Steinberg Cubase 4 Recording Software (Macintosh and Windows)

Cubase 4 - Advanced Music Production System

Item: STECUBASESX

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New, Version 4, Educational Edition
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Educational Edition

Students, teachers, staff, and schools qualify for Educational Pricing. You will have to verify your status when you register the software. Software is Non-Returnable! Make sure that you can verify your eligibility.

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customer reviews

Rate and Review This Product:

302 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 8 out of 10

15 People wrote reviews

* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

Feature:
It comes LOADED. I mean loaded, actually way too much stuff. Holy crap. It was counter productive to me for the first few weeks. But now I've stettled in a certain plug-in combination tool set.

Quality:
Very high quality!

Value:
I've upgraded since Cubase VST 3. Not so expenisve to upgrade, but brand new it's almost obscene. But I tell you the audio quality is worth it, I've never regretted a single penny spent on it. Pro-Tools can kiss my **s.

Desirability:
I own it!

Sound:
I used garage band to record an R & B singer with a very short attention span for about 2 months. I had Cubase 4 installed but I always fired up garageband because it saved me about the odd 10 - 30 secs extra to set up a new session so she wouldn't loose the thought. One day I imported the audio that garageband recorded into Cubase for mastering and OH MY GOD!! did it sound SO MUCH better. The difference was ASTONISHING! It made garageband sound like garbage. Same sound card, same computer, nothing else was changed. I haven't touched garageband since. She noticed the difference immediately and now she totally REFUSES to record using anything else but Cubase 4 lol. The Cubase audio engine is OUTSTANDING!! Enough said!

Ease of Use:
I'll be honest here Cubase 4 is not for sissies. Real men do Cubase, chumps do Pro-Tools. You will have to become one with the manual for a couple of weeks. No way around it, Cubase isn't a click and figure it out program. It's like driving a manual transmission, it may seem impossible at first, but then it's no big deal.

Support:
When compared to competitors they just suck at support! They need to fix that! End of story. Good news is Cubase 4 is STABLE, nothing irrates me more than a sequencer that crashes mid session. Non of that going on with Cubase 4 :) I'm very happy!

Submitted: 3/12/2007

Style of Music: R&B, Rap, Techno, Drum and Bass

* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

"It's better than you know"

Feature:
One of the reasons Cubase is worth the money is because of it's comprehensive feature set. It is definately a professionally geared program. From start to finish and from just about every angle in between Cubase has one covered with the tools for engineering the highest quality recordings. There is the sensible and clean, customizable screen layout. The control room bus routing sub menu feature. The transport panel for quick recording control and event location as well as set up for play order tracks. All of the common engineering tools found in a professional sequencer from plug in menus to extended mixer views to surrond mixing capabilities to audio bus templates to automation. In fact there are too many features to mention. One can even work with syncing audio to film. Cubase also sports a well designed and fully functional midi and score editor, which seems to come as an afterthought in a lot of sequencers even Pro Tools. In Cubase however the focus is squarely on having both audio and midi data fully workable in the same program environment.

Quality:
Cubase is exceptionally well designed. Stienberg has been working with the basic product for well over a decade so there are no gaping holes in the design that I have noticed. I say that the quality is second only to Pro Tools HD.(and that's only because in HD the dsp processing is outboard and digidesign supplies dedicated hardware which is truly awesome) But the vast majority of this review's readers will not be able to realistically get involved with an HD system, so among the remaining native seqencers out right now I say the quality in Cubase 4 is the finest. I have not so far had any technical issues with the sequencer itself that were not due to user error.

Value:
Cubase 4 is worth the money it cost. As the best native system out right now there is no reason to expect a better deal.

Desirability:
I'm not big on sex appeal with a sequencer since they are not toys and if you're serious about it you don't care about the sexiness as much as the work it can efficiently do. It's not as sexy to look at in my opinion as Logic or Digital Performer but it does do just as much if not more. As far as sexiness compares to Pro Tools well that depends on if you like a blonde versus a brunette, (Cubase being the brunette). I wanted it becase of it's ease of use and broad range of capabilities.

Sound:
Since Cubase is a sequencer program that works with the ones and zeroes of digital binary code there is no "sound" to speak of. However, if by "sound" one means the way in which the various included plugin effects shape the recorded sound that you put in it then I say that the plugins are as effective as a user is at skillfully and artfully dialing them in. If you want to record and tweak the sound with Cubase's native reverbs, eq and dynamics, all of the tools of the trade are there and much more improved from a graphic user interface standpoint. They are not boutique plugin processors that with relatively basic operation will drastically "improve" or beef up your material but they are very good indeed and if you want plugins that do what Waves or Universal Audio plugins do then I suggest that you buy them. They will work just fine with Cubase. The rule holds fast with sequencers; Garbage in Garbage out. The seqencer is not to blame.

Ease of Use:
Using any daw to it's full capabilities is not a beginner's task, especially if the program in question professionally aimed. That being said, it's going to take some time before a novice can unleash the potential in a maturely developed and deeply concieved program such as Cubase 4. However, the basic task of recording audio is intuitive for one with prior experience. This is not a prgram for a beginner. It is for serious professionals who know what they are doing with a sequencer. From a professional standpoint though, Cubase 4 is a breeze to use. With a basic rundown in the fairly comprehensive pdf manual included, an experienced engineer can work their way around Cubase with little trouble. Once acquainted with the features and experienced with their use Cubase is very natural and as simple as can be.

Support:
Stienberg support is terrible. They truly don't want to pay for phone time so they go as far as possible to direct you to the forums or the instruction manual. This is understandable due to excessive cost but I can't help but be annoyed at having to call Yamaha (the parent company), long phone wait times and almost rude tech support guys that frisk me for my product registration when I call. They definately need improvement here.

Overall:
If the goal is professional audio production. Cubase has you covered. If at some point your budget gets big enough to go HD, I'm willing to bet the you will still keep Cubase 4 in your studio somewhere just because It's so usefull. For the features, for the price, for the possibilities it's a win. We need to lobby Stienberg for some great dedicated hardware and peace would finally reign on earth.

Submitted: 11/6/2006

Style of Music: Rock, Alternative

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Additional Images:

Arrange
Arrange
GEQ30
GEQ30
Prologue
Prologue
Cubase 4 BOX
Cubase 4 BOX
MediaBay
MediaBay
Cloner
Cloner
Control Room
Control Room
Score Editor
Score Editor
Spector
Spector
Channel EQ
Channel EQ
Multiband Compressor
Multiband Compressor
Video
Video
Mixer
Mixer
HALion One
HALion One

iconCopyrighted materials cannot be returned once opened due to copyright law. This includes books, videotapes, DVDs, sample libraries, style disks, sound expansion boards, and software (which may also include software bundled with hardware). details

About This Product!
Description
Docs
News
Cubase 4 represents the cutting edge in digital audio workstations. Designed for professionals from the ground up, Cubase converges extraordinary sound quality, intuitive handling and a vast range of highly advanced audio and MIDI tools for composition, recording, editing and mixing.

New Features
Cubase 4 comes with a brand-new VST3 plug-in set and four new integrated software instruments with more than 1000 sounds. The revolutionary SoundFrame is a powerful combination of Track Presets, Instrument Tracks, and MediaBay database, to help organize all your sounds from every instrument - both software VSTi and hardware. Cubase 4's mixer now offers a flexible Control Room section and up to four independent studio mixes. Composers and musicians benefit from the enhanced score editor while the redesigned user interface with many new features speeds up workflow and boosts creativity to new levels.

Control Room
The mixer in Cubase 4 has been expanded with a powerful Control Room section. You're now able to connect multiple sets of control room monitors and external sources (CD, DVD, Tape etc.) directly to your audio hardware and switch between them from a convenient Control Room panel. The Control Room section also offers a talkback channel, a headphone bus, and the ability to create up to four studio mixes (monitor mixes), so each mixer channel now offers a separate studio send section for controlling those mixes.

New Plug-in Set - VST3
Cubase 4 not only includes a completely new set of superlative audio effect plug-ins, it also marks the next step in VST plug-in technology. VST3 offers major new features both for plug-in developers and users. VST3 plug-ins can adjust their number of audio busses to the channel they're inserted to (mono, stereo, 5.1, etc.). A silence detection function makes sure that a plug-in only processes audio when there's actually a signal present. This helps to reduce overall CPU load. VST3 plug-ins natively support Intel-based Macintosh computers. For developers there are many more features under the hood.

New Virtual Instruments
Cubase 4 adds four new outstanding virtual instruments: HALion One, Prologue, Spector and Mystic. HALion One is a special version of Steinberg's award-winning HALion virtual sampler and puts hundreds of quality instruments at your direct disposal. The HALion One content is based on the same renowned Yamaha sample content used in its famed Motif series of synthesizers.

Prologue is a polyphonic analog-modeling synthesizer with exceptional-sounding filters and powerful modulation capabilities - ideal as a general purpose sound armory covering everything from smooth, rich pads to bright, acerbic leads. With its flexible spectrum filter synthesis, Spector adds an additional range of synthesis tools for exquisitely detailed sounds and textures, while the aptly-named Mystic uses a stunningly powerful combination of physical modeling and spectrum filters to create a vast range of unusual textures ranging through darkly emotive, startlingly original or just plain strange. Prologue, Spector and Mystic are powered by VirSyn technology and also come with hundreds of fantastic presets to get you going.

SoundFrame - Universal Sound Manager
SoundFrame is a set of features which incorporate a powerful Universal Media Library within Cubase 4. SoundFrame combines the new Instrument Tracks, Track Templates, and VST3 categorization functions with a powerful database system known as MediaBay.

MediaBay - media file management system
To keep up with the ever-growing number of sounds, samples, loops and presets, Cubase 4 is equipped with an immensely powerful media file management system known as MediaBay. MediaBay is the central place for browsing, searching, managing and categorizing any type of media file. This includes audio and MIDI files, instrument and plug-in presets, track presets, video data and even project files.

Track Presets
One of the most powerful new features in Cubase 4 is the Track Presets system - especially when combined with the new MediaBay feature. Track Presets store every aspect of track/channel settings for audio, MIDI, and Instrument tracks. Combinations of tracks can also be saved as Multi-Track Presets. Almost all track and mixer setting are stored including volume and Pan information and all insert effect settings as well as the channel EQ. For instrument tracks, all Instrument/Preset information is stpre with a Track Preset, while for MIDI tracks, the Track Preset includes MIDI Port, Channel and Patch information.

Track Presets can be saved with attributes like Category/Style/Character and so on, opening up a whole new dimension in sound management on your DAW.

Instrument Tracks
Cubase 4 introduces a new track type: the Instrument Track. An Instrument Track provides a fast and convenient way to use virtual instruments. As a quick alternative to the VSTi Rack, Instrument Tracks provide a single MIDI Input and a single stereo Output within a single channel/track. Setting up a VST Instrument and getting ready to play is now just one step away!

Major Score Editor Enhancements
The Score Editor in Cubase 4 has seen a major redesign, including many usability and workflow improvements as well as new features. Composers don't despair! None of the existing functions have been lost. All functions from previous versions are still available, albeit in different places.

User Interface Redesign
Designed with meticulous attention to detail, Cubase 4 features an extensively redesigned and anhanced user interface. The overall visibility of active items versus inactive items has been drastically enhanced, so although there are now more screen elements in Cubase 4 providing better access to even more features, overall visibility and orientation is now better than ever. Critical areas such as the Mixer and Inspector have received particular attention, with clearer highlighting and better readability of textual information.
The new user interface also introduces a number of new features, inculding a fully customizable Track Inspector. Not only can each item in the Track Inspector be hidden or shown as desired, but the order and visibility of items can be changed and stored individually for each track type.

Technical Info

System Requirements

Macintosh

Mac OS X Version 10.4

Power Mac G4 1 GHz or Core Solo 1.5 GHz

512 MB RAM

Display Resolution 1024x768 pixels

DVD drive required for installation

CoreAudio compatible audio hardware

USB port required for Steinberg Key (copy protection device)*

Internet connection required for license activation

Windows

Windows XP Home or XP Professional
Pentium/Athlon 1.4 GHz

512 MB RAM

Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware (ASIO compatible audio hardware recommended for low latency performance)

Display resolution 1024x768

DVD-ROM drive required for installation

USB port required for Steinberg Key (copy protection device)*

Internet connection required for license activation

Owners of Cubase LE qualify for the crossgrade version of Cubase 4.

Products that qualify for Cubase 4 & Cubase Studio 4 competitive crossgrade versions:

Adobe Audition
Magix Samplitude
Sequoia
Apple Logic
Ableton Live (Full Version Only)
Cakewalk Sonar
Propellerheads Reason (Full Version Only)
MOTU Digital Performer
Sibelius
Sony Vegas
Coda Finale (Full Version Only)
Sony Vegas+DVD, Acid Pro
Tracktion (Full Version Only)
Pro Tools

* Steinberg Key for licensing product already included in box.
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  • 07/01
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