Cubase 12 activation and elicenser - Steinberg No use at all

[paulears]

Cards on table. First Cubase buy was in 96 I think, with Cubase Score on an Atari in Black and White. I've stuck with it loyally since then.

I bought Cubase 12 Pro - an upgrade, as usual. Installed it first on the studio machine at home, then noticed the new licensing system and the ability, like Adobe, to have two installations - so I filled a drive with all the samplers and synths, installed the lot on the Mac in the office studio and got going. With my NAS, I could work at both places. Then one day it started up and asked if I wanted to now scrap the old elicensing. I didn't appreciate the importance of this so said yes, 'assuming' the new licence system would do everything. It didn't. Worse, Cubase 12 Pro in the office studio deactivated. I tried back at home and although it carried on working, next start-up it was deactivated, and the elicence content stopped working. Lots of fiddling and I got it reactivated and all the elicenses restored. Back at the studio, activiation of Cubase 12 failed - I had run out of activations as the cubase on that machine had been deactivated, but not adjusted at Steinberg's end when I removed the licenses. I did a support ticket request headed Activation limit reached error - and explained the problem. Three requests over a month passed and today, I got a message saying they were busy, and I just needed to delete and redownload the elicenser. Seemed a bit odd, but they had closed the ticket. This of course didn't work, and cubase 12 authoriation manager still tells me there are no activations left. They didn;t even read my detailed reports. If I had one instalation and used it (as I do as part of my income) I would be furious - I can work, but only from home, If I do some video work at the office I have to go home to import the audio into Cubase, then go back to the office to bring it back to the video edit. I used to tell everyone how wonderful Steinberg were - no longer. They're rubbish, overwhealmed with more requests than they can cope with and seemingly cannot read the details box and understand the question - I have no problem with the elicenser, just the activations and they are simply useless. There seems nothing at all I can do.

[OneWorld]

I am sorry I can't offer any help but am keen to see what replies you get. It is this sort of reason that stops me going to C12, and going over to a completely remote form of activation gives me the collywobbles and so I stick with C11, the licenses are here on my USB

Could any readers tell me - if I upgraded from C11 to C12, would the licence on my USB become deactivated?

I noticed that when I went to from C6 -> C8 -> C1- -> C11 my previous licence stayed, well to be precise, the new licence covered the previous Cubases

I too have found Steinberg support to be woeful - I simply cannot understand why it takes so long to get a reply, which is often so vague and generic that it does little if anything to address a user's specific problem. Maybe Cubase is a victim of its own success and they simply haven't got the staff to cover every query, it would take an inordinate amount of time to find a solution in every case.

I have invested so much in Cubase, it would need a lot of time and effort to switch to another DAW, but with the benefit of hindsight, things would have been different

Best of luck. On the subject of reactivations, had you made a drive image when you first installed and activated C12, could that drive image have come to your rescue do you think?

[The Elf]

I sympathise. The new licensing system has been problematical for many. I managed to muddle my way through it, but it wasn't easy. I saw plenty of (meaningless and/or misleading) error messages before I hacked my way through it. There are several codes to take note of, and each needs to be entered in the right place, at the right time, for it all to work properly, and it's not always clear which is being referred to. All this assuming that the licensing server is playing nice.

For me the demise of the dongle is problematical. I've gone from being able to run Cubase on any machine to only being able to run it on three (studio, laptop, backup). I did have two dongles, for which I paid two upgrade fees each time. There's no way I'm risking the three activations I *do* have to try to upgrade the second dongle. Two dongle upgrades on one account? It's a racing certainty something will screw up if I tried to do that.

Stick with me - it gets worse...

To re-use one of my activations I have to de-authorise an activation on the machine on which it is installed. So if I *do* take the risk to use an activation on a client machine I have to make damned sure I de-authorise that computer before I leave, or one of my activations is now stuck there. This is a loaded gun waiting to go off in my hand.

Of course Steinberg say that I can contact them to get this fixed, should it occur. Yeah... Trying to get a response from Steinberg for anything is like trying to lasso the moon, so I'd rather not risk being in this position. And so I'm no long even an unpaid ambassador for Steinberg's software - if the client I'm working with doesn't already have Cubase I'm not risking one of my activations to introduce them to it.

I'm hoping that Steinberg see sense and introduce a centralised licensing system, but I'm not holding my breath.

So everyone loses in my scenario. I've gone from unlimited 'activations' (using my second dongle) to three, all of which are used up. And I daren't try to expand that number, because I'm not risking those that I already have. And Steinberg get half the money from me they used to receive, and lose me as a shop window.

Add to all this that we are in a half-way house, in that Cubase itself may no longer need the dongle, but some of Steinberg's plug-ins do - so for the moment the dongle might still need to be left in place.

Many, if not most, people are happy about losing the dongle. As a professional user I would rather I'd been given the choice of keeping the dongle, but what do I know? I've only been using Steinberg software since Pro-16 on the Commodore 64...

[John Stafford]

I use Nuendo because it has a couple of timesavers for film sound that I need. I always used Cubase until I made the switch, and I really liked it a lot. Like everyone here, I don't want to risk not having access to it, so I'm thinking of keeping Nuendo with my current license and no longer upgrading. I'm still on version 11.

I'm thinking of switching over to Logic for music work, although it would be a real shame as I love Cubase/Nuendo. A big downside is that I would then be locked into Macs, which is fine for now as I have to have one for current work, but if that ever changes I think I'd go back to Windows.

[RichardT]

Cubase is great until you need support from Steinberg, when it often turns into a nightmare.

Have you posted your story on the official Steinberg forums ? It might get picked up there by a member of the marketing team if you’re lucky.

[Zukan]

I too have been using Cubase since literally inception BUT......I've had appalling problems with it and wish I went with my gut feeling and didn't upgrade.

2 tickets and 7 weeks later and still no response from Steinberg.

I have now ditched it and put the whole hell down to experience and moved onto Reaper and Studio 1. I literally have only one life and I don't want to waste it chasing problems and a company that's clearly lost the plot in more ways than one....

[RichardT]

Based on this, it looks like Steinberg are going to be in serious trouble through losing high profile customers, ambassadors and supporters.

I’ve had no problems myself, as a low profile customer, but that could all change if I need help from customer support.

I intend to stick with it for now as I have dozens of project files in various states of progress. But if previously loyal customers are very unhappy, it’s quite a wake up call.

[The Elf]

It's still my DAW of choice, on any of the machines I own, or those I use elsewhere. It functions perfectly well. There was a small glitch in C12 related to edit points and phase-locked editing, but that was cured pretty quickly.

I use other DAWs occasionally (I draw the line at Logic!), but none allow me to be as swift, or as creative.

I'm still a paid-up devotee, but that doesn't make me blind to the problems. I know Zukan has suffered greatly in this respect. I keep promising to go take a look, so I really should get off my backside and go help!

But yeah, I dread to think of having to contact support, though I think this is the nature of many software vendors now - support has gone through the floorboards, down the sewer and out to sea...

[paulears]

Well, I posted the topic here, and I just got a response saying my Cubase activations have been reset! It would appear Steinberg monitor the internet - and I'm grateful. I'm back home now, but will activate it tomorrow - I wonder if my home Cubase will need to be re-activated too? Anyway - it seems I'm sorted!

The Cubase 12 new system appears to be totally independent of the old dongle system AND the software elicenser - so the snag I did have at home when I messed it up at the office was that I got error messages for dozens and dozens of things like Halion, but also the other Steinberg sourced products and my Simon Phillips drum kits also vanished. Putting them back did work pretty simply, to be fair, but the install I did for Cubase 12 on the office Mac system got me - it asked if I wished to delete the old elicenser, and with the new system on the go, I just assumed the new system was a replacement, not in addition to the new system so happily pressed yes, and killed it dead.

I'll report back if the office one won't play ball.
Cheers
Thanks guys

[The Elf]

I very much hope that Steinberg *do* read this. The non-centralised license management must be a nightmare for both them *and* us.

I've been responsible for many people adopting Cubase. When they see me use it they understand why I'm an advocate. That will happen no longer unless something is done to ease the head-lock this new licensing system now has me in.

[Guest]

The time has come that the upgrades are cheaper, this is usually when I buy the upgrade.

So, is Cubase 12 working for people now with the main issues ironed out?

Also I'm guessing it is still possible to have older versions installed at the same time, so keep 11 and 12 working?

[RichardT]

The time has come that the upgrades are cheaper, this is usually when I buy the upgrade.

So, is Cubase 12 working for people now with the main issues ironed out?

Also I'm guessing it is still possible to have older versions installed at the same time, so keep 11 and 12 working?

For me 12 is working fine. I think it uses a little more CPU than 11, but I’ve found the FX modulator to be quite a useful addition. Other people are still having performance issues though.

Do check that your CPU model is supported before you upgrade - there are changes to the audio engine which Steinberg only certify to work on certain processors.

Yes, you can keep 11 when you install 12 and you can run both at the same time if you like.

[Wonks]

But you will need to keep the e-licenser dongle for 11 (and any older versions). Ignore any installation instructions that may look like it's OK to delete the e-licenser settings.

[RichardT]

But you will need to keep the e-licenser dongle for 11 (and any older versions). Ignore any installation instructions that may look like it's OK to delete the e-licenser settings.

It’s also necessary for some of the Steinberg instruments that come with 12 as they have not been migrated to the new system yet. The 12 installer actually updates the e-licenser software.

[Guest]

Thanks guys, I will give it a go...

[Zukan]

Thanks guys, I will give it a go...

Thoughts and prayers Bob.

[adamburgess]

Since MainStage let me down twice (two different issues), I got talking to our guitarist who's a beta tester and does some YT vids/streams for Steinberg (Nuendo and Cubase)…

He suggested I try their new VST Live program.

So, just for balance - as I was taken aback how easy it was!

Was working in literally 5 mins. Downloaded Activation Manager and Download Assistant. Pasted the Download Access Code in on the website, and it appeared 'as downloadable in the Download Assistant. Clicked install all and done.

Opened the app and all is well.

[The Elf]

I've just had my performance laptop fail on me. Since all my authorisations were now in use (I predicted this would happen) I had to contact Steinberg to get back my now lost authorisation iteration.

This is utterly crazy. A centralised, user-accessible authorisation manager is an urgent necessity - or Steinberg are going to have to have a team constantly occupied in recovering authorisations.

This HAS to happen.

[MaestroMikeT]

Since MainStage let me down twice (two different issues), I got talking to our guitarist who's a beta tester and does some YT vids/streams for Steinberg (Nuendo and Cubase)…

He suggested I try their new VST Live program.

So, just for balance - as I was taken aback how easy it was!

Was working in literally 5 mins. Downloaded Activation Manager and Download Assistant. Pasted the Download Access Code in on the website, and it appeared 'as downloadable in the Download Assistant. Clicked install all and done.

Opened the app and all is well.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm really curious about this new vst host, how are you getting along? for years I used Cubase live as a vst host, using MIDI tracks and their Send function to creste layers and splits. If this proves to be both stable and with a reacheable learning curve I lmight be tempted. Tried Cantabile, found it incredibly complex...

[The Elf]

Cantabile *is* complex, but it's the better tool for the job.

I've tried Steinberg's newbie, and it's OK, but it is so inflexible. Cantabile wipes the floor with it and hangs it out to dry.

Sertiously, if anyone you're having trouble with Cantabile then start a thread and I'll try to help out. It took me a while to get to grips with it, but once you get it you realise it's capable of miracles.

[sonics]

I moved from Cantabile to Gig Performer, which I find excellent.
There's also Studio One's Show Page, which I've yet to try.