From Logic 5.5.1 to Cubase 4

[masterjoe]

Hello folks,

as a faithful Logic user for years I am used to great features in Logic 5.5.1 that were missing all the time in Cubase. Therefore I am still using Logic 5.5.1 on my Windows-PC. Now that Cubase 4 is coming I wonder whether things have changed and whether it's worth to finally leave Logic behind.

I am very curious to hear what former Logic users are saying and whether they are happy with Cubase or not.

My questions are:

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IN CUBASE...
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(1) Is it possible to loop sequencer objects?
(Logic is capable of looping ANY kind of sequencer object. The object is looped forever until there is another object on the track which stops the looping of the previous sequencer object.)

(2) Is is possible to build "folders"?
(Logic allows to build "folders" which are a sequences where each sequence is made of several other sequences which reside inside each folder. The sequences in a folder can be edited separately even while they are inside the folder. A folder is also loopable with all its content.)

(3) Does Cubase use multiple processor cores for plugins and VSTi instruments?
(Will a Core Duo be used efficently? Logic can't do this!)

(4) How solid/stable is Cubase's audio engine? Are there crashes, drop outs or other annoying things that mess up the workflow?

Thank you for your help

Cheers,
Oli

[martian]

1. not as far as i know. maybe consider FL for loop based production?
2. cubase has long had collapsable folders, which can pack any number of tracks into one managable folder track. not entirely related but ver 4 adds media bay where you can save configs of midi seqs, vsts and sounds.
3. yes, even since pre sx1 i think.
4. sx1 was a mess until last build, sx2 and 3 much solider from the start but many bugs until later builds, and a few still remain usually after last build. cant say for ver 4 yet obviously, but id wait a year or so

basically of the points you've picked out, nothing much has changed with ver4 as far as i can see. also i dont know how you work but id consider far more differences with this kind of decision. quite honesty logic 5.5 isnt going to compare to cubase 4, but if all you'll get from it is dualcore support its not going to be worth the learning curve.

[masterjoe]

Sure there are more considerations to be taken in order to know if the change is worth it. After all, in my opinion Cubase 4 has almost all the features of Logic 5.5.1 and sure it has a lot more to offer... but the few things I have mentioned ( i.e. look at (1) and (2) ) are quite important for me. I am willing to use something like Fruity Loops because I am *not* working with loops all the time.
But Logic offers a great method to structure a song with loops and folders without having to copy or alias the data dozens of times. I don't know any sequencer that can do that folder/loop thing the way Logic does it. And afaik Cubase requires you to copy/alias a MIDI triggered drum sequence (not a audio file!) over and over again if you like that sequence to be repeated for a while. This is one of the problems I see when I go to Cubase as this does not allow you to create a superior song structure with refrain and other things like it can be done with Logic.