Cubase 10.5 is here now....

[chk071]

You can remove the content with the Steinberg Library Manager, which is installed when you install Cubase.

Also, in former versions, you could choose what to install when installing Cubase. Not sure if they changed that. And, i'm also not sure if Groove Agent SE could be deselected, because it's a Cubase internal device.

[Daimonicon]

Oh no now I see I can only uninstall Groove Agent and not all its samples. Bummer! So I'm stuck with stuff I don't want or need and take up unnecessary space. Well fu...I mean thank you Steinberg for that.

[Obsolete236871]

Did anyone try to install 10.5 on Win 7? I know, it's no longer officially supported, but does it still work is what I'm curious about...

[chk071]

Oh no now I see I can only uninstall Groove Agent and not all its samples. Bummer! So I'm stuck with stuff I don't want or need and take up unnecessary space. Well fu...I mean thank you Steinberg for that.

Again, you CAN uninstall the sounds... look for the Steinberg Library Manager. They should all be in there.

[emanuelsj]

I bought the upgrade from Cubase 9.5 Pro to 10 Pro but I haven't activated it yet. And now, looking at the features 10.5 is bringing with it, I'm not sure I want to activate it now. Can anyone confirm whether I can use my 9.5 upgrade to 10 to activate Cubase 11 later, when it will be released?

Assuming Cubase 9.5 was released on November 15, 2017, version 10 on November 15, 2018 and 10.5 on November 13 2019, most likely I would have to wait for a full year before upgrading, which is going to be tough, but on the other hand I quite don't find the additions vital for my workflow.

[Compyfox]

It seems they actually did implement many of the user requests from the polls over at the Steinberg forums, “export video” being one of the most requested (couldn’t care less personally). Sure, not everyone will be happy that their most urgent feature request was neglected, but that’s normal.

Honestly... it took them since Cubase 8.5 (December 2015) to give us back this feature. And I was told at Superbooth 2019 that it needs Windows 10 because of the OS built in CODECs (at least it does for Nuendo). Steinberg said that "Cubase 10.5 will still work in Windows 7", but I can not confirm that yet - I didn't upgrade (yet).

What annoys me the most with this though:

1. it's a paid upgrade, while Nuendo got this whole engine for free (same goes for Presonus Studio One, and then some feature wise - like a legit mono channel export!)
2. it's castrated - you can only render in 16bit and Stereo, while Cubase is 5.1 capable (sadly not 7.1 - because "allegedly that is only a "pro-Pro feature for Nuendo -- not to mention Cubase's focus on VR!)
3. no mention of AAC export at all (it is part of the MP4 specs and h264/AAC is way more compatible across the board than h264/mp3)

Come to think of it, Nuendo can export to AAC (apparently, definitely as part of the Video Render), Wavelab can export to AAC (it could do so since the implementation of the Fraunhofer Pro-Codec - but stereo only up until this day - no surround), Cubase still can not and it's a widespread standard at this point. The MP3 format has been finally "discontinued" in April 2017 (US), it turned "license free" in 2012 in Europe, AAC is around for 10+ years, MPEG-H is on the rise. Two years later, still no AAC export. AAF is also broken (I can't share projects between Logic Pro X and back).

4 years of neglected features and standards - and we Cubase users have to once more shell out money to get this fixed, or "back" - while Nuendo users got this for free. Not okay, IMO.

The combined selection tool could possibly be worth he price of admission alone - how I hate that constant switching between tools! This has the potential to make audio editing much much faster.

I need to see more before I can comment on this. Or rather, experience this hands on. From the promo video, it does look good and way, way faster. But as usual - it feels "half baked". Why only the main arrangement window, why not similar features for the MIDI Key Editor?

Unless... that is reserved for Cubase 11.0 or even 11.5

The safe mode isn’t completely thought out - nice that I can disable third party party plugins on start, but that doesn’t help me finding out which plugin crashes or hangs on project load.

Agreed. I think the bigger picture was a "clean up your project and save as new file in case of a 'corrupt - refuse to load'" type deal related to plugins. Then it would make sense - no manual removal of plugins (from the actual plugin folders) and then copying them back in. But what if it was one plugin you've loaded like 10 hours prior that is now causing an issue out of nowhere?

• "Padshop 2" bundled? Some new sound packages? I honestly couldn't care less about that.
• I must admit, that "Multi-Tab" delay looks like a beast. More so than Blue Cat Audio's Late Replies. Albeit that plugin can load third party plugins
• I also like the idea of "comparing EQs" in the Channel Strip, but we're still limited to 4 EQ bands - there is still "Frequency" but the 2x4 layout is just... non-intuitive.
• Better colors on the mix console, definitely an improvement (sometimes you can get easily confused).
• Better scoring functions for songwriting/printing score sheets? I'm sure heavy songwriters will definitely appreciate that, unless they're using Dorico already.
• Overhauls for the Macro Engine? Definitely nice.
• The overhauled Retroactive (MIDI) Recording? Also nice.

But there are so many features are locked behind additional drop-down menus rather than having them "on by default" now.


Is this all worth the 60bucks? This is up to each own to decide.

Personally, I'd say "no" as certain "needs to be up to date" features (like CODECs and the finally re-implemented "Render audio in Video" engine) should have been free updates (just like Nuendo got that, also Presonus Studio One). Then there is the thing with "Physical Core Limitation" (on Windows) now that CPU's with core counts >8 are out (see this article). I mean, Windows 1909 has just been rolled out officially as well, yet there is no compatibility mention? But there were a crap-ton of warnings for macOS Catalina?

We Cubase users (sadly - this is my personal opinion as user for 25+ years!) have been treated like "entry level users" for years. The recent "Feature Request Poll" didn't change that, as you couldn't give detailed feedback what is really broken, and both forum posts and tickets felt doing into a deep dark void. Now that Sequel is discontinued, this feels more than apparent (IMO and all that).

Meanwhile, the competition just doesn't sleep and is offering really, really good and mandatory updates for free.



YMMV of course... guess I'm just too long with this host and even cool features like "Direct Offline Processing" (introduced with Cubase 10.0) just don't win me over (easily) anymore.

[Psuper]

Some nice useful additions and changes, nothing great for me from initial reads: track import, select tools, and visual helps is about it. Retrospective Midi is very nice though -- I'm fairly consistent with hitting record when toying with stuff, its not a habit and I've missed some opportunities there.

I'll likely wait till 11 but I may not be able to help myself.

[Daimonicon]

Oh no now I see I can only uninstall Groove Agent and not all its samples. Bummer! So I'm stuck with stuff I don't want or need and take up unnecessary space. Well fu...I mean thank you Steinberg for that.

Again, you CAN uninstall the sounds... look for the Steinberg Library Manager. They should all be in there.

Ok thanks I will.

[BONES]

I went back to Studio One after trying Cubase 10...it just looked awful on my (4K) monitor and seems to be a patchwork of half a dozen different GUI styles and pop up windows. Its a super powerful DAW, but it really needs a major overhaul to the GUI and workflow not just tweaks and new stuff in my opinion.

I've not really found that at all. In fact, I've been surprised at how good the workflow is. The GUI is awful but it's no worse than Studio One or any other of the big sequencers.

The only thing I find clunky with it is how some windows open within the project window while other things open in a separate window and there is no rhyme or reason to it. I wish it just had one big window and everything else was a window that opened inside that. Multiple projects could go into tabs. Either that or make everything a separate window so we can bring things to the front via the taskbar. I hate having to constantly open and close instrument GUIs, for example, and the way that Channel Strip windows disappear to the bottom of the stack as soon as you click outside them gets annoying at times. Overall, though, it's a lot better than I thought it would be.

I have to say, though, that for my workflow I'm not seeing anything like $90 worth in this upgrade. The additions seem minor, at best, and it sounds like they have taken a few things out along the way. I don't feel tempted in the slightest to put my hand in my pocket for any of it.

[telecode]

I assume there's a Padshop PRO 2 upgrade coming somewhere...

Never assume... They're dropping the pro version to 'streamline their portfolio'. Mentioned in the KVR news.

what a bunch of scammers. weren't steinberg peddling the padshop pro upgrade for $10 not too long ago. and now they just streamline the pro and non pro into one version? sneaky.

[fmr]

Did anyone try to install 10.5 on Win 7? I know, it's no longer officially supported, but does it still work is what I'm curious about...

I did, and I think it is working (I mean, it installed, it launched, and is now scanning my plug-ins, a painful task that takes a while, unfortunately).

[Atlatnesiti]

I bought the upgrade from Cubase 9.5 Pro to 10 Pro but I haven't activated it yet. And now, looking at the features 10.5 is bringing with it, I'm not sure I want to activate it now. Can anyone confirm whether I can use my 9.5 upgrade to 10 to activate Cubase 11 later, when it will be released?

You can, but bare in mind that the cost of upgrade from 9.5 to 10.5 is double that of cost of upgrade from 10 to 10.5 and will most likely be double that again with version 11

[Obsolete236871]

Did anyone try to install 10.5 on Win 7? I know, it's no longer officially supported, but does it still work is what I'm curious about...

I did, and I think it is working (I mean, it installed, it launched, and is now scanning my plug-ins, a painful task that takes a while, unfortunately).

Okay, cool. Maybe once plugin scan is finished try out the new plugins and functions to see whether it works flawlessly in Win7. The code base should not be too different aside from those new functions.

[Obsolete236871]

I bought the upgrade from Cubase 9.5 Pro to 10 Pro but I haven't activated it yet. And now, looking at the features 10.5 is bringing with it, I'm not sure I want to activate it now. Can anyone confirm whether I can use my 9.5 upgrade to 10 to activate Cubase 11 later, when it will be released?

You can, but bare in mind that the cost of upgrade from 9.5 to 10.5 is double that of cost of upgrade from 10 to 10.5 and will most likely be double that again with version 11

Sorry, my brain is a bit slow right now. So, if we still have an unactivated license, should we rather use it on the 10.5 upgrade or wait for version 11? My unactivated license is an upgrade from 6.5 version, but if I can get 11 with it, I would rather wait, since I'm currently not doing any music anyway...

[Atlatnesiti]

I bought the upgrade from Cubase 9.5 Pro to 10 Pro but I haven't activated it yet. And now, looking at the features 10.5 is bringing with it, I'm not sure I want to activate it now. Can anyone confirm whether I can use my 9.5 upgrade to 10 to activate Cubase 11 later, when it will be released?

You can, but bare in mind that the cost of upgrade from 9.5 to 10.5 is double that of cost of upgrade from 10 to 10.5 and will most likely be double that again with version 11

Sorry, my brain is a bit slow right now. So, if we still have an unactivated license, should we rather use it on the 10.5 upgrade or wait for version 11? My unactivated license is an upgrade from 6.5 version, but if I can get 11 with it, I would rather wait, since I'm currently not doing any music anyway...

That is correct