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Cubase Pro 13

Sequencer / Multitrack by Steinberg
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Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro Cubase Pro
Favorite DAW - Best Audio and MIDI Software - KVR Audio Readers' Choice Awards 2023Favorite DAW - Best Audio and MIDI Software - KVR Audio Readers' Choice Awards 2022Favorite DAW For Production - Best Audio and MIDI Software - KVR Audio Readers' Choice Awards 2021Favorite DAW For Production - Best Audio and MIDI Software - KVR Audio Readers' Choice Awards 2020Favorite DAW For Production - KVR Audio Readers' Choice Awards 2019
Cubase Pro 13 by Steinberg is an Audio Plugin Host for macOS and Windows. It can host VST Plugins and VST 3 Plugins.
Product
Version
13.0.21
64-bit Windows 10 Version 1909, 64-bit Windows 10 Version 2004
CPU minimum: Intel Core i series or AMD Ryzen multi-core
CPU recommended: Intel i5 or faster
RAM minimum: 4 GB
RAM recommended: 8 GB
Hard disk free space : 35 GB
Display resolution minimum: 1440 x 900
Display resolution recommended: 1920 x 1080
Graphics: Graphics card with DirectX 10 and WDDM 2.0 support (Windows only)
Port: USB Type-A for USB-eLicenser
Internet connection for license activation, account sign up and product registration, installer download
Product
Version
13.0.20
macOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur
CPU minimum: Intel Core i series or AMD Ryzen multi-core
CPU recommended: Intel i5 or faster
RAM minimum: 4 GB
RAM recommended: 8 GB
Hard disk free space: 35 GB
Display resolution minimum: 1440 x 900
Display resolution recommended: 1920 x 1080
Graphics: Graphics card with DirectX 10 and WDDM 2.0 support (Windows only)
Port: USB Type-A for USB-eLicenser
Internet connection for license activation, account sign up and product registration, installer download
Can Host
Instruments
Can Host
Effects
Copy Protection
eLicenser (USB)
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KVR Rank

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30-Day: 548; 7-Day: 487; Yesterday: 738

Cubase Pro 13

The complete digital audio workstation, trusted by many Hollywood blockbuster composers and Billboard Hot 100 producers worldwide.

Highlights

  • Professional composition, recording, mixing and editing workflows.
  • Dolby Atmos support.
  • Advanced MIDI editing.
  • Control Room monitoring environment.
  • Pro plug-in set including Spectral Comparison EQ.

All versions share the same pristine sound quality and ease of use that make Cubase one of the world's most popular music creation solutions.

What'S New In Cubase 13?

Cubase 13 introduces fantastic new features and workflow enhancements to support you when your creativity is flowing:

  • Mixconsole - The MixConsole has been given a fresh overhaul with a slick, streamlined design to help you focus on your mix.
  • Range Tool - The Range tool is one of the most powerful tools in Cubase and it's now available in the Key Editor as well as the Drum Editor.
  • Key Editor & Drum Editor - Edit multiple parts from within the Key Editor and Drum Editor, switch between tracks with new Visibility tab and maintain an overview with the new Track display.
  • Channel Tab - The new channel tab in the Project window gives you direct access to your mix, without leaving the arrangement. The new design means you can intuitively find what you need, letting you mix on the go in a compact, per channel view.
  • Vocalchain - Vocal processing is an art of its own, taking a lot of expertise and experience to master the different processing steps. The VocalChain plug-in provides dedicated modules for each step, helping to turn your recordings into professional-sounding vocal tracks.
  • Chord Pads - The new chord pads make it easy to find creative chord progressions. New presets give you excellent starting points and enhanced functions make it even simpler to create unique music.
  • Vintage Equalizer - Two new equalizers, the EQ-P1A and the EQ-M5, add a classy sound to your productions.
  • Vocal Compressor - The new VoxComp is a compressor specifically designed for vocals, gently taming your recordings without compromising clarity, transients, or expression.
  • Iconica Sketch - Iconica Sketch allows everyone from beginners to professional composers to create full orchestral scores of the highest quality with 140 articulations for 34 instruments in a compact 5GB library.
  • Sampler Track - The Sampler Track is even more creative, thanks to stunning new Spectral Warp modes for extreme manipulation and powerful envelope creation.
  • Blackvalve - Black Valve is a classic tube compressor with lots of warmth and character. Its sonic detail makes this tribute to one of the most iconic studio processors really stand out.
  • Vocoder- Create classic robotic vocals or add analog flavor to your instruments with the legendary Steinberg Vocoder. Use up to 24 filter bands, sidechain input, and enjoy in-depth control over the sound.
  • Sample Packs - Be inspired by five exclusive new sample packs by Grammy-winning producer Beat Butcha, creative mastermind Sharooz, and acclaimed sample boutiques 91Vocals and Touch Loops.
  • Step & MIDI Input - The Step and MIDI Input features are now even more powerful. Modify note lengths on the fly and add voices on top with the new polyphonic note input feature.
  • Key Editor - MIDI CCs can now be recorded in simplified ramps to make it quicker and easier for editing the controller events afterwards.
  • Track Versions on Video - Working with new video edits is now more convenient with new Track Versions for the Video Track.
  • Video - Export a new soundtrack directly into the original mp4 video file, without time-consuming video re-rendering.
  • Start Modes - Do you want to start from the cycle marker, the last position, or your selection? Configure where playback starts to precisely match your workflow.
  • Transport Bar - Easily adjust the project tempo to the beat with the new Tap Tempo feature on the Transport Bar.
  • Channel Configuration - Change the channel type from mono to stereo or vice versa with just one click.

{See video at top of page}

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 3.83 from 6 reviews
Cubase Pro 13

Reviewed By rigidigi [all]
December 18th, 2023
Version reviewed: 13.0.02 on Mac

Presently trialling the Demo. Quite similar here - apart from thre common complaints abur plugin compatibility, UI redesign etc - stability is a very mixed bag in my experience & also hard to track down. Is not consistent & same project may load or crash and FWIW, in trying to change the sample rate. On macos Sonoma 14.2 or Monterey 12.7.2.

One thing that helped me a little - installing and auto-importing C12 prefs is a dog's breakfast. I got closer to better behaviour in ditching those prefs and building C13 prefs from scratch (if a little lengthy & boring). Still, the sudden hang can be still there - variously: opening a previously saved C13 project, or importing a C12 project.or importing a Nuendo 12 project. I guess one of the upsides is that there is a two month window on the 13.0.02 demo, however time-wasing. Perhpas it migth settle down but so far, no. Another update I suspect.

MacPro 7,1, 16 core, 192GB, MacOS 14.2, Vega II Duo. Apollo x8, UAD-2, Antelope Pure 2, Antelope Orion 32+. RAID-4 Thunderbay 6, RAID-0 Sonnet M.2 4x4.

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Cubase Pro 13

Reviewed By Milkman [all]
June 29th, 2023
Version reviewed: 12.0.60 on Windows

Ive been using Cubase since 1999, as well as many other plugins, processors, tools, FX, instruments, hardware synths, etc. I have built and supported live production environments at large Sports & Entertainment venues, as well as built networks, servers, desktops, and embedded systems throughout my 30+ year tech career. I've also used Reason, Fruity Loops, and Live, but very little.

That being said, I have had a 20+ year love/hate relationship with Cubase and Steinberg that has finally ended, and it ended on the hate side of things today. I've built and rebuilt 6 workstations for use with Cubase starting in roughly 2000 (when the Core2Duo first released and Steinberg began its long history of being unable to manage multithreaded/HT DSP), ending in 2022 with the final workstation. I've also used 2 laptops for Cubase. Ive used version sx2 through professional 12.0.60.

Cubase Pro offers a very robust set of features and tools out of the box and represents a DAW that was once king of the industry - and still could be with proper QA, development, and customer support. Cubase's UI/UX is top notch, with MIDI and audio routing systems that set the standard for other DAWs that came after, not to mention the high quality of the internal signal path, native DSP plugins, MIDI timing, etc etc. Cubase really has so much under the hood, it is mind boggling.

Here is the reason I give this DAW (And Steinberg) 2 stars, despite everything that is positive about their software, and despite the 20+ years I spent with it: Steinberg QA and Steinberg customer service, as well as the inherent instability of Cubase.

If you've used Cubase much at all in the last 20 years, you know what I mean about multithreading/hyperthreading issues, and you also know what I mean about customer service. (2 months+ for email replies, public denial of major issues on their forums, shifting the blame to customers).

I spent YEARS trying to work with Steinberg to determine WHAT HARDWARE PLATFORM they recommend for a stable Cubase workstation host, and yet they never offered a "supported hardware" list and let users figure out which platforms (MB chipset + CPU combination + power management features like speedstep) the hard way. So I spent *years* tweaking systems, removing all of their CPU power management features (resulting in higher power use), altering, disabling, and reenabling hyperthreading, rebuilding machines to make sure I did my diligent testing and troubleshooting FOR Steinberg, all the while dealing with projects that always crashed on exit, projects that randomly crashed, and the occasional file corruption that would result in a rebuild.

I spent HUNDREDS of hours of my own time trying to find the magic combination of hardware that would remove the dreaded "ASIO internal overload" issue caused by Cubase's inability to manage multithreaded audio, and what did Steinberg do for me, the paying customer, that entire time?

Steinberg FOUGHT me, they denied my issue on the forum despite 1000s of others reporting the same issue, they claimed "you are all alone - the only one really reporting this issue" back in 2018, and then their moderator "Steve" disabled my account when I became extremely angry about the way they were handling this. I went from being a die-hard Cubase user and proponent, to a bitter, angry, unproductive musician and I spent the next few years... not making much music and feeling extremely frustrated because Cubase was my only DAW.

Then I built a new machine in 2022, and found that Cubase 12 now finally performed perfectly, despite that machine having many of the same features that caused cubase to overload and pop/glitch the audio stream on earlier machines. Then Cubase 12 crashed during one of my projects and corrupted its licensing process, leading to high CPU every time Cubase was ran.... and....

I rebuilt the machine again, installed Bitwig 4, spent the next month using ALL my spare time learning Bitwig, and you know something? After a decade or more of frustration, YEARS worth of back-and-forth in email and on their forums, abuse from their moderators, etc?? Forgive my French but FUCK Cubase! More importantly, FUCK Steinberg for the years of stress and frustrating music production. I became connected to Cubase emotionally (it was my instrument) and so I kept dealing with stress I normally would not have, but now I have a new DAW and I'll never look back. Bitwig is 100% more stable than Cubase already, in my identical environment, with my identical hard and software libraries. Its more stable on any PC or laptop we own, where we have to carefully pick and choose to see if Cubase will work or not.

Steinberg customer service is THE WORST, and their inability to manage modern, multi-threaded audio is the reason for the CLAP protocol being developed, which may replace VST some day. The frustration with Cubase being unable to handle multithreading led to CLAP, and this should inform any new digital musician seeking a DAW -- Cubase/Steinberg are a dead-end today, and the level of dishonesty Ive seen from them about the issues in their platform is the icing on the cake.

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Cubase Pro 13

Reviewed By Boy Wonder [all]
June 9th, 2022
Version reviewed: 12.0.30 on Windows

I'm an old school Cubase user going back about 25 years. Even though it was my favorite DAW, its instability caused me to look elsewhere (Studio One). Version 12, however, appears to have been cut from a different cloth. Extremely full-featured, it nevertheless has been as steady as a rock - mostly. There's been the occasional lockups when trying out new plugins, but generally, I'm able to get a lot of work done without pulling out my hair because of crashes.

Cubase 12 has everything I need - scoring, snap to scale, alternative scales, impressive effects, VariAudio, sampler, ASIO-Guard, etc. I can go on and on. I'm glad that, with Cubase 12's new complexity, its workflow is still silk-smooth. There's nothing worse than having a workflow stymied by extra hoops you have to jump through.

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Cubase Pro 13

Reviewed By paolostylo [all]
May 18th, 2019
Version reviewed: 10 Pro on Windows

I've been Cubase from the beginning with an Atari1040ST and later on I switched to PC.

Till today!I tried also other DAW's but Cubase is the one that siuts best for me.

It is easy to use, offers a nice workflow and has so many features that makes me save time.

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Cubase Pro 13

Reviewed By spinettim [all]
January 28th, 2018
Version reviewed: 9.5 on Windows

Best DAW ever. I switched from Logic some years ago I never regretted.

Very good MIDI handling, Media bay is very well implemented and a decent set of out of the box plugins.

And now Steinberg seems to listen tu its userbase too. Well done.

Read Review

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Comments & Discussion for Steinberg Cubase Pro 13

Discussion
Discussion: Active
slobojanko
slobojanko
2 August 2012 at 7:14am

Is the product Cubase 6.5 available in Steinberg on line shop full version for price 250 eur (plus local tax), or you must add efects like halion sonic or halion symphonic orchestra for full version and the price is therefore almost 500 eur? Does anybody know?

Role Router
Role Router
23 July 2014 at 3:12am

Cubase is just the state of the art it presents in characteristic, because in functionality it are just a break in the trail for new products and your life is not something granted for Steinberg, take care is useless.

For Windows XP it are something compatible, but not something so integral like "Mac".

This message is something which really hurts my self interest, and have no turn back, just like our choices.

SarahBellum
SarahBellum
23 July 2014 at 10:52am

I started with Cubase v1 on the Atari (a long time ago). Over the years since I moved to the PC I've tried many other alternative DAWS and always end up coming back to Cubase as it always has an easier work flow and well implemented features that just work as you'd expect without fuss.

Currently using v7.5 on Win8.1 - 64-bit (4Ghz/32GB) problem free :)

jgaryt
jgaryt
23 July 2014 at 1:26pm

Yup, me too. I have been using Cubase since before VST was around. I run it on a PC (Intel Xeon, 16GB, liquid cooled, Win 7 64-bit) and it runs as smoothly and flawlessly as I need. No application is bug free, but Steinberg releases regular patches, and also gives us a decent upgrade every year or so. I have tried others, just as SarahBellum said (great name btw), but I have never found a product that has made me want to switch.

jottinger
jottinger
23 July 2014 at 1:40pm

I've been a Cubase user since 5 (so I'm a newbie compared to some of the commenters) but I switched to Cubase from Cakewalk (now Sonar) because of the workflow and clear signal paths. I've tried out other DAWs (Reaper, Cakewalk's later revs, Harrison MixBus, Ardour, PreSonus One) but Cubase is the one that feels most effective to me, and the support from Steinberg has always been complete.

989
989
20 December 2015 at 2:05am

Now with 8.5 version available, Cubase is more PRO than ever.

soundpeaks
soundpeaks
15 July 2019 at 4:58pm

2019
- ban at forums for unpopular opinions;

- no support for non USA\Germany users, web site is broken;

- behind FL Studio, Ableton and Bitwig for electronic music producers;

sayanchik
sayanchik
23 March 2020 at 5:33am

I'm curious for details about banning for unpopular opinions.

Milkman
Milkman
1 July 2023 at 11:49pm

-Mention the long term (15+ years?) hyperthreading / multithreading problems cubase has had since the Core2Duo processor.
-Mention the fact that THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE have complained about this issue, but have been told the issue is rare, it doesnt exist, it isnt steinberg's fault, or that they are using their computer wrong.

-Mention the "stuck licensing process" issue that arose sometime between 12.0.5 and 12.0.60.(if Cubase crashes during runtime, which is somewhat common, the "checking licenses" process from Cubase gets stuck, eats up 25-30% CPU on one core) The mods will say "this is the windows task manager not updating. It isnt real." Ive tested, reproduced, and documented this issue 3x now, and my final ban on their forum was because I mentioned this, posted links to others who also documented it, and explained that I was angry about how they were handling it.

These are just two issues, and issues that were important to me. You can find DOZENS of other issues, including long term (10+ year) issues that are a result of Steinberg's inability to modernize for multicore, multithreaded audio, and if you remind Steinberg of this, become legitimately angry with them, etc, you will be moderated on the forums. If you kiss their feet and agree to whatever Steve and the others demand, you are golden.

Ive been a member of that forum for the better part of 20 years, and I've experienced.... a LOT with Steinberg in that time. As of today I've moved on, and I've went with Bitwig. Far, far too much dishonesty on their forums, too much elitism and abuse of paying customers, and did I mention dishonesty? No good.

Milkman
Milkman
1 July 2023 at 11:41pm

THIS^^^^ I've been banned 3x, including a permanent ban, for the stated reason "too combative". As a result, I went ahead and tried out Bitwig 4, spent a month becoming familiar with it, and then I bought a full license on their current sale. I'm finally getting good at a new DAW *because* of Steinberg support.

Steinberg doesnt give a crap that they have enraged many long time users with their incredibly bad support, the unstable application itself, and their general refusal(inability?) to adopt modern development / QA standards. I have waited for MONTHS to get email responses from support, and over the years I have become legitimately ANGRY at Steinberg for these experiences. If you express that anger on their forums, you get comments deleted and eventually you get banned.

Ive reached out via email about this, to try to make a complaint to Steinberg, but they claim they "dont have any records of what moderators do on the forums". No logs. They can't keep track of moderator actions. Seriously.

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