(this feature will come to Windows with the new MetaServer we are working on)
Tap a button. The plugin appears in Cubase. Tap a chain button. Four plugins appear in order. Describe what you want to the AI Builder and a working layout shows up. That’s the feature.
Until now, MetaGrid Pro could do almost everything in your Cubase workflow — transport, screensets, selections, shortcuts, sends, fader moves — but couldn’t touch your plugin chains without some workarounds.
Not anymore. The new Cubase Plugin integration will enable you to load, replace and chain plugins on the selected track directly from your iPad.
How it works
MetaGrid Pro now features the new Cubase Plugin action:
When you build a macro, you pick two things: which plugin, and where it should go.
Which plugin: browse your entire installed library. Every VST effect and VST instrument Cubase knows about, grouped by category or vendor, with search. What you see is exactly what’s on your system — no dummy entries, no guesses.
Where it should go: three options, depending on how you work.
Specific slot. The plugin always lands in the slot you pick. Perfect for templates — your compressor is always slot 2, your limiter is always slot 16. Tap once, done.
First Free. The plugin lands in the next empty insert slot on the selected track. Good for casual inserts — “add this compressor somewhere, I don’t care where.”
User Selectable. When you tap the button, a picker appears showing the track’s current insert chain. You pick the slot. Good for buttons that handle any slot on any track.
All three work on any track type that supports inserts: audio, MIDI, instrument, group, FX.
Full plugin chains with one tap
Build a macro that contains multiple plugin actions, each targeting a specific slot, and you’ve got a one-tap chain.
Your “Vocal Chain” button loads Pro-Q 4 in slot 1, a de-esser in slot 2, CLA-76 in slot 3, Pro-L 2 in slot 4. Tap once, wait a second, your whole chain is live. Tap it on a different track, same chain appears there. Tap it on a track that already has plugins, they get replaced.
You can mix slot modes inside a chain too. A chain might be “Pro-Q 4 in slot 1, then pause and let me pick a saturator, then Pro-L 2 in slot 16.” MetaGrid Pro loads the deterministic plugins automatically, pauses at the user-pick step until you choose, then finishes the chain.
If the macro hits a plugin that isn’t installed, or you cancel the user-pick step, the macro stops cleanly — remaining plugins don’t load. Cubase’s own undo handles anything you want to reverse.
AI Builder integration
Open the AI Builder, describe what you need, and it proposes a layout using your actual installed plugins.
- “Build me a vocal mixing chain” → a button that loads your go-to vocal plugins as a chain
- “Create buttons for all my FabFilter effects” → a grid page with one button per FabFilter plugin
- “I need my mastering essentials” → a page of the plugins you mix toward
- “Give me buttons for Kontakt, Halion, and my other instruments” → instrument-loader buttons
The AI Builder reads your actual plugin catalogue when it needs it. It knows what you own and what makes sense together — it won’t propose a chain using plugins you don’t have, and it picks sensible slot modes (specific slots for chains, First Free for utility buttons).
You can approve, reject, or modify each proposed button before anything lands on your grid.
The setup
You need:
- Cubase 15.0.20 or later (the Cubase release that added the Plugin Manager API)
- MetaGrid Pro with MetaServer running
- The MetaGrid Pro MIDI Remote script loaded in Cubase (Studio Setup → MIDI Remote)
Once those three are in place, plugin integration just works. MetaServer fetches your plugin catalogue the first time you connect, caches it, and keeps it fresh. The iPad picks up the catalogue automatically.
Under the hood (for the curious)
The integration uses Cubase’s new Plugin Manager API (available in 15.0.20+), which exposes plugin metadata and insertion controls to MIDI Remote scripts. MetaGrid Pro’s script talks to MetaServer over the existing SysEx channel; MetaServer talks to the iPad over its established connection. When you tap a button, the instruction travels iPad → MetaServer → Cubase in milliseconds.
Everything is real. Plugin UIDs come from Cubase itself, so if MetaGrid Pro says a plugin is available, it is. If something fails (plugin not installed, Cubase disconnected, slot type not supported), you get a clear message, not a silent failure.
That’s MetaGrid Pro approach to integrating things :-).
This feature is going to beta this week - all ideas and suggestions are welcomed :-).
Great work team !
