Upon my recommendation, a friend of mine has bought a boxed copy of Cubase 7 along with a new macbook pro (with yosemite, ssd, external usb drive). As he is pretty much a novice with modern DAWs, I initially recommended he start with Cubase Essentials but he went ahead and got the full version and is now asking for my help with installation.
Under normal circumstances I would just install Cubase 8 but since he has a boxed Cubase 7 (incompatible with yosemite), I’m not sure how best to proceed as I believe he’ll need to install C7 before getting access to free C8 update. So a few questions arise:
Is there a way to get access to C8 install without installing/registering C7 first? This would be preferable as I’ve seen a lot reports of troubles installing C7 on yosemite even when using special installer tool.
If I do end up having to install C7 first then C8, are there issues I should look out for in the process to avoid complications later?
Would it be best to install included sample content for Halion Sonic and Groove Agent onto a partition on his usb drive leaving the other partition for his Cubase song files? Is that possible on initial install?
I wish I’d had thought this through better when I gave him my recommendations but now after spending the money on his new system, he’s anxious to get going and looking to me for guidance, I’d appreciate any advice given.
your friend can do the following:
– Download and install the latest eLicenser Control Center
– Activate the Cubase 7 license (will GP update to 8)
– Register the USB-eLicenser to his MySteinberg account
– Once registered, he will have access to the Cubase Pro 8 installers via MySteinberg with no need to install Cubase 7 first.
I would avoid installing the content to an external drive (installing to a secondary internal HD would be better).
This is very good to know, thanks Fabio! I’m onCubase 6.5 but am getting a retail boxed 7.5 update and I presume a free GP to 8.0. I didn’t fancy having to install 7.5 first!
Unfortunately, he has only the internal SSD drive and I don’t think the macbook pro model he purchased has room for another drive internally. He has already purchased a USB drive, which I know is not ideal speed-wise but I’m thinking it would be much better to record his song files on it than the internal ssd. Then the question becomes where to put the sample content.
I may try to talk him into buying an external thunderbolt drive which would probably be ok for both recording onto as well as sample content I’m assuming, then use the usb drive for backup. I just hate to tell him to spend more money.
It is absolutely fine to use an external drive for the projects. There are bandwidth limitations, but in many situations it will be enough.
As per the content, it might work just fine on the external drive, but I’ve seen issues after starting the computer with no ext. drive connected, problems due to permissions and OS preferences… if a secondary internal drive is not an option, I’d prefer the system drive for the content (it is not such a big installation).
Thanks, we did the install last night with me coaching him through it on the phone and everything seemed to go well. Content went on the internal so it’s reassuring to know that it’s the best place for it for now.
Now I’ve got to teach him how to use it, I think the last DAW he used was Cakewalk 20 years ago. Things have changed a bit since then.
