It’s turning out to be quite the week for DAW updates - and new music technology gear in general, in fact. Following Ableton’s launch of Live 11, Steinberg is getting in on the action with the launch of Cubase 11, which is available right now.
All three versions of Cubase are getting the update - Pro, Artist and Elements - which adds numerous workflow and performance improvements. Steinberg says that it makes producing music easier, quicker and more fun.
As you’d expect, there are some Pro edition exclusives, starting with a new way of printing stems. You can now process and export these in one operation, with full control over the signal path.
There’s also synchronisation across different windows; global tracks are now displayed in the Key Editor, so you can stay in sync with tempo changes or markers without leaving it. Improvements have been made to the Score Editor, too, and the Frequency EQ plugin has been updated.
Other Pro exclusives include Eucon integration, which means support forthe latest Avid consoles; the remote recording plugin VST Connect SE 5, which has a resizable and HiDPI-ready user interface; and 5.1 surround sound support for the MultiTap Delay signal processor.
Some of Cubase 11’s features are common to both Pro and Artist - the SuperVision audio analyser, for example, which provides up to nine module slots for level, spectral, phase and waveform analysis. Other new plugins include Imager, a multiband processor that can help you to get a cleaner mix, and SpectraLayers One - a cutdown version of the SpectraLayers Pro 7 plugin that enables you to visualise and edit audio in the spectral domain.
Finally - but not insignificantly - there are multiple features that apply to all three versions of Cubase 11. There’s a new slicing mode for loop-based samples, two global LFOs for more complex filtering sounds, and the new mono legato glide feature, which should be handy for basslines.
Then there’s the Scale Assistant, which is available in the Key Editor. This enables you to set a scale so that you stay in the right key - you can change the view so that only the notes of the set scale are displayed or let the Scale Assistant analyse your MIDI notes and make them fit the defined scale automatically.
Other Key Editor improvements include the option to create ramps and curves in the CC and pitchbend lanes, set pitchbend steps to semitones, copy CC edits to another MIDI track and delete MIDI notes with a double-click.
All versions of Cubase 11 are also getting Squasher, which offers upward and downward audio compression of up to three bands, and there are six new sound and loop sets created by hip-hop producer Beat Butcha, Hollywood sound designer Robert Dudzic and Black Octopus Sound.
Other across-the-board improvements include variable DPI on Windows 10, with more scaling settings, optimised performance for metal-capable GPUs, optimisation for real-time processing on systems with more than eight cores, and a new multiple sidechain input architecture.
Cubase Pro 11 costs €579 if you want a boxed copy, or €559 if you’re happy with a download. Cubase Artist 11 is €329 in a box, or €309 as a download. Finally, both the boxed and download versions of Cubase Elements 11 cost €100.
There are also upgrade, crossgrade and education options, with anyone who’s activated Cubase Pro 10.5, Cubase Artist 10.5 or Cubase Elements 10.5 (or an earlier version) since 14 October 2020 getting a free update.
Find out more on the Steinberg website.
