Dear Steinberg

Cubase
1

Dear Steinberg,

A few hours into trying to mix a song on Cubase Pro 8 and several bad crashes later, here we are. I must say, man…that was the most bizarre and painful experience in a long time.
I guess I was really lucky with 7.5. Even the notorious “hang upon exit issue” would only creep up once in a while. That being said, 8 seems quite the opposite for me.

Let me say, that I really appreciate your attempt to streamline Cubase and to make it the leading DAW on the market, but for goodness sake, please give us a stable DAW.

Some of the GUI and Engineering aspects make me wonder if the designers and architects of Cubase ever use it in a real life situation.
For example: I was really stoked on render in place feature, as it is something I personally appreciate due to my work flow. Mixing today I find out that render in place only renders to Stereo Tracks, unless a mono track is routed to a mono out or the out is disabled?
So instead of clicking render in place, now we got to disable the output on the mono track, render in place, go back and enable the output of the original track rendered, just in case we want to later audition and tweak the track some more.
Mono files aren’t some sporadic occurrence in mixing, but make up the majority of the tracks in a mix session imho. At least live tracked music with drums, bass, guitars, vocals etc. Why not incorporate an option to render mono/stereo??

What’s up with the animated graphics when loading plugins and the mixer? Nobody cares for that. It is a waste of time and probably leeches unnecessarily on recourses. Make it snappy to load right away instead. Some of the other GUI aspects are a can of worms I don’t even want to touch.

After fighting blank plugin GUI-s, plugins not wanting to load (Sound Toys in particular Native v4) multiple crashes followed by a deck of error messages, in a session where CPu is barely peaking at 25%, I’ve decided to export all the tracks as a track archive into a new session. That has served as a work around in the past when faced with similar problems. Unfortunately this time it rendered the title bar of C8 useless. It was frozen and wouldn’t respond. Everything else worked fine.

So I decide to to go back to 7.5. Suddenly I notice this weird graphic bug in the inspector. See the pic attached. I figure it must be because of the multiple tabs expanded. In C8 you can scroll up and down. This is how it behaves when importing a C8 session into C7.5.

More crashes, more reboots. Suddenly my preferences on C7.5 are wiped out. Gone!!! Disappeared.

HAHAHAHHHAHA…Haahhahahahahah HAHAHAHA, Hahahahahaa…this is the sound of me being taken away by two men who just put a straight jacket on me.


Sincerely yours,
Beta tester for the latest paid professional Steinberg release


PS. Please don’t think that my intent is to troll on this forum. I have quite a few investments with Yamaha/Steinberg (Nuendo 4, Cubase 6 – 8, CC121, MR816, QC quick controller, to name a few) and in general like the innovative approach most of the stuff brings. But please, give us a stable platform. Please!!!

Graphic Bug 7.5.jpg
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2

I was similarly baffled by the “improvements” in Cubase 8. I admit I have some seriously multi-tracked projects, including orchestral and Rock opera stuff. But it astounds me that the “upgrade” is incapable of playing projects that the 7.5 can, even with extensive attempts at tweaking while reading the support material and forums. I ended up going back to 7.5 in a hurry, and asking nicely for a refund. There’s no way I can accept a product that is incapable of running projects its “inferior” older brother can and does.

3

As Cubase 7 was out 3 years ago, Steinberg will think to us as a trolls, I don’t really understand why are wasting time on the GUI stuff, and left some important features to Cubase 5 version conditions. Under OSX is a disaster for me, i’m working in a very big project for commercials and I should back to Cubase 6.5, because 7.5 still have problems under Mavericks. I need to use some plugs like Melodyne, or Native Instruments for composing, and they don’t care our needs. That’s really bad. I was a super fan of Steinberg Cubase, but when Cubase 6 will not work on the next systems I’ll probably switch to Logic Pro.

4

Yep - dropped 8.0 within a couple hours of installing it. Actually spent a bit of time using the Plugin Manager, organizing all my plugins twice…once by manufacturer, other by type. Seemed to go well. Then C8 crashed, and lost all of the organization I had done. Total waste of time, and not even thinking about going back to it until a few updates have come along.

The problem I often has with Cubase isn’t necessarily the crashes. Crashes happen in tons of various software I use. And like all other software, when things crash, you just restart the software.

However! The problem I have is that with both Nuendo and Cubase, when the software crashes, it often crashes HARD. Preferences get corrupted, plugin databases get erased, etc. These aren’t simply “damn, I have to reboot the software”. It’s, “wow, I have to go completely reorganize my plugin database” or “i have to go find my preferences folder in my backup and copy files back over to the install directory” or “holy crap, my project lost all it’s links the image files for the all waveforms”.

These kinds of things often add up to a lot of wasted time and extreme frustration. I can’t count the number of times Cubase / Nuendo has crashes and I think…oh god, I really hope that was a simple crash and that I’m not going to spend the next half hour putting the software back together.

I can’t think of another software where crashes / bugs seriously cripple the functioning state of the software. It’s very bizarre to me, and obviously (with my recent plugin database malfunction in Cubase 8) haven’t gotten any better.

5

The crashes can be a huge pain in the behind, but I’ve grown to love Cubase 7.5. It’s unfortunate this latest update is so lame, at least for people like me with very big projects, but I’ll bet there are plenty of people (say, with regular pop and rock songs) whom will benefit from it.

I don’t think any of us here are trolls, we are too relaxed sounding for that I think. Personally, I wish 8 would have worked for my projects, that’s what I paid for. I probably should have heeded the warnings from other parts of this forum about running big projects on it, but that is exactly what I wanted, I don’t have a 99 dollar need for the VCA upgrade, nor the basically useless (for my orchestral projects but not just) ASIO thing.

I’m just hoping I’ll receive a refund, as I trusted this company and only upgraded because they recommended it. The 99 dollars I spent wasn’t worth the time I wasted trying to get 8 to work though.

6

Hi Gurnemanz, unfortunately Steinberg not issue any kind of refunds, was same with Cubase 7.0 a completely disaster and they didn’t refund for the terrible application released. If you came from 7.5 and find problems just try to install and use 6.5, you will be impressed for speed and fast performance of that application. I’ve waited 7.5 performing like 6.5 or much better for years without success. I hoped Cubase 8 went back to the amazing performances but unfortunately is not. I would like to ask a refund too, if you will obtain please let me know. thanks

7

I agree it does crash and the new features don’t seem worth the money and effort. What happened to Steinberg? I don’t need the fancy graphics features which do zero to help in productivity. Big mistake Steinberg. I’m ending my habit of buying every upgrade and getting them as soon as they come out.

8

I, too, have noticed a couple of graphics bugs on the inspector. However, at least for me, I don’t find it distracting…I’m too busy making music than to worry about a graphics bug. My experience thus far with V8.0, has been excellent! I’m so happy with the new window management (yes, I know it should have been there versions ago). Workspace creation, etc. Love the chord track (I don’t really use it as intended), I input the chords so that when I’m recording a bass or guitar part, I don’t need to have the sheet music in front of me: I just play as the chords go by. As a middle aged guy with not so hot vision the increase in the font size of the track names is very helpful to my workflow…I don’t have to squint anymore.
I haven’t used the “render in place” yet, I freeze instruments when I’m 90% certain I have the take I want…should I need to change a little something, I unfreeze and re-freeze…
The bass amps sound awesome (between that and the guitar amps) I barely use NI Guitar Rig at all. I love the docked instrument rack and media bay…it’s so great not chasing windows around!
Anyway, that’s my 2 cents.

9



7.5 performs great for me, and I’m seriously worried about receiving a refund. Xmas is coming, and I could use the wasted 99 dollars on presents for the wife.

I should mention again that I really trusted Steinberg when I came across their upgrade, I thought I could just depend on them. Now I’m 99 dollars short for Xmas with an upgrade that was uninstalled only a few hours after download.

I feel I trusted this this company and was ripped off. No troll, that’s just how I really feel.

10

Not trying to be a party pooper here, but I genuinely do feel that C8 is far, far improved from the wreck that the whole C7 cycle was.

Everything works much more smoothly and efficiently. I can see how the render in place mono issue can be a mild annoyance, but hell, it’s a feature everyone was begging for and the fact they’ve delivered it is a great thing. I can only see it being improved upon in future updates.

And i’m on Yosemite here!

11

Huh ? It’s the best .0 release I can remember. There are some known issues like in any release, and they are going to be addressed, sooner or later. I have had crashes early on, trying out all the many new features and improvements. Yesterday I worked all day on a project using all the productivity enhancements, without any hiccups. This release is more focused on the pro than your average home user, VCA faders, direct routing to name a few. They even lowered the price for the update, if 99 bucks is to steep when better find another job or hobby.
Sorry if I’m offending anyone, but I just don’t get it.

12

In fairness it’s not realistic to expect a .0 release to be entirely stable in an application that delivers major versions on an annual basis. Apple has run into this same problem with iOS, where they always seem to need new shiny features to go along with new phones, and the initial releases have been really rough. So I think Apple’s example shows that even basically infinite money doesn’t solve this problem.

Of course, I would prefer software to be fully patched from day one, but that’s just not the world we live in with the pressure to come up with new features all the time.

Anyway, I would (and did) only buy C8 to get a glimpse at the new features right now, and keep serious projects on 7.5 or 6.5 or whatever you’re on.

C8 actually feels more polished out of the box than the very rough initial C7, so I’m pretty optimistic about the patched result in a few months time.

13

Yep, I too am forced to rely on 7.5.3

I really dig overall what they did to C8 but the fact that I can count on a crash by hitting the F3 key.

I have my X-Keys keyboard programmed with a VST mixer button (essentially F3) and I can get the crashes with my USB keyboard AND my X-Keys.

Check out around 2:05 to see the crash in action.

No warning just a solid lock up and shut down.

I am not super bummed as 7.5.3 is working pretty good for me.

I also notice that the Render GUI issue is still around in C8. It shows 0% for the entire time the mix is rendering. Cubase 7 is my first try in Cubase as I have been a Nuendo user since version 1 (2001). So I don’t know if this is a common issue in Cubase. Never happened in Nuendo.

All in all not ranting, just a bit frustrated and bummed. The look of C8, to my eyes, is a HUGE jump in the RIGHT direction. It does look more sexy. But I would trade stability for sexy any day of the week.

And now for your enjoyment…here is me, POST F3 Crash doing “The Cubase Shuffle”. Its a neat little dance and rap that I created out of frustration from so many random F3 crashes. Don’t be dissing my rapping…just saying!

(in reality you can hear and see what the heck a crash sounds like…and then there is my silly antics).

Dennis in Memphis.

14

Oh me too, I still have 7.5 installed, and on my rock solid recording rig I have 6.5 running. If 8.x turns out to be as rock solid, I’m going to update that license also.

15

I’d better find another job or hobby then.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lyraka&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&ie=&oe=&gws_rd=ssl

16

Hi fireinthefishtank I can help you with the GUI Error image you shared.
Top left on the arrange window > to the left of Configurations > Click upon box with 4 rectangles next to the power switch image > untick Overview Lane. This will hide the lane. It possibly might be the info line if no part is selected.

17

There’s something odd about this. The first time I ran Cubase 8 I got the “Cubase as stopped working” error, which caused Cubase to disappear. Great start I thought but the next time I ran Cubase it started and ran without error, until I tried to load Slate VBC Red plug-in. It didn’t appear in the list. It was there in the folder but invisible in Cubase. I found it had been blacklisted in Cubase preference list.

Deleting the Blacklist would always cause Cubase to crash with the “stopped working” error unless I removed Slate VBC Red from the Slate folder in VSTPlugins or unless I allowed Cubase to crash and blacklist the plug-in.

Now, I have updated the VBC plug-in collection from Slate Digital site and reinstalled several times. Makes no difference, and the funny thing is, I can load the VBC rack and Red works fine from within it. VBC Red shows up in the VST 3 list but if I try to load it I get the same error message followed by the same crash as you. Crazy huh? I’ve checked with others and no one else (yet) has reported this same problem. However, with that plug-in either removed or blacklisted Cubase works without error. I’ll bet that’s the same for you if you don’t press F3?

The thing is, I’m getting the exact same problem with Slate VBC Red that you are with F3, yet no one else is experiencing. Coincidence?

18

Freakin hilarious stuff Dennis!
I’m not having a mixer F3 problem but my NI MASSIVE is crashing cubase8 regularly!

cubase8massivecrash3.png
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Two places to check would be Devices > Device Setup > VST Audio System and make sure you have Release driver when in the background UNchecked and are using ASIO Guard 2 (is it selected)?

19

The problem for me (in 7.5, since 8 can’t handle orchestral projects) is VBC motu, red and grey work fine but Motu crashes all the time upon opening.

20

This is the Frustration Corner :slight_smile:, mostly of our stressful situation depends on Steinberg marketing program imho. As I see, companies sell software with tons of bugs as a usual strategy for mostly of the software houses at now. Not all, Reason .0 was always a kick ass app. Sell Cubase 8.0 for 99euro to the old Cubase 7.5 users looks like ask money for bugs reporting. Sounds absurd right? But looks like that. They need bugs report, but they won’t pay for that, because there are stupids like us than can pay for that. Was the same strategy used with Cubase 7.0 and until now, after 3 years the flagship DAW is still with bugs and problems, especially under OSX. These update price is for fixing the last 7.5 bugs not for Cubase 8. If someone love gambling, it will be released 7.5.4 in the same time of 8.0.1. And 7.5.4 will be the last free update for Cubase 7, but if you want more bugs fix you should pay for Cubase 8. Some other bugs will be corrected until 8.0.5 and they will ask more money for 8.5. In the end of story you will have a Cubase 7 rock solid only after 5 years of developing instead 1. Im still using Cubase 6.5.4 because I can trust that platform under osx. I’ve lost some works under Cubase 7 and I’ve stop to use 7.5 because Melodyne crash the application. I’ve gifted 150€ to steinberg in the last years for Cubase 7, and i’ve donated now other 99€. This is the last time, I swear. Next step will be pass to Logic Pro, because Cubase seems to be a not Professional platform with OSX. At the end of story, Steinberg never says sorry, I should open a dispute on paypal for defected software?