From Live to Cubase 7?

[Coxy]

Hi Guys

Short version: Anyone use HW midi gear and switched from Live 9 vs Cubase 7? What were your thoughts and experiences?

Long version...
Bitta Background: Cut my teeth on what was then Fruityloops, moved on to Cubase SX 2 then onto Cubase SL3 (when it was current) then ultimately Ableton Live and have been keen live user ever since now on vers 9

My Current situation: However I have recently got into more of the hardware side of things and have a few hw synths such as NL2 and DSI Evolver + more and outboard FX that I would like to get more out of. Live seems limited in what I can do midi wise with my external gear.

For Live:

• I love the drop an external instrument / fx to the console and just start using it.
  The accessibility of samples and auto tempo stretch when dropping loops in
  The session view to arrangement view synergy
  The very quick loop possibilities
  It's EDM focus (what I produce)
  Its rapid results

I'm currently trying out Cubase 7 Elements trial along with Sonar X3 just to see what other daw's are doing nowadays since my Cubase Sl3 days.

For Cubase;

• Cubase with it's Audio track and Midi track setup annoyances yet also brings with it the midi flexibility I'm craving.
  Hate to say it but in real time playback for me Cubase does sound more pristine
  Cubases built in parametric channel strip EQ's sound really nice and are a nice bonus
  The built in FX also seem/sound more polished.

Still toying at the mo but has anyone else ever made the switch from Live to Cubase ?

What are your thoughts? For me it may just be a case of the DAW blues but it never hurts to see what the competition are putting out and would welcome your thoughts none the less.

Thanks IA

[Contour]

i did and i loved it until i realised it takes me ages to finish anything on cubase. i switched back but now and then still use c7.5 too.

for getting a pristine sound cubase is awesome.

for writing tracks fast and doing stuff thats 'outside the box', Live mops the floor with c7.

A couple of things Steinberg could add to turn it around: automation access (selected parameter always visible + scaling + racking and so forth), instantaneous resampling, super accessible and tweak able sampler.

So... I'd say Live wins if you are in the business of writing music. For mixing, Cubase takes the lead.

[dsan@mail.com]

I can't say that I made a "switch" from Live (9) to Cubase, but, yes, I use both, (C6), as well as Sonar X2 and Studio One V2.

Each have their advantages/disadvantges. You pretty well outlined my feelings about Live and Cubase in your post.

If by "pristine" you reference a cleaner sound, I couldn't agree with you more. Live seems to dull the sound to me and I don't take preference in Live's audio fx. Cubase is much more to my liking for fx and sound enhancement.

I find it much easier to get thoughts down in Live vs. any of the others. But once I get tracks where I want them, I bounce and take them over to one of the others (or all) for "finishing".

One of the key points in your post was the "DAW Blues". I can tell you this never leaves you. UNLESS, you commit to one and forget about the hype the others may promise.

While I do not like the fx in Live I really think I haven't given Live full opportunity. I think if I were to REALLY learn how to use their fx I would probably get along quite well with them. I don't want to learn them though (at least not right now when time is short for making music) since I can turn to Cubase and get immediate results.

I guess my biggest problem with Steinberg is their recent moves to pillage and plunder. I have lost interest in them since it seems now they don't want to fix problems with their software unless the user base is willing to pay for it. I can't get along with dot 5 "upgrades" which only seem to fix bugs in the previous version and the added content (to justify themselves for charging) is non essential and uneccessary content. But this is JMO, mmv of course.

My experience? All DAW's pretty much do the same thing, just a bit different ways with each. Some DAW's have better features (specific to a user) than others. Each have their sweet spot in my arsenal.

Bottom line; only you can decide if you need/want another DAW. Having many gives you more edge; the downside to having multiples is having time to really learn the nuances to be able to use them to potential. Some here at KVR advocate getting one, learning it to the hilt and being satisfied with what you have. This also has merit.

HTH

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[pppppppppp]

Same situation here, used Logic on PC in very early and Cubase in earlier times. Then to Live6/7 to 8 only for several years. Was really happy about how easy Live was to use. But after many 8bar loops:
Automation and arrangement rubbish, sometimes also "weird" sounding to me. Was hard for me to finish a track in Live, playing all along with many clips, chains and such.

Then I bought Cubase 7 in Mid of 2013: What can I say, will never ever go back.

Dont get me wrong, Live is superb for its purpose (i.e. "live", playing around with few bars). But Cubase is a different story when it comes to really producing a track.
It will push you forward, workflow in Cubase is way better after you used it a bit.

My Cubase vs Live:
+ Mixer
+ piano roll, midi editing
+ Automation
+ Arrangement
+ more pristine sound (to me Live sounded muddy sooner or later. oh man, what have I read about this the last year and did comparisons myself, dunno, maybe I should leave that one out, will never get into this topic again )
+ workflow for track production
+ will not keep you busy on too many different "clips"
+ much more processing power, i.e. resource friendlier for VST usage
- dealing with samples (automatic timestretch etc. better in Live)

Using only plugins (no HW), no finished loops, EDM.

Cheers

[juffi]

Well i think Live is mainly geared towards looping and live situation, for DJs also . So i had Live 9.1 trial and you get your things going quickly. My launchkey 61 was supported best (ok in cubase, very good in reason...).

But if you want to do studio work , lots of midi things, mixing, chords track, rewire other things, work with vocal tracks and vari audio and finally mastering this is where cubase 7 (now 7.5) shines. Some have 2-3 monitors. Last but not least i had to give once a notation sheet to a violin player

You can't do that in Live on the same level like i mentioned in cubase 7.5. The mixer in live is very rudimentary and i hate the gui in live, you can zoom it bigger but it will blur a little bit on a full hd, on 100% level its too tiny for me to read.

Some say, cubase is for real musicians because of chord track ,harmony assistant and notation feature.

I would love to see cubase with a clip/scene window . Maybe Bitwig Studio can pull me away from cubase