Hi guys
I’m a long-term Logic user (last 10 years) who was previously a Cubase user (mid 90s to 2005). For a number of reasons, primarily to do with external MIDI port handling, I’m reviewing a move to Cubase 8.
I downloaded the demo version and was very impressed, especially by the huge improvements in low-latency performance at low sample buffers (32 samples), made possible presumably by AsioGuard 2. Performance was better than Logic Pro X, which has always handled low sample buffers very well - so it’s exciting to see that Cubase is now supporting its amazing feature set with genuinely competitive performance on Mac!
I did notice one concerning thing though. When I started up Cubase, after about 2 or 3 minutes, the MacBook’s fan starts running really loudly. This continues until I quit Cubase. It happens even while Cubase is sitting idle, with one or two tracks record-enabled. As mentioned previously, I have the sample buffer set to 32 samples.
To confirm the issue wasn’t a system-wide problem with my MacBook, I tested various Logic Pro X projects afterwards, with similar settings (32 sample buffer, etc), and the fan was inaudible.
Despite the fact that Cubase’s performance was still amazing while the fan was whirring away, I’m obviously concerned, as something’s not right! Long-term, this would mean my system would be constantly running very hot, which can’t be a good thing.
I’m keen to hear whether anyone else has had this experience with Cubase 8 on their MacBook? Unfortunately the trial period has ended so I can’t conduct further tests, but any feedback on this from Mac users would be greatly welcomed.
Cheers,
Mike