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Cubase

Cubase

Overview

What is Cubase?

Steinberg Media Technologies headquartered in Hamburg offers Cubase, a digital audio workstation and audio editing application.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Cubase has been praised by users for its ability to provide clear and informative help articles and videos, making it easier for users to …
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Pricing

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Starting Price

$579.90

Cloud

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Details

What is Cubase?

Cubase Video

Whether you are a producer or artist, Cubase packs the features in a user-friendly interface to make your best work. Here the TrustRadius team breaks down the pricing, top features, use case, and user sentiment for Cubase to decide if it's the best option for you.

Cubase Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(11)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Cubase has been praised by users for its ability to provide clear and informative help articles and videos, making it easier for users to understand the program. This feature has been highly beneficial, especially for those who are new to music production or need assistance with specific functionalities. Another prominent use case of Cubase is its excellent management of MIDI, allowing users to compose music directly on their piano. Musicians and composers have found this feature to be incredibly useful as it streamlines the process of creating music and enhances their workflow. Additionally, a significant number of users utilize Cubase for recording vocals, as it is considered one of the best digital audio workstations DAWs for this purpose. The software's robust tools and efficient audio engine enable seamless recording sessions, resulting in professional-quality vocal tracks. Producers and musicians also highly appreciate the efficiency of Cubase as an audio editor. Its precise editing capabilities make it easier to refine and enhance audio files, ensuring that every detail is perfected. Moreover, many users value how Cubase simplifies the music creation process, allowing them to record professional songs effortlessly, add virtual instruments, and quickly export them in mp3 format. The software's user-friendly interface and comprehensive features save time and enhance the overall music-making experience. Overall, Cubase stands out among other DAWs due to its versatility, making it suitable for both audio recording and editing as well as MIDI-based music production. Whether users are professionals or beginners in the field of music production, Cubase offers a wide range of functionalities that cater to their needs.

Users have provided several recommendations for Cubase based on their experiences and preferences. Here are the three most common recommendations:

  1. It is recommended to try out the trial version of Cubase before making a purchase decision. This allows potential customers to test the software's features and evaluate its suitability for their needs.

  2. Many reviewers suggest purchasing Cubase for music production and orchestration purposes. They find that the software offers a variety of tools and features that cater to these specific uses.

  3. Users frequently recommend exploring the option of adding premium plugins to enhance Cubase's capabilities. These additional plugins provide an opportunity to extend the functionality of the software and further customize the production process.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-4 of 4)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Initially, Cubase was utilized simply because a free version came with a USB audio interface that I purchased. Since then, I've upgraded because the software was so great and I just wanted to expand what I could do with it. I've been able to do record multitrack and master with ease with very little previous experience. I was also given stems recorded from other software that I was able to edit easily.
  • Ease of use
  • Clear, user-friendly interface
  • Stable and glitch free
  • Some documentation is confusing and may be different than the version you have
  • Finding how to set up more complex audio environments can be cumbersome
  • Audio library can be a little confusing
Unless you have a specific need for something like Pro Tools, I'd recommend Cubase every time. While some basic, initial setup stuff can be confusing at first, the overall experience is very user friendly. And where you run into issues, I've found support to be very helpful. The less expensive versions are perfect for a hobbyist, but the more advanced versions have everything you need.
  • Integration with Waves plugins and VSTs
  • Multitrack recording
  • Efficient mastering
  • Ease of use minimizing learning time
  • Cost effective
  • Ability to quickly produce a quality product
Pro Tools is an industry standard for a reason, but does come at a cost and with a learning curve. I've found that Cubase is a great place to start, having the ability to do very advanced things, but without the need for it. While my experience has been limited with other DAWs, I think it's been worth the (small) investment.
Rob Gokee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I've been a composer for film, television and advertising for over 13 years. I've been using Cubase since 2011, it's what I've used to score many award-winning projects, it's easy to learn (I migrated over to it from Cubase), the technology is cutting edge, and it's pretty stable. Overall, it's a great product to use for scoring/podcasting/audio mixing, and I'd definitely recommend it for any new composer.
  • Writing music to video
  • Quick rendering
  • Easy learning curve
  • Moderately priced for anyone starting out in the industry
  • Shortcuts aren't easy to learn
  • Can be a bit of a resource hog
  • Upgrades don't necessarily have enough features to make the worthwhile
While Cubase is great at editing audio, and songwriting, it's a champ at creating music to video. It's easy to import the videos into a session, and syncing up the music to the video is very easy for even a beginner. And Cubase can be used all the way through the process - writing, recording, mixing and mastering, and exporting back out is practically a one-step process!

Cubase is also really adept at MIDI, something that was lacking for me in Pro Tools at the time, and allows you to render MIDI to audio in place at a high speed rate, saving you tons of downtime.
  • Overpriced upgrades
  • Can be a resource hog with RAM when you have a large session
While Pro Tools is the industry standard when it comes to recording and audio mixing, I've found Cubase to be superior when it comes to writing with MIDI. Also, it comes with a lot of features (MP3 exporting, time code) that Pro Tools charges you extra for. They're both about the same price to buy, but learning Cubase is much easier than Pro Tools, which can be a bit cumbersome because it does so much.
Any time I've had to reach out to customer support, they've been fast to respond and answered my questions to the best of their ability. Authorization of the software is easy, and the company is great about emailing you promptly. Overall, they do a great job.
Dan Butler | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cubase is the core of our business. As a recording and production studio, we use Cubase as the primary recording solution. We are using this in all key aspects of the production process. Cubase excels in MIDI production with VST instruments and orchestration. Cubase is very flexible when it comes to routing and audio mixing, making it a very valuable part of our process.
  • MIDI: MIDI has been an integral part of Cubase since the very beginning. In Cubase 11, working with and editing MIDI has become a very streamlined process.
  • Advanced Audio Features: One of my favorite audio features is the ability to generate harmony voices in just one click. This speeds up the production process and helps new singers understand different harmony lines. It also gives the ability to add modern harmony sounds to our tracks.
  • Channel Strip: While we use many plugins to emulate famous consoles and outboard equipment, the stock channel strip is outstanding. The included channel strip could easily stand on its own to get a finished sound.
  • Control Room: This is an amazing tool that emulates a monitor controller right in the software. Using this allows me to set up headphone cues, headphone mixes, and different monitor configurations. I am able to insert plugins into these chains that do not affect the master bus.
  • Channel Conversion: The one thing I wish Cubase would change is the ability to change a mono channel to stereo. Sometimes when creating a new track, you realize after the fact it needs to be one or the other. There is no easy way to change this setting.
  • Automation: While the automation abilities are very inclusive, I would like to see more streamlined abilities when drawing automation curves. It can sometimes feel a little clunky in its current iteration.
I have been a longtime fan of Cubase and would recommend it to anyone, whether they are just starting in recording or a seasoned professional. I find that it is really strong in the pre-production and production phases of a song. Tools like the arranger track, track versions, and the chord track make writing and experimenting very easy. I have used these tools on almost every song that I have started from the writing phase. I am able to experiment with different variations of a song, different channel settings, and even completely different arrangements all with just a few clicks. My writing process and speed have improved so much over the last few versions of Cubase.

We have also enjoyed working with the mixing process. The mixers in Cubase are laid out much like a regular console. So for an old timer like me, the learning curve is very low. Cubase did a very good job with layout and labeling. Things are labeled what you would expect them to be and laid out in an order that makes sense. The other part of the mixer that makes it great is the ability to color code and organize tracks. My mix time has drastically decreased since using Cubase.
  • MIDI and VSTi: During the writing process, we use a number of VSTi's. Cubase's ability to handle all of the different routing possibilities has become integral to our process.
  • Speed: The workflow improvements made in the last few versions has greatly improved the amount of work we can get done.
  • Flexibility: Being able to export mixes in multiple formats without having to use third-party software is invaluable. We can make multiple versions for online, CD, or even vinyl in just a few clicks.
  • Since converting to Cubase, we have only seen a positive impact. We are able to provide a much higher value to our clients by being able to do everything in one software solution. The price point for Cubase Pro is under $1,000, so the investment is paid for within a couple projects.
We chose Cubase in the beginning due to price differences between Pro Tools and Cubase. As we learned to use Cubase, we realized the flexibility between MIDI and audio was far more advanced than any other product on the market. We still feel like the MIDI implementation in Cubase is beyond any other product on the market. We have also found that the audio engine alone is on par with all of the industry standard software. During the 18 years we have used Cubase, we have noticed more and more high-end mixing, mastering and production studios using Cubase in their workflows.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cubase is used in our audio department for, recording, editing and mixing of audio. We use Cubase in an Audio Visual Event setting.
We are often required to record and mix down audio for conferences and live stream post production for upload to youtube or similar or to be distributed within businesses as promo content etc.
  • The user interface is very accessible and easy to operate
  • Cubase will run fine on most PCs with regular hardware
  • VSTs are easy to manage and install
  • Audio routing within the mixer is very simple
  • Keyboard shortcuts aren't the best, I find it tedious to zoom in and out of the timeline
  • Multi-track recording of multiple takes can become hard to manage
  • Composing with Midi can be hard, the midi editing is a bit outdated
Cubase is great for mixing down all forms of audio, the included audio tools are quite good, although I believe that most users would supplement these with 3rd party VSTs. At the end of the day, most audio editing and mixing software produces the same outcome, for me it comes down to ease of use and a great user interface, which I believe that Cubase has. For this reason I believe that Cubase is more suitable for less technical users.
Cubase can edit audio with Video playback, however I have always found it easier to edit the audio and then combine with the video using another software.
  • Easy to use user interface
  • Easy to use media import feature and media management (pool)
  • Low requirements for PC hardware
  • Using Cubase over something like Protools means that new users are more likely to be successful during training and due to this, decrease training time.
  • More trained staff means that we are able to complete more projects faster instead of waiting for a more skilled staff member to become available.
  • Implementation on-site for on-site recording has been very reliable and has decreased the amount of failed recordings during events.
Cubase was our choice based on the cost of the software as well as an easy to user interface, this coupled with the low hardware requirements meant that roll out was easy and cost effective.
We have used Pro Tools in the past and found that training staff to use this software was more time intensive, FL Studio while a great tool for composing, does not have a full feature set when it comes to audio recording.
Audacity is only a very basic audio editor and the tools it provides are very hard to use in that users have to make their settings, process the audio and then listen to the result which is in my opinion unusable for mixing audio.
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