Product: Cubase VST 5.0 (5.0r4 is the latest official Windows release; 5.0r1PB1 for the Mac is in "public beta" testing.)
From: Steinberg
Web: www.steinberg.net
Price: Various.
For: Win95/98/Me/2000, PPC Mac (a "Carbonized" version for Mac OS X is promised as a free future update.)
Summary: Audio and MIDI sequencer with software-based sounds, effects and mixing capabilities.
Pros: Dramatically reduced latency with non-ASIO soundcards, new Universal Sound Module feature allows effects to be added to MIDI tracks! SoundBlaster owners will appreciate new SoundFont support and full-duplex DirectX driver (improved even further by installing "APSLIve!" driver software.) Extensive support for external MIDI devices.
Cons: Currently does not work well with parallel port MIDI interfaces by MOTU or Opcode. 5.0R2 was pulled from Steinberg's server after its initial release, after a number of problem reports emerged. We've used Cubase VST for over a decade now. There have been good times (version 3.05 was a reliable workhorse during more than a few years that followed, when the early versions of VST weren't particularly stable) and bad times -- or timings, as the case often was during that period. Indeed, there were times we were almost ready to throw in the towel, when VST just seemed to demand too much of the hardware and it looked like timing problems and (loss of) synchronization problems would never end. But we hung in there and, now, it's payoff time. Cubase VST 5 is, in our estimation, the single best upgrade to this program ever. That's not to say it's perfect, of course. But Steinberg, on Jan. 22 made a radical change in its customer support policy that we think is a huge step in the right direction for the company and one that bodes well for the future of the software and its user base. In brief, the company says it will make and issue a 'quick change' version when it discovers a serious bug. These 'Public Beta' releases are based on a release version, plus some vital fixes that, the company explained on its Cubase.net forum, "are important for our users." Indeed, it posted its first "PB" release, fixing five major problems, the same day it pulled the trouble-plagued 5.0r2 release from its FTP site.
Top 5 things you'll want to know how to do in Cubase
Mac version Cubase VST 5.0 for the Mac started shipping in Germany in late Nov. 2000, and began shipping in North America in early Dec. We haven't yet heard many reports of problems, but there are sure to be some, especially when used with audio devices without ASIO drivers. We'll update this report as they emerge.
PC version Although an unsupported patch allowed Cubase version 3.6 to work under Windows NT, VST 5.0 is the first release to officially support Windows 2000, in addition to Windows 95, 98 and Me. The 5.0r2 update (and subsequent releases including the current 5.0r3PB version) further enhances Windows 2000 support by providing an "advanced multiprocessing" option that allows the audio engine to run on more than one processor. Steinberg cautions that not all VST plugins support this enhanced mode, but when they do, a multiprocessor equipped PC running Win2K provides additional processing power. Perhaps most importantly, the program's ability to record audio from external analog and/or digital inputs has been dramatically improved. You can now record with latencies (delays between the original signal input and monitored output) as low as a few milliseconds -- certainly on par with any hardware-based digital recorder on the market. Best of all, latencies as low as 10ms are available even to those with an inexpensive Sound Blaster Live Value Edition audio card, now selling for about C$70. SB Live owners who use Cubase will definitely want to check out http://come.to/sblive, where you'll find unofficial methods of adapting EMU's APS workstation driver (which uses the same 10K1 chip as the SB Live) to work with the SoundBlaster Live to deliver latencies as low as 8 milliseconds! Indeed, in our tests, we installed the APSLive 1.83 drivers for this card and were mightily impressed! Cubase VST 5 with this driver really rocks. Finally. The Cubase for Windows Users support site has additional tips and information that may prove useful, including hardware recommendations and performance tips.
APS Live! Driver Pros:
APS Live! Driver Cons:
For those who don't like installing "unsupported" drivers, there's also a simple method that gives you latencies as low as 27 ms with the standard DirectX driver. We tested both methods with excellent results. The 32MB MIDI bank is the best we've ever heard for any sound card; a little too heavily compressed in the drums, perhaps, at times, but clean, well-balanced, punchy and modern sounding -- Certainly better than any other computer based MIDI we've encountered (Cubase's own Universal Sound Module - a 70+ MB General MIDI compatible sound set that ships with VST 5.0, allowing collaborative composing over the net, is probably the second best and generally a little "brighter" sounding overall), and clearly superior to the EMU MPS Plus keyboard's internal sound collection. (The Alesis QS-8's great acoustic piano still outdoes it, though.) Still, it's amazingly good and a great value at only US$20. This price also includes a "lite" version of the soundfont, for users with less than 128MB of RAM, and a not-particularly-impressive acoustic piano sound set, too. Highly recommended for SB Live owners who want the best possible MIDI playback. A "Utopia EWS" version for the Terratec EWS64 is also available. In our tests of the PC release, we noticed that some song files which we'd previously created and saved with an earlier version of the program didn't open properly if the Cubase 5 DirectX driver was selected. Switching to the MME driver (or the above-mentioned APSLive! driver, if you are using a Sound Blaster Live) seemed to fix the problem, allowing us to open the files. Once the file is open, you can even switch back to the DirectX driver if you wish. Users with a high-end digital audio card may not have to worry about this, as most pro cards offer optimized ASIO drivers of their own. For cost-conscious hobbyists, the SB Live with the APS Live! driver is clearly the best choice for use with Cubase VST. However, demanding users can attain even lower latencies and additional capabilities with one of literally dozens of high-end cards now on the market with optimized ASIO2 drivers.
Plug-ins One situation where low latencies really pay off is when you want to add effects to an input signal and hear the output as it will be recorded. There are a number of shareware filters and VST instruments, which can be added to the program as plug-ins. A good collection of filters is Digilogue's set of shareware plug-ins in both VST (PC only !) and DirectX formats. The plug-ins are available for free download. These plug-ins are full-featured versions, without any limitations. (They even work with the Meltdown Video Player, allowing you to apply effects to movies!) For more information about the Blue-Line plug-ins take a look at the company's products page. You'll also find a large list of free plug-ins at people.freenet.de/apslive/plugin.html There are, of course, still some glitches. Cubase 5.0 for PC is currently incompatible with most 8-in/8-out MIDI interfaces on the market, including the MOTU MIDI Express XT, MOTU MTAVP and Opcode's Studio64XT. It does, however, work well with "game port" MIDI interfaces and USB MIDI interfaces such as those from MidiMan and a set of USB MIDI interface extensions released by Steinberg in late 2000 improve the program's compatibility with this category of interface. Reliability was good, although we encountered occasional anomalies when using the "solo" button to mute other channels. Fortunately, pressing the button again sets things right. The program almost never crashes.
Recycle Steinberg has announced a new version of ReCycle, the loop and groove sample editor developed in conjunction with Propellerheads Software, makers of the popular TR606/TB303 emulator, ReBirth. The Steinberg and Propellerhead products also have the distinction of being the only ones mentioned here available on both the PC and Mac platforms. Steinberg also posted samples of its own looping extensions to Cubase, in the ReCycle format.
Internet Collaboration In addition to its stand-alone functionality, VST 5.0 supports a set of extensions to the program that allow users to link and share projects using the Internet as a live connection. This feature, unveiled by Steinberg and Rocket Networks at NAMM in Jan. 1999, uses the built-in VST Universal Sound Module to ensure that users on each end of the connection hear the same arrangements.
PC/Mac Collaboration XLR8YourMac has an article on how to transfer Cubase project files between a PC and Mac. Briefly, you need to burn the PC files to a CD-R using Joliet long file name extensions and then install the freeware Joliet extension on the Mac to read them. Macs will not read Joliet disks properly without this extension, and you'll be stuck with truncated 8.3 file names.
Acknowledgement Our review copy of Cubase VST 5.0 was graciously supplied by our sponsor for this section, Kelly's Music & Computers. Please visit their website and support our advertisers.
Post new comment