Sergio

They must have changed indeed. This is what I have in MySteinberg right now, even after my recent purchases:

I finally received the emails: the order confirmation, with the activation codes, and the invoice. But the Steinberg site still puzzles me. In the page I saved immediately after completing the purchase there's a button that links to a different login page in the shop than the normal: https://shop.steinberg.net/c/shop?mode=depot And after logging in I access a page with the activation codes and links to download the items I just bought (I also got the Padshop Pro upgrade). The problem is: I could not find a link to this login page anywhere in the site. Had I ignored that button I'd never know about it. OK... no big deal. I'd had access to this items by other means. But this just don't make sense IMO. Wouldn't be better to have a page in my account with my purchases (registered/activated or not) with the codes and download links like (almost) everyone else?

Thanks for the info. I'll contact them. Fortunately I printed the purchase confirmation page.

This is not correct. I bought the upgrade to Wavelab v9.5 last year directly from Steinberg and received the invoice email with the serial number then. I never registered it and it does not appear in my software list when I log in the site. The date that counts for free upgrade purposes is the date when the product is effectively registered and included in your eLicenser. Also I already sent the eligibility proof (the Sonar Patinum "About" screen), it has been already approved, I already paid and concluded the purchase. What I have not received yet is the email with the invoice and serial number and, as I bought directly from Steinberg, I asked here if this delay would be normal.

Well... I pulled the trigger and got the crossgrade directly from Steinberg. I opted not buying from 3rd party mostly because I intend to postpone the registration until the end of the year and I don't want troubles with wrong serial numbers or so then (not because 3rd party serial numbers are not reliable but, as I bough directly from then, I think I'll have less problems if anything goes wrong later). To my surprise, though, I cannot find the list of my purchases or reprint an invoice from the Steinberg site. The only proof of purchase will be the emailed invoice!!! And, BTW, I still have not received the email with the invoice and serial number. Is this normal?

I don't know why but these EDM/Dance geared synths/plugins looks boring to me with very few exceptions (like Xpand2 f.i. though I'm not sure if it fits the definition). OTOH there are lots of cheap synthwave stuff that I like. I just got the Beatskillz Synthwave Drums for 10 bucks at JRR. YMMV.

Err.... the current Wavelab version is 9.5 Where did you saw this information about v10.5 ?

A question for the fine folks here well versed in Steinberg's licensing practices and such: If I get a serial from a 3rd party shop like JRR or Best Service and I postpone the registration/activation of this serial on the Steinberg site, will this later date be accounted for regarding the "grace period", as they call it, to have free upgrades? I'm asking because I got the Wavelab v9.5 upgrade deal some months ago but never registered the serial (TBH I haven't using Wavelab much lately and v9 is being fine enough for my needs). I suppose that v10 is on the drawing board already and I was thinking if it'd be wise to wait for it before registering. Just a thought.

I'm normally not attracted by all those Melda plugins (too much overlap with things I already have) but this one looks pretty interesting. I have the first version of Neutron and never upgraded to v2 because I think iZotope asks too much for it. But I think this one could complement it; specially the spectrum collision view. I'd not pay €60 for it (or even the occasional €30 deal). But for €18 it seems a no brainer.

Here´s an article about the HW version: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/spl-vitalizer-mk2-t If the emulation is precise I guess the same concepts apply to the plugin. And I remember back in the 90's that the Vitalizer was a direct competitor for the Aphex Aural Exciter.

I asked JRR shop about the crossgrade buying/procedure. They replyed: "Thank you for asking. They actually haven’t been asking them to show proof." How can this be? I don't know what to think. I have bought many times from JRR but in one occasion I has problems to get my license. Anyway, the Best Service price is a little better.

Most of the sellers are "Out of Stock" for the crossgrade. JRR shop has it for $166 still. Did someone here bought the crossgrade from 3rd party sellers (instead of directly with Steinberg, I mean). How/when do you submit the proof of eligibility in this case? Is a copy of the "splash screen" of Sonar enough (that one with the serial number and a city night photo in the backgrund)?

I got the Core+Electro Drums bundle for $84 from Everyplugin a month or so ago but, TBH, I have not even installed it yet. Too many plugins I think 🤔 Also I'm starting to feel the limitations of my current PC; the last time I played with Softube modular my computer was strugling to play without glitches. I guess I'll have to do a HW upgrade before I can really dig into this kind of plugins.

I got almost all the past cheap releases also and this time I grabbed the Virtuoso Flute. I love the sound of this instrument and it's one that is normally poorly sampled in more cheap, all in one, orchestral libraries. I think I never had a decent sampled flute before. I'd love to get the Clarinet also but this month I'm already beyond my budget. As always 😴

I wonder what Edith would say Edith: Shut Up!!!

Thanks for your thoughts. As I said, my main concern is with external gear integration. I have a month or so to think so I'll take some time to watch all those Groove3 videos and see how much Cubase could improve these matter compared with I already have. To be honest, the price is also a big factor here. Everything Steinberg is so damn expensive 🤓 that when a deal like this appears its hard to ignore.

These are the most relevant factors to me. I have many external devices (synths, multi effects, etc) and I think the way Sonar/CbB handles them seems a bit primitive.

Matthew, how do you rate Cubase's MIDI editing capabilities/tools compared to Sonar/CbB? I keep reading elsewhere that Cubase has the most advanced MIDI editing tools but my only experience with it was an old SE version in early 2000's.

They included Sonar Platinum & Professional in the crossgrade, even after all this time. I'm REALLY tempted to get Cubase 10 Pro. The offer is valid until June 3rd. I'll give a serious thought on this.

32 bits only

One thing I do often: I upgrade to a bundle that includes my existing outdated plugins. For instance: I had some solo CLA signture plugins on version 9. When Waves did a deal on the CLA bundle I bought the upgrade from my plugins to the bundle. Doing this I have a discount on the sale price (because I already have some of the plugins) and I WUPed the whole lot on the bundle. I did this also by upgrading from Gold to Platinum to Diamond and in many other occasions. You'll get new plugins, a discount and WUP with one strike 🙂

I understand Zo. The term "modular synthesis rabbit hole" is a little beaten but very much true. When you start digging into this you must be very focused or you'll end up losing precious time (or having fun... YMMV). I forgot to mention the new (and also free) Blocks Base for Reaktor player, that is front panel patchable. Of course, if you have the full version of Reaktor you'll have access to the giant Reaktor user library. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/

If you don't want to dig into modular synthesis but just get sounds made with that kind of synthesizers you can start checking the free Reaktor player and the instruments available for it. Here are some videos to get you started:

Hey Zo. You just made me throw years of therapy down the drain😀. Yes... I guess you can call me a synth addict 😛. Regarding Softube vs NI; in a few words, IMO presently Softube gives you the most authentic modular synth experience both sonically, by having the most precise HW emulations, and by the way they implemented the user interface. Every comment I read about it makes this point: if you want to know how it is to work with a REAL modular synth without buying HW, get the Softube modular stuff. NI's Reaktor, OTOH, as an open environment and specially because it allows users to create new devices without writing code (I'm not saying it's EASY, mind you) has the biggest variety of sound generating , sound processing , utilitarian or whatever modules you'll ever see in any modular synth environment that ever existed. If you cannot create the sound you want in Reaktor it's probably an impossible sound to create (if this ever exists). Until a few years back the biggest complain of users was the "hard to master" user interface. With the introduction of Blocks in v6 this aspect was somewhat addressed and now, with the introduction of front panel wiring in Blocks, NI finally gave a more authentic modular synth experience to its users. Comparing both I'd say I could not choose one or another. I'd have to have both, although I'm not a big fan of the Softube's UI approach. IMO, it makes some simple things hard or even impossible to do (for instance, the last time I saw there was no way to map multiple parameters to a single knob). But when you want THAT authentic analog modular sound... Softube is presently unbeatable.

As I said, I don't know why but for me is the opposite. Lately I'm underwhelmed by new soft synths with loads and loads of options. This one looks simple; the multiwave oscilators with waveshapping capabilities reminds me of my little microbrute and minibrute HW synths that I like a lot (of course with 2 oscs intead of one, and 8 voice polyphony) or even the roland ms-101. As I don't like to install and uninstall demo versions I'll keep seeing the audio/videos on the web 'cause I can't get it right now. But for $69 (or less, who knows) I'll probably get it in a month or two (as Softube's new 296e comes first in the queue).