Thanks to the addition of a couple of relatively easy-to-understand features, the operation of virtual instruments and effects has been radically transformed in Cubase 4. The only hardware you need is a high-quality, low-latency audio interface with enough inputs and outputs. In short, everything that a fully-featured, professionally-installed, large-scale recording console can do, Cubase can now do internally. Naturally, external sources like your CD deck or iPod can be selected for direct playback in anyone's headphones.
Unlike before, you no longer have to sacrifice aux sends to create headphone mixes - the four headphone sends are completely separate. These can be previewed individually on the engineer's own dedicated headphone channel at the touch of a button. Up to four sets of artist headphone mixes can be defined (named Studio 1, Studio 2, etc) and you have master volume controls for each. You can toggle the Listen function between PFL and AFL, there's an adjustable Dim button for the monitors and even a Talkback button. But that's not all.Īssuming you've got a suitable soundcard, you can select different monitoring setups on your outputs (mono, stereo, surround, etc) and just as on a professional hardware mixing desk, you can choose different external devices for playback (such as cassette, MiniDisc or vinyl). So now - after what seems like a lifetime - you can finally control the main loudspeaker volume from within Cubase without affecting the mix levels. It has its own control window (on a hardware mixing desk this would be referred to as the centre or control room panel) and it offers all the features that you'd expect to find in a top-flight recording studio. Basically, the Control Room adds a significant monitoring layer between the main mix output and the physical soundcard outputs. This is a blindingly obvious omission from most music applications, and we've been hankering after such a thing for years. This enables you to solo channels during recording (to check for quality) without interrupting the headphone mix going to your artists.īest of all, though, is the wonderful new Control Room feature. There's now a Listen button on every mixer channel and a new PFL (Pre Fade Listen) function that's also switchable to AFL (After Fade Listen). As many of us expected, Cubase 4 features more technology from Nuendo, Steinberg's flagship broadcast/post production application. It's certainly a lot easier to see what's going on.
The changes are actually quite subtle, but everything feels cleaner, simpler and just a little flatter than before. Launch Cubase 4 for the first time and you immediately notice that the user interface has been given a bit of a paint job.
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