I am currently installing Cubase x64 with all the plug-ins that I have available in their 64 bits flavor. Let’s say it : the whole process is a PITA. I was expecting the worst and, indeed…
First : after installation of Cubase x64, a shortcut icon appears on the desktop of my administrator account : fine… But nothing appears in my current user one and the only ‘Cubase 6’ option in the programs menu points to the 32 bits version… I had to use the Windows ‘Run’ command to launch it.
Second : I naively thought that, at least with the same account, the x64 version would import my already existing preferences, presets and settings from the 32 bits one. I was wrong. Would it be too much asking to have a kind of migration tool that would allow the user to import all the already existing preferences used for C6 (32) in the 64 bits one, this at the Cubase installation stage ? Considering all the files and paths involved, that would ease everything. Now I am for locating each and every files involved without even knowing if I can safely put them in their relevent x64 directory.
Sorry for the rant, but the whole thing begins to get on my nerves, as each plug-in installation is also playing with them, with confusing and erratic behavior (installation of libraries already installed, wrong default paths, registration issues and so on…).
I think it’s time that all the music software industry realize that there are two new things that appeared since the beginning of this century :
There are two different programs and dll formats that are coexisting : 32 bits and 64 bits, and clearly showing what is one and what is the other is a plus for the average musician user…
Different user accounts with specific rights can exist on the same system…
Device maps, from a Knowledge base statement about their location :
_Folder where program is installed into \Device Maps *.xml _
There is no such a folder. Actually, my device maps are on another drive (F:\DataCubase)… Why such a statement as the folder doesn’t even exist ?
MIDI external instruments ; ‘VST connection’ window : ‘Add external instrument’ / ‘Associate MIDI device’ : no device shown. How am I supposed to retrieve the 3 device definitions that I was using with the 32 bits version, as there are no way to browse for them ?
How comes that all my E-Mu ASIO ports have been renamed after copying the PortSetup.xml in the relevent folder and my two generic remote definiton files lost the MIDI in connection ?
And I’m not done with it : I didn’t even tried to launch a project yet. Too much issues… Seems that even after copying the relevent files where they should be, I have to reconfigure all Cubase again.
I think you are right. I thought that doing subtle copies and paste would bring me where I want, as I was afraid that some of the settings would be incompatible between the two versions. Will try your suggestion and keep you informed. But this doesn’t cancel my feature request…
Thanks to this, I retrieved my MIDI external instruments definitions. I’m relieved, as I didn’t know how to bring them back…
OTOH, I have all the instruments that were present in my 32 bits VST Plugins folder in the VST instruments window : I would have prefered not to, but well… Will try to copy the previously saved xml files related to the plug-ins.
The whole process is anything but straightforward…
EDIT : just copied back the following files : Vst2xPlugins Cubase.xml
VstPlugInfo.xml
and I retrieved the original list with only the VSTis that I already installed as 64 bits ones.
So, I’m slowly getting to something usable. But I think that my suggestion is still relevent. And I’ml dreading the moment when I’ll launch my main template project which involves 32 bits plug-ins… Bridged, not bridged ? Will there be a kind of substitution for the plug-ins installed in their 64 bits version ? I would like Steiny to do something about the migration process ; something like, at least, a Knowledge Base document such as a step to step guide. Too much asking ?
Yes, but it will be inevitable for some of them : there are no 64 bits versions available. So, I am just checking few more things and will try to launch it after this. Will keep you informed.
Ok, I got everything more or less working. Had problems with few of my plug-ins in their 64 bits version. Among others, Sylenth1 was crashing Cubase as soon as I was attempting to load it… until I remebered that it was the 2.20 version, downloaded a long time ago, and well-known to be unstable in its 64 bits version. A new download (v 2.21) solved the problem. Another was True Pianos which was refusing to load its modules : had to uninstall then reinstall all of them. Must add to this, among others, few routing issues…
But here is the result, after a tedious work on it since this morning : everything seems to work with (and this I was really hoping for it…) my GSi instruments bridged without issues. Just had to add their subdirectories from the 32 bits VSTPlugins and here they are. At the end, all this was worth the bother.
But I maintain my FR, especially after this experience…
