Is Cubase the most frustrating DAW ever created?

[xphen0m]

"Is Cubase the most frustrating DAW ever created?"

No.

[stoopicus]

For me the most frustrating "DAW" ever created was probably Audacity, because I believed the lies that it was a DAW when in fact it's a destructive-edit audio file editor with poor plugin and midi support.

People really need to quit calling it a DAW. It's an excellent tool for sampling and editing audio files, but a DAW it is not.

[seangm]

Have you heard of Digital Performer? That was my first attempt at a DAW and I decided to pack it in after failing miserably to learn that CF of a DAW. Later I found Cubase and it's a piece of cake compared to DP.

[mothra]

Have you heard of Digital Performer? That was my first attempt at a DAW and I decided to pack it in after failing miserably to learn that CF of a DAW. Later I found Cubase and it's a piece of cake compared to DP.

Having had MOTU interfaces for the last 24 years, I tried as well and things in DP just made me go WTF?? It reminded me a lot of how an MPC works, which I can understand with the MPC's limited resources, but DP still made me go 'WHY YOU DO THIS MOTU??'.

[Breval]

"Is Cubase the most frustrating DAW ever created?"
No

[THE INTRANCER]

First time I used it many years ago, I hated the GUI, but I was spoilt by the GUI of Studio One and it's natural workflow.

[EfreetiSultan]

First time I used it many years ago, I hated the GUI, but I was spoilt by the GUI of Studio One and it's natural workflow.

Studio one is literally the little baby brother of cubase. Like, it copies everything cubase is but does it slightly more streamlined and minimalistic. I like both, (except ofc cubase has been my main daw for 20 years), but comon, how can you hate the gui of cubase and love studio one when studio one is just like a lesser and more confined and streamlined version of cubase. It's.. Almost blasphemous lol. You can't hate the architect if you like it's offspring..

[machinesworking]

Have you heard of Digital Performer? That was my first attempt at a DAW and I decided to pack it in after failing miserably to learn that CF of a DAW. Later I found Cubase and it's a piece of cake compared to DP.

Having had MOTU interfaces for the last 24 years, I tried as well and things in DP just made me go WTF?? It reminded me a lot of how an MPC works, which I can understand with the MPC's limited resources, but DP still made me go 'WHY YOU DO THIS MOTU??'.

Nearly everyone who tries DP thinks for some reason they need to learn V-Racks and Chunks when 100% that's the worst thing you can do if you're trying to learn all the parts of DP that are like the other DAWs. Basically V-Racks and Chunks are for working in film, and Chunks can be used for alternate versions of a song. There is little to no reason to use them if you're writing a basic 5 minute song.

Once you understand that simple thing, then the rest is like other DAWs, where unfortunately they all have their own nomenclature that you will need to learn.

On the topic at hand, I never found Cubase that hard to navigate, but if they have popup buttons, that's pretty crazy.

[trusampler]

Cubase 13 Pro has been lovely for me. Very pleased with it. For me Cubase gets all of the bread and butter stuff right, audio ,accurate midi timing, midi remote, plugin management Mediabay ,plus the UI looks great once you understand how to use it correctly.
CPU performance is amazing. There are some bells and whistles that I’d like it to have such as Gapless audio + Mediabay being able to analyze key detection plus Bpm. Those are things Steinberg can work on with a new update.

[martinjuenke]

"Is Cubase the most frustrating DAW ever created?"
Yes.

[audiouser720]

"Is this the most frustrating Cubase thread ever created?"
…

Besides all the moaning, who is excited for 14? I wonder if it’s at the corner or maybe a few corners away. I hope they will think more about synth guys this time. Hans is a synth guy too, so come on Steiny you can do it. Give us some built in CV tools and some modular sh*t. Revisit those midi effects whilst you are at it. I couldn’t give a rats a** about what colour of text is on what background. Go and play with photoshop this is music software

[thebutler]

"Is this the most frustrating Cubase thread ever created?"
…

...who is excited for 14? I wonder if it’s at the corner or maybe a few corners away. I hope they will think more about synth guys this time.

Don't get your hopes up too much.! They've been very busy of late elsewhere it seems, with the announcement of preview editions of Cubase 13/Nuendo 13 for the Windows ARM64 platform...

Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit 2024 - Day 1


So Cubendo 14 is some way off, but, this extra platform means a potentially huge new audience for Steinberg. Reaper too in preview now and Reason Studios Reason (or as I like to call it, 'Reason') coming next year...

Also, ASIO native coming on Windows, on ARM64 in preview now plus new Windows MIDI Services (with MIDI 2.0 support) for Insiders from November.

More detail and background from Microsoft...
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/windows- ... n-windows/

Windows MIDI Services...
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/windows- ... 24-update/

[Ah_Dziz]

I stopped updating cubase a few versions ago. It's solid for me and many of the bits I found irritating were customizable. I've been using it almost exclusively since SX 1 and used it for sequencing before that so I'm mostly just used to it.

I'm not sure how much of the UI is still customizable but there's lots in the preferences and most rows of buttons / menus can be reconfigured for order and visibility. Like any DAW you will get used to it. It still kills all my other DAWs for giant composing projects. I would never attempt a 50 minute long 200 track session in bitwig.

[dlandis]

This is another entirely subjective discussion that I suspect is going to net no positive result.....

I'll say Cubase is the most straightforward and logic host I've interacted with.

But different brains click with different workflows and processes. So there isn't really a 'bad' system, there are just different systems in this case. Again purely subjective discussion. I wouldn't worry too much about it and just make music with what works for you.

I respectfully beg to disagree with your very first comment as your post is in itself actually a great example of a very positive addition to the discussion. And I think it very neatly sums up the issue.

We all have different brains and learning styles. As you said so well, no one DAW is going to suit everyone's needs or preferences (or perhaps even more broadly, this speaks to music software generally; personally, I think notation programs tend to be even more idiosyncratic than DAWs.) I recently bought Cubase after shying away from it for several years (though I'm honestly not sure why I did this.) Oddly, I too find it very straightforward so far.

But this discussion, I think, isn't so much "subjective" as "personal" in that, while we have our different proclivities, they are rooted in processes that are in practice fairly concrete and shape our perceptions in very definite ways. Again, your comment is very helpful, reminding us of these realities. As long as the discussion remains removed from a "party spirit," there can be growth in this thread. From one perspective, every major DAW commercially available offers something of value and has a target demographic. Hopefully, what we're getting at here via discussion may help others in sorting themselves into the correct audience for the appropriate DAW without some of the frustration and financial expense that a number of us have experienced.

Thanks for your comment.

[audiouser720]

This is another entirely subjective discussion that I suspect is going to net no positive result.....

I'll say Cubase is the most straightforward and logic host I've interacted with.

But different brains click with different workflows and processes. So there isn't really a 'bad' system, there are just different systems in this case. Again purely subjective discussion. I wouldn't worry too much about it and just make music with what works for you.

I respectfully beg to disagree with your very first comment as your post is in itself actually a great example of a very positive addition to the discussion. And I think it very neatly sums up the issue.

We all have different brains and learning styles. As you said so well, no one DAW is going to suit everyone's needs or preferences (or perhaps even more broadly, this speaks to music software generally; personally, I think notation programs tend to be even more idiosyncratic than DAWs.) I recently bought Cubase after shying away from it for several years (though I'm honestly not sure why I did this.) Oddly, I too find it very straightforward so far.

But this discussion, I think, isn't so much "subjective" as "personal" in that, while we have our different proclivities, they are rooted in processes that are in practice fairly concrete and shape our perceptions in very definite ways. Again, your comment is very helpful, reminding us of these realities. As long as the discussion remains removed from a "party spirit," there can be growth in this thread. From one perspective, every major DAW commercially available offers something of value and has a target demographic. Hopefully, what we're getting at here via discussion may help others in sorting themselves into the correct audience for the appropriate DAW without some of the frustration and financial expense that a number of us have experienced.

Thanks for your comment.

That you ChatGPT?