Best Of

@HARMAN_PKarr said:
Interesting! Are you able to open the "PCMNtvRM" in the Rosetta enabled session? If so, you can click the algorithm name (the "Room" in the top left) to show the plug-in version numbers. I wonder if this version is just that old. How old is this session file? The plug-ins used to come as separate licenses (so you have one iLok license PER ALGORITHM), and the installers were separate as well instead of as the "bundle". There's likely not a workaround, unfortunately.

Yes the plugin opens properly in Rosetta mode. Version is 1.3.10; the latest Intel version from December 2021 which is newer than the session where this happened which was created in 2012 but modified over the years. I wasn't asking about a workaround just letting you know. This means all Pro Tools users will have to use Rosetta to update sessions using the PCM bundle rather than easily opening in Native mode where there should be a direct correlation. This is a bug that should be addressed. When Altiverb and other plugins updated for Apple Silicon Native this does not happen. It is probably a simple fix. Like I said the plugins themselves are named identically it is only in the Pro Tools plugin menus and track instantiations.

@BassGuru222 said:
So excited! Thanks for the update. I agree that the VST3 version ID should match the old versions so your projects open seamlessly. I for one only have a few projects so far with the old version as I only purchased the bundle a few months ago. Still, if I had tons of older projects I'd like to open, that would be a pain.

Let's be honest though... Who REALLY goes back to hundreds of OLD projects and remixes them?

What's stopping you (us) from keeping the old versions in a backup folder and just use them when you need to load an older project? Maybe I'm missing something.

Pretty easy to answer that one. It's not necessarily about "remixing" a project but when a label requests something from a session potentially years down the line, you'd better have the ability to open it and make it work.

Again, since VST2 has been discontinued and VST3 is the path forward, it's a no-brainer to expect it to do what it should do and migrate your session settings over to the VST3 version. DAWs won't support VST2 for much longer and it's not something I'd personally want to deal with having to time capsule the system (OS/hardware/DAW/plugins etc) for a developer that missed the obvious.

@eldis1981 said:
VST2 has not been discontinued across the board, just because Steinberg came up with the VST format does not mean other software/plugin makers are following suit and discontinuing support for it. Could you imagine the nightmare of old projects being brought up for remixes and remasters from years ago to have to redo everything from scratch cause CuBase decided it doesn't want to use VST2 plugins anymore? I think you're making hay unnecessarily here

It's worth clarifying that while some hosts still support VST2 plugins, Steinberg has officially ended support for VST2 and has not issued VST2 licenses for quite some time now. So while legacy support exists, new plugin development is generally limited to VST3 going forward — not just because Steinberg says so, but because developers can't legally obtain a VST2 license anymore.

• Sessions containing the VST2 version should automatically migrate to the VST3 version. The user should be able to remove all VST2 versions from the system and have the sessions open with the VST3 version now and continue from there.

I can can guarantee you that most plugin manufacturers do not do this, and their option is the workaround that has been presented here (I've had to do it with Toontrack, Slate, many others). Sure it would be nice but this isn't an industry standard

Most of the well known plugin developers — Slate included — implement it successfully. Of course, there are cases where significant internal changes make automatic migration difficult or impossible, but as Flux has demonstrated with their new builds, migration is technically feasible. Given that, it's reasonable to expect developers to prioritize this kind of compatibility.

• If you want to continue to use the VST2 version for whatever reason then don't install the VST3 version.

The option to install either/or is in most plugin installers though?

True, although it's important to remember that developers offering VST2 versions now are likely doing so under old agreements. Once those are phased out, we’ll probably see fewer and fewer dual-install options.

Update your ongoing working projects with the VST3, I've done it, many others have too - yes it is time consuming. Oh well, cry or get to work!

I'm not sure about your situation but updating projects can be tedious, especially in larger production environments with multiple workstations where compatibility is key. From a forward-compatibility standpoint, the shift to VST3 is happening across the industry, and ensuring session migration support just seems like the most pragmatic and user-friendly path forward. Hopefully more developers continue to take that seriously.

@TwelveTwelve said:
To reiterate and summarize:

• VST2 has long since been discontinued. Users have been asking for a VST3 version.
• If you have both VST2 and VST3 versions installed, the VST3 version should take priority and that's the one the user accesses.

VST2 has not been discontinued across the board, just because Steinberg came up with the VST format does not mean other software/plugin makers are following suit and discontinuing support for it. Could you imagine the nightmare of old projects being brought up for remixes and remasters from years ago to have to redo everything from scratch cause CuBase decided it doesn't want to use VST2 plugins anymore? I think you're making hay unnecessarily here

• Sessions containing the VST2 version should automatically migrate to the VST3 version. The user should be able to remove all VST2 versions from the system and have the sessions open with the VST3 version now and continue from there.

I can can guarantee you that most plugin manufacturers do not do this, and their option is the workaround that has been presented here (I've had to do it with Toontrack, Slate, many others). Sure it would be nice but this isn't an industry standard

• If you want to continue to use the VST2 version for whatever reason then don't install the VST3 version.

The option to install either/or is in most plugin installers though?

• Having VST2 and VST3 versions with different IDs creates an administrative headache for the end-user. Having to open every single instance, save a preset, load the VST3 version, load that preset is frankly an insane and time consuming "workaround". It might be easy if you use the same preset all the time but when you tweak settings in a mix and almost every session is unique then it's a huge amount of extra effort.

Update your ongoing working projects with the VST3, I've done it, many others have too - yes it is time consuming. Oh well, cry or get to work!

Again, please reconsider. As it is now the VST3 version is next to useless unless you're starting fresh.

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

@plf said:
@HARMAN_PKarr, regarding iLok machine activations: It turns out that a critical step, at least in my case, is to deactivate the licenses from your physical iLok dongle first. As soon as I did that, the licenses immediately showed up as activatable to both my computer and the physical iLok.

So it might be that the fact that some people don't see the possibility to activate to the computer right away is not because of some rollout process that takes time, but rather because of some strange behavior on Pace's side that can be fixed by just deactivating all Lexicon licenses, after which the user's iLok account apparently miraculously reflects the machine activation option correctly.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but this should be mentioned in the update announcement and any accompanying instructions.

This is fantastic news! We were able to confirm this on our end.

IF YOUR LICENSE DOES NOT YET SHOW MACHINE AUTHORIZATION, TRY ACTIVATING TO YOUR ILOK USB FIRST

This may not work still for licenses purchased before a certain time. If this doesn't work for you, hang in there.

Thank you for the update, special thanks @HARMAN_PKarr and his team.
A little bit strange that we don´t have a new look for our beloved plugins, but I consider this as a first step in the right direction and looking forward to regular updates for our Lexicon PCM plugins.
Please continue your work and make the plugins resizable, and if it is possible for you, bring the Lexicon PCM plugins in a fresh new look (in the way like on your preview pics in the old "update-thread").
@HARMAN_PKarr: I will write you a PM regarding a personal wish, hope you and your team cold help.

Also the possibility for the plugin owners to run the plugins without the Ilok key inside would be much appreciate for the future.

Cheers