Cubase LE blues

[moon]

Hello to all,
I'm here, for better or worse, because I am unable to join the Steinberg site, being rejected as a 'Spambot attempt at registering'. Not a good start.

So, here we go. I'll give you the full background;

I'm engaged in an international online collaboration project and its founding members, including me, decided to standardise our gear from the outset by using Zoom H4s as inexpensive microphone/audio interfaces with the benefit of having Cubase LE as bundled software, a step up from Audacity with which we'd experienced compatibility and large file transfer problems.
We use a range of different platforms and OS versions.

We were doing OK with Cubase LE1 until one member joined with MAC Leopard , which will not entertain Cubase LE1 under any circumstances. However, this member's Zoom H4 came bundled with Cubase LE4, which Leopard appears to like.
Far from being a solution to our problems, Cubase LE4 turns out to be cross-incompatible with Cubase LE1. LE4 can work with LE1 files, but not vice versa. ( How can a large and prestigious company get its corporate head stuck so far up ? ) So, it would appear that the rest of us, all registered Cubase LE users, must somehow obtain version LE4 in order to proceed.
Does anybody know how to do this ?
The Steinberg site offers a 404 as an LE4 downloads page and, as I said, rejects membership. I have written to Zoom headquarters, without response and, frankly, I'm going around in circles. Our project is on hold. Can anybody offer a solution ?

[sparqee]

In fairness to Steinberg; LE1 is an old application. I don't think it's fair to expect them to support it forever. LE 4 is quite an advancement over LE 1. It has expanded functionality which LE 1 simply does not have, hence LE 1 cannot open LE 4 projects. <shrug>

LE 4 is bundled with audio interfaces sold by various companies (e.g. Tascam, etc.). It is not sold separately. Don't know how many people are in your group but it would probably be cheaper to have your one Leopard user role back their OS to an older version and continue using LE 1. Or if they want to stay on Leopard have them install an older OS on an external drive and then they can boot off of that when they need to use LE 1.

[moon]

That's a solution, sparqee, and thank you, but it's a solution which lets Steinberg/Zoom off the hook and puts the onus back on us, the trusting consumers, to shell out again. And again, actually. Once for a legacy MAC OS and again for an external drive. Then there's the added responsibility of coaching the 'Leopard' owner to do these things; a female musician in this instance and not particularly computer savvy.
Another disadvantage thrust upon us is that all future participants will be getting LE4 bundled with their Zooms, so they must either all shell out again or else the existing participants must .
It seems to me that Steinberg/Zoom are leaving earlier Zoom customers paddle-less in the poo. Can anybody wonder why people turn to hacks and cracks ? Surely, the providers of bundled softwares should be required to keep earlier clients in the loop ?

[sparqee]

I hope you find a solution that will get your project up and running again.

One your other comments... I have to say that I do not agree with your sentiment. I don't feel that it is the responsibility of software or hardware developers to support legacy devices/software forever. You get what you pay for (i.e. a device or a bit of software). You don't get eternal support or a promise of infinite backwards compatibility. The logical expectation for any user is that if you choose to upgrade software there will likely be new hardware requirements and visa versa.

Regardless of whether you agree with this it is a reality of the industry, and no this reality does justify software piracy any more than the price of a slurpy justifies robbing a 7 Eleven.

I don't wonder why people crack (i.e. steal) software any more than I wonder why people commit any other crime. Crime is almost always motivated by greed and selfishness.

[moon]

Highly moralistic, but you are still letting the culprits off the hook. The only difference between customer A buying an H4 and customer B buying an H4 is that one was provided , as part of the sale, with an upgraded OEM software. This penalises the earlier customer, and attempts to justify it on the grounds of the difficulties of 'support' for 'legacy' software don't fly as the earlier customers aren't asking for 'support'. They are asking for the upgraded OEM software and Steinberg/Zoom aren't making it available to them.
The moral failure is attached to Steinberg/Zoom, in this instance.

Note that Steinberg have provided other hardware manufacturers with the means to bring their customer's OEM software up to date. The owners of LE1 are, after all, registered users. Why can't they use their existing registration codes to download LE4 ? Or why shouldn't Zoom issue them with an updated CD ? Do you detect, perhaps, a little 'greed and selfishness' preventing such a solution ?

[brandondrury]

it's a solution which lets Steinberg/Zoom off the hook and puts the onus back on us, the trusting consumers, to shell out again

Sorta. But how much did these trusting consumers pay to Steinberg? I thought all the LE versions were bundled with audio interfaces for free.

I would assume that you could open Cubase LE files in Cubase LE4. I know I can open VST5 files (from WAY back in the late 90s) with Cubase SX3.

Before we turn this into a huge discussion about consumers and corporate responsibilty, we need to first confirm 100% that you can't open LE files in LE4. How did you test it?

The reason I ask is sometimes I have trouble opening Cubase SX3 files after formatting my computer. It's not because of compatibility, but because I have a ton of plugins and such in the session that aren't yet installed. I guess my point is there can be other reasons a file wouldn't open in addition to compatibility.

Brandon

[moon]

Well, the Steinberg site chart lists them as incompatible;

Compatibility and interchangeability of project files :: Knowledge Base :: Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH

Sorta. But how much did these trusting consumers pay to Steinberg? I thought all the LE versions were bundled with audio interfaces for free.

The appearance is 'free' , yes, but it's likely that the OEM software costs are built into the price. That's not the problem though. We would have willingly bought a sequencer for our standardization policy had we not been offered the carrot of a good sequencer for 'free'. Now that we've accepted that carrot we've found that, for our purposes, it's inedible. We feel that we're the victims of a 'come on'.

[Daner]

Hi All.....my first post...I saw Moons thread and thats what made me join....I too have Cubase Le 1.08....I have trouble with It not recording anymore...and I also tried to join Steinberg discussion and also rejected...So here I a'm with a MW-12 Yamaha mixer and software that has give me a hard time since day 1

Daner

[Daner]

Is there another recording software that I could use for this MW12 mixer?
I dont care If I have to go with a different software brand...I just want a good software that Is simple....no fancy stuff I just want It to work for me

Daner

[sparqee]

You should be able to use the Yamaha MW12 with any DAW application. If you're a Mac user it should work with GarageBand. If you're on a PC you might check out Reaper as a low cost DAW. You can get a "non-commercial" license for just $50 and you can download and evaluate the program (without any functionality limitations) for free.