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I must admit, sometimes when I check out the Cubase user forums, I want to slap some of those people upside the head. First up: The people who go on about how much Cubase sucks - then you realize they're using a cracked version. Second: Those who like to debate whether Cubase is a "professional" application.
True, Steinberg painted themselves into that corner when they created Nuendo as a "pro" application. So what did that make Cubase? But Nuendo is a post-production solution, while Cubase is for making music. Does that make Cubase any less "professional"? I guess only if you make unprofessional music.
Rant off; back to the review. Cubase VST was ahead of its time by pioneering the virtual studio concept, and made decent computer audio a reality with ASIO audio drivers. In fact, Cubase was well on its way to becoming an audio powerhouse when the audio engine's chief architect, Mark Badger, died of natural causes at an early age. Not only did the music industry lose a cool guy, but Cubase started lagging in audio just when the industry was transitioning from MIDI to hard disk recording.
Cubase never really caught up until Cubase SX appeared, which was more stable than VST and had a revamped audio engine. SX2 solidified those gains - but still left out some important elements, like acidized file support.
THEN THERE WAS THREE
Now we have SX3 ($799.99, upgrade from SX2 $149), which remains cross-platform for XP and OS X, and still uses the Syncrosoft protection dongle. The biggest two changes: SX3 is aces for anything involving time-stretching; and interestingly, the company that pioneered the virtual studio has made it far easier to integrate external hardware.
Like last issue's reviews on Acid 5 and Sonar 4, we'll let Steinberg's web site (www.steinberg.net) give you the specs and we'll cover the new stuff.
THE TOP TEN NEW FEATURES
- It's a track . . . it's a playlist . . . it's a way to define regions, then try out different orders of these regions. If you like a particular order, "flatten" it to rearrange all the track data to follow the playlist you created. Remixing,...