Well I’ve ran it for a few days now, and I haven’t come across anything in Cubase 6 that’s better, only things I hate, number one being the drab grey look the whole thing has now (it’s like switching over to a monochrome monitor!), it is hard to see the difference between midi/vst/sub group mixer strips, one big grey screen now.
I’m sure the rhythmic detection of drums probably does work, I would never use that anyway, the VST3.5 note expression looks good, but only works with Halion, so pointless again.
So maybe all the bugs in Cubase 5 have been fixed? No chance, the score editor bugs are still there, edit one note and often other notes on the screen change/appear, constantly having to hit UPDATE all the time. I don’t think the score editor has changed at all.
I still cannot access my CD drive for audio import in Cubase, Cubase just doesn’t see any content on the drive, every other program including Wavelab (6 & 7) sees it.
So no useful new features, old bugs still there, and I hate the drab grey look, Cubase 6 should have been Cubase 5.6 and a free upgrade.
I’m thinking about going back to Cubase 5. Cubase 6 is a BIG disappointment. With updates, the undocumented tweaks and bug fixes make upgrading usually worth it, there are none this time.
I certainly will not be “upgrading” until timestretch and other bugs that have been noted are fixed. I have been duped since upgrading to C5. I want some of the “core” bugs fixed, certainly as a move to Windows 7 is a massive investment in terms of hardware, software and build time on my part.
For me, the new timestretch algo Elastique from Zplane itself is worth every penny of an upgrade And you can use it in realtime so the bug isnt very bad
If you are a big user of score-edit than yes, I could agree that perhaps this is more of a disappointing upgrade - no great changes there for you I can see
Import Audio CD working fine here (and in W/L 6 on the same machine)
You really don’t have to stick with ‘drab grey’ - in the preferences, it seems you can colour wash the entire UI to lots of er, interesting tones, as you desire…
Many opinions indeed, in the all the other threads being very positive about C6. For me, just the new comping function was worth upgrading, and the new look is perfect when working for many hours - also looks much less toyish. Certainly not a step backwards.
I totally agree- this version should have been 5.6 instead. I guess charging only $149 for this upgrade
instead of the usual $299 is how they justify this. Give me stability, and ease of use, keeping the
creative flow going.
VST Expression 2: For working only Halion Sonic? Of course - as for now! But don’t you think it’s eventually going to be supported by other samplers too? Of course it will! These new innovations ALWAYS take some time get fully recognized. Give it some time, or start to use another DAW.
Comping Feature: a Great welcome to this! Nothing to add here.
New looks: Looks excellent to me. Nothing to add here either.
AmpRack: Do I have to explain this any further? Good work, Steinberg!
Group Editing feauture: Well this one could - and should - be even better, but it’s a change to a right direction. a Good feature again.
Loopmash 2: Way better than earlier! If you don’t need that, then just stick with Cubase 5. Plain and simple.
The new Groove Agent 1.2: Better than earlier. Nothing to add here either.
The new Automation tools: Now this is one of the BIGGEST enhancements to Cubase 5 and I really use this a LOT! This new feature is just PLAIN EXCELLENT and saves my time/nerves/cigarettes etc.
9: Halion Sonic LE: a VERY big welcome to this one. For now, it suits at least my needs and I don’t have to purchase any better sampler, for now at least.
All of the above.
It’s the same nagging every time something new comes up and I don’t understand that. Whether it’s Windows 7, VST3.5, VST Expression 2 or whatever. Resistance for Change is one annoying thing that I really hate. “Just stick with a good-old this and that. Don’t develop anything new…” etc. Everything has to develop - that’s called competition. And Steinberg jumping off that train… they would only be digging their own grave.
We should be glad for Steinberg having brought so many great innovations onto producing music. At least I am. Not kissing any a**:s her nor want to offend anyone, but come on… Cubase rules and you (should) know that.
I am suspicious when new members suddenly join the forum just to agree with another new member about disliking Cubase 6.
Regarding the original poster, you are entitled to your opinions, but why the heck did you even purchase Cubase 6 if it is a step “backwards” for you? You do realize that you could have just read about the new features first, then realized Cubase 6 was not worth the upgrade for you.
if you mainly use something in Cubase that’s been improved, C6 is probably better than C5 FOR YOU
if you mainly use something in Cubase that doesn’t work as well as it did ub C5, C6 is probably worse than C5 FOR YOU
if what you mainly use is largely unaffected, C6 may well not be a useful upgrade FOR YOU
But, in the threads where people have said C6 either is a great improvement, or isn’t a worth-while upgrade, I suspect their statements reflect little more than which of those three categories (or in-between categores) the users fall into.
If you belong to category 1, you can’t say that someone in category 2 is irrational for deciding to go back to C5 - the fact that C6 is better FOR YOU is irrelevant to their usage.
If you belong to category 2 or 3, you can’t say that someone in category 1 is mistaken if they say C6 is better for them - YOUR unfortunate experience is irrelvant to their usage.
Where these threads get (IMHO) rather silly and pointless is when someone INSISTS that C6 is an improvement, no matter what has been spoilt in other people’s workflow, or when someone INSISTS that C6 is a pointless upgrade (or worse), no matter how many people benefit from the improvements.
C6 is such a broad-ranging program that two different users’ experiences of it might hardly overlap at all. It CAN and DOES get better at some things but worse at others, when a new version comes out.
Really, IMHO, although it makes sense for people to say how a revision affects them, it makes little sense anyone trying to say whether C6 is overall better than C5, unless it’s just in broad terms such as whether it’s more stable for all users, or has benefitted from added features without anything being degraded.
When some things improve but others get worse, who is in a position to decide that there’s a net improvement or a net worsening?
Yes. There’s a lot that’s new in C6, but it seems you haven’t researched any of it. Also, there is no logic to the comment “I’m not going to use this feature in Cubase 6, therefore, Cubase 6 is a step backwards.” It simply doesn’t make any sense.
To be fair to the OP, I don’t think he was actually reasoning that way (which WOULD, I agree, have been illogical if he had). I thought he was saying that, for him, there was nothing on the positive side (the new features aren’t useful to him, and bugs that bothered him haven’t been eliminated) but there was something on the negative side (eg you can’t colour the FX, etc, channels in the mixer) - so, overall, it seems a backward step for his purposes.
And, TBH, on the subject you raised of what’s logical and what isn’t, I don’t see how you could have concluded that andyjh hadn’t researched any of what’s new in C6.
Yes - for anyone who can work effectively without the new features, it’s not a good idea to get a “.0” version of Cubase. Better to wait til the enthusiasts that do get it have uncovered the worst of the new bugs and have pointed out the changes that make it harder to use, and SB have put most of that right in updates. (In the case of C4, that appeared to be 4.5.2 (ie the last C4 version).)
Everyone will use different parts of Cubase and for the parts I use in Cubase, this is what I have found:-
I haven’t come across anything better yet in Cubase 6, only things I dislike, and I hate the drab grey look. I relied on the colour coded mixer strips to quickly identify, groups, sub groups, VSTi’s, MIDI and audio the mixer strips, now all we have is a white icon on light grey background, that IS a step backwards, if Steinberg had left a preference option to “use C5 colour coding” that would have answered all the problems.
The TRACK COLORS function has gone from the arrange page, you cannot colour code a track with one click now, before if I had a track with 10 segments, and I want them all say Yellow, to show a complete final part, in C5 I clicked in the black bar just to the right of the track settings, the colour option pops up, move mouse to desired colour and release. All segments coloured as required, but now I have to shrink the arrange screen, lasso all the parts, choose color tool, then resize the arrange screen to where I was and continue, that IS a step backwards.
Of course if there was a printed manual, we could sit back and read about it, but no printed manual this time and that IS a step backwards.
A step backwards, I don’t think I feel that way,
Is it a true next version as opposed to a point upgrade? Well, that’s an argument.
I do feel there was a decision made somewhere to move in a different direction then upgrades from the past.
It looks to me like Steinberg tried to make C6 look like Pro Tools, I’d prefer Cubase to look like Cubase (C5).
I’ll take this opportunity to mention I have found something in C6 that is better than C5, the Test Generator plug in is better, not much I agree, but it is an improvement.
Yeah I think I’m not really agreeing with most of what you say. But Im sure from your perspective and with what you want to do with it you were hoping for more and I can understand that. I guess I think you should have considered the changes they have made, realised it was being developed in the areas you don’t really use, and at very least held back from buying during the first weeks of release. It was pretty clearly documented what they had done since 5. It was also pretty clear what it looked like.
Me, I think its progress. I’m well chuffed with it so far. I think the majority agree, though I do think a printed manual, esp for first time users, should be available. I can’t imagine what that would be like.
For me, It looks the business. And I’m actually excited about the overall combination of new & enhanced existing features available. I’m sure a million doors just opened up for a million different people. And that’s not stepping backwards.
And you can use it in realtime so the bug isnt very bad 
