Firstly, the Sentinel Guard, with all of it’s good intentions, caused lots of headaches. Maybe Steinberg could have released a utility that scanned your plugin directories and given you a heads up as to which ones would be blacklisted BEFORE you purchased C9. Microsoft does this to allow you to see which apps will work with their upcoming OS.
Secondly, feature and bug fix wise, this has to be the lightest full version update I’ve seen since I’ve been using Cubase (v5.0). C9 feels more like a slightly anemic .5 release. Also I feel like 8.5 was ignored with only 2 updates and that many of the C9 fixes could have been rolled out in an 8.5.30/.40 maintenance release.
In other words, I don’t feel like I got my money’s worth with either 8.5 or 9.0.
I never had random crashes or graphical issues with Cubase so if the stability improvements they are proclaiming are largely due to the Sentinel Guard blacklist and the 32bit restrictions, then I am even less impressed. Maybe a detailed list of everything fixed would persuade me to think differently. Moving forward, Steinberg should concentrate on giving us a less buggy Cubase with more user requested features & user requested fixes or reduce the upgrade price if small enhancements and lower frequency maintenance releases are going to be the new norm.
Yeah I am venting a little and I still love Cubase but this post asked the question and I answered … so there it is
Doesn’t feel like a full upgrade to me, Freq-EQ would have been a winner if it was part of the channel strip. I think I’ll find use for the sample track. probably 60/40 hit/miss for me! Forcing 64bit was a good idea, but they could have done that years ago. I’d love an assignable chord track per instrument track option - so you can play with unfamiliar chords on individual instruments without a lot of flaffing about.
Mixer history is great until you realise that it all disappears when you quit Cubase and reload the project. Okay I understand there’s a price to pay for storing mixer history - but at least keep the last 50 tweaks from session to session! How large an XML file would it take to save and load the mixer history state data? 10Kb? 20? Nothing in today’s terms.
I’m in the middle of some projects so I don’t want to rock the boat, but it looks like a reasonable upgrade. No toys for no reason but a handful of useful stuff. Soon-ish …
I really appreciate the little non advertised features, keycommands for the window layout and stuff. Everything new in appearance is optional, that’s really cool for me. See myself using the lower zone a lot when working on a laptop. I’ve used the edge hints in 8.5 that many people hated but having dedicated buttons is even better. Sampler track is not that important to me but a welcome addition anyway. Being able to create curves in the envelopes there - I take it as a possible precursor regarding the equivalent functionality in automation lanes. Sentinel is painless for me, 64 bit all the way. Frequency is great though I won’t use it much as Pro Q2 is unrivalled in terms of intuitive, superfast handling but hey, as an addition to the stock plugins it is a great tool.
There’s a lot of stuff left to add and improve. ARA is something I really hope for in future versions, overhaul of automation, more insert slots, history that saves with the project and adds snapshots, multitrack warping without phase issues etc. Basically what many people wish.
Really like the mind how Steinberg has brought Cubase a piece further without breaking usage concepts in this release (happened in the past). Could continue working in seamless manner, enjoy the new features while everything was kept intact so far (really consider this a feature though it could be some sort of Stockholm Syndrome ). This release may not seem big but for me it is. Beyond that, the updates are cheap (99/year when you keep updating regularly) and feel better than those weird subscription models.
ARA licensing will mean a price increase for all Cubase owners, I’d be more than happy with a cost-option bolt-on for those who want/need it. I love Melodyne but hate the mucking around to use it in Cubase.
ARA is a free SDK for developers AFAIK. Of course there are costs of development to implement it into Cubase. VariAudio is based on Zplane’s technology (including licensing) I think, not sure how this affected the pricing.
Features/content I hardly use were causing costs I contributed to by upgrading but complete the DAW and make sense (and eventually I could need them later… i.e. I play around with the added sample-, loop- and soundcontent of every new version and then use no single piece of it as I’m a musician, not a loopdude - but I can see how this stuff can be useful for others - maybe now for me too by deforming them instantly with the sampler track ).
But hey, I don’t think it’s a good idea to seperate functionality from the core but I’d be happy to pay for ARA integration alone as well
I like the Cubase sequencing layout, which is why I am a Pro Tools migrant. The functionality improvements over 8.5 are not overwhelming, but that works for me because I liked 8.5. I don’t see any steps backward, and I am now on the latest version, therefore, it is a hit.
Aaaawww, it’s between X-mas and New Years Eve and I can probably do diz now hehe!
Yep! Cubase Pro 9.0.1 works like a charm with jBridge and all 32 bit plugins.
Snappy is only the first name!!!
For some reason C8.5 64 never got along with my computer as well as C5 - C7 did and it was a little sluggish, unpredictable and just strange but generally worked fine.
Now with C9 I had to load and undload some VSTi just to check if they actually loaded that fast, like “wtf was that???”
Is it me or does the program look crisper on the screen?
And the Rack finally is about half the size it was in C8!!! Woohoo!
So far after a first test drive it looks rock solid so I will just forget about C8!
A few hours later I guess almost everything is adjusted and C9 is … just awesome. Little things here and there and a few not so small things that REALLY makes a difference like the freakin’ old Transport bar I will never see again haha what a relief!!! It’s almost worth the upgrade just to get rid of that … thing! The Sampler Track is a winner and plenty fun! I think I like C9
Miss… Just another way for Steinberg to get $100 from each of us. Some new features are useful but there will a new version (9.5) in a few months, which will cost another $100. What is most disappointing is that Steinberg doesn’t care what features we need, they are mostly interested in catching up with other DAWs even if it would compromise Cubase typical workflow. The mighty new sampler is a joke if you’d compare it to Ableton’s one for example. Cubase 9 (8 as well) is all over the place totally losing its own personality. Plus bugs, bugs, bugs… I tried v.9.0.1 on both Mac and PC. Windows is better a bit than Mac but both are not ready for a real project. Well, these are my 2 cents.
). This release may not seem big but for me it is. Beyond that, the updates are cheap (99/year when you keep updating regularly) and feel better than those weird subscription models.
