Steinberg Cubase 6
Cubase is one of the longest-serving DAWs, but Steinberg neverrests on its laurels... Hollin Jones finds out what’s new in version 6.
Price: £599.00
Manufacturer: Steinberg
Website: http://www.steinberg.net
Cubase 6
Manufacturer Steinberg
Price Cubase 6 €599. Cubase Artist 6 €299 (upgrade pricing also applies)
Contact Steinberg +49 40 42 236 115
Web www.steinberg.net
Minimum system requirements
PC Dual-core processor, Windows 7, 2GB RAM
Mac Intel Core Duo, Mac OSX 10.6, 2GB RAM
C ubase has gone through quite a few revamps in its long history, which is not at all surprising when you consider that it was one of the first DAWs ever created and pioneered the development of the VST format, the ASIO protocol and many other innovations that we now take for granted. Cubase is still hugely popular the world over, and while Steinberg has diversified into areas such as post-production (with Nuendo) and hardware (thanks to its association with Yamaha), it’s still for Cubase that the company is best known.
Updating DAWs can be as much about keeping pace with the latest operating systems and processors as adding new features. The challenge is to keep everything manageable and usable while under the hood it gets ever more complex. Luckily, Steinberg has always had a knack for this, so it was with great excitement that we fired up the latest member of the family.
Under the hood
Legacy support for older operating systems has finally gone: you’ll need Mac OSX 10.6 or Windows 7 to run Cubase 6. Owners of older machines will grumble, but these systems offer far better performance than their predecessors and the change will allow Steinberg to focus on the future rather than the past. On the Mac side of things, dropping PowerPC support long after we expected it would go has allowed Cubase 6 to become the first 64-bit native version of Cubase for the Mac platform. It can be made to work in
32‑ or 64-bit mode under Windows or on the Mac and the VST Bridge technology should handle 32-bit plug-ins – of which there are still many – running in a 64-bit environment. 64-bit, which Windows users have been able to enjoy for some time with compatible hardware and software, enables a program to access huge amounts of physical RAM, which is great for working with high track counts and large, samples-based instruments. 32-bit plug-ins are displayed slightly differently when running in 64-bit mode: shown in miniature in a window, they must be clicked on to be brought to full size for editing. It’s possible to run only one 32-bit plug-in at once on the Mac, although you can always freeze or bounce the tracks. This limitation doesn’t apply under Windows.
An interesting new feature is that VSTs can now be viewed using their generic controls – a set of sliders instead of a GUI. This takes up much less space and is a nice option to have on smaller screens.
One of the first things you notice about Cubase 6 is that it’s had a graphical makeover. Although it’s still possible to customise various colour elements of the interface, the general feel is now a more muted grey, which we felt gave it a more serious appearance. Despite the wealth of controls on offer, the interface actually seems to have been simplified somewhat, thanks in part to some clever and efficient design, favouring clarity and separation over flashy graphics. It looks and feels more unified than Cubase 5 did and it’s definitely quicker and easier to find your way around.
This is perhaps most evident in the Inspector panel, your first port of call for working with tracks in a project. Every type of control is grouped neatly into a tabbed section and the tabs are clearly arranged, snapping open instantly on your click. Throughout Cubase the interface and controls are consistent and well thought-out and we’d even venture to suggest that this is the most mature it has ever looked.
Multi-talented
One of the major new developments in Cubase 6 relates to the way in which you work with multitracked material. This is a longstanding issue, but has happily been resolved with some excellent new tools. Previously, editing things like multitracked drums was very time-consuming and prone to errors. Now there’s a new Track Edit Groups function that lets you group tracks together in the Project window so that any edit you make to one track is made at exactly the same point in others. So, drums, multitracked guitars or anything else can be cut up or moved together without sync problems.
For recording, there’s a new Lane Track feature that automatically creates new lanes while recording in cycle mode. When you’re done, audition the takes and swipe across the best parts of each one to have Cubase create a master take containing the selected parts. Although you could achieve something similar with Stacked takes, the workflow is hugely improved here and the data much easier to work with.
Live drums also get more new tools in Cubase 6, with an entirely new transient- and tempo-detection system, phase-stable audio quantization and drum replacement functions. The detection tools are very accurate, and once transients have been detected they are merged across multiple tracks by taking the user-defined priority of individual tracks into account. Audio is sliced across multiple tracks and can be quantized based on your choice of drum, so you could use the kick as a guide and snap the other drum parts to it. Since slices are all moved at once, you shouldn’t get phasing problems. Quantizing live, multitracked drums used to be incredibly tedious, but with these new tools it’s significantly faster and easier to achieve.
There’s also a new tempo-detection algorithm that can be used to create tempo maps based on material that has not been recorded to a click, but crucially, do it automatically. A further benefit of this is that you get a new Hitpoint-to-MIDI tool that enables you to create a MIDI track based on a live drum part, making drum replacement or reinforcement a breeze.
Express yourself
Away from the audio side of things, Cubase 6 introduces VST Expression 2, an update to the tools that enable you to precisely control MIDI articulations from the Key editor. This uses the new VST 3.5 standard and as such is initially restricted to Cubase’s own plug-ins, but it’s a very powerful new feature all the same. Essentially, it means that controller values can be drawn and edited on a per-note basis by clicking on any note in the Key editor.
Any available parameters can be used, so you could, for example, draw pitch bend or pan into one note in a chord but not the others. If you move the note, the expression data moves with it. The latest HALion plug-ins support the technology and it should prove useful for programming any kind of MIDI, especially orchestral parts. It also opens new doors for the audio-to-MIDI features of the VariAudio analysis tool, enabling the capture of pitch and variation as MIDI data. The VST Expression set is also extended, with dynamics programming now available from both the Key editor and the Score editor. Note that Expression can be used by non-VST 3.5 plug-ins as well – just not polyphonically.
For those who prefer to play rather than program, Cubase 6 has a number of new plug-ins in its arsenal. First up is the VST Amp Rack, which uses convolution technology to model seven amps, 16 stompboxes and six speaker cabs. It’s customisable, so you can control mic placement as well as all the tone and other knobs and dials. The sound is great and there are lots of presets to get you up and running, although by including a suite of guitar effects Cubase is only catching up with some of the competition.
Also included is HALion Sonic SE, a cut-down version of the flagship all-purpose workstation. There are 900 sounds and instruments supplied and it’s compatible with VST 3.5. LoopMash also gets a facelift, with over 20 new MIDI-controllable live and slice-based effects such as scratches, stutters and stops that make it a much more playable and performance-oriented tool. There’s better drag-and-drop functionality and it’s great for generating beats or remixes.
Plug-ins are also enhanced by the new and improved Quick Controls panel, which is able to quickly get assignments from a selected plug-in. You can also right-click on a parameter on some plug-ins to assign it straight to a Quick Control slot, which is handy for tweaking settings. This works for all Cubase’s own plug-ins, for some third-party ones when viewed in Generic Controller mode, and for others not at all. It does, however, seem likely that plug-in manufacturers will add this functionality via updates in future.
There are numerous other enhancements to be found, such as a greater selection of time-stretching algorithms, better compatibility between full and cut-down versions of Cubase, updated existing plug-ins, a moveable MediaBay that can use USB storage – and all of this on top of an already exhaustive feature set.
The joy of 6
In Cubase 6, Steinberg has addressed some longstanding weaknesses – primarily in the area of multitrack editing – and the new tools are a lifesaver for anyone working with multiple audio tracks at once. The new tempo-detection and drum quantization tools are very welcome, turning the prospect of editing live drums from a daunting to a manageable one. Track comping is much easier, and the refined interface makes Cubase 6 quicker to navigate and easier to understand.
At the risk of sounding controversial, other developers might want to consider this level of clarity and functionality a standard to be met or bettered in future. Note Expression, though currently limited to VST 3.5 instruments, is a major step forward in MIDI programming and gives you quick, comprehensive access to articulations with just a couple of clicks. Combined with VariAudio, it further blurs the lines between what you can do with audio and MIDI. The guitar suite is great – though perhaps not on a par with the other new features in terms of importance – and the same could be said for the other updated plug-ins. Still, we’re very glad that Steinberg has focused its efforts on refinement and addressing the areas it has, instead of just giving us yet more plug-ins.
This is the most accomplished and powerful version of Cubase to date, offering a remarkable combination of features and usability and taking advantage of the latest technologies. Its place as one of the world’s favourite DAWs looks secure.
Verdict
WHY BUY
Significantly streamlined user interface
Still brilliantly easy to use
Hugely improved multitrack editing capabilities
Great tempo-detection features
Multitrack audio quantization
Beefed-up plug-ins
Advanced MIDI programming with VST Expression 2
Custom guitar tones
Many workflow improvements
New Quantize panel
Store MediaBay database on removable drive
64-bit under Mac OSX 10.6
More powerful Quick Controls
WALK ON BY
Not everyone likes a dongle…
Bundled instruments still not really a stellar line-up
A worthy addition to the Cubase family, bringing much-needed workflow improvements and adding power and flexibility while maintaining the ease of use.
★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10)
Score: 10
This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 96
Filed under
Home,
Reviews,
Software
Sign in to download this article
New users, please register here
See also...
 MTM 111 |
FXpansion BFD Eco Review |
 MTM 108 |
Brainworx Vertigo VSC-2 Review |
|
 MTM 108 |
Yamaha 01V96i Review |
 MTM 107 |
25 Tips for Mix Processing |
|
MTM 107 |
Control for Live Performance |
 |
Music Tech Focus - Ableton Live 2012 |
|
 |
Music Tech Focus - Synthesis 2012 |
MTM 106 |
25 Pro Tips for Kick-starting Composition |
