Cubase LE?

[thesilentdrummer]

Hi, I have my setup for live gigs (mainly intended for a drumset, I have a nice Behringer powermixer, a trio of mediocre shure instrument mics, an sm57 and an audix D6, I rent or borrow PA speakers), and I am now looking to maximize my recording situation. I used the soundcard wizard (very cool gadget ), and I was given three options, one of which being the firepod with cubase LE included. It seems like this is a very popular buy, but I wanted to make sure that it would be sufficient for my recording needs. I would be recording 4-8 tracks on a drumset, a couple guitars, and a bass, not do much editing, and probably no programming. So is LE good enough?

[brandondrury]

Check out this comparison chart.
http://www.steinberg.net/932_1.html

You can see that Cubase LE limits you to 8 ins and outs. It's up to you to determine if this meets your needs or not. Basically, you can record 8 mics at the same time, according to the way I perceive the chart.

You may need to take not that Cubase LE only allows 2 inserts per channel. This may or may not be a factor for you.

Also, one other thing. Steinberg will knock a few $$ off upgrading to something better. I was an owner of Cubase VST 5 (an older program) but never really got into it. When I chose Cubase SX3 last summer, I saved $300 by upgrading instead of buying a new version.

So keep that in mind. It may help you.

Brandon

[thesilentdrummer]

Thanks for the post, just one question in regards to it: what do you mean by inserts?

[brandondrury]

Take a given track (or channel). Let's say the kick drum.

Cubase gives you an EQ by default. From there, Cubase LE gives you two more slots for effects. Cubase SX3 gives you 8.

There are channel strip plugins out there that allow you to take care of 90% of your needs with a single plugin (and therefore only use a single insert).

However, if you wanted to use a seperate compressor, a seperate gate, and may be a distortion plugin all on the same track, you are going to be out of luck with Cubase LE.

Of course, many effects would be applied via aux sends. Revebs and delays are almost alway used as aux sends.

Brandon

[thesilentdrummer]

ok, thanks for clearing that up.

[brandondrury]

No problem, dude.