Cubase Users...

[Joe Nerve]

I've been using Cubase since before there was such a thing as digital audio.

I upgraded to Cubase 5 many years ago, and it slowed down my creativity. Upgraded to 7 figuring it would help me get that creativity back, and it was a done deal. I hated it, never got the hang of it, and pretty much threw hundreds of dollars out the window.

Today I stumbled upon an old Cubase AI4 version (I don't even know what that means ), but figured I'd see what happened if I tried to load a 14 year old program onto my computer.

Eureka! It works perfectly! It gives me everything I used to love about digital recording! I can't even begin to express how happy I am to downgrade!

Thats's all.

Anyone with similar experiences? And if you're a Cubase Wiz, I have some other questions too...

 

[And I]

I've been using Cubase since before there was such a thing as digital audio.

 

[And I]

I used to use Cubase SX 3 and liked it a lot. Couldn't get it to run on Windows 7 though...

 

[Joe Nerve]

View attachment 3881570

If that was cuz of the audio thing , the very first version of Cubase I owned in the 80s (which I still have - but can't use) was midi, only. We still couldn't record guitars, bass, vocals, etc. through our PCs.

 

[And I]

If that was cuz of the audio thing , the very first version of Cubase I owned in the 80s (which I still have - but can't use) was midi, only. We still couldn't record guitars, bass, vocals, etc. through our PCs.

Aha. In the 80s I was rocking a Tascam 424, but used bank street music writer on the commodore 64 so I guess technically that was digital audio?

I know what you mean about new versions of DAWs not always being better than their predecessor. I used to use cool edit pro, and when it became Adobe audition, I was all done with it. I moved to cubase 3. I use reaper now, and over the last few versions the changes have been subtle and incremental enough that I still feel like I'm using the same DAW, it's just better.

 

[dickseacup]

I use Ableton Live, Cubase 10 Pro, Cubasis, Adobe Audition, or Cakewalk (now Bandlab) Sonar, depending on the device I'm on at the moment and what I feel like. I've been screwing with DAW and DAW-like software since the days of the C=64. I have had a long and successful career in IT and IT Management and can confidently report the two immutable laws of IT are:

1) All hardware sucks
2) All software sucks

 

[seamonkey]

I've got 25 year old Drum sampler software I can still use.
Windows 7 and 10 at least have a compatibility mode going all the way back to XP.
Right click on a executable to set and older OS compatibility mode. It doesn't always work, but many times it does.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I use Ableton Live, Cubase 10 Pro, Cubasis, Adobe Audition, or Cakewalk (now Bandlab) Sonar, depending on the device I'm on at the moment and what I feel like. I've been screwing with DAW and DAW-like software since the days of the C=64. I have had a long and successful career in IT and IT Management and can confidently report the two immutable laws of IT are:

1) All hardware sucks
2) All software sucks

Ditto!!!!
Learning a new daw for me is worse than pulling teeth. Been using Ableton for over 10-15 years. Tried Reaper on and off but end up wanting to punch walls then going back to Ableton again


The upgrade from live 9 to 10 really peeved me off it was ridiculously overpriced considering the minimal differences.

Now get off lawn!!!!

 

[Standalone]

I always liked working in Cubase LE on a Windows XP laptop hooked to a second lcd screen. Presonus Firepod.

I have one of the newer versions on a cheap Windows 7 computer now, and I basically use it like LE with a better reverb. Once the audio inputs and outputs are worked out, life is good.

What do you think is holding back your creativity? Just use the basics from back in the day and you should be pretty much in your happy place.

 

[Seashore]

I feel this, I started with Cubase on VST24. I'm on 5 now. It took me a while to get used to successive updates (sound quality really improved with SX though). I've always been one of those "it might look disorganized to you but I know where everything is" kind of people, so software updates that move tools and menus around and change functionality drive me nuts. It's like someone came into my studio overnight, unplugged and rearranged everything, and stole a couple microphones.

I program drums with Fruity Loops, and despite trying upgrades here and there, I'm still using FL3 - the same version I started with 18 years ago. It sucks and it takes forever, but I can do what I want. I don't recommend it to anyone.

 

[Joe Nerve]

I always liked working in Cubase LE on a Windows XP laptop hooked to a second lcd screen. Presonus Firepod.

I have one of the newer versions on a cheap Windows 7 computer now, and I basically use it like LE with a better reverb. Once the audio inputs and outputs are worked out, life is good.

What do you think is holding back your creativity? Just use the basics from back in the day and you should be pretty much in your happy place.

For some reason I never got the hang of the new mix window. Without using 2 monitors, when mixing I have to constantly go back and forth with screens.... plus the EQ and effects now are anything but user friendly. They're tiny on my screen and there are so many options I get frustrated. I spend more time trying to figure out what I'm doing than actually doing it. It drains me.

The older LE versions had all I ever really needed to use, and it was laid out in a simple format - one I could see clearly on my screen, too. EQing tracks was super easy, FX I have a few simple choices with few parameters... a billion choices I understand are helpful to many, but I'm not interested in learning that stuff. Takes me a long time to figure out one effect or function, and then I forget by the next time I use it, because I'm not recording that frequently...

If I were recording every day and working with the program regularly it would probably be a much different story.

 

[vvvmmm]

I've gone thru Cubases, Pro Fools LE, Abletons ...

I have Reaper on my Win10 laptop, mostly for quick mastering.

I run a 1 y.o. XP Pro macheen with Cool Edit Pro 2.1, and I run it a lot (see below link). I started on Cool Edit 1 after a Porta One and then a 238) in '96 or so. I now have a cuppla racks of pro and semi-pro outboard, I use a Zoom H2 and a Zoom R16 for remote, I have a near-hundred mics, and as said, I bought a new macheen to run CEP (which was mostly designed on Win95).

But if I had to leave CEP, Reaper is the way to go for me.

 

[Mik Walker]

For some reason I never got the hang of the new mix window. Without using 2 monitors, when mixing I have to constantly go back and forth with screens.... plus the EQ and effects now are anything but user friendly. They're tiny on my screen and there are so many options I get frustrated. I spend more time trying to figure out what I'm doing than actually doing it. It drains me.

The older LE versions had all I ever really needed to use, and it was laid out in a simple format - one I could see clearly on my screen, too. EQing tracks was super easy, FX I have a few simple choices with few parameters... a billion choices I understand are helpful to many, but I'm not interested in learning that stuff. Takes me a long time to figure out one effect or function, and then I forget by the next time I use it, because I'm not recording that frequently...

If I were recording every day and working with the program regularly it would probably be a much different story.

Understand exactly what you say about using infrequently and with a single monitor. I've been running Cubase since the 80's too. In fact found this pic with my trusty Atari 1040ST from what would be the early to mid 90s. Used to run a Fostex G16 16-track and would stripe one track with time code, lock Cubase to the time code and have midi keys and samples synced with the 16-track. Was quite a nice setup for the day...

Stuck with Cubase over the years through thick and thin (and there have been some very thin times!) and these days am running 10.5. Wish I had more time to spend with it.

 

[nilorius]

You got to have a really good, new and fresh hardware to feel the advantages of the new versions of different audio soft now.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Understand exactly what you say about using infrequently and with a single monitor. I've been running Cubase since the 80's too. In fact found this pic with my trusty Atari 1040ST from what would be the early to mid 90s. Used to run a Fostex G16 16-track and would stripe one track with time code, lock Cubase to the time code and have midi keys and samples synced with the 16-track. Was quite a nice setup for the day...

View attachment 3881874

Stuck with Cubase over the years through thick and thin (and there have been some very thin times!) and these days am running 10.5. Wish I had more time to spend with it.

Love the cassettes ...

Great setup. I wanted a Prophet in the early 90s almost as much as I wanted a Gibson in the 70s . So much was out of my reach back then.

I can't even begin to express how happy I am to have been able to go back to this Al program.

When I first learned about digital audio, I had to have it. I took my student loan money, ran out, and dropped about $5000 on a studio setup.

• Digidesign Session 8
• 1 gig hard drive that cost over $1000
• Rack mounted FX
• AKG C1000

I got more done in a year with that Session 8 than I did in the next 20, with better equipment. IIRC, you had bass and treble for EQ, FX from the rack mount only, and nothing but pure simplicity. Made some great recordings, too.

Within 2 years my $5000 worth of equipment was obsolete.

Today, any kid can do more with their phone.

Technology. Gotta love it.

I'll add that I wrote the MOST songs in the days of this wonderful machine, which was a dream come true when first purchased:

 

[Relsom]

I've still got a Sony VAIO Pentium4 XP with SX v2.something, maybe 3.0, 2 x Delta 1010s and a Tascam US428 to control it all.

The only internet that PC has ever seen was when I downloaded the first upgrade from v2.0. It's been mothballed since I realized my hearing loss is too profound to do any decent mixing.

But it runs flawlessly, can run 16 tracks without any discernable latency on playback.

Up for grabs ...

 

[InhumanResource]

I use Ableton Live, Cubase 10 Pro, Cubasis, Adobe Audition, or Cakewalk (now Bandlab) Sonar, depending on the device I'm on at the moment and what I feel like. I've been screwing with DAW and DAW-like software since the days of the C=64. I have had a long and successful career in IT and IT Management and can confidently report the two immutable laws of IT are:

1) All hardware sucks
2) All software sucks

It’s really a miracle any of this crap actually works.

 

[tlite]

I have Cubase 9.5 Pro, and probably shouldn't. Don't get me wrong- it does a TON, but I always get turned around in that DAW. Nothing wrong with simple!

 

[Joe Nerve]

Nothing wrong with simple!

I'm not into fiddling with technology, especially around sound. My hearing is kind of shot, and I can't hear half the things these add-ons tweak anyhow. The fewer choices I have the happier I am.

Its like everything else. I used to be able to buy soap by just going into a store and buying a bar of Dial.

Now I have to open 25 bottles, see which one smells best, check prices, wonder which is best for my skin...

Proud to say I'm still a proud supporter of this :

Worked for me in the 8th grade. Still works the same today .

 

[sotua]

I got a non-full version of Cubase with a Yamaha practice amp. Liked it a lot. Then ran into the FX tracks limitations, looked at the price of the pro version, and went right back to Reaper. Cubase is cool (liked working with Midi on it a lot for programming drums over Reaper), but not $400 cool.