Cubase 13 and 14 on the same machine

Cubase
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Now that Cubase 14 is out, it’s time for me to start planning migrating my studio to this new version.

I usually just buy a new PC whenever a (major) new Cubase version comes out and install the new Cubase on that, but there isn’t sufficient technology advancement this time around to warrant a new hardware purchase.

So I’m planning on installing Cubase 14 on the same machine that Cubase 13 is currently running on. That machine (Windows 11 PC with 12th gen Intel CPU and plenty of RAM and SSD space) is currently the production machine in the studio, and I can’t afford any downtime due to a parallel Cubase 14 installation somehow messing up my Cubase 13 installation (which is working well and being used daily in studio operations).

So, I’d love to hear about your experience if you’ve done this (installed Cubase 14 on a Cubase 13 machine). I’m not interested in hearing about Cubase 14-specific bugs (they’re being discussed elsewhere in this forum), but rather about things like the following:

  • How much space did the Cubase 14 install take? Does it recognize and reuse most of the Cubase 13 content (like the sample libraries that come with Cubase etc) that’s already installed?
  • Was the Cubase 14 install smart enough to recognize plugins, drivers, etc. from the Cubase 13 install?
  • Did the Cubase 14 install migrate Cubase 13 settings so that once you opened up Cubase 14, it was already configured like your Cubase 13 installation?
  • Did the Cubase 14 install cause any problems with the existing Cubase 13 installation?
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You can have have as many Cubase installations as there are versions of Cubase. I have 9.5, 10.5, 11 and 12.
V14 will copy most of your V13 settings. Some colours may be different, etc.
There will be a plugin scan. :frowning_face:
My V14 folder is 1.4 gigabytes.
Any existing content will be picked up by the media bay.
I’ve never encountered any problems installing more than one version of Cubase.
Go for it!

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1 just a GB or something in that region and yes
2 Yes
3 Yes, apart from some minor things that are not worth mentioning
4 No, not a single problem.

Runs smooth alongside C13.

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  1. Yes, it will recognize all of the Cubase content you have installed previously.

  2. I don’t remember exactly if Cubase profiles remember the VST Plugin path settings. You may have to direct the Cubase 14 VST Plugin Manager to your VST2 and VST3 folder locations again, which are typically located at:

  • C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins
  • C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3

Or located wherever you chose to install them.

  1. In Cubase 13, you will need to create “Profile” using the “Profile Manager” located in Edit → Profile Manager… and import it into Cubase 14.

Profiles include the following:

  • Preferences
  • Toolbar settings for all windows
  • Global workspaces
  • Track control settings
  • Track control presets
  • Presets for input and output busses
  • Plug-in collections
  • Quantize presets
  • Crossfade presets
  • Key commands

Steinberg Cubase - Profile Manager v1.0
Steinberg Cubase - Profile Manager v1.0328×816 9.22 KB

  1. Cubase 14 will install into it’s own separate folder located in C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg

Steinberg Cubase - Preferences Location v1.0
Steinberg Cubase - Preferences Location v1.0512×865 17.5 KB

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  • You have probably created your own VST and VSTi collections. You have to manually import the new plugins that come with version C14.
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Thanks all, this is great news, and I appreciate the migration tips!

I am going to go for it!

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Just remember, in the “Profile Manager”, whatever profile that is currently selected and being used is the one that will contain all of your current settings. If you click “New” it will create a new profile with the factory default settings. It’s just a little bit confusing how it works.

So just rename the current profile that’s being used to whatever you want and export it.

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