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Cubase Elements 13

Sequencer / Multitrack by Steinberg
MyKVRFAVORITE11WANT4
Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements Cubase Elements
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 Elements 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
Product
Version
13.0.20
Can Host
Instruments
Can Host
Effects
Copy Protection
eLicenser (USB)
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KVR Rank

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Cubase Elements 13

The perfect budget-friendly introduction to the world of music production. Cubase Elements has all you need to get started.

Highlights:

  • Inspiring songwriting tools including Chord Pads.
  • Retrospective Record.
  • Scale Assistant.
  • Groove Agent SE, HALion Sonic, Iconica Sketch, Flux and Sampler Track.
  • Over 20 GB of sounds and loops.

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 4.00 from 1 review
Cubase Elements 13

Reviewed By ebsynth [all]
October 11th, 2022
Version reviewed: 12 on Mac

Downloading and installing Cubase Elements 12 on MacOS requires at least 9.33 GB of disk space when including the required application and recommended libraries Halion Sonic SE 3 and Groove Agent SE 5 sample and loop libraries. Additional libraries and loops can also be downloaded if the user so wishes. All this can be easily managed using the Steinberg Download Assistant and Steinberg Activation Manager applications. The Steinberg Library Manager application allows the user to do custom installs of the libraries, samples and loops ... on an external disk for instance.

Steinberg is moving away from the USB-eLicenser system which means that you can now activate your single user license online and use it on three different computers. See https://www.steinberg.net/licensing/. Using the same MySteinberg ID that you used for downloading Cubase, you can also join Steinberg forums at https://forums.steinberg.net to discuss further software-related issues.

Being an erstwhile Logic user, one evident missing feature was not being able to use virtual instruments that only existed as their VST executables. So, it was mainly for this reason that I decided to purchase Cubase 12 Elements at a very tempting price point i.e. with a 40% discount. It turns out that the VST exclusive virtual instruments that I wanted to use were all in their 32-bit versions so they were useless anyway (read: they had to be purged from my MacBook Pro running Big Sur.) Nevertheless, I did some preliminary tests to get some idea of Cubase's workflow. This review then, is limited to the workflow in my MIDI home studio.

My first test was to integrate my MIDI hardware synths. This was very straightforward for most of my synths since Cubase Elements already contained configuration files for many classic prominent synths like the Yamaha DX7II, Korg Wavestation, Clavia Nord Lead, Roland JD-800 etc. However, in the case where a patch script (in Cubase parlance) did not exist for certain MIDI hardware, I had to search the internet for these files. For this literally hundreds of patch scripts could be found in the downloads section of rivetedstudios.com. Adding the necessary scripts to the /Applications/Cubase*/Contents//scripts/patchnames/inactive/* folder was easy enough requiring administrative permission. However, after relaunching Cubase and attempting to "Add MIDI Device" in the MIDI Device Manager, the newly added patch scripts were not recognized by my Cubase installation. I am looking into this issue in the Steinberg forums.

It was also not possible to set up an external MIDI instrument like a virtual one since the "Audio Connections" dialog box did not have an "External Instrument" tab in the Elements version.

With regards to setting up external MIDI keyboards for specific compositions, recording Sys-Ex dumps seemed impossible. Consulting the Operations Manual, this setup requires that you uncheck the SysEx boxes in the Preferences —-> MIDI —> MIDI Filter dialog box. Setting up custom patch banks was now easy.

Recording MIDI tracks using external synths was straightforward and rendering their respective sounds on to a separate audio track also went smoothly when routing audio outputs from the synth via an external sound card into the DAW.

Configuration scripts for well-known external MIDI controllers like Arturia Keylab, Korg nanoKontrol. Akai MPK and Novation Launchkey are also included in the software.

Navigating the timeline using key commands was easy enough using the "B" (back to the beginning of a segment) and "N" keys to the end of a segment. Shift-N was then required to proceed to the next segment. The "G" and "H" keys could be used to expand and contract the timeline. Without going into further details of the key commands my one complaint was proceeding backwards and forwards in bar length increments or triggering "Record" on an armed track could only be done using a numeric keypad with Num lock enabled. I was obliged to use the mouse pointer on the Transport bar for these operations since the Num Lock function does not exist on my MacBook Pro.

Creating Instrument tracks from both VST and VST3 collections was seamless. Tracking using external keyboard controllers was also a breeze.

Even though I have highlighted a couple of persistent glitches above, I considered my money well spent.

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