Cubase vs. Pro Tools LE
Submitted by Nick Principe on Tue, 2007-09-18 13:24.
Todays lecture on Cubase sparked my interest. As a current (and 5 year long) Pro-Tools LE user, I'm getting tired of the constraints that Digidesign puts on it's clients. My two questions (as I'm considering branching over):
1) Is the sound engine in the cheaper version of Cubase (SE3) as good at capturing live sound as Pro Tools LE?
2) Will my plug-in files (3rd party) for Pro-Tools LE work in the Cubase interface?
Thanks,
Nick
Pro Tools LE
Nick,
Just to chime in...
I use Pro Tools LE. I wouldn't dream of switching to Cubase because I prefer the Pro Tools interface, both functionally and aesthetically.
That said, I've had to keep my G4 running OS 10.3 in order to keep using a digi 001. And I feel for you with the plug-ins question. I have some great RTAS plug-ins that will only work in OS 9. I use Reason 3, so OS 9 is practically useless for me now.
Hope you find what works best for you.
Eric Feinstein
ehf6@cornell.edu
One restatement
One other addendum regarding your plugins: it may be that some of the plugins you own have VST and RTAS versions (the Native Instruments VSTi's are a good example of this) . In that case they will be usable from one app to the other. However, it still stands that VST is compatible in both directions.
== Digital Music Faculty
My Thoughts
You are welcome to try any and all of these tools on CEMC systems. Cubase SE and Protools LE as well as Mackie's Tracktion and Logic Express are rouhly comparible. They are all "project studio" oriented: around 32-48 tracks available, 24bit (usually no 32bit float support), 96K, stereo output applications. Your RTAS plugins from Protools will NOT open in Cubase or Tracktion or Logic or.... Your VST plugins from Cubase WILL open in Protools and Tracktion and Logic and Ardour and...
Note that Cubase just released Cubase 4 (Cubase 4 Studio is the "project studio" version, the upgrade from SE/SL). If you are running an Intel Mac, Cubase 4 is highy recommended. There is also one version LOWER, more of a GarageBand rip-off called Sequel, I know nothing about it, however:
http://www.steinberg.net/1301_1.html
If you are only interested in audio, Ardour's audio engine is superior to LE/SE/Traction/Logic Express. It is better compared with Nuendo (above Cubase SX), Protools HD, Logic Pro, or Samplitude/Seqoia (http://www.samplitude.com/eng/seq), to name a few.
== Digital Music Faculty
What about Ardour?
Nick,
I don't know the answer to your specific query, since I'm no expert on Cubase and know next to nothing about Pro Tools, but, as a Mac user (I believe I saw you working on a MacBook the other day) you should consider Ardour (ardour.org), the absolutely free, full-blown DAW for Mac and Linux.
It requires an app called Jack, which, among other things, allows one to link audio apps together, and also Apple's X11 available on your OS 10.4 DVD. (See details here ardour.org/requirements_osx).
You may find this frustrating and/or difficult to set up, and you may hate it even after you get it working, but at least you won't be out any money.
DW