I have Cubase 5 installed on my PC, and it seems to be working fine since I got rid of my M-Audio Fast Track Ultra (USB) interface - it was causing me no end of trouble - and got a PreSonus Firestudio Mobile (Firewire) instead. Now everything is good and I can actually make music instead of fighting with my tools all the time. Having everything working makes me feel better about my music and my abilities with the equipment, as well as keeps my blood pressure down.
I am running Cubase in 32-bit, even though I have a 64-bit version available, and I’m using Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. It works fine, but I have some questions regarding my plugins. If I can use these plugins in 64-bit Cubase, then I’ll switch over, but I am a little hesitant at this point. I have NI’s Komplete, but it’s installed in 32-bit, and since it took so long to get it all put in, I don’t know if I want to have to reinstall it all again in 64-bit over a number of hours.
The first plugin I want to know about is Native Instruments’ B4II. However, I don’t really like the “Vintage Organs” that they have in Kontakt because I can’t control the Leslie parameters like I could in B4, and you only have a couple of cabinets to choose from, whereas B4 has several. I do like VO’s Vox and Farfisa organs, so I’ll still use them when I need them.
The second plugin I want to continue to use is Garritan’s Jazz/Big Band. I don’t have the newest version, though, I’ve still got the earlier one which uses Kompakt Player. It worked fine up to now, but I haven’t yet installed it because I don’t know if it will work. I want to use it because of the horns.
I’ve got an early version of Garritan’s Personal Orchestra as well, but I’m not too worried about that one because of the next plugin I will talk about:
Finally, the third one: I got a great deal on a copy of IK’s Miroslav Philharmonik, and I haven’t yet put it in, because I don’t know if it will be supported in 64-bit. I know there are bridging apps which allow 32-bit plugins to run in a 64-bit DAW, but does anybody know if these specific ones I want to use will work reliably? I’ve got my present system working great as is, but I also want to use these plugins. If I can, I’ll be pleased that I don’t have to spend any more money on upgrading software. I bought a new computer and audio interface just before last Christmas, and also bought the Philharmonik package at the same time because it was marked down at my favorite local store. I had upgraded from Cubase SX 3 to Cubase 5 last spring, and then got WaveLab 7 recently, but I think I’ve spent enough for the time being. I don’t want to have to upgrade any more for a while - I just want to make music with what I’ve got, which I consider to be pretty decent equipment for a small home studio.