Liking Cubase 7.5 more every day. Fewer reasons to use ANY 3rd party products...

[BERFAB]

Is anyone else experiencing this?

I've always liked Cubase, but I've always supplemented it with 3rd party stuff. Consequently, I now own a ton of quality 3rd party stuff- synths, romplers, effects (more compressors and eq's than I really want to think about) and some very interesting sampled instruments.

But since about C 5 or 6, Steinberg has been really upping the ante with some amazing included content. With the latest upgrade, for me at least, I think they've really arrived. I'm finding that I'm producing entire tracks almost entirely within the Cubase box.

Halion Sonic SE2 is an amazing instrument. I own the full Halion Sonic 2 but find that I go to SE2 much of the time simply because it seems a little lighter on CPU, and there's not much I don't miss.

Groove Agent SE4 - not just great drums and beats, but doubles as a sampler-great for chopping up and playing back just about any audio. I re-work a lot of my own leads and basslines very easily with this thing. Amazing. Much easier than Kontakt or Battery, IMHO.

Reverance - high end algo reverb. Easily replaces CSR and RC-48, my prior two go-to reverbs.

Curve eq - 'nuf said.

Padshop pro - lush pads of just about any type. Easy? Check. Fun? Check. Sound quality? Excellent. Bye bye Absynth, Alchemy.

Retrologue - Still getting familiar with this, but so far this thing sounds amazing for leads, arps, basses and a whole bunch of stuff in between. Again, easy and fun. Replaces FM8, Zeta, Sylenth1, etc.

New media content - tons of new audio samples/beats/phrases, as well as MIDI beats and phrases, construction kits, etc.

Plus a ton of new workflow features (track lanes being the latest biggie and auto RTZ for recording) that make really getting around a breeze.

There's some great tutorial vids, and some 3rd party vids on YouTube as well, that highlight a lot of the features that make using the latest Cubase a very happy time.

In case you're wondering, yes, I did spend some of the rainy weekend watching some of these vids and really digging in. Great stuff.

Wondering what others think.

Cheers
-B

[spaceman]

I think it stinks compared to Logic's built-in arsenal.
Ok, not stinks, maybe whiffs a bit.

But I agree that you can easily make music with what's supplied with Cubase and Logic.

[Septimon]

I totally agree about curve eq, Reverance and Groove Agent SE. the integration with slices from audio tracks is great as well.
didn't even try padshop and retrolouge
would never want to miss Kontakt's electric piano / organ section and guitar rig though.

[BERFAB]

I think it stinks compared to Logic's built-in arsenal.
Ok, not stinks, maybe whiffs a bit.

But I agree that you can easily make music with what's supplied with Cubase and Logic.

I have never used, and do not own, Logic. Do you own/work with Cubase 7.5?

Cubase has always been a great DAW, but it has NEVER, to my knowledge, been known to include any gear worth talking about until lately. Which is my point. A very pleasant bonus, if you will.

I'm sure that the push from Steinberg has more than a little to do with the stiff competition from the many DAWs out there that now, routinely, stuff their programs with all manner of kit, Logic included. Good to see Steiny rising to the challenge.

-B

[BERFAB]

I totally agree about curve eq, Reverance and Groove Agent SE. the integration with slices from audio tracks is great as well.
didn't even try padshop and retrolouge
would never want to miss Kontakt's electric piano / organ section and guitar rig though.

When I went x64, my biggest casualty was Mr. Ray - an amazing EP emulation. So I turned to NI's Scarbee EP's in Kontakt. Had it tweaked just the way I liked with FX, etc. But then, Halion Sonic 2 came out, and the "Suitcase" patch (with some FX tweaks) became my new go to. In fact, if you look in HS SE2, the EP/Tines instruments are quite plentiful and excellent.

Organ is a bigger problem. There are a few decent patches in HS SE2, but I must say that I cheat on this one. The full HS2 has a full blown organ instrument included that programs and plays just as good as NI's old B4 instrument, but with (IMHO) better Leslie emulation.

I'm a fan of Guitar Rig as well, but C7.5 has a slew of new effects, and an improved amp sim series. There are literally hundreds of effects chains presets ready to go that take advantage of all of these for just about any genre or situation. GR definitely has it's own flavor though, and I wouldn't want to give it up either.

Cheers
-B

[spaceman]

I have never used, and do not own, Logic. Do you own/work with Cubase 7.5?

Cubase has always been a great DAW, but it has NEVER, to my knowledge, been known to include any gear worth talking about until lately. Which is my point. A very pleasant bonus, if you will.

I'm sure that the push from Steinberg has more than a little to do with the stiff competition from the many DAWs out there that now, routinely, stuff their programs with all manner of kit, Logic included. Good to see Steiny rising to the challenge.

-B

I demo'ed 7.5 for a month. I think the synths are good but a bit characterless. It's all decent. Cubase is a great DAW with decent to good synths and effects, but it never quite clicked. To compare, I think Logic is a great DAW with good to excellent synths and effects. I much prefer the GB's of Logic sound material as well.

But again.. there's more than enough in both to keep you busy for a lifetime.

[fandango]

It's a bit strange having Groove Agent SE and Groove Agent ONE still sitting next to each other. I often pick the wrong one now and find I'm missing some drum sets I expect to find (the Allen Morgan sets* which seem to be GA ONE only?).

Also, picking names like REVerence and REVelation so that you stare at both and think "um... which is the convolution and which the algo?". I always get it wrong and find myself staring at the wrong interface. Okay, it's like a few seconds to fix, but for a company whose logo is "Creativity First" they could perhaps get a bit more creative with the plugin names?

* - also, Steinberg's own VST content seems to be really awkward with regards to install location and finding presets within instruments.

But for all the wanky jizz, there's some truly fantastic stuff I've come to rely on in Cubase. Retrospective record and VST Note Expression to name but 2 things I find myself using constantly. It's only 'bloat' if you don't use it...

[4damind]

Yes this stuff is very good and it can replace often other 3rd party plug-ins. I use it also sometimes for my stuff (mostly the synth like Retrologue and Padshop).

[Armadillosound]

Yes this stuff is very good and it can replace often other 3rd party plug-ins. I use it also sometimes for my stuff (mostly the synth like Retrologue and Padshop).

May I ask your opinion of Cubase compressors and limiter?

[billcarroll]

Yes this stuff is very good and it can replace often other 3rd party plug-ins. I use it also sometimes for my stuff (mostly the synth like Retrologue and Padshop).

May I ask your opinion of Cubase compressors and limiter?

I sometimes use the Cubase compressor for general compression and side chaining. It's pretty darn good.

However, for some reason I often tend to skip past the Cubase compressor and reach for the Softtube Tube-Tech CL 1B or a number of the UAD compressors.

I use the Cubase limiter in the rack and it's my "go to" for general track limiting. On the master I use the Brainworx bx_XL V2, PSP Xenon, or FabFilter Pro-L.

[4damind]

Yes this stuff is very good and it can replace often other 3rd party plug-ins. I use it also sometimes for my stuff (mostly the synth like Retrologue and Padshop).

May I ask your opinion of Cubase compressors and limiter?

You can mix only with the included plug-ins. I use sometimes the compressor. Very nice for ducking (it's VST3 and the sidechain stuff is easy to use). The limiter is ok if loudness is not so important. The EQ of the new channel is very good, I use it sometimes for cutting.
But if it comes to emulations of analog hardware (and many people like this sound more) the included plug-ins are IMO not an option. So it depends of the wished sound.

Btw. the effect plug-ins are very good too. For example the new algorithmic reverb. I use the Ping Pong Delay very often. For all this stuff it doesn't need 3rd party plug-ins.

[Gamma-UT]

To compare, I think Logic is a great DAW with good to excellent synths and effects. I much prefer the GB's of Logic sound material as well.

But again.. there's more than enough in both to keep you busy for a lifetime.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=409760

[spaceman]

To compare, I think Logic is a great DAW with good to excellent synths and effects. I much prefer the GB's of Logic sound material as well.

But again.. there's more than enough in both to keep you busy for a lifetime.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=409760

So?

[Gamma-UT]

To compare, I think Logic is a great DAW with good to excellent synths and effects. I much prefer the GB's of Logic sound material as well.

But again.. there's more than enough in both to keep you busy for a lifetime.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=409760

So?

What changed? You started a thread claiming Logic isn't cutting it for you. But now that's not the case?

[spaceman]

To compare, I think Logic is a great DAW with good to excellent synths and effects. I much prefer the GB's of Logic sound material as well.

But again.. there's more than enough in both to keep you busy for a lifetime.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=409760

So?

What changed? You started a thread claiming Logic isn't cutting it for you. But now that's not the case?

I really can't see the connection.

Me not feeling good in Logic anymore and me stating that Logic has top instruments, effect and content do not mutually exclude. My gripes are with UI issues (most likely OSX related), not with Logic content.