Sure… But OP posted about Sound Quality and null tests, etc. This is a new topic.
dman do your sessions use lots of the Cubase filters? it does sound like a change to them in C8 could indeed be the problem…
also …is the wierd phasey problem happening on the whole mix…or on elements like the VSTi piano within the mix?
Just want to bump this because of the important info regarding differences in PRE EQs when opening earlier projects in C8x shown by enjneer.
Yeah, thanks, BriHar. Glad someone noticed… There was little response from that.
This is a big deal. While I like the new filters, any mix one has done in a previous Cubase is effectively dead due to this. Kind of a big deal.
To the OP: the difference, if your previous-version mix used lots of Pre filters, it’s shocking. So it could be half your problem.
It should really be pointed out in the manual or history PDF what has changed from the previous version. Not that i’m affected in any negative way, I mostly use the filters to remove some low end rumble on guitars and vocals, but still.
Yeah, likewise. Some stronger pass-filtering here and there too.
But you wouldn’t believe the difference it makes in a huge, finely-tuned mix… where everything’s hanging in the balance. I was shocked.
Did you also know that there’s no difference between the first two rolloff curves in C8?
I have posted this before. Cubase 8 sounds pretty bad. I work for a high end mastering studio. We checked the files with various engineers. The feedback is clear: the new audio engine sounds bad - you are absolutely right. Don’t listen to people whe always thing that newer is better. I posted soundfiles. you might wanna check them…
No Cubase 8 does not sound bad, but it will sound different if you have used the build in high and lowpass filters, coming from a Cubase 7.5 project. If you give any mastering engineer 2 different mixdowns that uses different high and lowpass filters I would hope they would hear a difference.
Well, the files I posted were without high and lowpass filters. They were actually summed through my Studer 961 console. Its Cubase adressing 28 outputs. No changes, booted the session up in 7 an 8 an recorded straight after eachother. All 100% the same. The result is un-acceptable for me. The decline in sound I get through 8 is a no-go.
dman2014. Of all the postings in this thread, you seem to be the only one having this problem. Grim (WIN), enjneer (MAC) and themarqueeyears (???) report no problem! Have you ruled out that it is not something else (audio drivers, etc) that is the cause of the problem?
Btw: I sent a pm to Steinberg about the sound quality issue. Of course: no reply. I am pretty angry that I ever bought the update.
Hate to bust your bubble, Svenne, but I’m drowning in issues… 
C8 runs so poorly on OS X 10.9 that I simply cannot use it in front of clients. On OS X10.10, it won’t open!
The changes to the audio engine are scary. Preliminary listens are not good. Unannounced, they changed the pre filters, so I cannot open C7 mixes at all and expect to continue working on them.
I definitely feel I’ve paid $120 to beta-test.
Is there any chance that one version is opening in 32 bit mode and the other in 64 bit? That might explain the inability to null the files.
Have you tried exporting stems or tracks from CB7 and importing them into CB8 ? I know this is not optimal but it would help to determine if the problem is with a rendering anomaly between the versions vs. poor audio quality in CB8.
I routinely export stems from old systems when I need to work on something from older projects.
Did yo say that you weren’t happy with the sound quality of fresh projects that are started in CB8?
I find it hard to believe that CB8 just sounds bad.
I haven’t upgraded to CB8 yet so I can’t do these tests and can’t offer an opinion about sound quality.
I hope you’re able to track this down.
The filters are changed, in my opinion it is a improvement (not in relation to old project !).
I had the issue that old mixes indeed lacked many things, when checking the “low off” filter I conclude that it really filters low content out, I checked this with an spectrum analyzer and with my ears, it really filters hard.
It would be a good thing to seperate this filter thing against the other issues, we need to know if there is a problem with audio quality!!!
For the sake of simplicity I thought I’d try a test and also remove the variables of a multi-channel Project/song…
Created two empty Projects. One in 7.5 and another in 8.05.
Dragged in the same file, from a commercial CD release, into each.
Created an Audio Mixdown in both Projects
Created a duplicate in each Project and phase inverted each.
Result…in both cases the inverted files null perfectly with the original files.
Next I dragged the inverted files into each other’s Project.
Result…the inverted files null perfectly with each other’s Audio Mixdown file.
Yeah, I did a similar test and, as long as I didn’t use pre filters, C7 and C8 exports nulled out perfectly.
I’m not sure, so far, about any real difference in audio quality. I take what the poster above said, about paying it for mastering engineers, very seriously. Time will tell.
First, C8 will have to get stable on my system before I can get done deep comparisons done.
It really sounds like a setup problem if they ehh sound different. But I don’t use outboard gear to mix.
Can someone please perform the following test in various DAW’s and provide the results. I only have access to Cubase 7.5.3 and Reaper.
- Drag in any audio file into a project. Bounce with track fader at 0. Label Bounce 1
- Create a duplicate of the track. Bounce with both track faders at -6. Label Bounce 2
- Create a quadruplicate of the track. Bounce with all four faders at -12. Label Bounce 4
- Create octuplicate of the track. Bounce with all eight faders at -18. Label Bounce 8
Play back and compare the original track with a 180 degree phase inverted version of each of the bounces.
On my system in both Cubase and Reaper, only bounce 1 nulls perfectly with the original. All other bounces have incrementally more residue from bounce 2 to bounce 8, with Reaper having more residue than Cubase.
I would like to hear what other users experience.
Please ignore this post as perfect nulling is mathematically impossible since the change in level when adding identical audio files is not a whole number, so there will always be rounding errors.
The high cut filters are several kHz off compared to C7.5! That a serious f-up!
I can’t use C8 at all. It’s collecting dust here. Shame about the $ I spent on update and all the time I wasted to figure out why all my mixes are different in C8. I really have better things to do than track down such major faults.
Is there any quality control at Steinberg these days?
No support either, because I’ve sent them details test reports and sessions to prove the issue 6 weeks ago, but they never replied. Classy!