External FX are a way to use an outboard Hardware FX processor as a VST FX plugin. The Lexicon MX series is a good example of hardware FX boxes that can be used in this way, but the FX box has to be setup to be used in this way. Not all hardware FX have this capability. The FX boxes that can be used in this way will usually have a USB port in additional to the analog in's and out's.

I consider it a "nice to have" but not a "must have".

I haven't had a need for the External Instruments, but I suspect it is something similar.

would this mean a Virus TI wouldnt work with it?

It is possible that you wouldn't be able to control the Virus using Virus Control unless you had the External Instrument capability. I do not own a Virus TI, so I cannot confirm that, but I'm sure one of the Virus TI owners on the forum can verify that for you, or you can probably find a good thread about it through Google. Just search for "Virus TI + Cubase 4".
\
Of course you can always just use the controls on the physical synth, but I can understand why you'd want to use VC. I have a Virus B and I always edit patches through Sounddiver and never touch the front panel on the synth.

If I were you, I'd go ahead and pony up the cash for the full version. I think you'll be happier in the long run. Not only will you have the External Instruments/FX capability but there may be other features you want to use in the future.

As an example, I bought Cubase SL3 instead of the full SX version, and now I kind of regret it because once I bought a Lexicon FX box, it would have been nice to have that External FX capability and I didn't have it. I found a workaround, but it would have been nicer to have it all integrated. In addition, SL3 did not have a dual stereo panner, which is necessary to implement sidechaining in Cubase, as far as I know.

i cant afford the full version, its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
...
...
aaaaay expensive here :P

Well the way I got around it was that I used an extra laptop I had lying around. I just plugged in the USB cable from the MX200 into the laptop and installed the MX Edit software on that machine. That solution works for me, so you may want to try it with Virus Control and see if that works for you. Not ideal, but for something as simple as the MX200 control plugin it works just fine. YMMV as Virus Control is much more complicated that MX Edit.

you can buy Cubase Studio 4 and always upgrade whenever you want.

___________________


http://soundcloud.com/subtara

The Virus TI will work with Cubase 4 if you use it with Virus Control. All the audio will be passed through the USB bus. However, the lack of External Instruments means that you won't be able to use the analog outputs with 0ms latency to your audio interface.

Oh, so that means I cant have audio in on my sound card going to a channel on the mixer?

That sucks balls. Total deal breaker

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm Oh, so that means I cant have audio in on my sound card going to a channel on the mixer? That sucks balls. Total deal breaker

nah, that cant be right..

___________________


http://soundcloud.com/subtara

quote:

However, you are correct in saying that the Studio version does not contain the "External Connections and Effects" connections setup, but that's meant if you want to hook up hardware synths and what not and treat them like a virtual instrument. However, there's nothing preventing you from just connecting the outputs to your audio interface's inputs and just recording them like a line in device... more inconvenient, but sometimes you just have to work around those sorts of things.

...isn't that the normal way of doing things? Or does he mean it doesnt support MIDI out and you have to play the notes in manually?

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm ...isn't that the normal way of doing things? Or does he mean it doesnt support MIDI out and you have to play the notes in manually?

ehm.. it supports MIDI in and out.

___________________


http://soundcloud.com/subtara