Steinberg Cubase 6.5

Steinberg Cubase has a long and storied history in the music industry, first appearing on the Atari ST more than two decades ago before migrating to Macs and PCs. The latest version, Cubase 6.5 ($499.99 direct), is a powerful, ultra-flexible recording environment. It's particularly well suited for MIDI composition with virtual synthesizers?and is, in our opinion, the smoothest of the major DAWs at this?although it's also a capable audio and post-production tool overall.

System Requirements and Copy Protection
For this review, I tested Cubase 6.5 on two machines: A quad-core Toshiba Qosmio 17.3-inch laptop with 6GB RAM and running Windows 7 SP1, and a quad-core Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with 8GB RAM and running OS X 10.7.4. I also personally own older versions of Cubase (up to version 4) and have had no trouble getting them all running on various machines over the years; Cubase tends to just work in my experience, which is a good thing indeed.

Unlike Avid Pro Tools 10 ($699, 4.5 stars), Steinberg Cubase 6.5 is a full 64-bit app, which is a godsend when using plug-ins with large sample libraries. Another thing that's great about Cubase is its relative consistency when it comes to audio drivers (ASIO) and plug-ins (VST) over the years. This makes for easier compatibility with third-party hardware and software. As these are such widely used standards, you never have to wonder if you're using a particularly weird or untested combination.

Steinberg's copy protection scheme is more annoying than it needs to be. Cubase 6.5 uses a USB dongle, which automatically puts it at a disadvantage next to Cakewalk SONAR X1 Producer ($499, 3 stars) on the PC and Apple Logic Pro 9 ($199.99, 4.5 stars) on the Mac. Steinberg goes a step further, though, and uses eLicenser, which only works with Korg, reFX, and Arturia plug-ins. Most plug-ins requiring USB dongle protection, including those from Waves, EastWest, Avid, and iZotope, employ PACE iLok, a competing standard. If you buy Cubase 6.5 and plan on purchasing any major plug-ins, you'll end up with at least two USB keys, which isn't a situation you'll usually encounter when using other major sequencers. On a laptop with just two USB ports, such as with any MacBook Pro, it can be a huge annoyance?especially since many audio interfaces and other peripherals prohibit the use of a USB hub in their user manuals, and since moving the laptop with the dongle attached risks breakage each time.

Another downside: While you can buy SONAR X1 and Logic Pro as online downloads, Cubase 6.5 requires a retail store or mail-order purchase?plus an optical drive in your machine. That rules out all recent Ultrabook PCs and MacBook Airs, at least without an external optical drive attached.

User Interface and Workflow
With all that out of the way, let's dive into the main program. Cubase 6.5's strong MIDI roots are evident right from the beginning. The Key Editor is simply wonderful. You can do just about anything during playback, including switching editing tools, deleting notes, and adjusting other notes. The Inspector offers transpose, quantize, length, and other useful tools that are easier to access here than in competing sequencers. A lane across the bottom makes it virtually instantaneous to edit volume or other MIDI control data. The floating Transport Bar is fully customizable; you can pop in or out individual modules as needed, and unlike with SONAR X1, working on a 1366-by-768-pixel laptop screen is actually possible.

By switching between cursor tools using the number keys, and by using Cubase?s various shortcuts that make workflow more quickly, I find it easier to play in, lay down, edit, and arrange MIDI clips with Cubase more than any other. Dedicated buttons let you turn scrolling during playback on and off, and even whether you want the view to stop scrolling when you start editing. Just about anything you can do to a note is intuitive.

Cubase 6.5's Score Editor is another winner, with enough notation tools that many people could get by with this program alone and not need a separate notation program. In addition to comprehensive symbol support, it also supports lyrics, drum notes, guitar tabs, and lead sheets, and can import and export XML files. The Drum Editor and List Editor also do their job well for editing rhythm and MIDI events, respectively, though the main Key Editor is so good that I rarely find myself bringing these windows up.

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