Product Reviews

Over its 13-year lifetime, Steinberg's Cubase has consistently been at the forefront of MIDI and audio music production technology. But despite being the world's most widely used MIDI and audio sequencer, Cubase VST has reached the end of its development life. Cubase SX for Mac OS X 10.2 has been completely rewritten and recoded around the kernel originally developed by Steinberg for its Nuendo native audio workstation.

Although Cubase SX is a completely new program, its VST inheritance is very much in evidence. Obviously, an important part of the design brief was to retain Cubase's traditional versatility and ease of use. While many routines have been streamlined, a huge tranche of new features and refinements have been introduced.

Cubase SX supports high-resolution 96kHz 32-bit audio files and can perform surround mixing across six discrete channels, including full panning and surround specific effects. With appropriate ASIO 2 hardware, Cubase SX can stream up to 200 audio tracks across multiple I-O with sample-accurate automation. Even files with different bit rates can be used in the same Project. Cubase SX also includes an ASIO 2 driver for the stereo 16-bit 44.1kHz Macintosh internal audio hardware.

MIDI wifeThe user interface has been tastefully redesigned to provide better clarity and legibility. Improved font handling makes it feasible to work at screen resolutions of 1280 x 1024 pixels or higher. Thanks to the improved audio and MIDI handling in OS X, configuring audio and MIDI interfaces is pain-free.

Unlimited Undo has been introduced, as has the Offline Process History - this not only lets you revise editing decisions, but also enables you to remove or modify any effects or processing previously applied to rendered files.

Also new is the exciting VST System Link, which allows you to share a Project between one or more computers. Even Macs and PCs can be used in tandem. For example, one computer could handle audio tracks while the other is used for MIDI synching and VST instruments. The potential and implications of VST System Link are awesome and could well revolutionise audio studio working methods.

Cubase VST users should experience little difficulty making

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the transition to Cubase SX. A new integrated Cubase Help system and Tool Tips augment the excellent 187-page manual and the detailed documentation provided in Acrobat format. Keyboard commands have been enhanced with the provision of macros. These are entered manually, and it is a pity that Cubase SX does not have a macro recorder like that found in Photoshop, which allows you to record a sequence of actions as you perform them. Copy protection relies on a small USB dongle, which is a vast improvement on the previous master disc or challenge and response routine.

The Cubase SX native document format is the .cpr Project file and the old Cubase concept of Songs and Arrangements has been abandoned. Legacy Cubase files can be imported, though they will suffer minor casulaties, such as the loss of plug-in automation. But at least existing users can upgrade to SX and still keep their VST master disc. This should ease the whole transition to SX and, with a second Mac, enable you to run VST System Link.

The joy of SX

The main Cubase SX view is the Project window. This functions in a broadly similar way to a VST Arrange window with audio, MIDI and the new film-strip style Video Tracks displayed vertically across the horizontal timeline, adjacent to track property definition fields.

Most recording, editing, processing and automation routines can now be performed without leaving the main project window. This is thanks to more efficient track behaviours, which include an enhanced Track Inspector and improvements in navigation, such as macros, improved Marker management and the new Project Overview. The Quick menu, which can be found by pressing control-click, has replaced the Toolbox - other casualties include the Interactive Phrase Synthesis (IPS) and Chord Tracks.

Do the automation

Cubase SX mixer layout is more logical - channels now reflect the Project window track order and Mixer components can be hidden when not required. The new Browser window provides an editable list of the Project's constituent parts, including tempo and time signature maps.

Automation is significantly easier both to enter and to edit. Each Audio and MIDI Track in the Project window reveals nested sub-tracks, where dynamic event automation information, including volume, pan and effects changes, is displayed and can be edited with sample accuracy. Audio parts may now be time-stretched with the Resize tool.

Cubase SX marks a quantum leap forward in music recording technology and represents a watershed in the music production industry's adoption of OS X. It is a joy to work with and provides everything needed for high-quality audio production. The more we used it, the more we were amazed by its power and elegance.

Needs: PowerPC G4, Mac OS X 10.2, 256Mb RAM (512Mb recommended)