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Cubasis 3 - still worth it?
I used Logic Pro for a while and enjoyed it immensely, but after not opening it for a few months of non-use, ended the sub.
I’m not looking for a discussion on the merits/drawbacks of subscriptions, I may go back to Logic at some point, but for 5 months Logic sub costs, Cubasis 3 is now available and wondering if it would fit my requirements.
My needs are reasonably simple - I mainly record AUv3’s as audio, usually triggered via MIDI sequencer apps, so this needs to work well. My biggest requirement though is editing audio once recorded. Auria Pro does this well (better than Logic IMHO), but is too unreliable for me.
There’s a lot of negative comments on the Store regarding reliability which concern me, but thought I’d check with users here first before dismissing it out of hand.
So good audio editing, seamless AUv3 integration, and reliability - does it tick all those boxes? If not I’ll have to bite the bullet and go for the more expensive Logic option, which I also have on desktop.
Cheers!
Comments
After the introduction of LP4i, Cubasis is worth even more. Because it is powerful, one-time payment, and works perfectly on the iPhone. Actually, there is no better UI on the iPhone than the Cubasis one, it’s so simple, intuitive, and efficient. 👌
Two comments. There are a couple of MIDI AUs that don't work properly in Cubasis but do work in other AU hosts. Polybeat and KB1 being two examples. It's not clear whether the problem is with Cubasis or those specific apps but they both work in AUM. Personally, I live with this and use alternative apps because I have Cubase on Windows and want to be able to start projects on the iPad and finish them in Windows. As you have Logic on desktop though, that sounds like a good argument in favour of Logic in your case?
Thanks, yes the one-time payment is the big draw for me, if it ticks the editing/reliability boxes. I have an Air M2 13”, which should hopefully work well with it.
Thanks for this, I do use KB1 in AUM.
I prefer using Live on the desktop to Logic, so the iPad/desktop compatibility wasn’t that useful for me, though I do use the mastering and stem splitting functions.
Logic is wasted on me really, as I have a ton of apps already that I prefer using to Logics instruments. The key thing for me is rock solid reliability (Logic was great in this regard), and good audio editing functionality.
Need to watch a few videos, I guess!
I'm finding Cubasis generally reliable but the AU Midi issue is an irritation. I think fixes are meant to be in the pipeline from the App developers though
You know, I still can’t make up my mind between Cubasis and Logic. Logic is clearly more lux, has more bells and whistles, does that interesting loops <—> tracks thing, and so on. But its UI is weirdly cramped, some AUs just don’t play nice with it, the “producer packs” are basically useless, and honestly the only feature I’ve learned to like on its own merits is the drummer system. I’ve even exported drummer tracks to other apps.
On the other hand, while Cubasis is a lot more straightforward in some ways, it lacks finesse, is ugly as hell, has some really confusing UX paths, and is generally not very inviting.
I want to do more linear composition assembly, but neither of these is compelling, and there’s no real alternative, so I wind up cobbling together odd systems in AUM… which is kind of how I do things anyway. Systems cobbler, I am.
So I dunno. Still looking for the flow. Kinda hoping the New Improved Loopy Pro will fit the bill, when it’s finally released.
I’ve switched to Logic, but working on the iPhone is a big plus for Cubasis.
Hmmm, hope my sequencers work ok (4pockets Euclidean, Riffer, Harmony Bloom etc.).
I found Logic completely unusable until I got the 13” Air, works great on that.
I know what you mean about the Cubasis UI, it’s not the prettiest, but as long as the workflow is ok, looks shouldn’t put me off.
I know. It’s true. Esthetics shouldn’t matter that much. But guitarists go nuts trying to get the right finish. It’s a thing.
Thinking pretty much the same about Logic, that‘s why I mostly use Cubasis IF I‘m recording stuff on iOS ( which rarely happens these days ).
It‘s much more stable than in older versions, nothing to complain about that, but it definitely has its quirks and limitations.
Sometimes it still „swallows“ MIDI notes, especially at the beginning of a MIDI recording. Even if I draw in the missing notes in the MIDI editor afterwards, Cubasis still doesn‘t play them back, very annoying.
I was a dedicated Cubasis customer, up until the release of Logic Pro and because I think it's a fair subscription price, I don't have any objections to the lack of a pay once, own forever option. Logic Pro was good when it was released and has only got better over time.
I primarily use Ableton on the desktop, and tend to mainly use Logic Pro to create stems for Ableton, although if I'm working on something which requires Dolby/Spatial, I work in Logic Pro.
Personally the ability to work in AUM and record in Cubasis, is a big win for me. I also love Cubasis for its MIDI functionality, LP4 lacked that when I was in it, lacked it hard
LP4 does much more than you need and is superior in very many respects. However Cubasis should be fine for your listed requirements. Cubasis is a great program
For me personally, I recently latched onto Logic Pro. I recently got the latest iPad Mini 7 with 512gb space to fit my romplers and audio samples, and I realised "I'm still subbed to Logic Pro after not using it for a few months". (I usually used it for its AI Mastering.) I decided to create a track in it to see how it'd go, and it went more fluently than it did back in May 2023 when I first started to use Logic Pro for track creation, lol. There are advantages and disadvantages to both Logic Pro and Cubasis.
Advantages of Cubasis 3
-iPhone Compatible, which was a godsend for me during my "iPhone Only" days for slightly over a year.
-Cubasis 3 works nicer with some AUv3 plugins that don't work nice in Logic Pro.
-Halion Sounds IAP
-Waves plugin IAPs
-Waves Tune RT (seriously, Apple need to add Flex Pitch into Logic Pro for iPad 😅).
-UI may be ugly as shit, but it requires less menu diving (at least when I tried it for the purposes of trying to finish a track).
-You can start a project on iPhone in Cubasis 3 and load it fine on Cubasis 3 in iPad (granted you have AUv3 plugins that work on both devices).
Advantages of Logic Pro
-The new Sample Browser that can be pointed to any folder in the Files app (this was the biggest hurdle between me completing projects in Logic Pro in the first place as I hated using SampleCrate in hover mode and even in split screen mode once Apple added split screen to Logic Pro)
-The Automation! Sure Cubasis 3 has lane automation, but you can't curve the automation between automation points nor does Cubasis have the "clip" automation which Logic Pro has. (The latter "clip automation" is a HUGE deal for me as I can build extended versions of tracks without having to worry about lane automation. I also missed using automation curves. Logic Pro also has "stepped" automation curves that imitated p-lock automation.)
-The plugins. Yeah, Cubasis 3 has many decent plugins built in and has Waves plugins as well, but some of Logic Pro's plugins are on a completely different level. That new Quantec Room Simulator for instance is possibly the best reverb I've heard, at least for everyday usage. (I still prefer Alteza for Ambient, lol.) And the drum synth is really awesome for creating your own drum sounds if that's your sort of thing.
-The Inspector menu. This is where you can set fades and do other neat editing tricks with audio clips and midi clips.
-Time stretching in Logic Pro is as simple as selecting it and stretching the audio to the desired length. For whatever reason, I can't reverse audio on stretched audio, but it's a minor nitpick for me personally. Just bounce and then reverse I guess, lol.
-AI Stem Splitting. If you like to remix tracks and/or create mashups, this is a godsend.
-AI Mastering Assistant. I can do a decent job mastering my own tracks even in HarmonicDog's Multitrack DAW, but honestly the AI Mastering feature in Logic Pro is so handy when finishing tracks in Logic Pro, or even mastering one track at a time from other apps.
-Garageband compatibility. Sometimes I don't always like dragging my iPad Mini with me everywhere I go (winter is on the way and I don't want my Mini 7 freezing to death in the cold weather lol), but if I have a baller idea I need to jot down, Garageband is right there. Load in a simple drum machine, a piano, and off I go marking down an idea. Then I can flesh it out at home later on the iPad Mini. (With the piano, I add simple chords, a bassline, and then a melody on top.)
-Track grouping/stacking. Yes, you can group tracks in a track group in Cubasis 3, but you can't group track groups together. In Logic Pro, you can create sub stacks as well as sub stacks of sub stacks. (Substack Inception, lol.) Very nice and advanced routing options in Logic Pro.
Disadvantages of Logic Pro
-It's a subscription, which is a rather divisive topic in music communities. (Then again, it's a whole DAW, not an app with a single use, lol.)
-The UIs of many internal plugins need to be updated. It's a bit of a pain to constantly scroll in a synth plugin to find the setting I want to adjust, lol.
-No Flex Pitch yet. Definitely not a deal breaker for me as I can simply farm out vocal processing to Cubasis 3 with Waves Tune RT.
I don't think I've ever completed a full track in Cubasis 3 yet, but I have completed 3 tracks in Logic Pro. Two of these were completed in May 2023, which was a stuggle without a proper sample browser. The last one was created a few days ago using what rudimentary knowledge I have of Logic Pro so far. That one took two days to complete, but only because I was rusty with Logic Pro and establishing my personal workflow within Logic Pro.
EDIT: Updated this comment with some more insights.
(If I think of more advantages of either app, I'll edit this comment again.)
And I definitely agree with this.
Cheers.
Cubasis has come a long way. Those negative reviews may be from after the initial release of 3 which was horrible. The times I have used it over the past year it has been very stable. Just wish I could instance midi patterns, but doesn't seem like you want to do that.
As for recording AUV3 as audio the only way I could do that in Cubasis was to host the AUV3 in AUM and then host AUM in Cubasis as at the time I could only record IAA apps as audio in Cubasis. AUV3 did not seem recordable.
Never had this problem.
Probably my ignorance of your need, but if you can’t record audio directly in Cubasis can’t you just freeze the track?
1000+ tracks in Cubasis. Love the old school gui. If you’re an oldsynthguy wouldn’t you like it, too?
Of course I just record, midi edit and use plugins to orchestrate. Maybe your needs are different.
AUM + Cubasis?
This man here is the Cubasis 3 wizard, and he'll know more about completing tracks in Cubasis 3 than I ever would know.
Mike has completed so many wonderful pieces of music (improv and otherwise) which are uploaded to his SoundCloud. Highly recommended.
Thanks for the replies - lots of good info!
Hmmm, not great, but I wouldn’t be recording MIDI, so probably not a deal breaker.
There’s a ton of good info there - thank you!
Ah, that’s a shame, I like to record chunks of audio that I can then edit and move around, a bit of a habit from having old devices with limited CPU power. Bringing in audio via AUM is a fair workaround though.
In Logic I’d load an AUv3 in one channel, and route the output to a new audio track, and record it that way. Maybe that’s possible?
Yeah that sounds fair. Will devour some tutorials tonight!
Anytime mate. I try to be as thorough as possible, even if I'm a bit of a blowhard. 😅 Lol.
@jwmmakerofmusic , are you kidding me with this ? Best side by side comparison I’ve ever seen . Thanks so much , man.. Seriously!!
Again, Cubasis is stuck in only a single time signature per song. An automatic No-Go for me . In terms of time invested I think LP4 has more future potential than Cubasis does, being that there’s no “ceiling” built into LP4..
@jwmmakerofmusic Fair comparison of the two, although I can't imagine using Logic on my Mini 7, as I even find things cramped on a 13" Pro! But that's not just a Logic thing. I only have a small scattering of music apps and AUv3's on my Mini, which I tend to use mainly as a supercharged Kindle! Creation apps definitely take a back seat on my Mini.
Thanks mate. I try. 😅 I guess one of the advantages of my having Autism is my tendency to thoroughly overexplain things to death, lol. But if my ramblings are somewhat useful, than I did my diligent duty.
Fair.
What I like about iPad is everyone has their preferred screen realestate. I can't imagine lugging a 13" Pro around everywhere I go. Bloody pain, that. But, I can hold an iPad Mini 7 in my hands without any wrist cramping. That's a major plus for me. 
Everyone's mileage will vary, of course.
Mmmm, yah this is why I like BM3. Recording/slicing to pads etc is as close to Samplitude like capabilities I have found on iOS.
@jwmmakerofmusic thx Jim, but I only utilize about 5% of what Cubasis can do. I just do it over and over… and over,😉😘
Cubasis is my favorite DAW , it is super reliable for me. I think it’s one of the best looking DAW on iOS. @jwmmakerofmusic 😉 But it does not work with certain type of midi generator like iBassist. I think you might get frustrated by that.
Since you looked at LP4i and Auria, have you looked at N-tracks and Zenbeats. I worked a little bit with Zenbeats and not at all with n-tracks but they might be worth investigating. Your dream DAW may be a combination of DAW. I use Cubasis for midi and audio. Auria for mixing. Fir mastering I am undecided between Auria or LP4i
Btw, how many of iOS DAW could handle 35 tracks songs ? Only the multi treaded DAW.
Here’s the song, it was for Halloween.
I've done it using BM3, but admittedly with more samples than synths.
Right, but as our friend @LinearLineman said, he only uses Cubasis to about 5% of its potential. Same with me, although just for vocal recording, processing, and tuning (whether Waves Tune RT or I use Dervoco to vocode my vocals).
I tried N-Track years ago, and it rendered audio with pops and clicks intact. Apple refunded me no problem when I explained that to them. Of course that was 5-6 years ago (god, that long already?!), so perhaps it was improved since then. I also heard from a friend that N-Track's development team are super responsive and don't hesitate to fix problems. I jolly well may give it another go once my Logic Pro obsession eventually fades, if it does. (I'll still keep the sub for mastering purposes.)
Zenbeats and I never did seem to get along. The difference between that and Logic Pro (both of which I initially didn't along with), Logic Pro grew on me once AI Mastering was added in. Mind you, I still couldn't stand producing full tracks in Logic Pro due to the lack of a proper sample browser, but recording from the OP-1 Field and mastering in it was a breeze. Now I'm sifting through the various built-in tutorials for Logic Pro and learning the ropes. I wish Zenbeats had those type of built-in tutorials that show me how to do things within. (Unless I missed something. I'm always thinking about how I can use something for producing, so I jolly well may have missed something, lol.)
@LinearLineman Well played, my friend.
As I mentioned to Ecou, I also use 5% of Cubasis' full potential. I'm unsure why it's so tough for me to start and finish a track within Cubasis since I use it for vocals. Guess I like Logic just a tad more for everything else. Very efficient way to create music, even if not the quickest. (For that I'll use Garageband to start a project, at least drums and a piano, and then import into Logic Pro for fleshing out and finishing up.)
I had more synths and guitar amp Auv3 than samples tracks> @jwmmakerofmusic said:
I was responding to the OP about midi generator.
Maybe time to revisit. @yellow_eyez as convinced me to give N-tracks a chance.
The UI left bar is a bit weird but once you get It it's a great DAW. But I only made one song in it. I have not pushed its limit yet.
I still have to give Logic a proper chance by using it to create a song since I use it for AI mastering. I also bought NS2 but the UI is really not as instant as I would have hoped.
I have DAW coming out of everywhere 😁