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Making the move to Cubase 4
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| Eric J |
OK, so I bought the Cubase 4 upgrade today. I decided to make the upgrade from Cubase SL3 after much deliberation. SL3 was OK and working fine but there were a few key features that were missing that I felt would make my life easier such as:
- No External Instruments or External FX. Nice to have for external hardware like the Lexicon MX series.
- Lack of a Dual Stereo Panner (needed for sidechaining).
- No Input busses on the mixer to allow software control of my hardware.
- No Device Maps
- Bundled plugins basically have not changed since VST 5.0. Reverb was horrible and the delay was extremely simple and not all that useful for example. Built in EQ was OK, but not nearly as nice as Waves Q10 or the UAD Cambridge.
There were a few others I can't think of at the moment.
I also was intrigued by the redesigned plugins and new software synths such as Prologue and Mystic. I was especially intrigued by Prologue as it seemed to be aimed squarely at ES2 in Logic Pro.
In fact, a lot of the new plugins & features in Cubase seemed to be similar in nature to Logic Pro's included set of plugins & instruments, which I have always heard great things about.
So while I'm waiting for it to be delivered Tuesday, I have a few questions:
- If I have the upgrade version, does it require that Cubase SL3 is installed on the machine before the Cubase 4 install will work? Or does it just require a valid Cubase SL/SX auth key and/or Original CD?
- I know you can open projects from previous versions of Cubase, but does it retain 100% of the settings fron a SL/SX project (FX settings, plugin settings, etc), or have you notices something missing?
- Have you had an noteworthy problems with it in terms of stability or features not working as expected?
- In your opinion, are the new FX plugins high enough quality for your day-to-day use? ex. Do you find yourself reaching for the new GEQ10 or StudioEQ instead of using Waves Q10 or something similar?
- In your opinion are the new VSTi synths such as Prologue good enough for you to use in your productions? Do they compare in terms of sound quality and flexibility to your third party VSTi's such as impOSCar or Albino for example? I couldn't find any audio samples or demos of the new VSTi's.
- Do you feel you get the same performance out of C4 vs. SL/SX3? Have you noticed any performance differences (better or worse) with the new VST3 format (and its silence detection function)?
- Is there any other advice from the users on this forum who are currently using Cubase 4?
Thanks in advance! |
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| derail |
I got the "crossgrade" deal when I bought Cubase 4, so I wasn't upgrading from a previous version. Mine came with the steinberg USB key which has all the authorisation I require on it. The upgrade could well be a similar deal, though maybe you'll have to do a license transfer online. I did that when I bought Wavelab, I didn't want to have the separate licenses on separate keys so I did a transfer. It's really quick and easy. It's a good system, that way Steinberg knows what's happening and can control it.
I can't answer for whether your old projects open up 100% perfectly. It'd surprise me if they didn't. Unless they've removed something which was in the previous version.
My version has had a few issues. Sometimes the screen "flashes" a few times, which doesn't give the program a solid, professional feel (when it doesn't flash, it does have that feel!) . Sometimes it doesn't recognise some of my audio interface's input channels. In my most recent project it has acted up when I used my Waves Q10, I change a setting and all the sound disappears.
But it's fine when I close it down and open it up again. And most of the time it works absolutely fine.
If you have a Waves bundle, does it matter how good the Cubase eqs are? Or are you thinking of selling your Waves licenses, depending on the quality of Cubase's eqs? I like the sound of the processers that come with Cubase, they sound quite clean, don't do terrible things to the sound. The amp simulator has some nice distortions in there... hmm..they're very usable, but I personally love the Waves processers, I have the gold bundle. It all depends what sonic characteristics do it for your ears. For me, Waves is worth the extra chunk of money. But I still use some of Cubase's processers.
The VSTs sound nice and clean. I can't really comment on them, I have a studio full of hardware which is giving me more than enough sound options currently. The Cubase VSTs don't have the same immediate "wow look at me" quality that some others have, but that's understandable, since Cubase comes with the delays, reverbs, distortions etc that you can use to turn the sounds into "wow look at me".
It's a great program, allows for a very fast workflow. CPU usage has been great, in my experience (then again, I'm not using VSTs). |
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| Eric J |
| quote: | Originally posted by derail
If you have a Waves bundle, does it matter how good the Cubase eqs are? Or are you thinking of selling your Waves licenses, depending on the quality of Cubase's eqs? |
Well I had the Gold Bundle but it was an old version DirectX, 2.3. I actually picked up the Waves Power Pack as well, since C4 dropped support for DX and version 2.3 was not VST. I really only use the Q10 and Compressor from time to time anyway, as I have 2 UAD-1 cards that get a lot more use.
I am, however, very insterested in the IR-1L convolution reverb. I've been looking for something for PC that is close to the Logic Space Designer. I'd like a reverb plugin that allows me to design a reverb "envelope". The IR-1L seems close.
The Waves compressor was important because it has the ability to sidechain, where as there aren't any UAD compressors that have sidechain ability. Plus, sidechain ability was one of my major reasons for upgrading in the first place.
The reason I may turn to the Cubase EQ's vs. Waves is for little EQ tasks such as cutting out the bottom end of a hi hat or something like that. I usually would turn to the internal EQ's for small EQ tasks like that as they used very little CPU. I expect the VST version of the Waves bundle to be more efficient with CPU cycles anyway, so this may not be an issue.
All in all, I have heard positive things about C4. I know I'm excited about getting upgraded to it as I think it'll improve my workflow tremendously, especially with the input busses/external instruments, as I have a lot of hardware. |
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| daeus |
| quote: | Originally posted by Eric J
Well I had the Gold Bundle but it was an old version DirectX, 2.3. I actually picked up the Waves Power Pack as well, since C4 dropped support for DX and version 2.3 was not VST. I really only use the Q10 and Compressor from time to time anyway, as I have 2 UAD-1 cards that get a lot more use.
I am, however, very insterested in the IR-1L convolution reverb. I've been looking for something for PC that is close to the Logic Space Designer. I'd like a reverb plugin that allows me to design a reverb "envelope". The IR-1L seems close.
The Waves compressor was important because it has the ability to sidechain, where as there aren't any UAD compressors that have sidechain ability. Plus, sidechain ability was one of my major reasons for upgrading in the first place.
The reason I may turn to the Cubase EQ's vs. Waves is for little EQ tasks such as cutting out the bottom end of a hi hat or something like that. I usually would turn to the internal EQ's for small EQ tasks like that as they used very little CPU. I expect the VST version of the Waves bundle to be more efficient with CPU cycles anyway, so this may not be an issue.
All in all, I have heard positive things about C4. I know I'm excited about getting upgraded to it as I think it'll improve my workflow tremendously, especially with the input busses/external instruments, as I have a lot of hardware. |
Do you find the UAD-1 Cards good? I was looking in to getting hold of some old pc's and installing that cpu sharing software (I cant remember the name right now), network them up and share the vst load on them... |
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| Eric J |
| quote: | Originally posted by daeus
Do you find the UAD-1 Cards good? I was looking in to getting hold of some old pc's and installing that cpu sharing software (I cant remember the name right now), network them up and share the vst load on them... |
Absolutely. I use them & Waves on almost everything. Many of the built-in plugins that come with the card are not that great, except maybe the 1176SE, but the plugins you buy after the fact are top-notch. The LA-2A sounds so smooth and clean, its no wonder this was such a sought after piece of equipment.
On another related note....got Cubase 4 installed last night and already got some good work done. The Prologue VSTi is really good, much better than I expected, and I played around with the other VSTi's and they sound pretty good as well. THe performance seems a whole lot better on my system than SL3.
I realize that going from SX 3 to 4 is not a huge step up for some people, but when going from SL3 to C4, its a huge step. |
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