Transferring Cubase VST files from Mac to PC

Keywords: Mac, Macintosh, PC, Windows, Win95, Win98, Cubase VST, transfer, converting, exchanging

Introduction

Here I will present some tips on how to successfully transfer Cubase VST files from the Mac to the PC. The background is that I myself tried to do this and found it rather tricky. So here are the collected wisdom of my experiences.

I will refer to 'Cubase' when I mean the sequencer/digital audio recording software Cubase VST, Cubase Score VST, and Cubase Studio VST. The information is probably valid for all versions of Cubase (I used Cubase Score VST version 3.55). I use Windows 95 on a PC.

Accessing the Mac files

The fundamental problem is how to access the files on the PC which have been saved in Mac format. The files could be on, for instance, diskettes, zip disks, jaz disks, or CDs. Mac formatted media are not directly readable on a PC. But using special programs, it is possible to read almost all Mac formatted media.

For Windows 95/98, there is a demo version of Gemulator Explorer that will do the job (download it here).

You will probably have to rename some of the files. For instance, file names containing a "*" (star) are not valid on the PC.

Converting the Mac files

Assuming that you have transferred all the neccessary files to PC-formatted media, they are still not directly readable by Cubase. Most probably, your files will have no extension (that is, no ending point followed by letters, such as ".txt"). Cubase (and many other Windows programs) requires that the files have the proper extension in their name.

The main Cubase song file is the easiest. Simply add the extension ".all" to it, and Cubase can read it.

Now, for the audio files, things are a bit more complicated. Cubase on the Mac can read several formats that Cubase on the PC cannot. To find out what kind of file it is, the simplest is to use right-click in Gemulator Explorer.

Usually it says AIFF which means it is a file in Audio Interchange Format. Simply add the extension ".aif" to the file to make it readable in Cubase (Note: Do not use the extension ".aiff"; Cubase will not be able to read the file correctly).

Gemulator explorer may also report the file is of type Sd2f. This is a Sound Designer II file. It cannot be read by Cubase but have to be converted first. Any sample converting program will do, for instance, the shareware sample editor AWAVE (download it here). Convert the file to AIFF or WAV and Cubase will be able to read it.

You should be able to convert any other potential formats you encounter using a sample converter.

Loading the song

When you open the song file, Cubase will ask you to locate the correct audio files. Select "Manual" and find your Mac converted files. Now, you are ready to make music!

Last updated September 22, 1999 by Pierre Gander.