Jumping ship from Live to Cubase

[DrGonzo]

In an attempt to improve my workflow, I'm thinking of moving from Live 11 -> Cubase 12. While I think Live 11 is effing excellent, I'm tired of it and need a shakeup in form of a new environment. Clips make my brain thinking in clips and I'm a bit tired of that to be honest.

So - my finger is closing in on that buy button.

Any word of advice from the wise before I do?

/C

[Serhii Kot]

I have a good advice: Do not do it!)

[Effectsworks]

I use Ableton and Nuendo. I'm not sure what advice to offer as it really depends on what you expect out of Cubase.
I personally don't think in 'clips' when I use Ableton I use it more as a traditional DAW.

[tehlord]

It's very subjective of course, but I've been a Cubase/Live user for years.

One thing I prefer in Cubase is that the arrange view (or, the only view) just feels slicker than Live. I also prefer the MUCH more customisable custom key options, meaning I can work faster in that arranage workflow than I can in Live, which I've always found clunky here.

Other than that, it's really just about subjective preferences.

Oh, and the audio engine in Cubase obviously sounds better.......

[sqigls]

i often start in Live, export MIDI files and patches, then start writing in Cubase.
Depends how you work. I could never write in Live, unless it's ambient or something real basic. even then, editing MIDI in Live is a negatory.

[dellboy]

Clips make my brain thinking in clips and I'm a bit tired of that to be honest.

Who's clips are you using? Your own that you have recorded in the session view? or clips that you have imported?

Why not just use the linear view in Live?

[DrGonzo]

i often start in Live, export MIDI files and patches, then start writing in Cubase.
Depends how you work. I could never write in Live, unless it's ambient or something real basic. even then, editing MIDI in Live is a negatory.

Interesting. Yes, I can imagine this to be a quite effective way produce anything really. Different DAWs nudge you towards creating in different ways.

[DrGonzo]

It's very subjective of course, but I've been a Cubase/Live user for years.

One thing I prefer in Cubase is that the arrange view (or, the only view) just feels slicker than Live. I also prefer the MUCH more customisable custom key options, meaning I can work faster in that arranage workflow than I can in Live, which I've always found clunky here.

Other than that, it's really just about subjective preferences.

Oh, and the audio engine in Cubase obviously sounds better.......

Yes, I feel the same way about the arrange view. Coming from Cubase years and years ago, the session view is the soul of Live and the arrangement view feels ... just clunky. Like something that doesn't really belong there. Apart from a handful of highly desired features that Cubase have, and Live does not, I've felt a need to get out of the "clips" mentality for a few years now.

[DrGonzo]

Clips make my brain thinking in clips and I'm a bit tired of that to be honest.

Who's clips are you using? Your own that you have recorded in the session view? or clips that you have imported?

Why not just use the linear view in Live?

Not a big fan of it I'm afraid

[pdxindy]

Why not just use the linear view in Live?

Not a big fan of it I'm afraid

Ableton Live is far less capable in the linear view.

[chk071]

Any word of advice from the wise before I do?

Just do it.

[rageix]

My advice: keep and open mind and be patient. Cubase has a lot of flexibility, a lot of options, and it just takes time to adjust to a new way of working. Cubase straight up does some stuff just plain worse compared to Live, but it does some things much better than Live. So will will run the gauntlet of hating Cubase but then wondering how you lived without x feature.

Best of luck.

[boark]

Go for it! I use both Cubase and Live, and find myself using Cubase more often.

On all the UIs, click the "gear" icons shown on-screen and turn on/off any buttons you'd like to see. This will make the UI much less daunting in the case of buttons you hide. Keep the "Info Line" on. Functions for clips are set using it (ARA extension, stretching algorithm, etc.).

Create key commands for any functions you like. Cubase is very powerful in this regard, especially in comparison to Live. The Key Commands setup window is also a great place to search and find stock key commands.

The Tap Tempo function is called Beat Calculator in Cubase. That may save you some time searching for it.

In Audio Connections, use the Control Room instead of Outputs. Among other things, it adds a global volume control in Cubase that will change the monitor volume level without impacting the actual master track volume level.

Create a template and use it to start your projects. Better yet, create multiple templates - one for each type of project you typically create, pre-loaded with tracks and instruments. In your template, add these tracks (Arranger, Markers, Chord Track, Tempo, Signature) and hide them by default. Then when actually using the template while making a song go into Visibility in the upper-left area to show them as needed. They will already be there in your template.

Go into Preferences->Record->MIDI and enable ASIO Latency Compensation Active by Default. Having that disabled caused latency issues for me until I found it. Disable Editing->Tools->Show Toolbox on Right-Click. Coming from Ableton, you'll probably find that to be annoying and will prefer having a context menu show for right-clicks. Look at the Editors setting and set it how you like. I have Key Editor as the default editor, and have "Double-click opens Editor in a Window". But you may prefer the editor to be inside the main window rather than in a separate window. Save your Preferences setting as a preset, and then select your preset and save your project templates with it so that it is always used for new projects.

Consider getting a 1 month subscription to Groove3 if you don't have it and watch one of the Cubase Explained video sets. Those will get you up to speed quickly.

[dellboy]

Clips make my brain thinking in clips and I'm a bit tired of that to be honest.

Who's clips are you using? Your own that you have recorded in the session view? or clips that you have imported?

Why not just use the linear view in Live?

Not a big fan of it I'm afraid

OK, I can understand that.

So why Cubase though? I have Cubase Pro 12 and I never use it, I find Studio One easier in most ways. You could give that a 30 day demo before committing to Cubase. If you have a Mac you could give Logic a 90 day tryout.

[DrGonzo]

Clips make my brain thinking in clips and I'm a bit tired of that to be honest.

Who's clips are you using? Your own that you have recorded in the session view? or clips that you have imported?

Why not just use the linear view in Live?

Not a big fan of it I'm afraid

OK, I can understand that.

So why Cubase though? I have Cubase Pro 12 and I never use it, I find Studio One easier in most ways. You could give that a 30 day demo before committing to Cubase. If you have a Mac you could give Logic a 90 day tryout.

I was a big Cubase fan back some ten years ago, so I can imagine I'll get into it quicker. That plus that it has MIDI capture and allows to preview MIDI files with whatever instrument you have loaded up.