Will Wavelab 13 run on a Windows on Arm processor?

WaveLab
1

I’m finding conflicting information on the Steinberg website.

https://www.steinberg.net/wavelab/ lists minimum CPU requirements for Intel and AMD chips and adds, simply, “or Windows on Arm processor”.

This article, dated April 2, 206, does not list Wavelab as a supported product. (I note that Steinberg’s ASIO drivers are supported and that VST2 plugins probably won’t work, and it does state that a Snapdragon X Plus or higher processor is needed.) https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/21829527504530-About-Steinberg-products-for-Windows-on-Arm

Has anyone run Wavelab on a machine built around the Snapdragon X2 CPU? Thanks.

2

I was hoping that someone affiliated with Steinberg would be able to answer this question.

Not many people would buy an ARM laptop for serious audio work, so I’m not surprised that the community has no answer.

But Steinberg should know. Unfortunately, the Steinberg website says both “yes” and “no.” Any suggestions for how to get to a definitive answer?

3

The download page has no mention of Windows on Arm, just Intel

image
image420×259 5.21 KB

and if you switch the Download Assistant to Windows on Arm64 there is also no download for Wavelab.

4

Thanks, that helps, but doesn’t quite close the loop.

Windows on ARM has a built-in x86 emulation layer and much (most? nearly all?) current Windows 32-bit or 64-bit software seems to run just fine without requiring a dedicated ARM build. That’s why it’s reasonable for https://www.steinberg.net/wavelab/ to include “or Windows on Arm processor.”

But that doesn’t mean it will actually run. Complicated programs (and legacy software) are the ones that have problems. I’d put Wavelab in the former category.

You’d think that someone at Steinberg actually tried it, before writing “or Windows on Arm processor,” and that’s what I’d like to confirm if possible, since the laptop I’m considering runs well over $1000.

5

There is no native ARM version for Windows, but as far as I know, it works properly in emulation mode.

6

Thanks, PG. I really appreciate the reply.

7

I can now confirm that WL 12 installs, opens and generally works correctly on a Win11 Window-on-ARM Snapdragon X2 processor.

I certainly haven’t dug deeply into anything, or tried VST3 plugins… yet.

8

An update, for those who come across this thread some day…

So far, all of my VST3 plugins work just fine on the ARM machine. I’m sure that not everything people use here will work, but Ozone, Anaxwaves, and Steinberg’s built-in plugins load and appear to work as expected.

One problem I’ve encountered (not unique to audio editing applications) is that some installer packages check that the computer architecture is x86 or x64 or whatever the installer was built for, and refuse to run otherwise. This isn’t because the underlying software won’t work in emulation mode, though. It’s simply a hard check that terminates the installer if it doesn’t get an answer it likes. But, if you can install the software elsewhere and copy the .dll and .vst files from /Program Files/Common Files/VST to the same location on the ARM machine, they may well work.