VST2/VST3 compatibility/obsolescence

I’m jumping back into the Cubase after a lot of years being away and before I start swimming in the deep end I’d like some help and/or advice.

What changes are happening in either the short or long term with regards to Cubase 11/12 Pro that I should be aware of before I start spending my hard earned money on various plugins?

Thanks,
Easto

My first advice to you would be save your money until you’ve thoroughly investigated the stock plugins in C11 (and 12 when it’s released). I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

VST3 is the way to go if you’re considering new plugin purchases.

As regards third-party plugins, only 64-bit plugins are supported, and althought VST2 is not being developed further, Cubase will continue to be able to use 64-bit VST2 plugins (ideally VST 2.4, but I have much older ones that still work fine; YMMV).

If you have legacy 32-bit VST2 plugins, you won’t be able to use them in Cubase 11 or newer, but if you upgrade an existing Cubase USB-eLicenser license to Cubase 11 now before the release of Cubase 12, that will allow you to, for example, run Cubase 8.5 32-bit version and use your old plugins to render out those tracks to audio for re-use.

You haven’t said what version of Cubase you currently have licensed on your USB eLicenser, but it would make sense to upgrade it now to C11 because (according to my understanding of the new licensing system) it won’t be possible to upgrade a USB-eLicenser-based license after C12 is released, and the new “dongle-free” system won’t allow you to run prior versions of Cubase the way the USB-eLicenser does now.

You can upgrade to C11 now (in December 2021), activate it, and get a free upgrade to C12 as soon as it’s released, and be able to authorise C12 on up to 3 personal computers.

Thank you for the response. That was the information I was looking for. I recently upgraded to CB 11 with the option to upgrade to 12 once it’s available. I do not have any other plugins other than what came with CB 11. I’m just trying to get some background knowledge before spending any more money.

Thanks,
Easto

If running natively on Apple Silicon (M1 etc) is somewhere in your future, VST2 is to be avoided:

I guess I should have mentioned that I’m running Windows 10 with the possibility of upgrading to 11 in the near future

With that said… is there any way to add a personal signature where I could have my systems specs posted with each post so that this question does not come up in future threads?

Forum Preferences | Profile | About Me
Then when someone clicks your avatar, they’ll see your “About me” info.
(click my floppy disk for example)