- Separate accounts for Steinberg services Software/license activation & reactivation USB-eLicenser help/FAQ (dongle, key) Soft-eLicenser help/FAQ (license stored on hard disk) Windows 10: upgrade or update disables Soft-eLicenser macOS Big Sur and Apple Silicon product compatibility Windows 10: How to set-up and optimize a Digital Audio.
- Cubase has integrated surround sound features with support for several formats. This support goes all the way through the audio path: all audio-related channels (i. Audio and instrument tracks as well as group channels) and busses can handle multi-channel speaker configurations.
- Steinberg delivered the latest version of Cubase on schedule in Nov. Since it was an even year, it was a full-integer version number increase. In this regard, Steinberg has been predictable for some years now.
Steinberg always surprises us in a good way. This version brings some essential new lifesavers.
For Cubase Pro 11, Steinberg has taken this software to new heights with powerful new composition tools, amazing high-level music-creation features, and time-saving workflow enhancements. Cubase Pro 11 includes a sizeable array of VST processors and instruments, along with a useful cache of sounds and samples.
by Alex Arsov, Jan. 2021
It’s probably unnecessary to explain to most readers that Cubase is one of the preeminent DAW software platforms available today. Steinberg delivered the latest version of Cubase on schedule in Nov. of 2020. Since it was an even year, it was a full-integer version number increase. In this regard, Steinberg has been predictable for some years now.
I had skipped the previous update, version 10.5, so I wanted to look first at all the new features I missed in that, things including:
- combined object and range selection tool that simplifies the editing
- video export
- colorized channel strips
- retrospective recording for all MIDI data that was already there, but now with buffers for every channel
- overlaid spectral curve for two channels inside the channel equalizer window at once (truly a lifesaver)
I also liked the new multitap delay. Actually, all those made me happy up front, and I hadn’t even scratched the surface of what’s actually new in this most recent version. So, ladies and gentlemen, let us dive right into the brand new Cubase 11.
The Fresh Air
Cubase already had everything you needed for music production, but with this version it delivers some welcome extras, adding some functions that we, or at least I, have had to previously achieve with third party plugins. To be more precise, I simply can’t do mixing anymore without using a dynamic equalizer because it can solve some problematic areas on some specific tracks with perfection. Let’s say you have a guitar lead track, and almost everything is OK, but there are two notes that jump out. You can’t simply decrease volume for those two notes since the problem occurs only on small speakers. On big speakers everything seems fine and you could lose the problem notes on big speakers by simply setting them quieter than other notes. Yes, a dynamic equalizer is an ideal solution for such a case and now we have one inside Cubase in the form of a frequency plugin. It provides eight bands that can be adjusted separately, and you can even easily set a sidechain for every band making this plugin a dream come true. Cubase 11 brings a host of new features, but for me, this one is one of the most desirable. Life is simply easier with this effect.
Also in the a-third-party-solution-not-needed category is an imager allowing you to split the frequency range up into four different bands of differing widths. For the last few years, I have not made a single master without using such tool. It is simply a must-have tool and now we have just that bundled with Cubase.
Another big addition is SpectraLayers One, a visual editing tool that usually costs as much as the pro version of Cubase if you were to obtain something like it from a third-party developer. With SpectraLayers One you can remove or fix some particular issues that can occur under certain circumstances, like a click in otherwise perfect take of acoustic guitar, and all manner of other oh-my-gosh problems. With this tool you can even extract vocals from songs for using them in a remix – quite an impressive tool. It’s not something you’ll need in every production, but when you do need it, it is unbeatable. Now it comes bundled with Cubase.
Steinberg Cubase 10.5
There is one more no-more-third-party-effects plugin. It’s SuperVision, an impressive collection of various audio metering modules that can be combined inside the main window, allowing you to have all the tools you need to maintain control over the final product. It actually comes with some modes that I haven’t ever used before that I found to be quite handy, like the phase meter that goes through the whole frequency range showing you if there are phase issues in a particular area. The same goes for the stereo imager that, again, spans the entire frequency range. Of course there are also all sorts of standard level meters that can help you to set the final level appropriate to the situation, depending on if you’re working on a master for a CD release or targeted instead to various download platforms.
The next big improvement is a way to edit controller lanes adding different curves and ramps, editing them with one single click in a variety of ways, even determining the pitch range for pitch-bend. This might look like a significant enhancement, but when you start tweaking controllers (ahem … like we’re always doing) then it comes in very, very handy.
With the improved Sampler Track, Steinberg makes Cubase far more of an all-genre composition tool. These types of capabilities were previously most frequently found in DAWs devoted to EDM. Now we can have the best from both worlds, as after all, the whole music industry seems to be going in a cross-genre direction. So, now you can take a slice out of any sample, apply a mono legato mode, and make an interesting instrument out of it. Many of you are familiar with those crazy melodies that FL Studio users can create using various vocal snippets. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if we add to this a slice capability that can turn every loop into a series of separate hits across the keyboard range, we can now export the whole pattern as a MIDI loop. So, we now have a new and a very powerful tool. The only thing that I would like to see here is an option to import multiple hits into the same window, setting the key range for each separate hit. With that, the dream would come true.
In addition to this must-have feature we also get other improvements, like the almighty export window with which you can exercise detailed control over exports. For example, you could export processed, unprocessed, or any other sort of channels, groups, etc. There’s even an option to save your export preferences. All in all, this is a big time saver for professionals that need to save different versions, different stems and in various formats.
There’s the new Personal Scale Assistant that gives you a similar capability that Maschine users are familiar with: an option to set a performance scale that makes it impossible to incorrectly play a not-in-scale note. Whatever you play will be automatically fit into the desired scale. This can come handy even for skilled instrumentalists. In my experimenting, I got some interesting combinations setting the scale and then banging my drum controller. Such things could always bring some fresh air into any song you are working on. Of course, you can also use your musical knowledge to build the whole arrangement around this randomly played-in-tune pattern. The sky is the limit.
Not that I’m experienced with using a score editor, but Steinberg has elevated this part of Cubase to the next level. It’s been made more competitive with some new professional solutions for composers who still write directly into a score editor. If you are one of them, I would suggest that you should check out all the new features in this area.
The last major addition is Squasher, a three-band multiband compressor, which is also an expander, that is quite easy to use. I have never found effects like this easy to get control over, but I think you can’t miss with this one. As a bonus, Squasher comes with Attack, Release, Drive and Gate sliders for every band and an additional side-chain section for every band, although you by no means need to use of all these capabilities in every situation. Don’t worry about using anything apart from what you need and this becomes a very straightforward tool.
And there’s even more …
Steinberg Cubase Ai
Along with all described above, there are many other not-so-prominent enhancements that are nevertheless important additions. One of these is the multiple sidechain option that comes in handy when using a multiband effect and you want the bands to behave differently based on different external sources.
We also get six fresh new sound packs that come along with all others that you received with the pro version. For me, the Noir pack is one of the better collections that I’ve heard lately.
What’s the Story?
Is it worth upgrading? I don’t know what your preferences are, but for me, this is one of the better updates that has landed lately. Cubase 11 brings some new options that for years have required the use of third party plugins, which of course involved extra expense. With all these new things Cubase has become a self-sufficient program that brings you all needed tools under one roof so you can perfectly tame all of your mixing and mastering details. Cubase used to be one of the most widely-used DAWs available, and with this upgrade it will remain what many consider to be The One.
With all of these new additions and improvements, this is the way to go. Cubase 11 is definitely a tool that you should evaluate. Before we go, mention should be made of all the synths and instruments that come bundled with the Pro version. With them you have everything you need to start and finish your production. The Padshop synth picked up some abilities on the way that were previously only available in Padshop Pro. With the Halion Sonic SE sample player and Groove Agent SE drum machine, you get much more than you’ll likely need for a good start.
We have concentrated here mostly on the features new to this release, but there is much more under the hood – all those things that came with all the previous upgrades. Steinberg has built a whole recording castle over time with all the whistles and bells that make this one a really powerful tool for composing, producing, recording, mixing and mastering. If you can’t do it with Cubase – replace yourself.
Steinberg Cubase 11
More about the Cubase on
Pro version €581.99 EUR, Artist 331.99 and Elements 99.99
https://new.steinberg.net/cubase/compare-editions/
Steinberg Cubase 11
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