Cubase 12 and VST2.4 on M1

Cubase
1

I’ve read a lot of people are having worries not being able to run their older vst2 plugins on the M1 version of the upcoming Cubase. Even though it’s speculating, there might already exist a (free) solution.

There’s a software called AudioGridder, which allows people to run plugins on either a dedicated server, or on the background of your current machine which acts as a bridge between your DAW and the plugin. I know they still support vst2 and vst2.4 plugins even on M1, so I guess this could be a working method trying to let your current plugins survive.

Note: I’m not linked to AudioGridder in any kind of way, just a fan of the concept. Would even be great if Steinberg could develop such a tool inside Nuendo/Cubase to run vsts on an external workstation.

2

I’m on MacOS Monterey, M1 MacBoook.
currently using cubase 10.5 but always needing to plugin a dongle is a big inconvenience.
but upgrading cubase 12 is even worse because than I won’t be able to use VST2 plugins. and using audiogridder wont work for me because I’m using a laptop for portability reasons.

3

I think it should work. The developer told me you can run the server on the same machine as the vst to have it portable. Still gotta try it tho!

4

EDIT I misread your post and missed the emphasis on M1 compatibility and my post below is only referencing the VST2 issue. I am running Windows 10 Pro on all of machines. EDIT

Sounds cool! Have you looked at Vienna Ensemble Pro 7? I use it on the same workstation as Cubase as well as on 2 separate servers and use it to load all of my VSTi’s for my Cubase template. I do this because I run Nuendo on another workstation and it eliminates me having to load all of my plugins on my Nuendo workstation when I move a project over. It also eliminates any worries in regards to Cubase updates and plug-in compatibility. Even running it on the same machine as Cubase significantly reduces the Cubase CPU load.

5

I actually have Vienna running for all my Kontakt libraries, but it’s not a great solution for running external plugins as you’d have to tweak them over an remote desktop application, and you have to link all wanted automation parameters to the Vienna parameters AND the most important issue of them all: you’ll need to save that project file as well. With the Audiogridder system, it’s all saved into the project file of the DAW.