It does not require a dongle, but you can opt to purchase and use Steinberg's dongle if you wish (which is not an iLok dongle, but its own proprietary format).

You can register your computer with the license, which locks the license to that computer only (and Steinberg only gives you one).

So, you don't need the dongle, but if you plan on using Halion or any other Steinberg product on more than one computer, the dongle is the way to go. Also, if your computer crashes and you can't recover, you can potentially lose your license and have to buy again. (Of course, likewise if the dog eats your dongle - you should see my DVD remote that my dog got a hold of).

iLok does it similarly with their license management system (you can either lock the license to a computer, or to the dongle).

That being said, my Steinberg eLicenser dongle has worked flawlessly for almost a decade now. I just plug it into my USB hub right next to my iLok dongle.


John

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