Being an avid Cubase user since Cubase v3.4 I have always been in love with this program and look upon myself as being an advanced user. So when I heard about Cubase 4 being released I was jittery with excitement regarding all the new features and advanced tools which were promised. After eagerly awaiting the release I went out and got the product hot off the shelf. I have now been using Steinberg’s Cubase 4 for over 6 months and have to say it’s superb, the new mixer functions alone blow me away; the way the routing is set up is so intuitive that if feels almost too simple as if you have missed something. The new VST3 technology is a god sends to anyone with a less than powerful computer. The VST3 plug-ins only use CPU when there is actually audio passing through the device which means if you have a section of audio on a channel and you have it running through the Steinberg Cubase 4 VST3 delay the delay plug-in only uses CPU when the audio is ACTUALLY playing. It’s almost as if the plug-ins turn themselves off to save CPU intelligently, it’s like they know they don’t need to be on until the audio passes through them. This is an awesome advance in technology and leaves all other DAW`s far behind. The Media Bay is nothing short of genius! This tool allows you to search, manage and categorize any type of media file. This includes audio files, midi, vst plug-ins, track presets, project files and video files. It`s like having a super efficient secretary or PA who knows where everything is in an instant, it’s just such a time saver and it’s so easy to use it saves you so much time that you can almost work twice as fast as you normally would. The final section I wish to talk about regarding Steinberg’s Cubase 4 is a feature I love but you don’t see mentioned anywhere (which seems odd to me). The VST Plug-in rack! It’s pretty much the same as it always has been, you still open it with F11 and you still enter the vsts by clicking on the insert section and the plug-in is inserted into the appropriate slot. Now imagine this, you have a small monitor or multiple vst instruments in your rack, your mixer fills up extremely quickly and you have to keep moving your mixers slider to see all the channels (which can be a real pain on a small monitor) you are using. Now in the vst rack there is a little arrow next to the instrument that you can press which then brings up the multiple outputs for that instrument. This allows you to activate or deactivate any amount of channels for the plug-in which means that instead of having multiple outputs open on your mixer (which you may not use) you can have only the ones which are being utilised open. This is fantastic! It means you save space and CPU due to the interface not having to use extra ram to show unwanted or unused channels. To me this is an unknown and underutilized function which should be admired and used to its fullest. Steinberg`s Cubase 4 represents the cutting edge in digital audio workstations and is number 1 in the DAW market in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are other great tools out there, most notably Apples Logic 8, however if you are a PC user then you are out of luck as Logic is for Apple Macs only whereas Steinberg’s Cubase 4 is cross platform. The only gripe I will mention is on behalf of the Mac users, the manual is based on PC users so it can be a tad tiresome and difficult for Apple Mac users to get their head round and Steinberg’s Technical support leaves a lot to be desired. In the end Cubase is a highly intuitive, flexible and extremely advanced DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) application which ticks all the boxes and only continues to improve at a lightning pace and helps keep those of us who love the program happy and productive. |
