What you think is on the money in Cubase 4

[kritikon]

I don't know what to think anymore, i feel like the whole idea of community is a sham... i don't see any major improvemment on my workflow as i didn't saw with SX3, Steinberg seems to focused on trickery and trends, instead of make of Cubase step to its next level. All this IMO.

Steinberg. Community? I didn't know there ever was any sense of community about Cubase users. I've certainly never seen one since 1990. I don't remember there being one with Pro24 either.

Big steps? No, there are no huge big steps, but there mostly aren't anyway. Big leap when Cubase went VST, then little upgrades all the way to SX (where there was a big audio engine rewrite, but still no major changes in the way the actual app worked, apart from reducing the intuitive workflow to a big cluttered mess).
There are still no huge leaps in Cubase4, but there are enough little ones that all add up to a decent upgrade. At least for me - I'm still on SX2, so I can see quite a difference between SX2 and 4. I make it almost a rule to not upgrade at every release unless there's something big I really really need. Cubase 1 -> 3 -> VST5.1 -> SX2 I think I would have just wasted money on little tweaks if I had upgraded more than that (at least for the specific way I and only I like to work).

So from SX2 -> 4 ...there is a big enough sea change in useability to make it fairly sizeable. And if I do upgrade, then I'll almost certainly miss out on 5 unless they go 64bit with that one (and even then I won't necessarily just jump straight in - I'll need a new PC and OS first ).

[soulata]

I like the Instrument track thing. Logic works like that, right? Any downsides?

k

[bagginz]

Winners for me: (in no particular order)

1. Control Room - fabulous

2. New key commands - including a) open channel window b)
all solos off c) all mutes off (about time and hopefully toggle-able on one key press.

3. Customizable Inspector and Channel window - (and some other overall UI tweaks)

4. Drag and drop inserts - Great! (also about time...)

5. Improved channel e.q (though haven't heard it yet)

6. Loop auditioning at project tempo - Yay!

7. The whole Soundframe concept looks very powerful and should prove to be a real timesaver - once I get used to using it.

8. VST Instrument tracks - Hopefully I now never have to see that blinkin' midi channel window pop up again.


The new VSTIs and plugins are very welcome but not a big deal for me.

Cheers,
Bill

[soulkisser]

Still 32-bit audio engine..

So still the same audio mixing quality..

[Kingston]

Still 32-bit audio engine..

So still the same audio mixing quality..

was there something wrong with the SX3/nuendo audio quality? (coz there wasn't)

not a whole lot wrong with the engine either, unless you dislike the fact it processes everything everywhere real-time all the time. (and uses a bit more CPU for that as some of the buffer hack competition)

[egbert]

I like the Instrument track thing. Logic works like that, right? Any downsides?

For multi-out instruments you will still need the torture of the instrument rack but for individual instruments an instrument track will be everything in one.

One thing I have missed about Logic was the ability to substitute a different synth/sampler in the same track with the same FX setup just by selecting another instrument for the slot (eg to try a different elec bass sample set) - just as you might try a different compressor in an FX slot in Cubase or most other hosts.

In Cubase SX , you have to insert the new instrument in the rack, then all your audio (and midi) FX must be set up all over again and then your project window track must be rerouted to the new instrument.

Then, chances are, next time you open the revised song it will ask where is the now discarded synth/sampler. The problem is that tracks and output FX are still associated with it in Cubase's braindead system. The inevtiably leads to the bizarre business of exorcising the ghost of the discarded instrument. You first make the sign of the cross and then begin checking all your midi tracks and changing them from "not connected" (which means that it can't find the expected synth to connect to) to "not connected" (which means you don't want it to connect to anything) to kill references to the discarded instrument - I kid you not. Can you believe this system survived all the updates so far? It is hard to believe that anyone directing development ever made a song with it - will be interested to see what they have done about this in C4.

I expect that all the crap about selecting a midi track in the project window meaning that the midi track for that instrument is selected in the mixer will be a thing of the past with these new tracks. If there can still be midi FX I guess they will have to be another layer in the mixer (Eq, inserts, Midi inserts ...) or else they will be accessible only in the inspector.

[Compyfox]

Still 32-bit audio engine..

So still the same audio mixing quality..

AW NOW COME ON!
Years ago you all were like "OMG 8bit rocks!" then as the CD format came out "OMG 16bit rocks!", then the DAWs spreaded like wildfire (so did tons of tools) and all were like "OMG 24bit!!!" then it was raised to internal 32bit...

And now you whine around cause it doesn't have internal 64bit floating point mathematics? The funk's wrong with you people?!

For CD production you still render down to 16bit, AC3 is also 16bit and DTS/MLP it's 24bit. I'm not talking about the HDTV audio formats yet, cause they're not even really out yet, not to underestimate that all tools (except ProTools HD maybe, and even then only with very expensive add ons) can't handle them yet.

"Normal ears" don't hear that high rates anyway, unless they have "hyper-platinum-ears" (Roger Nichols, anyone?!). So what's the point?

[dtd]

Compyfox, exactly!

[Kingston]

You first make the sign of the cross and then begin checking all your midi tracks and changing them from "not connected" (which means that it can't find the expected synth to connect to) to "not connected"

yep. what a stupid bug causing completely unnecessary nag screens on project loads where you forgot to take this into account. I seem to recall steinberg support touted it as a "feature" at some point, hence the nag screens to remind you about it. My brain, unfortunately, doesn't work like theirs.

It's a great example of the "we know what's best for you" German style engineering.

[egbert]

You first make the sign of the cross and then begin checking all your midi tracks and changing them from "not connected" (which means that it can't find the expected synth to connect to) to "not connected"

yep. what a stupid bug causing completely unnecessary nag screens on project loads where you forgot to take this into account. I seem to recall steinberg support touted it as a "feature" at some point, hence the nag screens to remind you about it. My brain, unfortunately, doesn't work like theirs.

It's a great example of the "we know what's best for you" German style engineering.

If they used anything other than "not connected" to connote a failed attempt at connection you could see at a glance where the problem was. To use the same text for both is not exactly what I would call Teutonic efficiency.