Hi,
I have been on Cubase for about 6 years or so and it does me right. At this point I see no reason to make a switch. Without starting a war I have an honest observation and question.
I opened up a thick (1" or so) catalog today and was surprised to find 1 page devoted to Cubase and about 12 pages devoted to Pro Tools. I also note that here in the US the largest retailer of gear pushes PT big time.
My question is what gives? I am not switching as I have too much into my Cubase setup and it works for me. But I am curious about all the noise over PT here in the US. I imagine Europe is a Cubase show, is that true? Are there features in PT that are that much better than Cubase?
In the magazines I read (these are Dutch or English, usually not US) pretty much equal attention is given to all major DAW’s. Cubase/Protools/Logic, and then a bit less about Ableton, Studio One, Reaper etc.
I see adverts for Cubase in nearly every magazine as well, so Steinberg is quite active in pushing their name here.
The ‘problem’ is that Avid managed to market Protools into the industry standard position. Although Protools is a fine application, I personally see no reason why Cubase couldn’t be industry standard, both are equally powerful DAW’s, with of course some areas where one excels over the other. It also depends a bit on which magazines you read I suppose. Protools is the standard for the big recording studios. Magazines aimed at bedroom producers tend to float more in the direction of Logic, Ableton and other ‘cheaper’ DAW’s.
If it was something like Sweetwater or Guitar Center, you have to ask yourself an important question. Do they make more money off a $700 box of Cubase or a potential $10k and up with a PT rig? That is the answer to your question.
This is true, but the sales catalogs are driven by sales traction. PT has a much larger post initial sale upcharge potential than Cubase or any of the other DAWS. So, when they put the catalog together, they purposefully present Cubase/Logic/Sonar/Samplitude/DigitalPerform as a stand alone software products and PT as an integrated production environment “that the pros use”.
Not true. I’m studying at a private university with focus on audio in Frankfurt (I ain’t saying names, but there’s actually only one)
and they are strictly on Pro Tools and Logic which annoys me more than I could describe with using all 4-letter-words
that were ever invented in this world…
You could integrate Cubase or Nuendo in every studio there and it’d be a piece of cake (even for the HD interfaces).
But they won’t do it. And when you use and prefer Cubase, people there are calling you a Steinberg fanboy.
As I am a Steinberg fanboy I don’t have a problem with this. An audio engineer should get along with any DAW on the market which is not a big deal as they all work almost the same way in the end. But it still pisses me off somehow. Like I said, in my understanding you should be able to get along with all big DAWs. Well, the guys who graduate there will have a huge problem when they’re ready for work and the studio they’re hiring at uses Nuendo.
For the market here it is not so easy to say who’s making it. I know a lot of people using Pro Tools or Logic and a lot of people using Cubase.
As a user of PT and Cubase, PT has been a hardware company for a very long time until they recently went native. The systems were big money. In the industry, spending more money means more pro to the layman. “I want to go there because they have THAT” kinda thing. Like, when I was a kid, that was a big morsel of thought as well as since it costs more it has to be better… You see it all the time in GearSlutz dream threads. More more more, I need more!!! FFS, I have over forty microphones!!
Avid is a big company with a huge line of software and hardware: Products - Avid
They have a lot more money to advertise too I suspect than a small company like Steinberg which as far as I can tell is a small part of yamaha but is getting bigger year after year. Steinberg used to be owned by Pinnacle which now Avid owns. Steinberg & Pinnacle: The Buyout .
Anyway, Avid has turn-key style systems and well being very big in the multi media creation industry. This in turn would lead me to think they have a lot more money to spend on advertising, which they have to to sell product, and they have a lot more to offer than steinberg as far as packages which creates quite a large catalogue of solutions. Avid has a lot of products! They just keep buying companies (euphonix, etc…)
my 2c. I like both companies products and use them all the time. I just wish my controllers did more in PT.
If you want more Steinberg advertising, photocopy their adverts and paper your walls with it. If it makes you feel better about using their program, hurray!!!
They might be smaller. But they’re longer in the game and
paved the way for some of the best ideas in DAW-History that are
standard today. You use both. I spit one big green on Avid.
If I didn’t have to work with that system I wouldn’t do it. It sucks!
Just my opinion.
Ok, sorry for my word choice. I’m just cheesed off
by Pro Tools as I’m way faster using Cubase though I
got some practice in both DAWs.
Back to the topic:
What’s the advantage of a HD System?
DSP-Chips and low latency recording, good preamps.
That’s it. Pretty nice audio interfaces. Absolutely not affordable.
This was a huge reason to go Avid / Digidesign some years ago.
You can get good quality with a better price performance ratio nower days
and use better software instead of Pro Tools.
Let’s see how far I get when I’m done with studying.
I don’t even need to be convinced by some lame advertising.
Yamaha is building high quality hardware since a century and Steinberg
is making the best DAW. The both combined are really powerful
and I’m excited about what they’ll bring up in the future.
If it was something like Sweetwater or Guitar Center, you have to ask yourself an important question. Do they make more money off a $700 box of Cubase or a potential $10k and up with a PT rig? That is the answer to your question.
You nailed the catalog, that is for sure! I had no idea a PT rig was that much dough. WOW! Thanks for the enlightenment.
I already use Pro Tools quite fast. As I said it’s not a big deal.
But I’m faster using Cubase or Nuendo. In the end it doesn’t matter
if it’s done in PT or an other DAW. It’s just about how fast you are
and the quality of the results. And if I start my own studio there won’t
be any Avid interfaces or software.
An audio engineer should get along with any DAW on the market which is not a big deal as they all work almost the same way in the end. But it still pisses me off somehow. Like I said, in my understanding you should be able to get along with all big DAWs. Well, the guys who graduate there will have a huge problem when they’re ready for work and the studio they’re hiring at uses Nuendo.
I like both companies products and use them all the time. I just wish my controllers did more in PT.