were a small team hand building the rev 1 and switched to have out of house production... they aren’t making making off the hardware EVEN on a new unit, the console one Originally went for around a grand... in all likelihood they loose money on the hardware... Your are essentially asking for free software as they aren’t seeing anything off your 2nd hand purchase and then crying foul about lousy customer service because they won’t give you something free? Sorry... that’s out of the bounds of “good customer service.” It sucks it happened to you, but frankly it’s more then amazing they are offering it to you as a free add on to another purchase.
we'll have to agree to disagree. The issue isn't wanting something "free", it's waning the plugin that makes the device work. I could care less if I had the SSL console because I already own 8 other Softube plugins that are integrated with the hardware. Without the Console 1 plugin, the device is useless. It was their choice to bundle the SSL with the Console 1 plugin. Had they not tightly coupled them together, they could issue the Console 1 plugin to at least make the device work with their existing plugins. Antelope Audio and Universal Audio have similar hardware/software integrations and you don't need to buy more plugins if you buy a used device ( UA specifies that on their website, AA doesn't so I emailed their support as I'm looking to upgrade my interface). Both UA and AA give you the stock plugins those devices ship with even if you buy second hand. Bad architecture isn't the customer's fault.
@@cleverdood my friend I did an unboxing years ago on the console 1... it’s a hybrid set up, it was and still is marketed as software with hardware integration. You don’t buy it from them, you bought it 2nd hand without doing even a tertiary bit of research, it isn’t on them to correct your fundamental misunderstanding. They work with ilok which is a debatable choice, but again... it’s between you to do some research and the venue you purchase from... as all 2nd hand purchases are. They don’t see a penny off your purchase, exactly how are you “the customer” in that situation? It you come back to a dinner (or really most retail situations) and say... hey give me free stuff... not just free stuff... but a full meal because I was hear the other day... how far will that get you?
@@Vitaphone sorry, there is absolutely no information on their site that says you need to buy more plugins to use the device if buying used. If their support site said this, like UA's site does, I wouldn't have bought it used because it would have ended up costing more than buying it new. Universal Audio has an FAQ specifically for this and they give you what it ships with even if you buy their products used. Presonus Faderports don't require any other purchases to use their products used, and neither does Antelope Audio. This is bad design pure and simple. Decouple the SSL plugin from the core plugin that makes the device work and ship it with some generic EQ/Shaper/Compressor. Then at least it'll work and as a customer, I can buy whichever of their plugins I want. So far I've spent $400 USD on their plugins.
@@Vitaphone oh, and I already owned their Summit and American Class A Console 1 compatible plugins when I bought the Console 1. So again, if they decoupled the SSL from the core plugin, I'd be able to load those in without spending more loot.
@@cleverdood Those were designed as stand alone VST's.... in fact the American Class A was the first plug they designed in for Console 1 with standalone VST in mind... I get that your late to class man... but don't call fall on the teacher and the classroom.
You definitely got unlucky, I bought an used one, the seller couldn't pass me the softube plug in due to the fact that Ilok is a very crappy thing, I sent an email and they replied me with a link to buy a discounted license for console1 I spent literally half of the original price totally and they fixed everything in 24h...
** Dec 2023 Update ** - They've now decoupled the C1 plugin from the SSL plugin and have made it possible to buy a $40 USD/Eur plugin to control this and the Fader 1. It is still cheaper to ask the person you bought it from to transfer the license through iLok as (from memory) it's only $25 USD.
Hello there!
Do you know if this $40 USD/Eur licence includes any plugin? Or is this just for some kind of activation?
Very informative video thanks!
@@zambination11 I’m not sure, they might mention it on their plugin page. I would think they would include at least one for each section.
@@cleverdood Got it. Thank you very much for your time!
Thanks for the video. I was going to buy one but I do not need more complications in my studio so I decided not to buy it just because the poor support you received. Thanks for the heads up!
If I can't learn from others mistakes and be grateful about that I am a fool so I Lk & Sb you dude... keep up the fight and don't feel it's for nothing for 100+ SoundCloud tracks I've been sponging and sporing the airwaves with just such info....just one on one with my students and friends. Good Luck Maestro
That is the crappiest customer service. I’d be upset too. Hope you got this resolved
yeah, it did. Now they have separated the 'free' plugin from the SSL one so this shouldn't be a problem for anyone anymore.I think they charge $25 for it though.
My local music shop is selling these things off cheap and I was just about to grab one - thought I should just do a little checking first. Glad I did ! Dodged a bullet there. Cheers for the heads up :)
if it's a good deal, just ask them about the license to make sure you don't need to pay anything extra. It *should* only be a $25 iLok transfer fee.
found myself in a similar quandary. it turns out that there's a release without data chunk for almost any quandary anyway. it helped me a lot plus it seems i do not need to have an account anymore. i would have pay them more then just 2 controllers with one enabled feature and a plugin bundle of 3 for the painfull registration process because it rocks. great job but they should change their mind on this specific topic. i wonder how such smart people are able to think the other smart peoples would not find a work around. why they hiding? most code their work is based on is free and open source anyway.
I just found out that the "Fader" version ALSO requires a license. And they won't even respond to me. Softube is already such a hassle.
Yeah. I just picked one up. I bought a plugin that I would've wanted anyway. Just waiting to see that license in my account. It doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice considering, it makes life so much easier. I am virtually mouse free now. Faderport 8 and Console 1. I'm good. Way easier than trying to map out the Zed R16. That thing was a major pain. Still using it(Zed R16) for live recording though. It's not a bad unit necessarily. Just way more pain than it's worth IMHO.
I would have done that too if I hadn't just bought the Vol 3 set for $400 a few weeks before I bought the console 1! I do love their plugins though, they are pretty much the only ones I use.
I sold one 3 years ago and I transferred that license, but yes, if you buy a Softube product, just sent that stupid license right ?
and decouple the "free" plugin from the paid SSL one! Then they could just deliver the 'free' one to people! I build software and that's just bad architecture on their part!
Was going to GC today to buy this and the fader. Hell No. Faderport 16 for me.
Thanks for the information!
Buying a second hand console one is risky because of the iLok license stuff, the seller has to be trusted
i bought a second hand one from guitar center... same issue
After purchasing console one i assume all native plugins are included? Surely?
only the Console 1 plugin and the SSL 4000 plugins are included. All the others are extra loot.
Huh that’s interesting, they told me it was $40 to get a license.
correct, now that the MKIII is out, they decoupled the 'console 1' plugin from the SSL one so it's a better experience, and cheaper for used buyers.
I am in the same situation. What a waste of money. I tried to contact the seller and vendor with no response.
that sucks! They should really have a support article about this, or at least de-couple the SSL plugin from the core Console 1 plugin.
Thank you for this I was thinking of buying both. However if this is how they treat people I will spend my £1000 else were!
If you’re buying from another human instead of a store, it should be ok because you can ask the person to transfer the license. Or if it’s from a store, make sure they have valid activation codes!
@@cleverdood Thank you
Similar issue: bought it as „returned“ from musicstore and code was already used. Contacted Softube (with scan of licence card and purchase info) and asked them to „free“ the code. They refuse that and sent me back to the store. Waited few days for an answer/call back. Sent device back. It would be really good customer support if Softube simply „uncheck“ the licence as used and/or clarify it further with the dealer, but they are obviously not interested to satisfy the customer. Bad business culture.
That sucks! Will the store pay for a new code? Or maybe they can contact the previous owner to transfer the license?
Hey Softube - how about decoupling things here and offer a license-only or hardware-only purchase option in addition to the current intractable bundle. This would be a better value proposition for your customers instead of having folks wind up with second-hand bricks. You might actually sell more overall product this way. Just saying.
exactly! That would solve everything...that said, I do still love this thing!
i bought mine also 2nd hand and the dude did not know that we had to transfer the ilok stuff, so for every plugin that was like 25 euro's extra :d so i was lucky the dude was chill
after buying the hardware i still had to pay extra for the plugins but got it all working. yeah thats the shite... also had to send thousand mails forth and back to softube to make everything work but in the end it's ok... Hope it worked out for you.
The store I bought it from took care of it since ST’s support was useless. They should have decoupled the SSL from the Console 1 plugin because the issue is they pay SSL for every license. Bad design!
Any way to get this working with unofficial pirated protools 12HD and torrent the plugins? Asking for a friend. Thanks
Not sure, they use iLok.
Thanks for this
you could have called that rental company and see if they knew where it was. not calling is just complaining…. and you cant be upset with them like you said you only paid 400 you want everything included and only pay 400 that’s fair for the rest of the people who paid 600. and I think their deal of buy the software and they’ll give you a free license is great, especially for you since you like their software so much…. try buying a Kontakt keyboard used and try to get the license from Native Instruments, they won’t even give you a deal, I know I tried. you also have to remember that the license code is also a discount code for other items and bundles. but hey if you don’t want it ill buy it off you
Not that easy. You need to contact the original purchaser and convince them to transfer the iLok license to you.
@@Hue_Nery That’s the first thing I said in my comment
So glad you made this video
I'm not buying it thanks
Same thing that happened to me except I was stupid enough to purchase a plug-in and i got the cheapest one they had it was 25 dollars but I was questioning the same thing
that sucks. Horrible customer service these guys have! I probably would have bought one too if I hadn't just bought the $400 Vol 4 package. They still haven't responded to me at all.
1:28
if you have problems activating console one contact me
send me a way to contact you.
Seriously that's how all of them work! ssl channel strip 2 does the same thing...
This has nothing to do with Softube. ANY product that uses a product code / license / activating code has the same issue on "second hand".
I wouldn't say it has "nothing" to do with Softube. Softube has chosen to use iLok and particular licensing scheme that puts all the onus on the consumer to which I don't think is completely fair. I get your point that this is the case with a lot of products these days but just because "everyone is doing it" doesn't make it right or give Softube a pass for pathetic behavior.
Victim
Well you pretty much covered the Dumb ass Customer, Stop Wining stuff.
Saves me a couple of sentences.
As to the actual issues:
Yeah Softube is a software company and look at Console 1 as a software platform, and the hardware unit as a dedicated controller for their software.
I bought a used unit (my second) and had a similar experience.
That said Softube Support is amazing as companies go.
Could they just give you or me a license in our accounts, once we prove we own the hardware now?
Yeah, and they should.
As to buying it, and not knowing how to use it, I'm not sure how that's on them.
Every setup and review video goes over the way you load the plugin on every channel that you want to have the channel strip.
The plugin alone on every channel in your session uses very little DSP.
It doesn't start adding up until you start engaging the different sections of the channel strip, and even then its more efficient than adding a bunch of individual plugins.
Now the good news is, that if they offered to add the base Console 1 (SSL SL4000E) license IF you purchased another Console 1 Channel Strip, AND you just bought Volume 4, Volume 4 includes both the American Class A (API) and the Summit Audio Grand Channel, Console 1 Channel Strips, plus a bunch of other stuff.
So that should count.
Once you get it up and running, and you get out of your feelings, let us know how it works for you.
If you really are already in love with the American Class A, hands on control should be the game changer it was for me.
The real magic happens though, when you develop the muscle memory for what knobs your grabbing, and your ears start directing your hands by themselves.
Two additional thought:
They laid out the knobs specifically so that you would develop that muscle memory, and it works great. Even when you change Strips, EQs, Comps, all the controls are still in the same place. Taking that same idea to another level though, I and many other C1 users Changed The Knobs. At the least people put colored stickers on top of the identical black knobs, in order to glance and see where you are. Some of us though, bought Sifams, changed knob sizes (Input and Output are large Unskirted, others are small skirted and unskirted), and that really lets your hands do what they do.
Also, whether or not you've joined the cult of Universal Audio, even getting the single DSP Arrow/Solo, give you access to that ecosystem. Specifically though, the Console 1 Hardware can shift modes and give you hands on control over tons of your UAD emulations, and it changes everything to say grab both knobs on an LA2A and turn both without single-clicking a mouse.
Anyways, stop crying and start mixing. With both hands.
The store I bought it from is dealing with it. I chatted with someone there who is the Softube rep and he said the support guy shouldn't have told me either of those options, they should have just added the free console1 plugin to my account after verifying the serial number.
I have Volume 4, which is why I bought this thing. It'll get sorted out....still a shitty customer support experience anyway you slice it.
@@cleverdood Are you sure you can't use the 2 channel strips inside of Volume 4 right Now?
Did you download all the manager crap, and iLok etc?
You may already be set, and just have to wait to use the SSL4k.
Oh, and....
Never trust a Rep.
G turns out the rep was right. He contacted Softube and got the new code so the support guy is the dude who wasn’t correct. I already had all that stuff installed but without the Console 1 plugin, it won’t work at all without manually midi mapping all the controls.
@@cleverdood Good! Now the fun begins.
? Did you really not know you had to use the plugin? Did you buy this thing blind? That's the first thing that every video talks about haha
He already has the American class A, which is console 1 compatible. The problem lies with an iLok code I believe.
Bruh, of course any hardware that comes with a software license, if you don't have the license, you won't get the software part of it. How did you expect the device to work without the software (or verify that it came with the license)? Further, why would Softube provide you with a free copy of the software/license that you didn't purchase (and is presumably active with whomever first activated it). I would try obtaining a refund with the store you bought it from. Best of luck.
Definitely do your research, when this was first launched it was (and still is to my knowledge) hyped as softube software... WITH a piece of hardware to interface with it.
They literally were a small team hand building the rev 1 and switched to have out of house production... they aren’t making making off the hardware EVEN on a new unit, the console one Originally went for around a grand... in all likelihood they loose money on the hardware...
Your are essentially asking for free software as they aren’t seeing anything off your 2nd hand purchase and then crying foul about lousy customer service because they won’t give you something free?
Sorry... that’s out of the bounds of “good customer service.”
It sucks it happened to you, but frankly it’s more then amazing they are offering it to you as a free add on to another purchase.
we'll have to agree to disagree. The issue isn't wanting something "free", it's waning the plugin that makes the device work. I could care less if I had the SSL console because I already own 8 other Softube plugins that are integrated with the hardware. Without the Console 1 plugin, the device is useless. It was their choice to bundle the SSL with the Console 1 plugin. Had they not tightly coupled them together, they could issue the Console 1 plugin to at least make the device work with their existing plugins. Antelope Audio and Universal Audio have similar hardware/software integrations and you don't need to buy more plugins if you buy a used device ( UA specifies that on their website, AA doesn't so I emailed their support as I'm looking to upgrade my interface). Both UA and AA give you the stock plugins those devices ship with even if you buy second hand. Bad architecture isn't the customer's fault.
@@cleverdood my friend I did an unboxing years ago on the console 1... it’s a hybrid set up, it was and still is marketed as software with hardware integration.
You don’t buy it from them, you bought it 2nd hand without doing even a tertiary bit of research, it isn’t on them to correct your fundamental misunderstanding.
They work with ilok which is a debatable choice, but again... it’s between you to do some research and the venue you purchase from... as all 2nd hand purchases are.
They don’t see a penny off your purchase, exactly how are you “the customer” in that situation?
It you come back to a dinner (or really most retail situations) and say... hey give me free stuff... not just free stuff... but a full meal because I was hear the other day... how far will that get you?
@@Vitaphone sorry, there is absolutely no information on their site that says you need to buy more plugins to use the device if buying used. If their support site said this, like UA's site does, I wouldn't have bought it used because it would have ended up costing more than buying it new.
Universal Audio has an FAQ specifically for this and they give you what it ships with even if you buy their products used. Presonus Faderports don't require any other purchases to use their products used, and neither does Antelope Audio.
This is bad design pure and simple. Decouple the SSL plugin from the core plugin that makes the device work and ship it with some generic EQ/Shaper/Compressor. Then at least it'll work and as a customer, I can buy whichever of their plugins I want. So far I've spent $400 USD on their plugins.
@@Vitaphone oh, and I already owned their Summit and American Class A Console 1 compatible plugins when I bought the Console 1. So again, if they decoupled the SSL from the core plugin, I'd be able to load those in without spending more loot.
@@cleverdood Those were designed as stand alone VST's.... in fact the American Class A was the first plug they designed in for Console 1 with standalone VST in mind... I get that your late to class man... but don't call fall on the teacher and the classroom.
You definitely got unlucky, I bought an used one, the seller couldn't pass me the softube plug in due to the fact that Ilok is a very crappy thing, I sent an email and they replied me with a link to buy a discounted license for console1 I spent literally half of the original price totally and they fixed everything in 24h...