That's Cubase 4's major new features covered - Control Room, MediaBay, Instrument Tracks and the new synthesizer collection - but there are actually bucketloads of minor tweaks and improvements throughout the program. The fact is that Steinberg have finally made virtual instruments and sound clips easily manageable within the Cubase environment. MediaBay isn't a complete replacement for Kore - the hardware controller that comes with that system is excellent - but Cubase users who've been considering buying NI's product might now decide that they don't need it. As well as enabling any aspect of a sound's processing to be stored individually or as an entire channel, its inclusion also means that a collection of tracks can be stored as a single Multitrack Preset for instant insertion into any project in future. The MediaBay library concept might be simple to understand, but it's extremely powerful nonetheless. MediaBay can change its appearance slightly depending on the task at hand but, for the most part, its operation is pretty much self-explanatory.
![cubase 4 reviews cubase 4 reviews](https://d29rinwu2hi5i3.cloudfront.net/article_media/e8b3bd26-f41a-4cb5-8561-3ded615fac02/headline-cubase-10-pro-review.jpg)
However, MediaBay is available ubiquitously across the entire application - it's used to store preset information of almost every kind.
![cubase 4 reviews cubase 4 reviews](https://expertreviews.b-cdn.net/sites/expertreviews/files/2015/07/cubase_elements_8_automation.jpg)
If the screenshot of this appears to bear more than a passing resemblance to the browser in Native Instruments' Kore, that's because it offers almost exactly the same functionality. The second key new feature in this area is MediaBay. For stereo instruments at least, you can add Instrument Tracks to your project and swap your instrument without having to reassign everything. Since the disappearance of the Master Effects Rack long ago, it's seemed a bit strange to have instruments still living in an independent, stacked, old-fashioned VST rack. Previously a frustratingly laborious process, the auditioning and selecting of sounds from a collection of many instruments has now become instantaneous. Thanks to the addition of a couple of relatively easy-to-understand features, the operation of virtual instruments and effects has been radically transformed in Cubase 4. The only hardware you need is a high-quality, low-latency audio interface with enough inputs and outputs. In short, everything that a fully-featured, professionally-installed, large-scale recording console can do, Cubase can now do internally. Naturally, external sources like your CD deck or iPod can be selected for direct playback in anyone's headphones. Unlike before, you no longer have to sacrifice aux sends to create headphone mixes - the four headphone sends are completely separate. These can be previewed individually on the engineer's own dedicated headphone channel at the touch of a button.
![cubase 4 reviews cubase 4 reviews](https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/assets/Cubase/Effects/Frequency.png)
Up to four sets of artist headphone mixes can be defined (named Studio 1, Studio 2, etc) and you have master volume controls for each. You can toggle the Listen function between PFL and AFL, there's an adjustable Dim button for the monitors and even a Talkback button.
#Cubase 4 reviews professional#
But that's not all.Īssuming you've got a suitable soundcard, you can select different monitoring setups on your outputs (mono, stereo, surround, etc) and just as on a professional hardware mixing desk, you can choose different external devices for playback (such as cassette, MiniDisc or vinyl). So now - after what seems like a lifetime - you can finally control the main loudspeaker volume from within Cubase without affecting the mix levels. It has its own control window (on a hardware mixing desk this would be referred to as the centre or control room panel) and it offers all the features that you'd expect to find in a top-flight recording studio. Basically, the Control Room adds a significant monitoring layer between the main mix output and the physical soundcard outputs. This is a blindingly obvious omission from most music applications, and we've been hankering after such a thing for years. This enables you to solo channels during recording (to check for quality) without interrupting the headphone mix going to your artists.īest of all, though, is the wonderful new Control Room feature. There's now a Listen button on every mixer channel and a new PFL (Pre Fade Listen) function that's also switchable to AFL (After Fade Listen). As many of us expected, Cubase 4 features more technology from Nuendo, Steinberg's flagship broadcast/post production application. It's certainly a lot easier to see what's going on.
![cubase 4 reviews cubase 4 reviews](https://i1.wp.com/www.alphr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/it_photo_4829.jpg)
The changes are actually quite subtle, but everything feels cleaner, simpler and just a little flatter than before. Launch Cubase 4 for the first time and you immediately notice that the user interface has been given a bit of a paint job.