cubase 9 pro sounds different to cubase 9 elements

Cubase
#1

so i have cubase 9 pro and also bought cubase 9 elements for my notebook. i tried the elements on my pc first and compared it to cubase 9 pro.

audio files when rendered will be 100% the same and will NULL if you do the test, but using any vst instrument or effects wont be the same. asio guard is turned off in cubase 9 and elements and both projects are 48/32 (also rendered as 48/32). control room is turned off in pro.

i used only prologue for this test, and i wonder why output is different.

ofcourse i made alot more tests and didnt believe so far that daw may sound or export different, but in this case cubase 9 pro is different from cubase 9 elements. maybe iam doing something wrong (dont think so), and thats why iam asking.
elements output also seems to be louder in some cases and i wonder why.

i included the two simples project files please could someone check why this happens? zippyshare link also includes my rendered audio.

http://www86.zippyshare.com/v/58GXJpVX/file.html
projectfiles.rar (25.3 KB)

#2

Hi,

Could you attach the exported WAV files, please? We will probably open it in one Cubase Derivative only (for example Cubase Pro), so we will probably not find anything, from the CPR files, you attached.

I don’t know, how big is the difference, but in general, yes the results are different a bit with every single export, because of different Buffer. I mean, The Buffer is different, when you start to export the file. So then it’s filled in different time, which affects also oscillators. This is the same with all DAW and digital audio devices.

#3

the WAV files are included in the zippyshare link. i couldnt upload them here because of the 2mb file size limit.

i took same buffer settings when exporting, but i was also told buffer settings dont affect sound quality. in fact they do. i did many more tests and on my interface (audient id14) is sounds different. also there was a discussion here a while back where someone said asio guard affects sound quality. actually for me it does aswell. i do hear this best when using reverb plugins. it sounds more clear with asio guard turned off. this is a different topic though.

back to topic. for me its very clear that the PRO version of cubase somehow sounds better than the elements version. i know they are using the same audio engine, but there is something under the hood different. i know people will now say do null tests and such (audio files do null). fact is when you are using VSTi instruments or effects cubase pro and elements handle them a bit different.

if you wanna recreate the problem you will have to use the elements version aswell. just importing the elements project into cubase pro will give same export as with the cubase pro project file.

#4

ok, iam feeling a little stupid now and dont know but i fixed it.
i found the steinberg page where it shows all the elicenser files in windows folder and i deleted the remaining ones by hand.
i uninstalled cubase9pro and cubase9elements and reinstalled everything. now output files are exactly the same. how is this even possible? iam not a computer noob… infact iam working as a programmer and have quite a bit of experience id say. whatever. iam pleased now as everything works as it should.