Just what is SO GREAT about Cubase anyway?

[newkid]

Okay.
Cubase was on my shortlist for a DAW purchase.
Then I found out it used dongles.

Dongles are a super major negative.

So what is SO GREAT about cubase that you would tolerate a dongle and all the problems they can have?

Can you honestly say you plugged and played and never had ANY glitches or problems no matter how small because of that dongle?

Does cubase keep reading the thing periodically and interrupting your recordings?

Please tell me why cubase is worth being dongled by them!!

[brandondrury]

1) The USB key has never been a problem for me. I plug it in. The software works. The end.

On my old computer, the chipset of my motherboard was incompatible with the USB Key so I had to toss in an old USB 1.1 card specifically for the key. It worked instantly and that put an end to my USB Key issues.

2) Any major recording program is going to have security of some kind. I'd guess that most are using USB keys these days, but I could be wrong.

3) As for what makes Cubase so great the features are long. The short answer is the software is extremely mature. Once you get the hang of it, you can do your thing FAST without being bogged down by the software. When you encounter problems, Cubase almost always has a function to solve it instantly when lesser programs may require you to go in take 25hours of bum work to fix. Cubase is robo good at both MIDI and audio recording so it fits practically every style of production out there.

I've been using Cubase SX3 since 2006 and still to this day I'm impressed with it. The only reason I've hesitate to upgrade is because the software from 4 years ago was so damn good.

These are my experiences. Everyone's views vary.

Brandon

[Vulconizer]

Dongle is just fun to say. What more do you need?

If you happen to take it with you somewhere, you can always ask someone if they want to see your dongle.

But yeah, Cubase is a helluva good music production software. I like it because it closely reminds me of working on analog gear. The set up is similar in many aspects. You just get to add as many group channels or FX channels as you need. You aren't limited in any regard as I sometimes found myself to be on analog equipment.

It's not analog, sound-wise, but once you get the hang of it, I think you can set it up so the work flow is better. That's just my opinion and my way of working. You can set certain types of channels to be hidden. Say you don't want to see your input channels because you are done tracking. Hide them. You can hide your effects channels while you're just setting levels. Give yourself only the info you need, as opposed to an analog board where you have to look at every single channel on the board at all times. Seems to make it easier to focus on what you're dealing with.

Cubase 4 even has a pretty decent control room feature. It's a separate area for setting up monitor mixes for musicians. Seems to be pretty flexible.

[newkid]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

1) The USB key has never been a problem for me. I plug it in. The software works. The end.

On my old computer, the chipset of my motherboard was incompatible with the USB Key so I had to toss in an old USB 1.1 card specifically for the key. It worked instantly and that put an end to my USB Key issues.

2) Any major recording program is going to have security of some kind. I'd guess that most are using USB keys these days, but I could be wrong.

3) As for what makes Cubase so great the features are long. The short answer is the software is extremely mature. Once you get the hang of it, you can do your thing FAST without being bogged down by the software. When you encounter problems, Cubase almost always has a function to solve it instantly when lesser programs may require you to go in take 25hours of bum work to fix. Cubase is robo good at both MIDI and audio recording so it fits practically every style of production out there.

I've been using Cubase SX3 since 2006 and still to this day I'm impressed with it. The only reason I've hesitate to upgrade is because the software from 4 years ago was so damn good.

These are my experiences. Everyone's views vary.

Brandon

Thanks
Good to hear that.

But I hear people lose them, some of them go bad, etc. and then you are stuck buying a new key and new licenses. Maybe worse for laptops. Some programs keep checking them which interrupts what you are trying to use the pc for.
And if other programs have other types of dongles they may not play nice together.

AT home maybe you could superglue the key onto the usb to keep it from wandering off. Losing things is all too easy for me.

They all have some sort of annoying security that hassles legitimate users and is bypassed by hackers.
Sonar apparently has nicer security.

yes. Cubase looked good. But is is that much better to put up with dongles? It would be my first choice without taht dongle.

[Geissler]

If you're so bothered by the dongle, just pay for the software and download a pirate version. No dongle, no guilt, no problem.

[Bigduggieface]

Originally Posted by Geissler

If you're so bothered by the dongle, just pay for the software and download a pirate version. No dongle, no guilt, no problem.

Not only is this bad advice, it's a twisted perversion of both logic and ethics.

I've used various versions of Steinberg's Nuendo and Cubase for over 10 years. The dongle has been a non-issue for me. Just plug it into your USB port and forget it. Perfectly stable performance every time.

I currently use both Cubase SX3 and Cubase 4. I use SX3 more often, however. It does everything I want, and it does so quickly, easily, and it never crashes. I do lots of audio and MIDI recording and it does the job.

Dongle or no dongle, I couldn't recommend Cubase more.

Having said that, you could probably do just fine with Logic, Sonar, or ProTools as they are fine platforms in their own right.

[Geissler]

Originally Posted by Bigduggieface

Not only is this bad advice, it's a twisted perversion of both logic and ethics.

Your outrage is quite amusing. Let's break this down.

Logic: I know for a fact that Cubase SX3 (possibly more recent versions too) is cracked and works perfectly. It is freely and easily available, requiring only a connection to the internet and no dongle or registration hassles once you've downloaded. The statement that pirate software doesn't work as well as the version you pay for is a myth that should be dispelled once and for all.

Ethics: I will accept that a perversion of ethics would be to simply download the program and use it without paying. An even greater perversion would be to use it for personal profit without having paid the good people at Cubase their due. But if you've already bought the legal version of the program, are you really in the wrong if you then download the pirate version in order to bypass the inconvenience of using a dongle?

[Bigduggieface]

Hahaha! I understand your arguments, Geissler. I was really just kiddin' with my first comment. I guess I raised a stir.

Your logical and ethical reasoning are fair, and I'm charmed by the circuitous, almost "Rube Goldberg Machine-like" solution that you've proposed.

[Geissler]

hah, as usual, the internet screws with my sarcasm detectors - sorry! That said, it would have been kinda fun to argue with one of those e-prudes I mistook you for :P

PS. My socks have also been blown off by Embryonic. Good to see I'm not the only one.

[fortyseven]

Theres nothing great about Cubase. Some use it, some don't. Some like it, some don't. Its just a DAW like any other.


Dongle... dongle... dongle... yup, it IS fun to say!