Steinberg Cubase 12

Verve is a new Halion-based instrument.
Recorded at Yamaha’s studios in Los Angeles, it
samples a felt piano, which has a felt layer
between the hammers and strings. It’s arranged
across a three-page interface – the core Piano, a
sample-based synth layer (Texture), and Efects.
Overall there’s a pleasantly mellow theme
throughout the 70 or so presets, and it makes
for an interesting addition to the Cubase sound
palette. We particularly like the twin delays (one
for Piano, one for Texture), and general lexibility
of the efects, which are great for creating
spaced out patches. Next up, the SuperVision
analysis plugin gets some new modules. For
visual kicks, the Spectrum Keyboard, which
maps frequency to a musical keyboard, is great,
as are the beautifully rendered VU Meters.
Control
Cubase 12 introduces a new way to set up
hardware MIDI controllers, including automatic
detection for some devices. We set up an older
controller from scratch, and the handy layout
grid coupled with the Mapping Assistant and
Functions Browser made this a pretty
straightforward process.
Audio to Chords is a new analysis option.
Using this is as simple as dragging audio from
an audio track onto a Chord Track. Obviously,
the analysis is dependent upon the complexity
of the audio, but we found it reasonably
successful at picking out quite complex chords.
Sticking with audio and pitch, another new
addition is Scale Assistant with VariAudio. You
get Scale Suggestions based on the content, or
can instead work from the Chord Track. There’s
snapping to pitch and we have to say the
combination of features alongside VariAudio’s
excellent sonics make pitch correction easier
than ever.
There are many further enhancements
including support for high core-count CPUs and,
of course, native support for Apple Silicon.
AudioWarp can now be phase coherent for all
events within a folder track, and there’s now
Free Warp audio editing directly in the Project
window. For crossfades, there’s now an
advanced editor, while the workspace gains a
fourth MixConsole. Time signature and tempo
tracks can be imported from other projects and
you now have two video tracks. The ever
popular Quick Controls now get their own fold-
down pane in the plugin window, and the
Logical Editor has been revamped with new
presets. Sidechained audio can be easily
exported with its sidechain efect intact. There’s
also a new way to export selected events
directly from the Project Zone and also a new
dither option, Line One Dither. Finally, we await
Dolby Atmos support, which will be in a
forthcoming update. It’s for Cubase Pro only,
and despite the hype will likely not impact the
majority of users. That said, it’s clearly important
that a professional audio mixing platform ofers
this feature.
As ever, existing users need to pay for the
upgrade, although there is a grace period for
recent purchasers of Cubase 11. As a guide, the
upgrade from Cubase 11 Pro to Cubase 12 Pro is
£85. Overall, we think Cubase 12 is a more
signiicant upgrade than Cubase 11 was.
Nevertheless, the key takeaway from v12 is that
the DAW is more streamlined and better
equipped than ever.
Web steinberg.net
Info Cubase 12 Elements £85; Artist £282
Verdict
For Dongle free access at last
Up to three devices from one licence
Some excellent new audio plugins
Extension of Scale Assistant features to
include VariAudio
Streamlined system for MIDI controllers
Extensive worklow improvements
Against Paid-for update
One of the strongest updates in recent
times, ofering a powerful, integrated
experience across all three tiers
10/10
Alternatively
Presonus Studio One 5
From $100
One of the best DAWs you can buy,
with some great content and slick
Melodyne integration
Logic Pro
£175
One of the most feature rich DAWs
available, and it’s still drawing
people to the macOS platform
With three pay-for versions and two
free bundled options (Ai and LE)
Cubase 12 ofers many entry points,
and this can cause confusion,
particularly when new headline
features arrive. Find out more about
the bundled versions here: steinberg.
net/cubase/ai. Elements, Artist and Pro
are all built on the same platform with a
64-bit audio engine and up to 192kHz
operation. Track counts are unlimited
in Artist and Pro, with Elements
ofering a very reasonable 64 MIDI, 48
audio, and 24 VST instrument tracks.
Meanwhile Elements is limited to 24
physical inputs/outputs, Artist 32 and
Pro a whopping 256. There are, of
course, diferences in the number of
included plugins, instruments and
bundled content.
Thankfully a number of Cubase 12’s
headline features, including Audio to
MIDI chords, the new MIDI Remote
system, sample accurate volume
automation, and of course the dongle-
free Steinberg Licensing are found
across all three versions. Meanwhile
power features like the new export of
selected events, and new limiter plugin,
Raiser, are in Cubase Pro 12. For the new
felt piano instrument and FX Modulator
plugin you’ll need Artist or Pro.
Versions
The Spectrum Keyboard is the most visually striking of
SuperVision’s new modules
The excellent new FX Modulator plugin is included in both the Artist and Pro versions of Cubase 12
“Enhancements
include support for
high core-count CPUs
and native support for
Apple Silicon”
June 2022 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 73
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