Lexicon PCM96 A Reverb Masterclass? - Audio Media

experimental arranging and even more
experimental live use. It’s not quite an
Ableton Live killer, but it does make
Cubase a more creative environment.
On the plug-in front, there’s now very
welcome sidechain support for VST3 plug-ins.
The distortion, chorus and Roomworks reverb
plug-ins have been updated, UV22HR dither
makes a reappearance, and there’s a new dualfilter
HP/LP effects, ideal for those filtered loop
DJ effects. The VST system has been expanded
with improved compatibility for legacy plug-ins,
which also means that 32-bit VSTs, including both
effects and instruments, can be run in Vista 64.
Mac users can run PowerPC plug-ins on newer
Intel hardware.
Musically Supportive
As a footnote, Cubase now supports MusicXML,
which is a music notation meta-format designed
to make it easy to import and export music
notation between different editors. This could
be more significant than it sounds, because there
are now many applications that can scan sheet
music and convert it to MIDI and/or sequencer
files. With MusicXML it becomes much easier
to scan sheet music – including complete
orchestral scores – and convert it into an instant
MIDI arrangement.
It’s still not possible to replace instruments in
one of the VST Instruments window slots without
having to reassign them to a track. Creating a
new track for a VSTi mutes the MIDI record for
the track above it. And overall the Cubase routing
system isn’t a model of straightforwardness.
Also, Cubase now does so many things, with
patching, filing, searching, content management,
patch management, synthesis and processing,
accessed through so many windows and levels
of interaction, it sometimes felt as if it was about
to implode under its own weight. Some of this
might be inevitable, but there are times when it’s
tempting to wonder if a simpler approach might
not be possible.
Shopping Is Optional(ish)
Steinberg is trying to differentiate Cubase from
Nuendo, although in fact many of the new Cubase
4.5 features have also been added to Nuendo 4.2.
Under the surface the similarities remain more
obvious than the differences. Project studios
and smaller facilities can certainly use Cubase
as Nuendo-Lite for many post applications.
Nuendo has better automation, plays better
with professional video hardware, and offers
much better network and file management for
collaborative projects. But for basic music and
sound editing, and synchronisation to file-based
video, the differences may not be critical.
Conclusion
Existing users will of course want this upgrade,
especially because all of it including the new
sample libraries is available as a free download.
For newcomers, Cubase continues to hold its
own in the high end of the prosumer and project
studio sequencing market. It’s still one of the
better sounding sequencers, especially for PC
users, and in trained hands it remains more than
capable of professional results. ∫
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INFORMATION
£ Cubase 4 GB£473.16 (inc.VAT)
Upgrade from 4.0: Free to registered users
A Steinberg Media Technologies, Neuer
Hoeltigbaum 22-32, 22143 Hamburg, Germany
T +49 (0) 40 210 350
W www.steinberg.net
DPA 4017/4080 JP AudioMedia.indd 1 27/08/08 15:04:42
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