Cubase stock plugins vs Third party (quality)

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Audible sonic qualities that mean any given tools is better sounding for a specific sonic task.

You mentioned mixing multiple times ? One day different than the next. The tools themselves did not change their sonic attributes from one day to the next. They are the same whether you mix one day or another. Your decisions did not change the tools. This mix another day is your problem to resolve it has zero to do with tools.

EQ's do not sound the same, some of them are over sampled, some are de-cramped, some have different curves, adjustable phase response.

And that is just EQ's, the easiest to suggest they are the same and yet they are not.

Anything non linear and your argument completely falls apart.

Some tools when non linear alias less, this is before any specific sonic characters are built in. And that is before we speak about reverb and delay where the differences are colossal even in a poor listening situation.

Some sound better than others, that is the basis of this forum. :lol: And that is before the secondary sonic factors beyond their primary technical use. That is another reason why some are better than others.

You seem pretty angry and forthright and for no good reason.

The more you can hear with a high quality listening environment and audio monitoring equipment the better your ability to choose what tools sound the best for the task at hand. (or that generally have a higher fidelity sound)

If you are happy with them great. Just don't pretend that every tool is as good as the next when you clearly don't actually know. (not least that you seem not to be able to hear it)

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I'm living in the dark ages - still working in Cubase 7.5 but I see no reason to upgrade. I like the look and sound of their new plugins especially the "frequency" one but I've been using Pro Q3 and Pro C for many years now and find them easier and quicker to use than the stock Cubase plugins.

In the end it's all down to personal preference and your own unique style of workflow I guess!

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Trancit wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 1:05 pm It´s just different but there is no better or worse as long as you know what to do...
The differences YOU do to the mix when doing it multiple times over and over again are 1000% bigger as all subtle differences of any plugins could ever be...

Our hearing is just too unprecise to be able to let us make always the same decisions... this will just happen by accident but never intentionally...
This is true to a point, but is not the whole picture.

Having a vision for a mix and being able to do that is one thing, and sure the larger parts of that vision are the most important.

But... doing a mix is a series of hundreds of little choices, and the sum of all these little choices really do add up. A slightly nicer EQ here, a slightly nicer reverb there, a better distortion for something in parralel, better compressor getting a slightly nicer vocal sound etc etc. It all counts, and it counts double or triple on the main elements of a mix.

The top mixers almost all have a tried and tested set of tools they've chosen and developed over years. Many peices of equiopment were highly sought after for studios and for good reason. It's incredible that we can get close to these hardware items in software these days, and they really can add something that more standard/clean tools cannot.

I think the Cubavse plug ins are great, but there are better tools that will allow better results.

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Cubase Frequency 2 vs Crave DSP Crave EQ:

Do you think that Frequency 2 can replace Crave EQ (in terms of sound quality, not functionality)?

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How about Cubase stock compressors vs DMGAudio TrackComp 2 (again, in terms of sound quality, not functionality)?

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I've used the built-in plugins in Cubase and some fancy ones like Fabfilter Pro-Q3. From what I've seen, the plugins that come with Cubase are perfect for most music stuff. But the extra ones, like Pro-Q3, have more excellent features and look nicer. Sometimes, they make the music sound better, especially when working on many tracks at once.

With the new Cubase 13, they've added some cool things that help a lot. There's this Channel Tab now that lets you adjust stuff quickly without having to jump around different screens. And the MixConsole looks cleaner and has some new bits that are helpful. These changes make working in Cubase smoother.

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Hello. Any alternatives to la2a compressor in Cubase 13?

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Alexander_D wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2024 9:57 am Hello. Any alternatives to la2a compressor in Cubase 13?
Not really, but there are lots of options for compression in cubase. I think Cubase probably has the best quality FX of all the DAWs.

https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/features/

For an LA2A the best is UAD, and it's excellent. My favourite compressor for quite a few different things.

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_leras wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2024 7:38 am
Alexander_D wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2024 9:57 am Hello. Any alternatives to la2a compressor in Cubase 13?
Not really, but there are lots of options for compression in cubase. I think Cubase probably has the best quality FX of all the DAWs.

https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/features/

For an LA2A the best is UAD, and it's excellent. My favourite compressor for quite a few different things.
Hello. Thanks for your answer. I am planning to buy UAD Signature. But some comments make me sad. Please check this one. Thoughts?

viewtopic.php?p=8960852#p8960852

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Alexander_D wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2024 9:57 am Hello. Any alternatives to la2a compressor in Cubase 13?
Yes, Black Valve...

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limitlesssss wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:31 pm Cubase Frequency 2 vs Crave DSP Crave EQ:

Do you think that Frequency 2 can replace Crave EQ (in terms of sound quality, not functionality)?

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How about Cubase stock compressors vs DMGAudio TrackComp 2 (again, in terms of sound quality, not functionality)?
Yes and yes. Many pro producers use stock plugins and third party plugins. They're neither inferior or superior. They might not look sexy like third party plugins but they do the work. It's not the tools that matter. It's the user. Forget about the hype that plugin X will make it sound like a record. It's all bs.

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jens wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2024 9:10 pm
Alexander_D wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2024 9:57 am Hello. Any alternatives to la2a compressor in Cubase 13?
Yes, Black Valve...
Hmm. I think that it's a tube style and more aggressive compressor than la2a...

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After two years of this post it's still interesting to me. And is it really possible to create high quality stuff using only stock Cubase plugins?
Now with version 14 we have more.

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I've used Frequency, and Magneto 2 in Cubase. I don't know that I need any other EQ, though I tend to use the one from Vienna Suite Pro (I have a preset I made for a basis, so it saves a few seconds, and I prefer its GUI). Magneto is also top drawer for a saturation effect.

I don't tend to mix in Cubase's mixer, I automate from VE Pro so most plugins I'll use live there. So I'm not all that curious about the stock FX.

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Alexander_D wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 8:06 pm And is it really possible to create high quality stuff using only stock Cubase plugins?
Absolutely. This is also true when it comes to Bitwig Studio's stock plug-ins.

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limitlesssss wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 9:13 pm
Alexander_D wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 8:06 pm And is it really possible to create high quality stuff using only stock Cubase plugins?
Absolutely. This is also true when it comes to Bitwig Studio's stock plug-ins.
Thanks for your thoughts. I am not a bitwig guy just because I am often work with a video. But I heard that it's a sweet DAW as well. I was in Ableton about 4 years before Cubase.

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