Product Reviews

Cubase VST/24 4.1 is the Cubase flagship, the 24 referring to 24-bit recording. This new version addresses many compatibility issues, including support for Yamaha's DS2416 DSP Factory PCI card (Reviews Vol 15 No 9 p34), and adds several new features.

VST Instruments are an entirely new feature in VST 4.1. Supplied is Neon, a built-in analogue-style synthesizer accessed like a VST audio plug-in. Several Neon synths can run simultaneously, each with different configurations that you can save and load.

It's possible to create a whole arrangement using six Neon synths programmed as dodgy drums, bass, brass and a synth pad. However, the 16-note polyphony did mean that sustained notes were subject to 'note stealing' (cutting out prematurely).

To overcome this, Neon synths can be turned into audio tracks, as they appear in both the MIDI and audio mixers. The latter can add effects and EQ live to VST Instruments. Furthermore, the synth controls can be automated while you record changes on another track set to the same instrument. Incidentally, the LFO (low-frequency oscillator) control won't do anything until you move the modulation wheel on your MIDI keyboard.

If you have a USB MIDI interface, then you're probably using OMS (Open Music System) to make it work. In earlier versions, OMS wasn't encouraged, and while Cubase 4.1's OMS features remain the same, it does now appear to be more stable. If your Mac has a serial port, Cubase can avoid OMS altogether.

PowerBook users are going to have a ball, as they can play the notes, even chords, from the QWERTY keyboard with the Key Caps Play function. This Cubase 4.0 feature comes into its own with 4.1's Neon. VST

What VST Instruments doesn't benefit from is the new array of dynamics processors (gate, compressor, limiter) that appear together with a basic audio channel's effects Send options.

These track-taming features come at a price, though. Each channel can use them independently, but flicking each one of these three treatments can add around 5% drain to the CPU performance on a 233MHz G3. Hence, realtime playback may prove impractical on more than a handful of tracks. However, 'effected' audio files can be created off-line to overcome this. These dynamics 'insert' effects are both visually and sonically appealing, with some very usable auto options for fuss-free operation.

Other choices include routing, channel overview and effects editing. The latter is disappointing because the different effects settings you create can't be individually named and saved. However, effects changes are saved with your song, and you can also write them as an automated track setup. Naming the six aux busses would also be a nice touch, as numbers 1 to 6 aren't very descriptive.

VST/24 4.1 now has full support for Yamaha's DS2416 DSP Factory, which has built-in effects that minimise the need to use CPU intensive plug-ins. VST/24 4.1's implementation of the DS2416 is not the first, but is certainly the best we've seen in any Mac sequencer package so far. Your monitor will need a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels just to fit in the graphics of the Input Console accessed from the new DSP Factory option under the Panels menu.

Version 4.1 of the Steinberg Cubase VST family is an update that will have knock-on effect with all VST and ASIO supported software (see sidebar). While the competition is busy implementing these new features, Cubase VST 4.1 users can get busy programming their Neon synth sounds. Look out for Web sites offering loads of patches for this little gem in the near future.