So, I took the plunge & bought C9 Elements for taking on my travels. I was expecting a very cut down version, but it’s actually fully loaded & way more than I anticipated. The midi editing is identical to Pro, as far as I can see. Wish I’d done this years ago, although i feel Steinberg should offer this at a reduced price for existing Pro owners. Superb feature set for sketching out ideas, etc.
The irony for me is that now that I have invested in Vengeance plugins and a few other things, I need my dongle for even if I’m using Ableton!
I often use elements as a compability tester on new OS and cubase updates and checking out new plugs on it before installing on the main mac pro with cubase pro. Elements are also good for the basic tracking I do, and I think the price is fair for such a little monster. I DO have c pro installed as well on that imac, if needed, but if I dont need to bring a dongle and can do basic stuff I am fine with that.
+1 did the same!