Move Cubase Instrument "Content" To Where?!?!

Hi everyone,

(First of all, if this specific question has already been posted, & I missed seeing that post, then I’ll delete this.)
I have newly-installed Cubase 11 Pro on my Win10 PC. In downloading instruments shown in the accompanying pictures (e.g. Halion, Groove Agent), the “Content” for these has been dumped by default in my “Downloads” folder.

So my question is, please can you tell me where the “normal” place is that these should be moved to (in order to be recognised easily by their relative instruments)?? When considering the instrument .exe’s have installed various files all over my computer, it is very hard to decide where I should put them.

I already have e.g. Halion/Groove Agent files inside, e.g. 1) Program Files, 2) Common Files, 3) ProgramData, etc etc. Should I move my new “Content” files into one of these? If so, which one?!

Thanks a lot guys!


2 Likes

Your second shot shows where the download was placed, not necessarily where the Libraries are installed (although it could be).

The good news is you can put the libraries wherever it is convenient for you - Cubase doesn’t really care where the Libraries are as long as you tell it where they are. Most folks maintain one (or more) disks for sample libraries. Create a folder on any disk that has enough space for the libraries (plus some room for growth). Then use the Steinberg Library Manager to relocate the various Libraries to a new location. If you have a bunch of Libraries to move it can be easier to move all the .vstsound files to the new location using Windows Explorer. Then once they are moved double+click on any .vstsound file. This will launch the Library Manager and register any .vstsound libraries it finds in that folder and any sub folders.

While not critical many folks use SSD’s for their libraries because is shortens load times. I would avoid locations like Program Data etc.

Below is how mine are arranged.

2 Likes

Thank you for your reply raino!

I’m not ignoring you; just trying to find time to really sit down & look more into this. As I get more spare time, I’ll continue to try to find the best place to put these files.

I think what I was really getting at is; there must be a default place where these instruments’ files are because when I load up e.g. Halion or Groove Agent, there are already sound sets there to play with (from the original installation). So what I want is to find is where these are, so that I may add any new downloaded content to them.

That way, I’ll have all the instrument’s files together in one folder.

But I’ll look in more detail at your location, & see if I can imitate a set-up that’s something like that over the coming days. Thanks for your help mate.

Richard

Yes there is a default location where it will put the libraries. I don’t recall where that is, but it should be easy to find using Library Manager. The Details section for any library will show where it is currently installed - which in your case would be the default location.

Storing all your Steinberg content in one location is exactly the right thing to do. However using that default location often is not the best choice. The best choice is on a disk separate from your C drive (even better if it is an SSD) for two key reasons. 1) Libraries start off large and only increase in number & size over time. Storing them all on the C: drive risks filling up your system disk. 2) Sample libraries generate a lot of disk I/O as does Windows itself. Separating that traffic onto different disks will improve performance.

If you are on a notebook you don’t have much choice. But if your situation allows, it is much better to relocate the current content to a dedicated library disk than to put even more content on your C: drive.

1 Like

Oh wow, that’s really useful information actually. More than I was hoping for. Thanks!

OK, I see how you’ve found the file location now!

I’m actually using a Dell XPS 15 9560 (SSD) laptop. It does have a USB-C/Thunderbolt port, which I’m using to run some VSTs, samples libraries etc on a “LaCie” EXT SSD, like you mentioned. It’s 100GB, but I’m really pushed for space - those damned sample-based VSTs & Kontakt libraries are so damn large sometimes!! (e.g. a few orchestral libraries can run you into the hundreds of GB alone!)

It sounds like a good idea to keep most stuff on to that, though. Maybe I can also upgrade to a larger Ext. SSD in the future too. Thanks a lot for your advice raino!

It is what allows them to sound good though.

1 Like

I’ve just bought Halion 7, downloaded the whole thing, no change or customisation of any kind. Presets missing, loading sounds samples missing. Sounds missing from Groove agent that weren’t; before hand. Sad thing is, I’m hardly even shocked.

Thanks for breaking this down for me in easier terms and with screenshots. **Double-clicking the .VST in the location I moved them to was ultimately helpful in getting Cubase to recognize them again.