I have 3 questions about the upcoming transition to Steinberg Licensing. The first is the simplest. 1) Has Steinberg specified anywhere exactly when in 2025 the e-licenser server will shut down?
The second two questions are more complex and require I give some context about my situation.
I’ve been recording for about a decade on Cubase Artist 7.5, first on an old HP Pavillion desktop computer and more recently on an HP Spectre laptop. I recently bought a new HP Envy desktop and am planning on buying and installing Cubase Pro 14 on it, to be used both for new projects and to finalize some older ones. I would not be doing this had the news about the e-licenser server’s imminent death (lol) not sent me into a bit of a panic about what I’d have to do if I lost or mistakenly stepped on my dongle (it sounds like I’m not entirely alone in this concern). I am a bit of a luddite and generally hate updating technology, and so I’d very much like to maintain unrestricted access to my Artist 7.5 projects on my Spectre laptop (knowing that access to them requires that the dongle not break, computer not die, etc.) while also having access to these same projects on Pro 14 on the Envy desktop. My questions concern whether the best way to do this is to upgrade my Artist 7.5 license to a Pro 14 license or to buy an entirely new Pro 14 license. (For the record, I’ve already tested every track on a trial version of Pro 13 on a friend’s computer and so know that none of the plug-ins I used have been eliminated or changed, etc.).
On Steinberg’s “End of e-licenser Service” page, I see the following: “The license on the Usb e-licenser [if one purchases an upgrade] will be upgraded to the last available e-licenser based version, completing the migration and maintaining backwards compatibility.” I understand that Cubase Pro and Artist 11 are the last available e-licenser based versions of Cubase. Does this “upgrade to the last available license” require then that you download and use the program associated with it (Cubase 11 of some kind) to open and edit older projects made in earlier versions of Cubase? Or would I be able to keep using Artist 7.5 just as I have for years, just with a license that has been upgraded to be capable of running, if I decide to, a later version? I ask because the Spectre has an earlier version of the Windows 10 OS (1903, I believe) than is required for Cubase 11 (1909) and is very low on space. And does the fact that the upgrade would be to Pro (as opposed to just a later version of Artist) have any relevance here (it looks like the earliest version of Pro is 8?)? The goal, again, is just to be keep access to Artist 7.5 projects in Artist 7.5.
If upgrading the Artist 7.5 license to Pro 14 requires using Cubase 11 to open Artist 7.5 projects on the Spectre, then I’d like to buy a new and separate license through Steinberg for Pro 14 on the Envy (I understand that this will be more expensive, but the added cost is worth the possibility of continued access to 7.5 projects on the Spectre). Is it possible both before and after the e-licenser server’s death for me to purchase a second, separate license (for Pro 14) on a new computer with the same MySteinberg account without thereby affecting my use of the dongle for Artist 7.5 on the Spectre?
I sincerely apologize for the length of the post. My 2 defenses are 1) I have hundreds of projects I’ve put (in total) hundreds, probably thousands, of hours into and 2, for luddites, technology appears much more complex than it probably is.
Steinberg hasn’t announced the date of the server shutdown yet. Only “early 2025” is mentioned.
Regarding the update/upgrade: A Cubase license allows you to also use all previous releases of the program. So with a Cubase Pro 11 license on the USB eLicenser/dongle, you can also run Cubase (Pro) 7.5. I’m not sure about Artist 7.5, though. Recent Cubase Pro versions offer a mechanism to run the smaller editions (Artist, Elements, AI etc.) as well because they all use the same binary. This might not work with older Cubase versions so that you might need to replace your Cubase Artist 7.5 with Cubase (Pro) 7.5.
The dongle will still work after the server shutdown and you can continue using Cubase 7.5 until the dongle breaks, but you won’t be able to update eLicenser-based software to recent ones any longer. Then it’s necessary to buy new full licenses. Therefore, it’s recommended to update before the shutdown.
I very much appreciate your fast response, and thank you for your clarification. I must admit I’m still a bit confused. My understanding, on the basis of what you’ve said, is that once I upgrade to Cubase Pro 14 my dongle’s license will be upgraded to a license for Cubase Pro 11 but I will not be prompted to/required to download Cubase Pro 11 on my older computer in order to run my older Artist 7.5 projects. However, because licenses for any version of Cubase Pro work with all prior versions of Cubase Pro but potentially NOT the especially old versions of Cubase Artist, I may be required to download Cubase Pro 7.5 before being able to open my older projects again. One concern I have with this suggestion is that, as I said in my original post, I don’t think there IS a Cubase Pro 7.5! The earliest version of Pro appears to be Cubase Pro 8. Perhaps I would just have to download that? And, while we are on this subject, these are all programs I would download from Steinberg’s “Unsupported Software” page, correct? To be honest, the only reason I’m considering upgrading to Pro 14 as opposed to Artist 14 is that I still haven’t figured out how to export tracks with multiple stereo channels (it seems like this is a feature only available in Pro, and I’m not yet savvy enough with production to figure out how to reroute things such that multiple stereo channels are reduced to one - I will be trying to figure this out in the next few days!). Maybe I’d avoid this complexity by simply updating to Cubase Artist 14, which would update the dongle’s license to Artist 11, with which I could then open Artist 7.5 projects in 7.5 with no problem?
Also, as far as my third question above is concerned, do you have any idea whether it’s possible to buy an entirely new and separate Pro 14 license without affecting the usability of Artist 7.5 and its associated license on my older computer?
If anyone else has any ideas about this subject, please feel free to weigh in as well!
A Cubase 11 Pro license on your dongle will let you run ANY prior version.
Nope - A Pro 14 license let’s you run ANY, ANY ANY prior version - Artist, Pro it doesn’t care.
But you also don’t need to. For the most part you can open older Projects just fine in newer versions of Cubase. The biggest issue is old plug-ins that are not supported or functional in a new versions. For these folks often fire up an old version of Cubase, and render to Audio. Also you can install different versions of Cubase at the same time just fine. I’ve got half a dozen installed between 7.5 and 14.
EDIT
Unless there is something else you haven’t mentioned, there’s nothing to be gained by doing this. Your old PC will run your old Artist using the dongle with the upgraded license. And a Pro 14 license can be authorized on multiple computers.
Yes, that’s right. That’s why I put the “Pro” in parentheses to indicate that Cubase 7.5 actually belongs to the Cubase Pro series.
Maybe I’d avoid this complexity by simply updating to Cubase Artist 14, which would update the dongle’s license to Artist 11, with which I could then open Artist 7.5 projects in 7.5 with no problem?
There shouldn’t be any problems to open your 7.5 projects with Cubase 7.5. The Pro editions just offer more features and are fully compatible to the Artist editions of the same version.
I’m afraid this could trigger some misunderstandings (or maybe I am missing something).
As far as I know, a Pro 14 (or 12, 13) license exists only in the “new”… guise, as a software permission granted over the Internet. Which is not true for the older licenses, which require the “dongle” to be working and physically connected to the local computer all the time (during Cubase sessions).
So when, on a computer where Pro 14 is regularly installed and working, we launch any pre-12 version of Cubase, its “exe” file, which is obviously unchanged, is not aware of the Pro 14 license and looks for the required dongle. Accordingly, anyone who has purchased only CB 14 (or 13 or 12), and therefore does not have an old 11 (or earlier) license with the related “dongle”, can not use versions prior to 12 on his computer.
So… as I said earlier, my only goal was to make sure I could run the program Artist 7.5 with a Pro 11 license on my old laptop (with dongle) (not be required to download Pro 11 and open Artist 7.5 projects with it). This is separate from the question of whether I could run Artist 7.5 on the newer desktop with the Pro 14 license (without dongle, because the dongle’s is in the laptop!). Raino’s response seems to answer the first question definitively in the affirmative, but I don’t agree, Cubic 13, that Raino was implying that I can run any earlier version of Pro 14 (including prior versions using the USB e-licenser) on the new desktop as long as I have the e-licenser plugged into the computer. I read his response as saying that the Pro 14 license alone is sufficient to run any prior versions (no dongle necessary). Anyone care to weigh in?
If I wait until after early 2025 to buy a new license for Pro 14 (because at that point this would be the only option), I assume this new license purchase would not affect my use of Artist 7.5 on the old device (assuming the dongle and laptop still work)?