Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 Recording Software Cubase Studio 4 combines powerful music creation tools with professional notation and studio-quality mixing and effects. Based on the same core technology as Cubase 4, this integrated music production system is the perfect choice for composers and project studio users.
Cubase Studio 4 is the perfect music creation and production system for composers and producers. It comes with a brand-new VST3 plug-in set, integrated virtual instruments providing more than 600 sounds, and professional notation features including score layout and printing. The unique SoundFrame Universal Sound Manager, a powerful combination of Track Presets, Instrument Tracks, and MediaBay database organizes all your sounds from every instrument in your studio - both software and hardware. Cubase Studio 4 is based on Cubase 4 core technology. Its redesigned user interface includes many new features to speed up workflow and boost creativity to new levels.
|
|
|
Click on the picture to the left to see a comparison chart between Cubase and Cubase Studio. |
Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 New Features
- SoundFrame - Universal Sound Manager
- 21 All-New VST3 Audio Effects Plug-ins
- Built-in synth engine with hundreds of sounds
- Professional score editing, layout and printing
- Extended VST mixer
- MediaBay
- Instrument Tracks
- Track Presets
- User Interface Redesign
- Drag and Drop for Insert FX
- Mac PPC/Intel - Universal Binary
- Advanced Audio Warp Real time Transpose
- New Trim Tool
- Inplace Editor
- 8 Insert Effects Slots
- User-configurable Track Inspector
- User-configurable Channel Strip
- Intuitive Audio + MIDI Hardware Setup
- MPEX 3 - High-quality audio time-stretching and pitch-shifting
SoundFrame - Universal Sound Manager
The real power of Cubase Studio 4 only reveals itself when combining some of the new key features and using them in conjunction. One of the biggest problems in typical project studio environments is the management of plug-ins, instruments, loops, presets, etc. Cubase Studio 4 now offers a powerful solution to this problem: SoundFrame
What is SoundFrame?
- SoundFrame allows you to manage ANY sound from ANY software of hardware synthesizer under a single, unified user interface (MediaBay)
- SoundFrame can help you find any sound, not only by instrument but also by category, type, style, character or other attributes (Track Presets organized in MediaBay)
- SoundFrame even comes with hundreds of ready-to-play sounds, which are also conveniently organized by instrument category, type, and character. These can even be instantly previewed before loading. (Instrument Track Presets managing the new included VST instruments - again organized in MediaBay)
- SoundFrame can even manage your VST effects plug-in presets as well. These can also be organized and categorized to form one big effects library.
New Plug-in Set - VST3
Cubase Studio 4 not only includes a completely new set of audio effect plug-ins, it also marks the next step in VST plug-in technology! VST3 offers major new features both for plug-in developers and users. VST3 plug-ins can adjust their number of audio busses to the channel they're inserted to (mono, stereo, 5.1, ect). A silence detection function makes sure that a plug-in only processes audio when there's actually a signal present. This helps to reduce overall CPU load. VST3 plug-ins natively supports Mac Intel and 64-bit processing. For developers there are many more features under the hood.
New Virtual Instruments
Cubase Studio 4 contains two new virtual instruments: Halion One, and Prologue. Halion One is a special player version of Halion and comes with hundreds of all-new ready-to-use instruments. Prologue is a polyphonic subtractive synthesizer with great-sounding filters and powerful modulation capabilities. Prologue is powered by VirSyn technology and also comes with hundreds of fantastic preset sounds.
Professional Scoring
The score editor in Cubase Studio 4 has been updated to include the full set of notation features found in Cubase 4. This also includes every enhancement that is new in version 4. Here's just a brief overview:
- The Score menu is now slimmer and better organized. Some functions are now available via dedicated context menus and therefore easier to use
- The symbol palettes have their own “inspector” which is
organized in tabs – similar to the track inspector
- Several dialogs have been combined into a single “main”
score settings dialog
- The Drum settings are now part of the main Drum Map Setup
- Cubase Studio 4 now offers two additional high-quality score fonts: “Jazz” and “Classical”. The original Cubase font is now available as “Legacy” font.
User Interface Redesign
The first thing you will notice when opening Cubase Studio 4 is the redesigned user-interface. The overall look has become a notch darker (although this can be changed in the Appearance preference pane) and less “3D”. The overall visibility of active items versus inactive items has
been vastly improved. In fact, although there are more screen elements in this version, it looks like there was less, especially in the Mixer and Inspector areas. You will notice that selected mixer channels are now very clearly highlighted. Also, smaller fonts are now more readable.
The new user interface also introduces a number of new features:
- The Track Inspector is now fully customizable. A new setup panel allows each item in the Track Inspector to be made visible or hidden. Also, the order of items can be changed – individually for each track type, of course. In addition, entire setups can be stored as presets.
- The Channel Strip window is also fully customizable. It also features its own setup panel and individual sections can be configured in the same way as the track inspector. Here as well, presets can be created for later recall. You will also notice the new EQ section with its larger display area.
- The Extended Mixer window has many new functions, most of which deal with managing views, applying those to selected channels only, changing view/hide status of individual or multiple channels. Notice the new items in the mixers common panel.
MediaBay - media file management system
To keep up with the ever-growing number of sounds, samples, loops and presets, Cubase 4 is equipped with a powerful media file management system known as MediaBay. MediaBay is the central place for browsing, searching, managing and categorizing any type of media file. This includes audio and MIDI files, instrument and plug-in presets, video data and even project files. Files can be organized in a
folder structure, using attributes, or a combination of both. A user-friendly musical category search system helps finding sounds or loops fast. MediaBay also includes a tag editor to apply attributes. A Scope section features previewing options. Loops can be auditioned in the song's tempo.
Instrument Tracks
Cubase 4 introduces a new track type: Instrument Track. An
Instrument Track provides a fast and convenient way to use virtual instruments. As a quick alternative to the VSTi Rack, Instrument Tracks provide a single MIDI Input and a single stereo Output within a single channel/track. Setting up a VST Instrument and getting ready to play is now just one step away. As a limitation, Instruments in an Instrument Track only provide a single MIDI Input and one Stereo Output. Multitimbral VSTi's and Instruments with multiple outputs may also be used in an Instrument Track, but they will automatically be restricted to one MIDI channel and one stereo output. Of course, the VSTi Rack can still be used in the familiar way to run up to 32 virtual instruments simultaneously.
Track Presets
One of the most powerful new features in Cubase 4 is Track Presets – especially when they're combined with the new MediaBay. Track Presets are presets for complete track/channel settings. They are available for audio, MIDI, and Instrument tracks. Combinations of tracks can also be saved as Multi-Track Preset. Most track and mixer setting are stored, as well as Instrument/Preset information for an
Instrument Track, or MIDI Port/Channel/Patch information for a MIDI track. Also included are all insert effect settings as well as EQ.