Agreed. I can't f**king believe this "free" meter is for Cubase 6.x only! This doesn't work in Wavelab 7??? f**k YOU, Steinberg.

Well in that case it would mean that those who don't upgrade become lesser beings deserving of contempt.

Well, it's pretty obvious that you complain about this because you are not content with Steinberg's business policy in general, so i thought the question why you still buy their products would be valid. I don't buy Apple products because they deliver the same quality at double or triple the price mostly so...

I did in no way tried to decide for you what to buy though, my aplogoies if it sounded like it. I was just wondering how something a company offers for free can lead to a general complaint about their business practices.

Unbelievable that people get all heated up over a free plugin!

chk071: it's their increasingly horrible update cycle and decision to proactively lock out users of their software that's essentially identical to their latest version, and not for technical reasons. It's really a winning combination. It shows perfectly where they're heading and it's frustrating.

Keith99: it's amazing how you bother to make such a comment about a topic you have no idea about.

That strongly depends on the user i guess. I own the small version of Cubase 6 (Elements) and i don't really feel lock out over some meter or other stuff the more advanced version get for free. Also it is a question of business policy (again) if you choose whether to support older versions, and how long you want to support them as well. If you take Reaper for instance, a strong point to consider whether to buy it or not would be that you get 2 versions update cycles for what you pay. Then you'll probably take a look at other hosts, and see, in Cubase's case for example, that they usually do some maintainance updates, free stuff for their flagship versions, and you get a picture of what should be the best for you.

It is common knowledge that Nuendo is pretty much Cubase's code and we Cubase users are the beta testers for Nuendo (they get the best of the cake, we just the breadcrumbs).


Nuendo 5 was first released in 2010, the last (free) update came (according to KVR) around 18 Apr 2012.

Cubase 6 was released Januaray 2011, the paid update to 6.5 came 29th February 2012 and the free 6.0.6 maintenance was mid March 2012.

So technically, the updates of Nuendo are newer, but Cubase is the more recent host and cash-pool.


BTW:
Wavelab 7 "hybrid" (Win/Mac) was released in September 2010, the last update (7.1.2) was released around 18th January 2012. By the known update cycles, Nuendo 6 would be released by end of 2012, Wavelab 8 (if it keeps the 2 year cycle) by end of the year as well, 2013 latest (though the last upgrade was over 4 years apart and it's still a small development team - IIRC even one still). Though I was "informed" by mail that it won't happen. Cubase 7 might then hit 2013 (spring) and start the public betatesting for Nuendo 7 due in 2014/2015. Again, Steinberg denies this.





Technically it's not free. That would mean it's "free for everyone in every VST3 host". I consider it "free to use by Steinberg users only". It could have been part of a maintenance update.

Come to think of it, I still think it's jumping on the bandwagon and make the people aware of the ITU measurement (EBU R-128 recommendation) - as it happened with the vintage plugin collection (Vintage Open Deck especially). The fact that Steinberg even mentioned (it's quoted on KVR) that it was not really quality checked but they wanted to put it out regardless, proves that point.

Actually, I think the maintenance updates had a hidden code that "unlocks" certain plugins. Example: the old Steinberg bundled plugins (EQ, Compressor, the tape machine, the tube plugin, etc) - they only work within a Steinberg environment or only Cubase. I think this is the case as well, which is why they insist on having "most recent versions".


I think with enough preasure, Steinberg losens the grip on the usage at least for the three main hosts Cubase/Nuendo/Wavelab. The fact that it's not(!) working in Wavelab (whichever version, reported by several users) is just a stupid move. Wavelab was and is still made for engineering and authoring purposes, the EBU R-128 recommendation is mainly for broadcasting only (not necessarily mastering), there are tons of similar tools available...


It was a nice try, but the endresult was a clear failure. Especially considering they are the forerunners of VST3 technology.

no no, you misunderstood the question. yes I know they are from the same source code, nuendo and cubase.. you said however that (which I have now hilited) :

which I am questioning how you know that is the case?

rsp

The point is that loyal, longtime users whom are not running 6.5 or whatever else is supported see this as first a free gesture of goodwill (even if they do not want/need a free metering plug-in) but as soon as it seems like a tidy little tool all of a sudden it does not work unless they are using the most recent/supported versions (with proof that it does work in older versions so long as its on you're license holder you are running an up to date supported version!) It is a kick in the teeth and they could have spent the time used to dish out this 'freebie' working on things that actually do need working on such as bug fixes, feature requests and such. I would be sure as hell pissed off with them if I were a Steinberg customer.

I was looking for something to replace my host since I started which is Pro Tools but the time It would take me to learn something new inside and out against biting the bullet would cost me alot more, Lukily I managed to find a PT v9.x license for a great price off of a great person As I sure as hell am not going to give AVID any money to use PT v10 as they have taken many steps backwards since v9 seemed to listen to most major user and potential user issues (To go so backwards in such a space of time is damned odd but I am not a business man trying to milk a small market like they are). Cubase was on that list of potentials but thank f'ck I found a way to avoid the headache

So in a nutshell if Steinberg have the time to give away a free tool to users of only the most recent updated versions, What the f'ck are they doing with their time? Certainly not making an update tempting thats for sure! Oh and obviously a 'free' loudness meter is about nothing but business practices, How you can not see that is astounding

It should be obvious reading through the thread that the issue is not really the free plug but Steinberg's attitude towards customers that have chosen not to upgrade to the latest version.

Doesn't Studio One host VST3 as well?

If so, has anyone tried this in it?

(I have S1-2 pro, but haven't installed it yet.)

A drastical code change might be massive implementation of more tools. Or new features for that matter - stuff that would count as "complete new version" (like UI overhaul, the implementation of a x.1 surround mode compared to 5.1, the implementation of VariAudio, something like that). The 6.5 update was basically just FLAC support, two VSTi, a "DJ plugin" from Sequel, one additional mode fix and the rest were bugfixes.

Since I'm no programmer of them, I can't confirm this, but I say this is not a drastical code change. Just tweaking.





Then try it and report back. It doesn't hurt. But I'm fairly sure Steinberg "locked out" all other VST3 related hosts unless they get a certain code update. With a reason or not, we can't be for sure.

I still emphasize on the availablity of the competition in this case.




And I still like to point this out:


This is the best excuse that Steinberg can make. They push away all upcoming issues and blame it in the users if it's not working as it should, since there's "use at own risk" written all over it. Happened for several times now with recent releases (updates, freebies, etc).


I can agree with Dean regarding WTF they are doing. Apparently they can do everything else than pushing the boundaries or stay at the pulse of time. VST3 is flawed - and this is a prime example. On top of not responding to mails and FRs.

For the record I was able to open projects saved and worked on in the 30 day demo of Cubase 6 in Cubase Studio 5.

Compyfox : I meant that I haven't installed Studio One yet. I may not until I get a new computer, for reasons beyond the scope of this thread. Thanks, though.

Can someone that has Studio One installed please try this and see if it works? Thanks!

I installed the most recent "freeware" updates from Steinberg yesterday:
Wavelab 7.2.1 and Cubase 6.0.6

According to timecodes, the 6.0.6 update is even newer than 6.5.


Even after several reboots, no showing of the plugin. This somewhat confirms my guess that the updates have a code implemented to unlock certain "Steinberg only" plugins within their host "only". Might have been an maintenance update indeed.

Shady move to some, not drasical to others since there are plenty of cross-platform alternatives. Don't go haywire about a limited measurement tool like Steinberg - spare some pocket money for ToneBoosters instead, or grab the free Audication one.



If someone is interested, take a dive into my KVRmarks and read the freshly added link-to-post regarding EBU R-128. This tells you if you really need such a plugin or not.