8.5.10 features - talk me into upgrading from 7.5.40 please!

Cubase
1

Hi all -

I am itching so much to upgrade … I even went as far as downloading 8.5, and the 8.5.10 patch.

But I made myself do some due diligence, and now I’m not sure what there is in 8.5.10 that would make me want to give up what is working great currently in 7.5.40. It’s the fact that new features since then are causing problems with so many people … if they aren’t working well, they can’t really be used to justify an upgrade, IMO.

  1. VCA faders. Sound cutting out, tracks armed to be recorded, problems with faders jumping: Computer für Audioanwendungen - WaveLab - Steinberg Forums and others.

  2. Automation silencing track output: BON-14543. At least one user says it has been fixed, but it doesn’t appear as “fixed” in the 8.5.10 official Steinberg bug fix .pdf.

  3. Virgin territory: Very difficult to work with in a meaningful way, apparently: Steinberg Forums

So, as far as I can see, I would be updating just to get Render-in-place, which as far as I can tell is working fine (new synths, plug-ins, and the like aren’t that useful to me). But then it seems there are possibly new problems introduced in 8.5.10 that are not present in 7.5.40, such as GUI issues when using the scissor tool, pop-up sidebars that get in the way of using the scroll bar in the mixer, and possibly a problem with Time Warp ( Time Warp and Track Toggle Bug - Cubase - Steinberg Forums , this would be a huge deal for me if it were true and extended to the Edit Window, not just present in the project page. Still waiting for confirmation to see whether this is a bug or not, or even whether it is present in multiple users).

So … I really DO want to drop some $$ upgrading … but I’m not sure, beyond R-I-P what I will get that will be useful for me. Someone … please talk me into it!

Thanks!

2

Everything is better than Cubase 7… Steinberg’s Vista IMO.

3

Thanks for that, BM-TSR. The thing is, I’m quite happy on 7.5.40, I know it’s not perfect, but I have put in the hours to know where the pitfalls are, and can focus on getting things done, rather than wondering if it’s me or some inconsistency in the program (for the most part!). So, there has to be a real (+) advantage in whatever I might change to, to make it worthwhile.

One thing I didn’t mention that I heard is lots better is the Elastique algorithms in Cubase 8.n. Not enough at this point to make me upgrade in light of everything I mentioned in the OP … but I do wish I had access to it now!

So, the Elastique and RIP seem to be the two new things I would be interested in that work as advertised if I upgraded.

Any other new features that people are happy in 8.5.10 that aren’t available in 7.5.40?

4

In my honest opinion, there’s nothing substantial that you’re missing on 7.5.

Your best bet would be to download the what’s new pdfs for both 8 and 8.5. It’s a very short read and there are no hidden features. That’s it.

Don’t forget to take into account the fact that some of the new features aren’t quite working (VCA, VT for example), and that new bugs have been introduced. There are also a few new annoyances, like the new popup windows, the new cross cursor, the names of the tracks in the mixer changing into a folder when you hover over them, stuff like that.
For quite a few users, including myself, the UI got a lot laggier since 8.0.3 while in 8.5.1 some of it (but not all) got alleviated.

On the somewhat positive side, the hover buttons situation has been partially addressed in 8 and and 8.5, but 8.5.1 went again a few steps backwards in that regard.
You can now add midi notes with the select tool, but I’m so used to the old alt-click way that I don’t even use this.
You also don’t need the alt key anymore for click-duplicating. Don’t get me started on that.

The plugin manager is a teeny tiny feature that 7.5 does not have.
The ASIO guard enhancements? I really haven’t seen any, tested on two different windows machines, but other users have had different results. Some better, some worse.

We’re still not entirely sure if the automation issues have all been resolved, time will tell.

There you have it, one guy’s opinion. Other users seem to be thrilled by the new 8 and 8.5, so, at the end of the day, it can only be your call. Just dload the demo and give it a whirl, but put it through it’s paces.

Edit: Forgot about RIP, which is a nice enough addition.

5

I agree with Karlito, there’s not much from where you are besides the render in place feature (and even that has some unresolved issues listed in the 8.5.1 known issues section). My advice would be to wait it out until Cubase 9 comes out at the end of this year and see how much Steinberg has fixed at that point. Some of us have voiced concern about getting new, yet incomplete or buggy, features that don’t really get patched up completely. Steinberg said they were gonna do something about it, but their response left lots to be desired as you can see in this thread (https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=198&t=91310). I’m still trying to be optimistic, so we’ll see.

Good luck (whatever you decide)!

6

How is this acceptable ? I am not directing this rhetorical question at you BTW, I will stay with 8.10 until 8.5 x or 9x ( or a competitor ) Bring VCA’ s that work, an efficient engine, and track visibility that works as advertised.

7

It’s not.

8

OTOH if you plan to stay with Cubase, then there is no reason to wait, the money paid for going from 7.5 to 8.5 to 9.0 is the same as going from 7.5 to 9.0.
Your 7.5 will still work unless you choose to uninstall it.
You can learn to master the new features in good time, and then decide when it’s time to replace 7.5 completely as a production DAW with the new version.

9

If everything’s working great on 7.5 then I’d stay put!