Cubase 12

[EnGee]

Well, if you are sure that you won't need any VST2 and accept whatever they decide in the future, then invest in Cubase. Many people don't want to change their DAW, so it is not that difficult decision for them. So, Cubase will do just fine as it has a big base.

The thing I still don't understand is why they changed VST2? Why not just to expand it instead of change it?! I don't think there was a big demand by the developers for a new version like VST3! It is all Steinberg's vision it seems.

[Trancer]

It is true that it is incomprehensible and if I can afford a totally stupid choice from Steinberg.

People who wanted to change Daw and switch to Cubase, it may be missed and Steinberg shoots himself in the foot as they say.

There is no question of using an earlier version, it is nonsense indeed.

Also if using version 11, you need a usb dongle, so not an option.

On the other hand, the removal of the usb dongle for version 12 is an excellent thing.

It's a shame, I have the impression that Steinberg during positive course changes is incapable of not disappointing with technological or other withdrawals.

[Trancer]

It's like the era of the famous Houston control surface, it was the heyday of Steinberg.

Why more control surface integrated in Cubase?

Just like the excellent faderport 8 or 16 from Presonus.

Really the impression that manufacturers no longer pay attention to user requests and that's a shame.

[chk071]

Take a look at your plugins, look how many of those have VST3 versions, look if you can or can't go without the ones that don't. Take a look if some of those plugins which do have VST3 versions are MIDI plugins, which might lack some features in the VST3 version compared to the VST2 version. Decide if it's worth or not worth it. Or stick with Cubase 12 which still supports VST2 plugins.

I think you're once again making it harder for yourself than it is.

[EnGee]

I agree. Don't complicate it that much! If you like something and you feel inspired by it, buy it
Personally, I don't have long term plans because simply I don't trust such a thing. I have short term plans though, and I think Cubase 12 is overall a top DAW and popular. It works with most VST3 and VST2 now. You don't have to upgrade for at least 5 years. It's long enough for me.

[mothra]

Indeed it is, I think it's too early to block vst2, still there's lots of plugins on users projects still on VST2

Too early?? More like the developers waited until it was too late to play catch up. Steinberg pulled the plug on VST2 more than 10 years ago, and every knew WELL in advance this day was coming. Blame your developers for not moving forward, just about every one else has at this point and the ones that still haven't are the ones that haven't wanted to do the work yet, probably because they cant figure out a way to justify charging you just for a new format update.

As it is, VST2 is not dead. It still works perfectly fine on Windows and Intel Mac's. If you have an M1 Mac, welcome to the way it was supposed to be a decade ago, VST3 is the new replacement for VST2 finally. And if your developers are doing things properly, your old VST2s should automatically be replaced by their newer VST3 versions.

[MegaPixel]

Indeed it is, I think it's too early to block vst2, still there's lots of plugins on users projects still on VST2

Too early?? More like the developers waited until it was too late to play catch up. Steinberg pulled the plug on VST2 more than 10 years ago, and every knew WELL in advance this day was coming. Blame your developers for not moving forward, just about every one else has at this point and the ones that still haven't are the ones that haven't wanted to do the work yet, probably because they cant figure out a way to justify charging you just for a new format update.

As it is, VST2 is not dead. It still works perfectly fine on Windows and Intel Mac's. If you have an M1 Mac, welcome to the way it was supposed to be a decade ago, VST3 is the new replacement for VST2 finally. And if your developers are doing things properly, your old VST2s should automatically be replaced by their newer VST3 versions.

VST3.0 Was released in 2008, we should be on VST12 by now...

The VST2 SDK is no longer in development, it hasn't been for a very very long time, so no fixes, no patches etc. VST3 is active.

As for the reason why developers do not just all go VST3 is that there is more work, which = time, which = cost into using VST3.

VST3 can do more and is better than VST2 but at the end of the day VST2 x64 will work till the day x64 stops being a thing or that the OS changes in a such a dramatic way as to break all x64 applications or the libraries shipped with that OS that the VST2 may be reliant on.

VST3 from an audio wrapper perspective is more work to use but not that bad. VST3 from a graphical side of things has caused a lot of issues for developers. Many can't handle resizable interfaces and VST3 caters for this, I've seen many a reputable plugin not know where the mouse pointer is for click and drag, patch lists moving past their expected limits and so on, this could require developers to re-build / re-work all the programming for the whole visual side of their plugins. You will notice many VST3's have a resizable window and the plugin remains the same size in it, this is the developers getting around having to build a scalable UI.

Old school VST devs typically suck at scalable UI/UX design and programming and this is another big factor into why the dev's themselves don't do it. Once you get into scalable vector graphics and calculating motion scaled and then into opengl, things spiral quickly.

Now with MIDI2.0 coming things need to change again as hardware vendors are very interested in going MIID2.0. VST3.7 supports MIDI 2.0, however there is another JEDI... Erm I mean OPTION, and a better one, CLAP.

Steinberg will probably never support or integrate CLAP, but Bitwig who have been leading the way with it have it fully integrated and working. Avid (Pro Tools), Cockos (Reaper), Image-Line (FL Studio) and Presonus (Studio One) are working on integrating CLAP also.

On the plug-ins side, industry veterans like Arturia, Fabfilter, Expressive E, Valhalla, VCV, Vital Audio, u-he (diva, hive +), Sonic Academy (Ana2 beta) and Xfer Records (Serum), even Epic Games are looking integrating it into Unreal Engine. The JUICE framework also has support for CLAP already.

If developers get on board with CLAP we could see AU move to CLAP also and finally a single open source plugin format can be used by all operating systems and DAW's with the freedom to grow as needed.

As far as I know CLAP is open source, superior to VST3 in many ways and will free us all from big brother steinbergs dictatorship and legal issues of using VST3.x

[mothra]

Yawn...

Steinberg and Apple are more than likely never going to touch CLAP. We all know it's the second coming of Jesus, even though we've got ONE whole whopping host that supports it and a couple of plugins by now, but endlessly preaching about it over and over in threads asking for advice by people already using Cubase is getting really tiring..

[MegaPixel]

Yawn...

Steinberg and Apple are more than likely never going to touch CLAP. We all know it's the second coming of Jesus, even though we've got ONE whole whopping host that supports it and a couple of plugins by now, but endlessly preaching about it over and over in threads asking for advice by people already using Cubase is getting really tiring..

Endless?... What there's more than just 1 person talking about ? Shock

We should all go back to Octamed / ProTracker, it's the future, no DAW can compete, the once and future kings.

I've heard the ZX Spectrum supports now also.

[LeVzi]

Don't diss the ZX Spectrum, best fking computer I ever had.

[Smasha]

This DAW is way more daunting to use than Reaper.

I heard everyone rave about it.

Fumbling around just trying to use Chord Pads.

It says

"To use Chord Pads activate "record enable or "monitor" of tracks where input routing is set to Chord Pads.

Can't find the Input Routing.

Very clunky compared to reaper.
What does the tab Track Versions do?

Also Chords tab is blanked out??

It has a sub heading "follow Chord Track" ,no idea how that is used.

I have no Chord Pads listed in the bottom Chord Pads tab.

Any Cubaseans help me out?

I am very lost.

[Smasha]

Chord blocks are missing in the bottom Chord Blocks tab.

How do I enable the Chord Blocks?

Reaper was so much more easier to work with sigh.

This is a nightmare.

[MegaPixel]

This is a nightmare.

RE: Chord blocks
I have no idea sorry... I'm still working the thing out myself...

Maybe this will help?





RE: Cubase & Reaper
Cubase takes considerable time to work out, best to stick with reaper till you actually have worked out the bare minimums of cubase. Even for someone like me who's a programmer and familiar with FLStudio, BitWig & Studio One, Cubase is a chore to say the least, however it is a very powerful DAW and can do some things which the others can't, but that being said so can the others eg BitWig's modulators, it's just not for the faint hearted.

Just keep googling and youtube searching till you find information that is relevant to this year / version and start pressing buttons here, there and everywhere till you find a way to get what you want or the work flow to get what you want done.

I will be sticking with BitWig while I spend 1/2 a year working out cubase to a point I can use it with reasonable efficiency (then I will evaluate if it goes up for sale or not). I probably wont change from BitWig as my main DAW, as it allows you keeps things simple & can handle the complex, you can get things done very quick no messing about, it's great for sound design and is modular. But I like to use other DAWs as it changes my mind set, work flow and how I create things and can give you a new sense of creativity.

Good luck.

[VitaminD]

I came from Reaper (briefly) and Cubase was a breeze. So so so so much easier (at the time) for me to do simple things in Cubase such as the linking multiple tracks into a new bus group. It took me a few days to get going in Cubase and I was off to the races. I just got it -- Cubase clicked with me from the beginning.

Pointing out a counter, to all the negativity of Cubase, that your mind is the biggest issue facing your interaction with the software, not the software itself. I'm sure Reaper, Bitwig, Studio One, and the others are inherently better suited to different people based on their minds; How one interacts and expects software to react, along with ones ability to learn new ways of working is going to make or break your experience in any of the Audio Hosts.

Just looking at how some of you are interacting with Cubase makes my head hurt.. Not because you're doing it wrong, but because you're doing it differently from how I interact with the same software.

[Boy Wonder]

I guess you can say I have a love/hate relationship with Cubie. We go back about 30 years already and I've produced a few albums with it. Cubie has driven me nuts over the years, I won't lie, and that's mainly related to its stability. Still, I always returned (stupid me) because it was essentially "hardware in a box" and I was already familiar with hardware.

I did latch on to Studio One for a while, and even dabbled with Waveform, Reaper, Bitwig, Cakewalk, and others. But, with my tail between my legs, I always came home to Cubase. It's the DAW I'm most comfortable with and I'm glad version 12 is pretty stable. Not 100% stable, but getting there.