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Can somebody tell me the differences between the different versions of Cubase...

I might get the cheapest Cubase just to have because I have a few projects that I need to work on that started out as Cubase sessions.

So... I've been trying to research what to do... And it looks Like I'm temporarily fucked.

Are there no "cheap" or "trial" versions of any of these programs in Universal Binary? I have my MacBook and I'm ready to go here. I installed an older version of Cubase SE or LE (I forget) but supposedly I will experience problems running it universal binary. I looked into maybe buying the most current version but none of the cheaper ones are available for intel based macs... yet.

The trial version of Logic isn't universal and Logic Express is $300.

The version of DP, Audiodesk, that comes with the MOTU 828 isn't Intel capable either.

What the fuck am I supposed to do?

I need to work on some stuff that was recorded in Cubase on a PC. What's the best way to get that shit onto my computer and start working on it?

FWIW Audiodesk, although not s Universal app, runs pretty darn well on my macbook. It's a lot smoother than on my old Powerbook. I can quite easily record 8+ channels at 96Khz using it, so it'll tide you over.

I use Logic Pro for most things mind you. I'd personally never want to use Cubase, it's feels unintuitive and very very behind the times on the basic features I believe should have long been standard practice in a DAW.

Another option is always going the "Open Source" route and using the VERY VERY capable Ardour, which is a Universal and FREE application. Just google it, you'll get it easy enough. It may appear slightly different to other apps you're used to, but it can do everything you could want it to.

P.S.

You'll need to install X11, and a small app called Jack OSX, but it's EASY really easy.

everything i have said in this thread has been based on cubase le. 2.0 or 3.0, i'm not sure, but LE for certain. i used to use it on my powerbook before it broke, and have not installed it on my macbook pro.

davidpye wrote:Another option is always going the "Open Source" route and using the VERY VERY capable Ardour, which is a Universal and FREE application. Just google it, you'll get it easy enough. It may appear slightly different to other apps you're used to, but it can do everything you could want it to.

You're running Ardour on Mac then? How does it seem to run? I have it on a Linux partition on my PC and it seems great but for some reason the PlanetCCRMA stuff won't play with my hardware so it never works with proper low latency, and running two soundcards at once (a pair of Delta 1010s) seems a little fennickety. For these reasons I primarily use Pro Tools at the moment but I'd love to switch over for projects that don't require that, so I've been wondering how well it runs 'out of the box' on Mac. That way I could run both on the same platform...

Re: "export audio mixdown" issues...
I dunno, it just doesn't sound "true" to what I'm hearing when I use that. If I record it to another DAW it just sounds less wimpy to me. I don't really have specifics to back it up, that's just what I noticed.

Oh and I'm using Cubase 4, and have used SX and VST in the past, not the "lite" versions.

If you have an older version of Cubase SE, you could try running it under Boot Camp in Windows just to get things started. I haven't tried it but I've heard that things are pretty stable that way.

dre wrote:If you have an older version of Cubase SE, you could try running it under Boot Camp in Windows just to get things started. I haven't tried it but I've heard that things are pretty stable that way.

Dre... can you explain this a little better?


I actually have Cubase SE.

I really don't know much about it, as I've only run Mac OS on my MacBook. But, in a nutshell, you can run Windows XP on your MacBook. Cubase will run on either Mac OS or Windows, so since Cubase SE won't run (well) using PPC emulation on Mac OS, you can boot into Windows, install Cubase, and off you go.

You'll need this:
http://www.apple.com/macos/bootcamp

And a copy of Windows XP Service Pack 2, and your Cubase SE install disc for Windows.

I haven't DONE this, but there's people at http://www.cubase.net that have. As long as you've got a copy of Windows laying around somewhere, you can at least get by. I would guess that you'd probably spend most of a day trying to get it all configured, since Windows is annoying as hell. So I don't really recommend installing Windows, but I mean if you are getting paid to record something in three days or something, it might be worth it to dive into it. It's basically a MacGyver solution.

Oh yeah if you want to try out Logic Express, I'd just screw around with GarageBand. It's really just a limited version of Logic Express, from what I understand. If you like it, then you're probably safe going to Logic Express.

tarandfeathers wrote:

davidpye wrote:Another option is always going the "Open Source" route and using the VERY VERY capable Ardour, which is a Universal and FREE application. Just google it, you'll get it easy enough. It may appear slightly different to other apps you're used to, but it can do everything you could want it to.

You're running Ardour on Mac then? How does it seem to run? I have it on a Linux partition on my PC and it seems great but for some reason the PlanetCCRMA stuff won't play with my hardware so it never works with proper low latency, and running two soundcards at once (a pair of Delta 1010s) seems a little fennickety. For these reasons I primarily use Pro Tools at the moment but I'd love to switch over for projects that don't require that, so I've been wondering how well it runs 'out of the box' on Mac. That way I could run both on the same platform...

I've only tried it out, I've not used it on a session properly yet, I haven't had time to learn it well enough yet. Performance wise when I've tested it, it seems pretty good, graphically fine, and always reads really low on the CPU usage meters. I've used it with my MOTU 896HD using Jack OS X and it seems to hook up with the hardware just fine.
I'd say if you already use it on Linux, you can expect pretty much the performance you'd get there from whatever processor on the mac. Pretty much any Core Audio compatible audio device should work with it using Jack.

Like I said it uses X11, but that's just a window manager, and it does run natively on OS X using it. So there's no other software layers there to get in the way and slow things down. Give it a try.