Looking at it, I see almost countless threads about Cubase ‘crashes’ (“crash city”, “constantly crashing on some VSTis”, “crashes with no reason”, and so on…) and seeing this, an external observer might see Cubase as one of the most unstable host available ; something to avoid in all cases…
Actually, Cubase 10.0.50 is as stable as can be, here, no matter what I do with it, and whether on my old system or on my brand new Ryzen based one (I can’t talk about 10.5, as I still haven’t make my mind about an eventual upgrade). To a point that I didn’t even bother to reinstall my faithful Cubase 6.5.5 version, which has been my working one for several years (C7.0.x was truely unstable…). I still have some gripes against C10 - Generic remote, mediabay/VST 2.x presets management, mainly - but certainly not about its stability. And I’m not using the bundled instruments, beside GA 5 SE, but a rather esoteric & third party bunch of them, including old ones no longer maintained/available (all 64 bits/VST 2.4, though) : Emulator X3, Alchamy 1.55, Sylenth One 2.21, Arturia MMV 2.5, BFD2, among other ones more recent (Lounge Lizard, Loomer Strings…).
So, I am truely wondering how comes that Cubase 10 could be so problematic for several other users and what is the magic combination to make it derail ?
There are some sub-questions, like:
Is there a difference between Mac and Windows? (I see many Mac-Users complaining about crashes)
Does the issues-forum represent a relevant portion of users? (or do we see the a not representative sample there - merely by the nature of an issue forum?)
What do people’s systems look like in detail?
Is knowledge of how to handle a computer system declining? (I see so many pretty “naive” questions - could that be related to the cellphone generation actually with no idea what they have in hands and comparing apples with oranges?)
and many more.
Recently, not only in the issues forum - I have the impression that we are swamped with strange postings, that inaccurately describe a rant about something “not working at all” or just bringing up questions like “why does cubase not work like product xy…”. Could it be that these are not serious users of cubase but just people that on purpose (paid?) undermine the image of cubase?
And then there is something for which some might hate me: Reading capabilites have declined. Not only around cubase. The cellphone generation thinks sometimes that knowing how to “swipe and thumb-click” is sufficient. Getting an overview of whatever topic by actively reading (overview of the manual eg) is often neglected - understanding basic concepts is not aimed at (about computers and about cubase)…
maybe this also contributes to a general impression. I personally do think so.
I have been using Cubase since the Atari days and can’t really remember having any crash…until the installation of 10.5 - then Cubase just disappeared from screen when loading the first project. Ever since I have had crashes every once in a while, so 10.5 really isn’t stable
10.5 has caused problems a lot for me! Now sure why the Window for crash does not pop up anymore to report it. It just closes on me, just using Steinberg VSTs and very basic project with importing iPhone Videos!
But you’re looking at a thread called ‘issues’ so it’s no coincidence that there’s going to be a bunch of disgruntled people there with said issues. It’s like going to a hospital and expecting not to see sick people.
They seem to be having genuine issues. And I feel for them as I’ve had my fair share that made me leave cubase for two years. I came back for version 10 on the Mac and it has been rock solid ever since. All the updates. It’s matured into a great product.
But in the whole scheme of things there are probably thousands and thousands of cubase users who are working fine with it compared to a handful of threads in the forum.
I think there is truth in your statement. I think a lot of newcomers don’t want to spend a whole lot of time on a DAW that doesn’t work out of the box? Cubase has always been, and still is but maybe a little less so today, a DAW that needs more attention on the system side than others in general. It needs more system tweaking to get the most out of it. So you need more skills regarding computers or at least need to be willing to put in the time to learn. And with the declining of PC’s and increasing of laptop, pad’s and phone market there’s more demand for ‘working out of the box’ DAWs.
Nah, I don’t think there’s a conspiracy against Cubase? I just think it’s increasingly more people that want an out-of-the box experience that just isn’t Cubase? I hear it all around me on parties and receptions? Kids and weekend DJ’s that actually never played or written a note of music ever in their entire lives that are thinking about making their own productions? My nephew, whom I gave piano lessons over a period of a few months, suddenly want’s to make music? Ableton or FL Sudio might work out for these starters? But for them, diving into the world of Cubase, is just a bridge too far! Just like anything else in today’s life? It needs to be quick and instant. Otherwise it just takes too much time and it’s no good!
Think about it? You can go 2 ways with this…1) (Other DAWs) Everything is simple and works right away. But it’s so simple you can hardly do any in-depth functions. 2) (Cubase) Nothing seems to work or is not intuitive, but once you put in the time to actually learn you discover the wealth of possibilities that other DAWs don’t offer. Especially regarding ‘MIDI’ there’s still no other DAW that offers the functionality and the level Cubase is on!
I’ve tried several other DAWs. Cakewalk, Reaper, Ableton., Studio One…I’d personally always choose for Cubase!
Welcome to the new generation that plays games, binchwatches series and chats with their friends all at the same time. That’s the new way of consuming media! I agree. They often ask questions just out of convenience, they could’ve read themselves! But don’t forget, the information they have to process today is far greater than it was before the ‘smartphone’ era!
I’ve watched my nephew in his daily routine a few times and I can inform you, thinking about what he processes on data on a daily basis, frankly it would make me sick! And I firmly believe that human beings have not evolved this far along the way to be able to consume and process all this!?
So I wouldn’t at all be surprised if we get massive reports of major burnouts affecting young people in the very near future! How these young people consume media and try to keep up with social media is just not healthy! Sooner or later something is going to break!
But what really strikes me is that their writing capabilities seem to have become increasingly reduced. I see lots of examples on forums were people just can’t express or explain themselves in an understandable way. And that’s very alarming IMO!
But the question is? Should Steinberg focus on this ‘plug & play’ generation or just the happy few that are willing to put in the time to learn about their computer and DAW? All the youngsters that approach me about music and DAWs always speak of Ableton and FL Studio…I really never hear ‘Cubase’? It feels like It’s only in scope of insiders and maybe composers of film and serious music that are into Cubase? I’ve always pictured it like this: If you’re an educated musician that knows about musical theory and composing, you should choose Cubase. If you have no experience what so ever and you decide on Friday you want to score an EDM hit on Saturday you should definitely go for one of the other DAWs?
And I think maybe it should remain this way? Steinberg has a different audience than other developers. They shouldn’t focus too much on the EDM scene and keep the scope on ‘their own’ market. Might as well face it? Cubase will never be massively adopted in the EDM scene because it’s just too complicated and the learning curve is too steep!
I’m not stating that people involved in EDM are stupid or anything? I jus’t don’t see the average EDM producer opening the Score editor and arrange their latest hit for Orchestra? And I basically think that Cubase is just not “DOPE” among DJ’s and most modern producers of EDM! For them I think Cubase is just overkill?
This is a very good point and it’s present almost everywhere.
As to the Issue subsection of the forum, I think it’s just the small sample of users.
I upgraded from C9,5 to C10 when 10 came out. I haven’t changed anything in my system, just the Cubase version and I had massive problems with the sound card I was using at the time.
First thing I did was to go to Issues forum and complain. Once I got it sorted (sort of) I never went back there again.
And I think something similar is present on all the forums that have something to do with customers. The most loud and vocal will be that small group that is unhappy about the product.
About the OSX vs Windows aspect, yes, it’s obvious that there is a problem with 10.5 on Mac, seeing the threads that appeared in the forums since two months. But it only partially explains the overall amount of ‘crash’ threads, as these were already present before.
After this, and as Elien said, I reckon that more and more users no longer have the patience to RTFM. In depth researches are no longer done or even considered and things should magically work from the start, this, even if a full functional DAW is by no means comparable to a smartphone (and thinking of it, I have much more issues with mine than with my DAW, actually…).
But overall, I’m still cautious about the whole thing : to which point the DAW components and their combination (including OS, processor, RAM, drives, video display and audio/MIDI interface with its driver) could be responsible of all the ‘crash’ threads ?
That’s the new way of consuming media! I agree. They often ask questions just out of convenience, they could’ve read themselves! But don’t forget, the information they have to process today is far greater than it was before the ‘smartphone’ era!