Struggling with C7 to get it working with the same efficiency as before, I got tired of all the useless UI ‘evolutions’ since 5.1. So, I retrieved my little Cubase 5 case with its 4 DVDs and reinstalled C5 in its 64 bits flavor, just to see how it behaves with Windows 7. Three years ago, I was still under Windows XP SP3 32 bits, so I didn’t know what to expect. I immediatly upgraded it with the 5.1.0, then 5.1.1 updates. The results, for the same template project :
Cubase 5 launching is more than two times quicker, even for loading my samples libraries (EMu X3, Alchemy, BFD2…)
The ASIO usage is, at least, 40% less,
The three VSYis that I still have in 32 bits format are bridged without issues,
Rock stable setup, even after tweaking it in every possible way.
And, more then these (see the attached screenshot) :
Transparent events as they never should have gone,
No more oversized Info line, this with a relevent font display,
Simple and efficient project cursor (no C7 cursor horrible white ‘mask’ feature involved, which makes it all blurry)
An overview line without flashy white background,
An efficient ‘Wrap controls’ behavior : no more half appearent buttons when the track is reduced in high for the group/FX tracks,
No more shaded/3D display of events. These were getting on my nerves as sson as I upgraded to 6.0…
And the thing that is not visible in the screenshot but is probably the most important : a still existing ‘Preference/Work area’ page which allows you to set precisely the relative display of the vertaical and horizontal grids : it has been dropped since C7 for an unknown reason.
This with the .vmx files fully working… C 7.0.1 anyone ?
Let’s say I’m a happy camper, this evening : I was expecting all kinds of problems and, actually, all went without issues. I have even been able to integrate my 6.5 generic remote and quick controls definition files, windows layout (workspaces…) and key commands one, without hassle.
The lesson ? Don’t be afraid to reinstall C5 if the C7 UI doesn’t match your needs : what I’ll do in a foreseeable future is to do everything I can with C5, using only C6/C7 only for specific tasks that C5 isn’t able to provide. And there are not so much of them. The new MixConsole, comping stuff, etc ? I can live without them. This, from a certified bedroom studio owner…
7.0.2 ? I no longer care…
At this point, I am wondering why I purchased all the upgrades/updates that followed since 5.1. Let’s say it’s a commitment to Steiny to keep on developing Cubase, but I’m not really pleased about how the whole process is evolving…
Not sure about your question, but yes, C5 was available in its 64 bits flavor : this is the one I installed yesterday for my tests from the DVD provided and, if I rememeber well, it was the first Cubase version that was officially supported in its 64 bits version.
Beside this, I can only agree with you : recent and shiny stuff and features aren’t always the more efficient…
I too have C5/6/7 all running on the same 'puter and they
are all very nice to use.
A couple/few of month ago Apple recalled my computer
for a new Hdrive replacement.
So for about a week I was working on my old 12 inch G4 laptop running SX3.
I was fun and I did get some work done, but I would not want to still
live there.
It was like driving a stick shift automobile.
Takes a lil more effort, but you can still get there.
SX3, well… I would probably don’t want to go as far as this in the past. The point of this topis is about all the UI glitches, regressions and dropped features (again, vmx and Preferences/Work area page) that occured since 5.1 and mainly, the pros and cons of 5.1 against 7 for a day to day usage.
Sure, there are some specific moments where you could need one or another new features that C7 brings. But for basic tasks such as composing, tracking and making a decent mix, do we need a overhyped host which takes a lot more ressources than what was existing three years before, this while dropping features that were perfectly working and useful ?
I know that some will say that maybe Cubase is no more for me and maybe I should look eksewhere. The problem is that I need the followings, among others (and only Cubase, even in its 5.1 version give them as a whole) :
the musical/linear time base switch,
the input tracks,
the input transformer,
the external instruments integration as VSTis,
the score editor,
the generic remote feature with the quick controls,
the layout of the project window, which was the best until 5.1 : after, it’s a matter of opinion…
and, most of all, all the experience I got after several years using Cubase.
What I am simply stating is that all these are existing in 5.1 and working more efficiently than it does with C7, this with less ressources used, and a snapier and more sober and efficient UI. After, to each his/her own…
I am on same bandwagon here. Installed C 7 on my Mac and really not very happy :
1.GUI it’s blurry I did everything to change the look ,but still looks “shaded” and blurry .
2.The mixer with the rack ! after so many investments during all this years (And I own Cubase from Atari days,than bought the thing on a floppy)with so many plug ins ,UAD,Waves ,etc I don’t feel (I think also a lot of Users),that I will use the included EQ,dynamics etc,It takes so many clicks to open something ,and sometimes I hit by mistake the power button on inserts since they are small and not very transparent,so too many problems (at least for me) for the workflow which I was used to see and use.
3.When you open the channel win.also there is so much space taken with same things that I don’t use (especially eq.),it would be great if you can open third party vst instead of included plug in’s
4.when you engage the send it goes up to 100 % ,coming from the old school of mixing when you engage or send something you start from zero not from some pre determined value !if you play the track with 100% efx at least you need 2-5 seconds to pause the play in order the brain to get used to the normal and check the sound which is in your head and you are looking for .(or in my case I have to stop the song engage send,turn it down to zero and than start the playback and start working with the send??).
5.Saving the preset and load the Channel preset is a mess
6.Show hide channels in a mixer ?it doesn’t make sense if the same channels are not shown or hidden also in arrange window (you get lost in a mix)
7.Can’t color the multiple channels form mixer ,you have to select and color them in arrange win.
Still I love Cubase and use it every day in a project studio,But there are so many small things that really turned me of with this update (Maybe I was waiting for something more?).
Anyways let’s hope in the future Steinberg will address those problems if indeed I can call them 'problems"let’s say fine tunings
That’s what sane people do
Truth is, I got the free CMC controller and 25% off so I had to jump on it.
That said, many of the differences i’d attribute to user shock.
When you are used to something a certain way then all of a sudden there’s a major change that has you looking for a button here and it’s not there, that is always gets a knee jerk reaction.
That said, There are quite a few things going on in C7 that not only makes you scratch your head but actually becomes counter productive. That is unacceptable and is reason enough to revert.
IMHO, the offereings justify the upgrade enough. I find myself loving the strip in the mixer and the customization aspect of the mixer.
I DO NOT like the extra clicks in order to get to where you need to get and the missing buttons from the mixer. The project area is almost exactly the same so It’s not a biggie. You can still get the look and feel to about 95% of the previous versions although I wish we were able to remove certain fixed Items on the headers.
all in all, I’m Satisfied enough but not too thrilled at feeling like a guinea pig…
If you have paid, it might be ok to complain for a while but when the feeling of being in the forum becomes overwhelmingly negative, that is when regular users are no longer able to feel optimistic about upgrading, it may be in the interests of the forum to have an opposing “campaign”.
When the holidays end, decisions may need to be made around issues of entitlement to participate and is probably something to look forward as I always like to remain positive about the best DAW innovation enterprise in existence.
I like to have a stable and functional DAW system that manages resources efficiently and allows for many possibilities when dealing with audio streams and MIDI data.
Thanks, Dada ! Reading the answers this morning, I was beginning to feel a litle lonely, here…
FWIW, I did not reinstalled C5 for the pleasure. After all the regressions mentioned and piled up during the last 2 years, Cubase is not what it was back then : it has become less responsive, more resources hungry and the interface is less achieved. So, I really felt the need, at the present situation, to go back to something more simple and effective ; more refreshing in one word…
The feeling that I have about C7 now was strong enough to make me reinstall a nearly three years old version, without even knowing if it will work without issues under Windows 7, but again, I was motivated enough to take the jump. It took me a while and it’s the first time that I do so : even when the FXP/FXB presets format support was dropped, I continued to use the current version, because the interface renewal and the features added more or less compensated the loss (C4.1 free routing, among others). This is not the case presently : I can perfectly live without the MixConsole, Padshop, Retrologue, Variaudio 2…
So, one can perfectly ask me : why upgrade, then ?
Firstly, because I always have the hope that some of the bugs remaining will be solved, even without being documented : we saw this in the past, already.
Secondly, because on the paper, new features can be quite enticing. Just an example : the Remote Control Editor, which seems great in the C7 advertisement, and reveals itself useless if you don’t have a MCU remote controller or an equivalent
At the end, it’s also because I want to keep an up to date DAW (OS and host) and spending 150-200 euros every two years is not the end of the world, considering the pleasure using all my gear with it when the upgrade matches your hopes.
But today, I am happy to have revert back to C5.1 and truely making music with it, this without bothering about the glitches and trying to find workarounds for useful features that disappeared without warnings. I forgot how responsive and tweakable C5.1 was and I’m fully enjoying to use Cubase again, since yesterday.
i think i might roll back to cubase 2.1 and wait for an atari fix !
seriously thou
5.1 does rock just for the transparent events it’s worth keeping on-board i still use it for recording and then IF i need the features of 6.5 or 7 i use them but most of the time im on 5.5.4 i think it is (maybe wrong i normally am )
As i only use cubase for sequencing without loads of vsti’s and new toys im quite happy like that but i still have the upgrade bug and it catches me every time .
Steinberg reckon they are releasing a demo version in 2 months so it looks like we will be waiting quite some time for these issues to be sorted …
As you are running a business on it, it is wise to do so. Even without making a living of it, I carefully waited for the first fix to be available. Sadly, at its present 7.0.1 doesn’t do it. I said why already.
Indeed , and considering all the issues reported (and acknowledged…) it seems that something went wrong in the whole C7 release process.
This, with the disappeared ‘Preferences/Work area’ page, is not acceptable, no matter the arguments by which, as 7.0.1 is a ‘pre-release’ version, all what is stated in the C7 operation manual is no more valuable. Where is the C7.0.1 one, then ? And everyone who is extensively using the mixer should, in all honesty, acknowledge the loss. I don’t know what went in the Steiny product planners heads, on this one…
Think I know who is the one, piling up nearly 700 posts in one month (about 20 per day…). Seems that he has nothing better to do than crippling all the threads he can with his useless statements : a pure troll behavior and I am no more responding to him. I am also thinking about another one (you know, the cat with its cap, that always seems impatient…) who, suprisingly, didn’t chime in yet, but it’s probably a matter of time…
Steinberg have a lot more vision than anyone is crediting them for in all these threads.
Roll forward a year and everyone will be on 7.2 saying how wonderful it is and stable etc and the new mixer will be integrated into everyone’s work flow and there will be no going back.
Then SB will release Cubase 8 and it will be cr*p to start with, and there will be a thread with the title,
Reinstalled 7.2.1 and feeling home again …
You just wait and see, I know this is exactly what will happen, because that’s the nature of software and of human nature of course.
I’m earning money with Cubase 6.5 and learning the wonderful new features of Cubase 7. I for one am very grateful SB released Cubase 7 so I can start working into my workflow, I have no issue whatsoever paying the upgrade fee so I can do this, by the time I have my act together on C7 so will SB. Seems like a perfectly reasonable approach to me.
