I have Cubase 13 LE, which I bought as an upgrade from Cubase 12 LE last year. Now Steinberg is offering upgrades to higher versions @ 50% off, so I bought a modest upgrade to Cubase 13 Elements from the LE version. When I enter the download access code into the Download Access Assistant, it says this code is for a product upgrade but that I don’t own a license to that which it can be applied. Please contact your support team (which seems non-existent). Any suggestions? Note that if I enter the download access code for the upgrade from Cubase 12 LE to Cubase 13 LE, everything is fine there.
Hi and welcome to the forum!
What version of Cubase is shown in the Steinberg Activation Manager? Could you post a screenshot of it?
Ok, thanks. The update was successful as Cubase Elements 13 is listed as activated. You should be able to run it now and no further things need to be done regarding the update from Cubase LE.
That’s what I thought. However if I click on the desktop icon Cubase 13 vs Cubase 13 LE, it says no license found. When I run Cubase 13 LE and click on Help, About, it displays help for Cubase LE AI Elements…
Hm, that’s strange. Have you installed the correct Cubase edition (Elements vs. Artist vs. Pro)?
As far as I know, Cubase LE, AI, and Elements are all the same application and the available features only depend on the activated license. What does the [Help > About] screen of your Cubase LE say? The actual edition and version should be mentioned there. Maybe the features of Elements are now unlocked in your former Cubase LE.
That sounds like you’ve installed Cubase 13 pro…which you don’t have the license for…the LE icon is also the Elements version, there shouldn’t be any additional desktop icon for Elements.
Thanks for both of your comments. I found it confusing because when I look at the download assistant, under Cubase it has 5 selections for versions of 13: LE, AI, Elements, Artist and Pro. I understand now that LE, AI and Elements use the same application called “Cubase LE AI Elements 13.x.x” and Artist and Pro use the application called “Cubase 13.x.x”. I get that the different versions are enabled by the license you purchase.
In reviewing my upgrade from 12 LE Elements to 13, I see now that I upgraded to Elements 13, not LE Elements, so what I purchased was unnecessary and it fails to find a license to upgrade from because I already have it.
Yes, the naming schemes of the different editions and the confusing Download Assistant make things more complicated than necessary.
If you already have a license for Cubase Elements 13 and don’t need the update from LE, you can request a refund. The following page contains some information on how to do that (in section “Billing and Refunds”):