I just got a new Mac and am in the process of transferring everything from my old one. I’m doing a fresh install of everything, which has been a bit of a task.
While I know how to export preferences and key commands, I’m struggling with one thing: how do I transfer all my 5-star rated VST instrument sounds from one computer to another?
I’ve spent a lot of time scrolling through presets and carefully selecting my favorites (marked a s 5-star)
so I’d really like to avoid losing them.
Does anyone know how to do this?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
I have never tried it, so take this with a grain of salt…
Provided that the relevent VSTis have all been istalled and I have the exact same MediaBay version on both systems, I would try to :
Carefully save the whole content of the following folder (in the new system) in a safe place, just in case (Windows 10 based system, here, so I don’t exactly know what is the corresponding path in MacOS) :
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Steinberg\Steinberg MediaBay Server
Replace it with the content of the equivalent folder on the old Mac, after having checked that the files dates in it are recent because, at least under Windows, there is another location (in \Roaming instead of \Local) which has exactly the same name, but is no longer updated since Cubase 14 first release, I think.
Eventually, in Mediabay, make a whole rescan of the relevent locations before anything else.
Disclaimer
I have avoided ratings ever since because I am not absolutely sure where and how they are stored. So, there’s another grain of salt .
First of all: I assume all 3rd party VSTs are excluded because this would be a story on its own.
When it comes to write-protected files and their ratings there is a specific file in the folder Steinberg MediaBay Server. MediaDefaults.xml
This file is supposed to contain the ratings of write-protected VSTs as far as I know. The Steinberg List of Settings Files and Their Purpose says that it contains MediaBay columns, lists, attribute settings and MediaBay settings.
When it comes to User Presets, well, I am not sure if their ratings are included in the above mentioned file or if they are baked into their presets. I assume that you need to transfer all User Presets anyways, because ratings alone won’t do the trick. Most of them reside here:
C:\User\Username\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg (MIDI Loops or track presets, etc)
C\User\Username\Documents (various folders with User Presets)
(Sorry, these are the Windows paths, you need to change them accordingly under your OS)
Maybe others can chime in as well. This is is still uncharted territory and there is no dedicated tutorial (at least not to my knowledge) how to transfer ratings with a step by step instruction including all Steinberg presets.
One last thing: Although you mentioned that you know how to transfer your preferences and key commands it might be a very good idea to save your current Profile as well. I contains not only both preferences and key commands but also other settings that are quite useful. Please make sure to save your profile proberly because there are some pitfalls involved. Here’s a tutorial in case you want to refresh your knowledge: How to Save Profiles, Key Commands, Preferences, Inputs/Outputs, CR Presets, Plugin Collections
MediaDefaults.xml, actually seems (I repeat, seems) to be the culprit for storing the star ratings and column, list, and attribute settings
To every Cubase user who needs to experiment with the above-mentioned files, I strongly suggest making a copy of each file you want to replace before replacing it.
For example, rename MediaDefaults.xml
to something like MediaDefaults_ori.xml
before coping anything
I ended up starting Cubase in Safe mode
Rewrite all the preferences
and replace some new files with the ones stored in my old mac
for example
External Plugins.xml
Key command presets under \Presets\KeyCommands<preset name>.xml
and other files…
Note for OSX users
the folders mentioned above, is
/Your Username*/Library/Preferences/cubase
The Library folder is hidden
So, to access it, click “Go” in the finder menu bar
then Go to Folder in the menu bar.
and enter “~/Library” in the text box that pops up
then hit “Go.”
Thanks at @Cubic13 for the additional file suggestion.
You are right - rule number one - always keep a copy in case something goes South. However, it doesn’t make sense to be all grumpy about it now that it’s too late - what’s done is done.
.
