I installed and thought that also activated Cubase 13 first time on 31th October 2024, however I haven’t got voucher for 14. How is it possible to activate a product that is not installed first? My Steinberg page says I’ve activated on Sep 8. That is so wrong…
Steinbergs 40 year sale was a one off. At least I’ve never noticed one of their sales where I could buy Cubase 13 pro outright (not upgrade, not crossgrade, not education) for only £147.60. Happily to be proven wrong, but if I’d have noticed it this cheap in the preceding years, I would have bought it years ago.
As a one off special sale, as far as I am aware, their products were a lot cheaper than on previous sales?
That being the case, they were never going to allow us to buy Cubase 13 Pro at that very reduced price, and include a free update to Cubase 14 Pro.
£147.60 for Cubase 13 pro, £83 to upgrade to Cubase 14 pro, that makes £230.60, still cheaper than I can remember seeing the full version of Cubase pro sell for and still cheaper than the student version sells for.
I’ve responded to a few threads here, sounding like a Cubase fanboy, I don’t mean to, I just know what a great deal this is, I couldn’t believe my luck when someone offered me a voucher for their sale. Had the sale price been a fair bit higher I would agree with people who think this is unfair
Hey, man… You don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m a paying customer that updated the last 3 versions straight and uses Steinberg’s products legally since circa 2001.
The problem is timming a sale of a version that has it’s days counted. It just feels like a scam to get some more money from the users.
I think it has been said before that there has to be an arbitrary date set but if that date falls somewhere within a 60 day window, then that gives plenty of time for people to decide, one would think.
BTW. What does “activation” mean?
I completely understand and support the idea that updates, especially those adding new features and improvements to a complex software like Cubase, should come at a cost. It’s fair for Steinberg to charge for their hard work and continuous innovation.
However, the recent situation with the Cubase 14 grace period does leave a bit of a sour taste. Steinberg held a sale in September, encouraging many of us to buy Cubase 13. Yet, with the grace period in place, anyone who activated Cubase 13 after October 8th gets the update to Cubase 14 for free. To make things more complicated, there seems to be a loophole where users could take advantage of the 60-day fully functional demo to now qualify for the free upgrade, even if they purchased during the sale.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to hold the sale at least 90 days before the release of Cubase 14? That way, customers wouldn’t feel like they just missed out or need to resort to tricks to get the latest version. A little more time between the sale and the release would likely reduce complaints and provide a better experience for all customers.
1 month is guaranteed to p*** people off. Previous period was what 90 days? Studio One (before 7) was 60 days?
That seems reasonable…
I believe the reason for the SB sale(s) is to get people on board with their products, not to scam anyone.
The software products being offered evolve constantly and need to be updated, just to maintain compatibility with OS technologies and to broaden the userbase of Steinberg products is in everyones’ interests, including people who don’t use them, via VST3 and ASIO technologies.
It’s changed with the new (Steinberg) licensing as entering the download code within the SDA activates to your account all in one step, even if you don’t download or install the product.
With the previous eLicenser the code would provide you with an activation code that you had to manually enter.
So right now, as far as i’m aware, the act of registering that download code to your account would be the activation date, regardless when you installed or first used it.
I was subscribing to studio one pro and also using their Notation software.
When I was offered a voucher for Cubase in their September sale, it was so cheap I couldn’t believe it, I jumped on it, ditched Studio One and came back to Steinberg (after leaving a fair few years ago when finances were tight and I had to sell everything ).
Once I bought Cubase 13 Pro I got vouchers for their other software. I took advantage of this, hence in September I also bought their:
Absolute 6
Dorico Pro 5
Wavelab Pro 12
We all like Cubase, Steinberg, etc and all (I think) agree there has to be some limit. 1month just seems too short -and different from previous updates - correct me if I m wrong.
My first reaction to 14 ws GREAT I just bought 13 pro and will be in the period. Nope.
Au, so it’s not based on purchase date then, so even though I purchased it direct from Steinberg, are you saying if I hadn’t activated it and just used the demo instead, even though my receipt says I bought in September, I would now be entitled to upgrade for free?
Ok, a different take on this…
Ojustaboo’s post got me thinking, the upgrade price between 12 and 14 is now at 199 eur, so if you got the sale at ± 40 eur, saves you almost 60 if you upgrade now!!
That being said, man… that 199 eur for the 12 to 14 upgrade is steep and i didn’t know it was such a high price!
@Matthias_Quellmann Are you able to help,please? Cubase 12 Elements downgraded to AI 12 - Cubase - Steinberg Forums
I completely agree with you. It’s not that I am cheap or greedy. It’s just that the timing of these events seems fishy, and it makes some of us feel like idiots, because we activated the software before the deadline, instead of playing this little mini-game exploit with using the offline demo, etc.
Like, some of us have asked for dark mode menus, and instead of releasing it as a patch for 13, they put it in 14, instead. So, if you don’t want to have your eyes burned by the white light, then you can just pay to get that one little fix.
I just wrote them an email, asking them if they would reconsider the whole, out of the blue “9th October” deadline. I hope they come to their senses.
Adobe tried to treat their customers like fools and look what happened to them.
I’m disappointed. I activated Сubase 13 pro on October 1st. Grace period from October 9th. Today is October 6th. It feels like October 9th was taken randomly or for a birthday John Lennon. Why not a month, not two, not three?
I feel like a loser and cheated. Definitely the Grace period should be longer. At least three months.
Still no Mid/Side in all plugins as in Logic pro? 
Or what is the easiest way to do mid side in Cubase?
Sorry, but we have November 6th.
It is a complete month.
I don’t completely agree with all your points. For some very time-consuming features, it’s reasonable for them to be paid upgrades, even if they were highly requested in previous versions. But I’m absolutely with you on feeling like an idiot as a loyal customer. After nearly each new version for almost ten years, it’s frustrating to feel forced into playing games with demo versions just to stay current.
That said, I wouldn’t put Steinberg in the same category as Adobe. Steinberg’s pricing feels much fairer by comparison. 
All updates from Cubase 4 onwards are available as well as usual upgrades from lower versions.
