Where is Cubase 12.5 or 13? [Update: It's here C13 is released!]

[PatchAdamz]

Whoops, gone.....

Right now it shows Cubase 12, a few hours ago it had Cubase 13.

The old switcherama....

[ericj23]

The old pattern of updates has changed, hasn't it? - no annual .5 increases. Is suspect my old way of upgrading cheap will be gone too. Basically I would wait until the.5 version was on sale but didn't register it until after the full number upgrade was out. I would get a grace period upgrade as well as the .5 update. So, as I was willing to wait to get 2 yearly updates for the sale price of 1. It looks like there is no .5 upgrade now anyway.

[thebutler]

Jan. 19, 2022 - official statement:

https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-u ... scontinued

:....Moreover, within the next 24 months, Steinberg's host applications and plug-ins across macOS and Windows will offer VST 3 compatibility only...."

I've got three vst2 left. everything else is vst3. The one I'm most nervous about is impOSCar2 which is due to be updated. I hope they hurry up.

Leave all anxieties aside...
1. Cubase 12 will keep working the same if you update (it doesn't get uninstalled/replaced)
2. try to hold off updating straight away, see what others are saying - difficult one I know...!

[Sahul]

Jan. 19, 2022 - official statement:

https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-u ... scontinued

:....Moreover, within the next 24 months, Steinberg's host applications and plug-ins across macOS and Windows will offer VST 3 compatibility only...."

I've got three vst2 left. everything else is vst3. The one I'm most nervous about is impOSCar2 which is due to be updated. I hope they hurry up.

Leave all anxieties aside...
1. Cubase 12 will keep working the same if you update (it doesn't get uninstalled/replaced)
2. try to hold off updating straight away, see what others are saying - difficult one I know...!

What surprises me is that, at this point, and knowing in advance that Steinberg would remove VST2 support in two years, still a transparent VST2>VST3 wrapper hasn't been released by any third-party developer.

[Synthman2000]

It is a good point Sahul but I suspect any developer would need permission from Steinberg as it is a proprietary technology they own and maybe licence.

[Sahul]

It is a good point Sahul but I suspect any developer would need permission from Steinberg as it is a proprietary technology they own and maybe licence.

That's true, but I don't believe the problem lies there, as plugins that host other plugins have always existed. What will be needed is something similar to what jBridge implements for 32-bit plugins, but in this case the goal would be to wrap VST2 plugins into VST3 dummy plugins preserving the same IDs, so the host is able to maintain compatibility when loading old projects. AFAIK, this hasn't been done yet.

[chk071]

Yeah, not only do many plugins host other plugins, but, some plugins are also only wrapped versions of other formats as well. So, I don't think there's a problem with doing wrappers.

The question is, who needs them? I would guess that 99% of the people out there don't care if Steinberg drops VST2, because all their plugins come in VST3 versions as well by now. The problems are always only in the bubble. The KVR Audio bubble, or, generally, in more tech savvy forum bubbles. Steinberg will surely know whether or not they can drop VST2, and still sell their DAW's. It's naive to believe that they didn't consider this.

[Cochrane]

It is a good point Sahul but I suspect any developer would need permission from Steinberg as it is a proprietary technology they own and maybe licence.

That's true, but I don't believe the problem lies there, as plugins that host other plugins have always existed. What will be needed is something similar to what jBridge implements for 32-bit plugins, but in this case the goal would be to wrap VST2 plugins into VST3 dummy plugins preserving the same IDs, so the host is able to maintain compatibility when loading old projects. AFAIK, this hasn't been done yet.

They have added something in last VST3.x SDKs for auto replacing of VST2 with VST3 with same ID, for managing old projects, but I suspect when VST2 will be cut off, that a lot of people willl be upset by errors opening old projects...

I see that a completely transparent third-party VST2-to-VST3 wrapper would be a solution for a real smooth transition. Or even NOT removing VST2 support AT ALL from Cubendo 13.x I'll be not offended at all if VST2s stay as they are!

[audiouser720]

Fingers crossed for Ableton link here

[Sahul]

The question is, who needs them? I would guess that 99% of the people out there don't care if Steinberg drops VST2, because all their plugins come in VST3 versions as well by now. The problems are always only in the bubble. The KVR Audio bubble, or, generally, in more tech savvy forum bubbles. Steinberg will surely know whether or not they can drop VST2, and still sell their DAW's. It's naive to believe that they didn't consider this.

I guess it's mainly a question of preserving compatibility with old projects. In my opinion, that's what scares the most. Because the truth is that not every developer was able to fulfill a clean transition to VST3. In many cases, VST IDs were changed from VST2 to VST3, so you simply can't remove the VST2s and hope that the corresponding VST3 versions are going to replace them cleanly.
What I mean is that the problem is more complex than simply some random guys wanting to continue using one or two VST2 plugins that don't have a VST3 version.

[Sahul]

Double post.

[Sahul]

I see that a completely transparent third-party VST2-to-VST3 wrapper would be a solution for a real smooth transition. Or even NOT removing VST2 support AT ALL from Cubendo 13.x I'll be not offended at all if VST2s stay as they are!

Agreed. Another idea would be not completely removing VST2 support from the app, but reducing it to a kind of "load-only" state, so even if you are not allowed to instantiate new VST2s anymore, old projects that use them could still load with the plugins in place.

[chk071]

The question is, who needs them? I would guess that 99% of the people out there don't care if Steinberg drops VST2, because all their plugins come in VST3 versions as well by now. The problems are always only in the bubble. The KVR Audio bubble, or, generally, in more tech savvy forum bubbles. Steinberg will surely know whether or not they can drop VST2, and still sell their DAW's. It's naive to believe that they didn't consider this.

I guess it's mainly a question of preserving compatibility with old projects. In my opinion, that's what scares the most.

Definitely bounce the respective tracks to audio before upgrading.

[D-Fusion]

The question is, who needs them? I would guess that 99% of the people out there don't care if Steinberg drops VST2, because all their plugins come in VST3 versions as well by now. The problems are always only in the bubble. The KVR Audio bubble, or, generally, in more tech savvy forum bubbles. Steinberg will surely know whether or not they can drop VST2, and still sell their DAW's. It's naive to believe that they didn't consider this.

I guess it's mainly a question of preserving compatibility with old projects. In my opinion, that's what scares the most.

Definitely bounce the respective tracks to audio before upgrading.

Or Stay on V12 and vote with your wallet until they add vst 2 support again
My fear is that they will force other Daw developers to only allow Vst 3 in their next updates as soon as they shut down vst 2.

[chk071]

Exactly.

As I mentioned above, though, I can assure you that it's just the 1% in the bubble which will not upgrade for that reason. So, don't hold your breath. You might suffocate.