Cubase Essential 4 questions

[Phait]

1. Is it possible to change that godawful blue UI color and those "cloud looking" waveforms? If not, what is a comparable PC DAW that's customizable (aside from Ableton, it's too Star-Trekky for me and I don't like some of it's layout)

 

 

2. Is the UI unnecessarily cluttered like that, or can you remove some things?

 

3. Is there dual-core support? (in case I upgrade later)

 

4. How customizable is the UI in layout/etc?

 

5. Just how good is that guitar amp plugin it features?

 

6. No demo anymore huh?

[Mudcat007]

IIRC you can alter Cubase's color scheme under its Preferences menu. You can also open, close and hide various windows in the UI and configure specific "views" that are your prefered layout.

 

I'm not sure about your other questions, other than to refer you to REAPER as another DAW option that is very customizable and has a reputation for being very stable. It's also cheap, something like $65 for a non-commercial license. The demo is unlimited so you can give it a complete workout before commiting to purchase. I am a Cubase LE user and am considering trying out REAPER because of some stability issues I am having. http://www.cockos.com/reaper/index.php

[Phait]

I'm not sure about Reaper, it's not one of the big players. I know you dont' pay as much, but I come from Logic 5 and want to stick with something a bit higher tier.

 

Also has anyone used Cubasis? The Emu 0404 card comes with it, as far as screenshots it seems quite outdated - but I'm not sure if those are just old shots and not the version that'd come with the 0404 (it doesn't seem to mention which version, either).

[Mudcat007]

Cubasis is no longer in production. The EMU 0404 soundcard now ships with Cubase LE as well as Sonar LE and some other software (including Amplitube LE which is a GREAT amp sim) EMU OEM Software.

 

This is the rig I am running and I am very happy with it, other than a bit of instability which probably has more to do with my archaic processor (1ghz AMD Athlon) than anything else.

 

The 0404 is a great soundcard for the $$$. It has built hardware effects and the reverbs sound excellent.

[Phait]

The 0404 features "hardware mixing and monitoring" -- I hope I'm correct in thinking this will help my VSTi performance.

 

It's odd I bought an Emu Xboard 49 and it only came with Ableton Live Lite 6 (got an upgrade to 7) but it blows cause I can only have 2 VST or VSTis per track, or seemingly 4 altogether.

 

Good to see the 0404 comes with both Sonar LE and Cubase LE. Whats the plugin limit on these?

[Mudcat007]

 

Good to see the 0404 comes with both Sonar LE and Cubase LE. Whats the plugin limit on these?

 

 

Cubase LE has two effects inserts per channel, plus four effect sends per channel and two master buss effects inserts. While this is limited compared to the retail versions of Cubase I have an easy work around. If I want to have more than two insert effects on a track I assign Effect Chainer to one of the channel inserts and add as many plugins as I like.

 

Not sure how many VSTis can be run at once. I know it can run a bunch of MIDI tracks so I assume you would be able assign a VSTi to each one.

 

I have not bothered with Sonar. I have focused on learning to work with Cubase since I got this set-up.

[Phait]

 

It will help in that any of the EMU PowerFX you use are processed on the soundcard freeing up your CPU processing power. The Patchmix software that comes with card also allows you to monitor the hardware based effects with zero latency while recording. It took a bit to get my head around using Patchmix while recording but once I understood it's functionality it made recording much easier.

 

 

Ah so I only get the benefit if I use the hardware plugins... seems like I need a dedicated DSP card but those are out of my budget.

[Mudcat007]

 

Ah so I only get the benefit if I use the hardware plugins...

 

 

Correct. I primarily use the EMU hardware effects for reverb and use them as effect send inserts when mixing. They sound great and I get the biggest CPU bang for the buck by having the reverbs available across multiple tracks.

 

 

Here are some questions I have that might help:

 

What kind kind of CPU/RAM do you have on your current computer? What are you looking for in a DAW that you don't have in your current program? What's your budget?

[Phait]

Well I've been using Logic 5 on PC

 

1.8 GHz AMD

Onboard sound

2 GB RAM

XP Home SP2

 

Ableton Live Lite 7 runs fine, Logic 5 runs fine. It seems though that Logic experiences some pops/clicks when playing back a MIDI passage with the Proteus VSTi but I don't have this problem in Ableton LL7. I have read Logic 5 recognises only 1 GB of ram and is kind of prone to such performance or memory notices/errors because of this. I love Logic (for the most part), but that Ableton release I got with the Xboard while performing nicely, is really lacking. I've kinda went through a demo of Sonar Producer edition 7 and like it. But I've read when it comes to VST/i stuff Sonar is still kind of new to it compared to Cubase, and I think I read a general concensus that Cubase seemed to perform better - so I don't know what to make of that.

 

Budget... I'm in the market for possibly a preamp or DI box (well I'm also considering an RP50 for around $50)... and possibly the 0404. That 0404 seems to offer a medium-ground DAW for me, I think I'd be happy with. Altogether about $200. I wouldn't mind putting down $100 or so on a DAW alone, but I'd rather get a decent version bundled.

[Mudcat007]

 

Well I've been using Logic 5 on PC 1.8 GHz AMD Onboard sound 2 GB RAM XP Home SP2 ... Budget... I'm in the market for possibly a preamp or DI box (well I'm also considering an RP50 for around $50)... and possibly the 0404. That 0404 seems to offer a medium-ground DAW for me, I think I'd be happy with. Altogether about $200. I wouldn't mind putting down $100 or so on a DAW alone, but I'd rather get a decent version bundled.

 

 

I would advise against the RP50. I have an RP100, and while it sounds OK, the Amplitube LE that I am using smokes it as far as the straight amp sounds go.

 

My advice is to go with 0404 soundcard and start off trying out Cubase LE & Sonar LE. You might find that one of these will work fine for you or determine that you prefer one over the other but need a bit more. If this is the case you can then upgrade to a higher level Cubase or Sonar program.

 

The 0404 soundcard will be a big upgrade over the onboard sound you currently use.

 

You will need a mixer or preamp to get sound in through the 0404 though. I am using a Behringer I bought for around $69 and it works fine for my purposes. Muisicians friend has B-Stock 0404s available for $69 and the Behringer 802 mixer for $59. That rig will only set you back around $130. Add a couple of patch cables and you're up around $150.

 

If you don't mind losing the hardware based effects, EMU has a USB 2.0 Version of the 0404 available for $199. It's a lot cleaner set-up than installing an onboard soundcard and wiring in a mixer or preamp and is easier to transfer to another computer in the future. It comes with the same software bundle as the standard 0404, but as stated above, does not include the hardware accelerated effects.

 

EDIT: I just saw that the USB version will only run at 16 bits 44.1/48 khz recording and playback through a USB 1.0 connection. Bear this in mind if your computer is not equipped with 2.0 version USB connections.

[Phait]

I avoid USB interfaces. I've got a firewire Tascam FireOne which is nice, but I imagine comparbly to a dedicated preamp it would be lacking. I'm pretty much looking on the hardware level, what I can do to get a decent direct guitar sound. I've tried VST plugins (Guitar Rig demo, FreeAmp 3, Revalver) - can't quite seem to nail it - though I ought to experiment more. I did try out an RP70 direct (headphones) and liked some presets on there I imagine I could tweak a little.

 

Hey, I appreciate all your input here