Hi, purchased AI 10. In the program, it tells me that I can upgrade from AI to Pro for only $50. However, when I go to Steinberg’s site, they want me to pay a whopping $225 for that upgrade. What gives? Which is correct?
Hi and welcome,
There was a 50% discount for 1 month. It passed few days ago. From Cubase AI the price is 449€ (with 19% VAT) now.
The $50 price I would expect for an update from Cubase AI 8 or 9 to the current Cubase AI 10.
You’ve missed even the $225 price (plus, likely, the purchase of a USB eLicenser on top, as such a device is required for Cubase Pro). The month long 50% off sale on Cubase officially ended yesterday at the time of writing. The discounted prices disappeared from the online store some time in the past 12 to 24 hours - I am unsure exactly when as I am still seeing the discounted prices on the Steinberg web site, but the undiscounted price shows if you add the item to your cart.
I doubt we will see another sale on Cubase for perhaps another year - there is normally a once a year of sale on upgrades and a separate sale on new licences at some point over the summer. There is not normally a ‘Black Friday’ or similar sale, as that time of year is historically around the time that the latest paid upgrade to Cubase is launched.
50% off was an unprecedented level of discount: Steinberg sales are normally around 30% off.
You must have been mistaken over $50. Cubase Pro is the highest edition of Cubase with a regular price of £480 (including VAT) in the UK - the regular US price will be somewhere around $450 plus any applicable taxes. Cubase AI is the lower of the two OEM editions of Cubase, with a feature set some way short of Cubase Elements, the lowest retail edition. Ownership of Cubase AI gives you around 20% off the purchase of Cubase Pro, not over 80% off. The $50 price you saw was perhaps the cost to upgrade to Cubase Elements 10.
Indeed, I am unsure how you would have purchased Cubase AI, an OEM edition of Cubase supplied as part of a bundle, unless it came along with a hardware purchase or you bought a second hand licence. If you bought Cubase as a retail product, you probably have Cubase Elements. If you do decide to upgrade Cubase at any time in the future, go into eLicenser Control Center and run the Maintenance procedure, then purchase an upgrade based on what you see there. Steinberg upgrades are based on the existing licence you have, which might be for a later version (especially if you qualified for a grace period update) or higher edition than you thought. If you buy a different upgrade to the one you needed, even if it is a more expensive one that is required, the code will not upgrade your licence.