Cubase LE. Worth it?

[Polite Company]

Well the title says most of it. I'm considering getting an FW interface and the one that is currently leading the pack comes with Cubase LE bundled with it. Now I'm often suspicious of 'LE' versions of software so my question is if I get this will it be worth using Cubase LE as my main DAW or should I be thinking of something else.

p.s. I've mostly been using Acid (4) to this point but it has ass for MIDI usability and as I find myself using more and more MIDI and softsynths it seems less and less useful.

[lizards]

I did the same thing, LE is great..and no dongle!
48 live tracks, lots of midi tracks, nice eq per track, couple sends, great vst performance, automation splines, right click tracks and clips for lots of processing,
what is it you want out of it

[mspmsp]

I've been using it happily for a while now. The limited number of inserts is a minor inconvenience but by using group tracks you can chain together as many effects as you wish.

[aMUSEd]

Is there a comparison chart somewhere? Does it do track freezing etc?

[Majken]

Is there a comparison chart somewhere? Does it do track freezing etc?

Nope, it's a more limited version of Cubase SE1 basically. However if you decide to update to SE3 you will get it at around 2/3 the price which is a pretty decent saving. Don't think SE3 has the freeze function either though. But anyway, Cubase LE is not a bad thing to get with your hardware.

Live Lite 4 is even better though, some hardware along with Live Lite 4 and the upgrade to Live 5 actually costs less than buying Live 5 straight away. One of those examples is the Behringer FC202. So instead of just buying a sequencer you're also buying a soundcard while still getting a redcued price compared to buying the full version straight away.

/Majken

[ThereIsNoLimitEr]

I got both Cubase LE and Live Lite 4 with my 1820m. Cubase LE i perfectly usable but Live was so crippled of functions that it was unusable, a mere waste of hd space. I think you could only have four audio tracks and four midi tracks in total. I suppose it differs between the versions shipped with different cards but I would be a bit careful about recommending Live Lite 4.

[Majken]

I suppose it differs between the versions shipped with different cards but I would be a bit careful about recommending Live Lite 4.

Well that's the thing, take a look at what it costs to get the full version

For a limited time, owners of Live Lite Digidesign Enhanced Edition will be eligible to upgrade to the full version of Live 5.2 (normal price 499 EUR/USD) at a special upgrade price of 249 EUR/USD (download) or 279 EUR/USD (boxed).

/Majken

[mellotronaut]

I got both Cubase LE and Live Lite 4 with my 1820m. Cubase LE i perfectly usable but Live was so crippled of functions that it was unusable, a mere waste of hd space. I think you could only have four audio tracks and four midi tracks in total. I suppose it differs between the versions shipped with different cards but I would be a bit careful about recommending Live Lite 4.

I completely agree. It really made me angry. And I haven't upgraded yet, because this Live lite is only decoy for getting the full version. What's the sense of having only one effect in a project?

[Alan]

Keep in mind though, the VST implementation is a bit dated and will have problems with some newer VST/VSTi's. At least that's what happened to my brother when he got it bundled with his EMU 1820M. In fact most of the time it wouldn't even open during a plugin scan. The EMU manual stated there was a problem with this and would be remedied by an update. We stopped looking long agao, but maybe there was recently?

[xcomp]

Is there a comparison chart somewhere? Does it do track freezing etc?

This may be helpful:
http://www.steinberg.net/552_1.html