2 questions about DFX

[Twilightseer]

Unlike many people, I really like DFX. I think it gives awesome quality to the Winamp sound. Anyway, I've got 2 questions about this plugin and I hope someone will be able to answer them.

1) 2 days ago, my trial period for DFX came to an end. Therefore, I re-downloaded the plugin, carefully uninstalled DFX from my computer and reinstalled it with the "new" file. The problem is that when I launch Winamp, I still get the trial-period-over message. I tried installing it to another directory, even removed DFX entries in the registry but it still won't work. So my question is: is there a way to re-install DFX after the trial period is over or am I wasting my time ?

2) In case I couldn't use DFX again, do you know of any plugin that would perform the same kind of sound-processing? I have already tried Alien DSP, Realizer and Wide and Dynamix but none of them has really convinced me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[DJ Egg]

The easy solution would be to register it, if you like it that much !

However, I'm not sure if it's cool to talk about "Cracks" here, but RU sure you've deleted all refs to DFX in the registry. These shareware prog's are very clever at hiding subtle entries all over the place.
Do a full search in "RegEdit" using "Edit -> Find -> Find Next" for all keys, strings & data called DFX. See what it comes up with.
You might also want to do a search for anything to do with the programmer or company name !
There's also the very likely chance that there's an ID-Tag/Config/ISU type of file somewhere on your hard drive with stored information. Find it and delete it. For backup purposes, maybe save it to floppy first just in case you pick the wrong one. It's more than likely to be in the Winamp plugins folder [or a sub-directory], but could be in any folder [eg. Windows or System].
Also, check out the "Winamp.ini" and "plugin.ini" files for any refs to DFX. Remove them [but, create a backup first !].
There may even be a "*.ini" file in the Windows folder !!!
Anyway, it seems like a lot of hassle to go through evertime the trial period runs out, so like I said, why not simply register it. BTW, How much are they asking for ?
Personally, I think it's absolutely outrageous to offer shareware plug-ins for a freeware program. I don't bother with any shareware [unless it's a Radium crack . . . sshhh], I think the whole concept stinks of dog poo !
Support freeware and freedom in general, that's what I say !
Laterz,
Peace -> DJ-Egg.

[Twilightseer]

Hello, DJEgg

Thanks for your answer, I'll try doing what you said, maybe it will work ?
As to register, no way I think it costs $15 or something like that. But I won't register because I totally agree with you on the shareware issue: Winamp is free so all the things related to it should also be free.
Generally, I use only freeware products, I simply tried DFX out of curiosity and I think it's good, but spending money to make it work is out of the question. If I can't reinstall it, I'll simply try to find another plugin that does the same for free. Thanks again for the reply

[DeLiRiUmLB]

If you are really interested in getting DFX for free, you can use a keygen. Yah yah i know its illegal and shit, but so are mp3s...so ha, you've already broken the law, why not go a step further? Well if you want it, download this and run the program. It will automatically put the info into the registry, all you have to do is restart winamp. http://202.103.100.253/hambo/others3/cr-dfx31.zip

[Twilightseer]

[QUOTE]you've already broken the law[QUOTE]

Hey, DeLiRiUmLB.

How have I exactly "broken the law" ? Could you explain that to me?

[R Grace]

Before this goes too far (if it hasn't already), just a note for the uninformed:

Reasons not to use a crack:
1). It's illegal
If anyone's deceived into thinking it isn't illegal, because "it's just modifying the registry" or "I'm just running a program on MY computer on which I have free reign", check out the license agreement from Power Technology:

"Any efforts to circumvent, disable or in any other ways tamper with the password protection mechanism in the DFX system are considered by Power Technology to be fraudulent use of the system. For example, if
by some means you are using a DFX plug-in on your system in its fully functional non-demo mode and you haven't purchased DFX, then you are violating Power Technology's rights."

2). It's unethical
Yeah, so not everyone cares about being ethical. But some people think it's not unethical to pirate/use licensed software, since you're not actually "stealing" money from someone. But how would you feel if someone walked into your house, took a floppy disk of code you've been working for months on, and started making and handing out copies to everyone without your permission? Is writing/using cracks any different, in principle? If it doesn't bother your conscience, then you're probably becoming a person you don't want to become. Enough said.

[Twilightseer]

To R Grace
Ok so
1) I don't mean to be aggressive but I generally don't like to be given morality lessons by anyone . Nothing personal.
2) It seems like you've not read my posts carefully. Did I ever mention that I had any intentions to crack anything ? Of course not!!!
3) Correct me if I'm wrong: cracking software is illegal but downloading a second time the free demo version is not !
4) And anyway, I no longer will use DFX. I now use Alien DSP, which is free and finally quite good.

So, if I sum up, DFX removed, no crack, no violation of anyone's rights, just Winamp 2.64, Geiss, Alien DSP, other TOTALLY FREE plugins and good music. Enough said...

------------------
Twilightseer
As I cool in the twilight...

[Martay]

I love DFX. I notice a great change in quality and for me who doesn't have a cd burner, is a great asset when recording on to a tape (plug in the car adapter into my sound blaster then the other end into a two deck stereo). I am seriously considering getting the crack. The screen that shows up every time I open Winamp is really agravating! I saw in another post that the only reason Winamp doesn't come stacked with this type of effect is 'cause some ppl don't have a good sound card. My question is why don't they have a seperate option for effects when you go to download Winamp. There are already different option, you can go all out or the more reserved version. Why not add another option. I don't think having to pay for better quality on a product that is already free is right!!

[R Grace]

To Twilightseer:
Sorry you misunderstood my post to refer to you directly. My post was addressed to people using and considering use of a crack for DFX, since that's where this thread seemed to be going. This forum has lots of readers of different levels of understanding, and a few might not understand the implications of using a crack. As far as downloading the demo a second time - sure, I don't think it's illegal, not even by the license agreement, but probably not the intended use of the vendor... My opinion is that if someone doesn't like the rules of the product, they should either ask the vendor to change it or just not use it - sounds like that was the choice you made.

Interesting question for another forum - should software be allowed to leave stuff in your registry even after you've deinstalled it, even if it's for a "good" reason?

I think I'll try Alien DSP. I got the full version of DFX, but the 3D Surround feature sounds unnatural/boxy and doesn't seem to widen the soundfield much (Wide and Dynamix and the WaveSurround demo did a much better job of this). The other 3 features of DFX work pretty well though, and I think it was worth the $$$ (however, I wish they'd give newer versions to past customers for free, or at a reduced price). I've had problems with MuchFX2, but maybe I can use it to chain AlienDSP and DFX together.

[Twilightseer]

Hello, R Grace
As I said, my post had nothing personal. I hope you didn't feel insulted in any way.
The point is that I found DFX really impressive when I tried it. But I think that I already have to pay for too many things, I can't afford paying money to register shareware programs. So DFX is now far away from my system... It's too bad because it's actually a good product. Alien DSP can't fully replace it (it's undoubtedly less good than DFX) but at least it's free. I think that the shareware(crippleware in the case of DFX)plugins should be forbidden, it could be a good topic for one of the forums. I can only hope that someone releases one day a free plugin as good as DFX (or that DFX, like Winamp, turns freeware).

------------------
Twilightseer
As I cool in the twilight...

HELP! There is a post for how to remove DFX, but the link to it does not work.

I want to remove DFX, as I do not want to pay for the program, and am tired of the pop-up reminders. That alone is enough for me to never buy any of their products. Anyone....please tell me how to get this off of my pc!!!

[Reverend Ike]

pookah1953 -

Open Winamp, go to Winamp Preferences (Ctrl+P), and select Plug-ins -> DSP/Effect. The DFX plugin should be listed in the window. Following the plugin name should be the name of its DLL file - write it down. Then exit the Preferences window and close Winamp.

Next, using Windows Explorer, go to your Plugins folder (usually C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins), locate that DLL file and delete it. That should do it. If not, please post a reply.

The only other thing I know about DFX is that you should NEVER use its uninstall program because it deletes ALL of your plugins when it uninstalls itself (at least previous versions did).

Here's the dead link that pookah1953 was referencing:

http://forums.winamp.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000183.html

That thread was apparently part of a May 6th massacre and is gone forever, and it seems that the remaining DFX threads are mostly gripes without many specific suggestions. Perhaps another DFX-hater can assist pookah1953 if any additional action is necessary to uninstall DFX?

[This message has been edited by Reverend Ike (edited October 11, 2000).]

[endless17]

i like dfx, alot actually. i'm not sure how the sound is coming out of a SB Live, but on my Guillemont Fortissimo soundcard, the highs tend to be muffled quite a bit. this isn't just on mp3's tho, but on every sound that comes out of the blasted thing. i verified this by playing a cd in my cd-rom drive, putting the headphone on the end of my speaker jack and then on the end of my cd-rom drive. there's a huge treble difference.

dfx actually makes the mp3 sound cd-quality with the fidelity setting turned up to 6-8 or so on my headphones. on my Sony speakers, they only need 3-5 to get the same effect. the highs they reproduce is amazing. the 'bass boost' effect on the newer 4.0 version is actually more useful than i thought. it cranks up the bass without giving it a tiny and flat sound. it actually has a boom to it. i don't care for the rest of the options tho.

dynamic boost is a simple volume booster dressed in lots of tech-lingo. this is only useful if you have speakers without a volume control.

3d surround is a useless option altogether.

ambience is a neat reverb effect that is useful for about 2 seconds before you realize that all your mp3s start sounding like they were recorded in a cave.

as far as paying for it...i have something against paying for a piece of software for a freeware product. i understand their need to make a living, but charging for a product of this nature is absurd. i'd rather spend more money and get the WOWThing box (30 bucks more) and have it available for every sound output device.

so what do i do? i use the crack. sure it's not 'ethical' and 'immoral', but i lead an otherwise good life and i have no problems with using the crack. i'm not going to post the link for it however. the link posted before is a crack for version 3.1 which won't work in 4.0 - the author found out about the crack and blocked that serial numnum and user name.

you're desperate for it, go look for it on your own like i did. if you're resourceful enough, it should only take you 3 minutes - that's how long it took me.