Cubase 4.1 Review
Years ago Cubase made the leap from the old 5/32 platform to be rebuilt upon the fresh code of Nuendo 1.0. Since that time the two have flip flopped in receiving new additions and. Now at version 4, Cubase has a fairly major upgrade in the way of 4.1. Some important new features are included amongst the usual maintenance type fixes and updates. As is the case with most of Steinberg’s Cubase releases it pays to wait until the initial problems are ironed out and the current 4.1.3 is no exception. Bug fixes aside let’s look at some of the new features the 4.1 update contains.
Cubase’s track inspector is well known and is a major part of the workflow when working with MIDI and audio tracks. The idea is that many of the everyday functions are consolidated into one specific area for greater efficiency. A second inspector now exists, this time in the sample editor. All audio functions now exist under one roof making it easier to manipulate audio without searching around various menus. This includes the controls for editing the timing of looped material either by warping or a few slicing options. Tempo information can be detected automatically or manually. At that point timestretching can be applied to fluidly adjust timing. Slices can also be generated which would then be quantized to the grid. Steinberg has included enough methods to accomplish the same basic goal which means you can choose one specifically suited to the application that fits best.
4.1 takes advantage of the new VST3 specification in two major ways, both of which will find a lot of use when it comes to mixing duties. The first is the ability to natively perform side chain with the included compressors. Appearing on the stock compressors is a side chain engage button. When pressed a new routing path will emerge in the effect sends area of any audio channel. Sending some level from an audio track into this path will then direct signal into the compressors’ key input. The advantage of this method is that multiple audio tracks can all contribute to the key signal which allows some freedom and experimentation to develop. Most people will just be using a standard kick drum and of course it works fine with this as well. The only small problem I could see is if more than eight source tracks needed the kick drum. As there are only eight sends on a track some kind of work around would have to be performed to get over this limitation. In most cases though eight should be enough and I haven’t personally run into this situation, but it’s something to be aware of.
Not only do the compressors have sidechain inputs but some of the other effects sport them as well. Things like flangers and the autopan can also be ‘synced’ via a key input making the response of their effect modulate from another audio source. This is a welcomed surprise and puts the new functionality of the sidechain addition in even better use. All in all it’s about time that sidechain has been added to the Steinberg line as it has been a much requested feature for quite some time, especially in light of Logic having it for years now. Cubase users don’t have to suffer anymore though and with the ability of being able to modulate other effects the wait is more than worth it.
The second big advance with the arrival of VST3 and 4.1 is the ability to freely route audio to and from anything essentially and in any order. This allows sending fx returns to busses and busses to fx returns. Previously the order in which groups were instantiated affected how they could be routed, only top to bottom order, now this is no longer a limitation. Obviously this makes mixing more enjoyable as not as much thought has to be placed on preplanning the order of routing around Cubase’s architecture. It’s never a good thing to come to a stumbling block when in the middle of trying to achieve a certain effect. Now you can enjoy the peace of mind that if a need arises later on in a sessions’ completion that flexibility still remains for any setups that might need to be put into place. What’s even more enticing than the free routing itself is the ability to now record directly from a source such as groups and effects returns.
This opens up a whole new way to get audio into an audio track directly and with some benefits not possible otherwise. For instance many plugins will sound different every time you play some audio through them due to a random nature of their particular effect. This can be troublesome if there is a specific alteration of the sound you are going for. You might hear one thing on live play back but capturing it through an offline bounce might leave you with something else, requiring you to try again and again until the specific randomness you desired is recorded. In addition it might be beneficial to be able to control the interface of the plugin as it is being recorded which is not possible during an offline bounce. This is where realtime recording comes into play. Now you can directly hear the output of the plugin as it’s being recorded to a separate audio track. While it’s being recorded you can of course move any of the parameters available that are connected to the sound you are working on. What you hear live is what you will get on the recorded track, eliminating the mystery that sometimes surrounds an offline export. In order to tap into the audio of another source you will find any available output in the list of inputs for a particular audio track. Select the one desired, record enable, make sure the output track is ready to play the way you’d like and then record. Just continue recording until you hear something interesting develop to which you can then easily chop out the parts that weren’t satisfactory.
