possibly the best of both worlds

£481
Upgrades from £83
Crossgrade from qualifying product £298
steinberg.net

All Digital Audio Workstations do essentially the same thing — let you record, create, produce and mix music. And while each has its own particular feature set, most can be categorised into one of two camps. On one side, we have the ‘traditional’ DAWs, conceptually similar to a pre-digital studio in which each stage and component in the recording process is a discrete entity – the synthesizer, the recorder, the mixing desk, and so on.

On the other side, we have the ‘contemporary’ DAWs that blur the lines between these discrete elements with non-linear timelines, complex device chains and other features that make the DAW feel like a performable uber-instrument in its own right.

Some producers have strong preferences one way or the other, but many of us are left straddling both camps, jumping between DAWs as circumstances demand.

With the release of Cubase 14, Steinberg may just have given us the best of both worlds.

Cubase versions and pricing

As always, Cubase 14 comes in various editions aimed at the needs and budgets of different users. The Pro edition, which we are looking at here, is the all-singing-all-dancing version and, on top of the DAW itself, it comes bundled with a large collection of instruments and plugins, and a vast library of samples, patches and presets.

All of this extra content pushes Cubase Pro’s asking price towards the upper end of the market, and while cheaper than the full-fat Ableton Live, it costs considerably more than, for example, Logic Pro and Studio One, which sit at a cool £199.

At £273, Cubase Artist edition is more closely priced to those competitors, and is almost as feature-rich as Cubase Pro. It too includes a generous plugin and content library, just not as generous as Cubase Pro’s.

The most affordable option, other than the AI and LE editions that come bundled with hardware, is Cubase Elements. Whilst lacking Pro’s and Artist’s more advanced features, Elements nonetheless provides an extremely capable recording solution and includes many essential plugins and instruments, as well as a small library of content. It’s lot of power at just £83.

Once on the Cubase platform, updates become much more affordable, and you can easily upgrade to a higher-specced edition if you find yourself hitting your edition’s limits. A full comparison of features can be viewed on Steinberg’s product pages.

What are Cubase 14’s new modulators?

Let’s dive straight in with Cubase 14’s new Modulators. These allow any mix or plugin parameter to be controlled by a repeating signal, bringing vast new creative potential to Cubase. Unlike traditional automation lanes, Modulators are configured in moments, they can be used to control multiple parameters simultaneously, and can be tweaked and modified with ease as creative ideas take shape.

Cubase 14 provides six different types of modulator: LFO, Envelope Follower, Shaper, Macro Knob, Step Modulator and ModScripter. Check out their capabilities in the clip below.

ModScripter allows custom modulators to be programmed via a scripting interface. You don’t need to be a programmer to use this, as a collection of scripts is included, but those familiar with ECMAScript or JavaScript will likely find it more useful. Much can be gleaned from studying the included scripts, and from the notes included in the ModScripter’s default script, but it’s surprising that Steinberg appears to not yet have published any scripting or API documentation.

Modulators are quick to configure and can be mapped to multiple destination parameters with ease whilst providing per-destination control over the impact of the Modulator. LFO, Shaper and Step Modulator can run freely, be synced to the project start, or be triggered and retriggered via MIDI.

Envelope Follower and ModScripter support external sidechaining. A great use of the former is, for example, creating rhythmic effects based on a kick or other percussive part. In the case of ModScripter, the sidechain input simply provides another source that your scripts can respond to – how you use this is down to your imagination (and coding skill!).

Although there aren’t yet any global Modulator hosting slots to reach into multiple tracks simultaneously, any combination of up to eight Modulators can be attached to any compatible track type, these being Audio, Instrument, Sampler, Effect and Group tracks… oh, and the all-new Drum Tracks, of course.

Dancing to the rhythm of a different drum (track)

Drum Tracks embed a drum machine directly into the timeline. Each of a Drum Track’s 128 pads can consist of up to four sound layers, with each layer being powered by a classic drum synth – multiple types are included – or by a sample player. Each pad also has its own effects chain, along with a pair of sends that feed the machine’s global reverb and delay processors.

Over 30 drum kits are included, and creating and/or modifying kits is a breeze. The various synth models provide a wide range of classic drum machine sounds, whilst tight integration with the Media Bay and its new previewing tools makes for easy auditioning and replacement of samples.

Of course, no drum machine would be complete without a pattern sequencer, and in Cubase 14’s case this is laid on by the Pattern Editor and Pattern Events. These can also be used with Instrument, Sample and MIDI tracks, but the editor’s single lane per trigger note layout is best suited to working with Drum tracks, where it automatically synchronises its lanes with the active pads of the associated Drum track.

When used on other track types, only six lanes are created automatically, and you have to add and configure additional lanes one at a time, which rapidly gets tedious. What’s more, the editor’s Parameter Lane area, shown below the main pattern grid, controls per-step velocity, gate and other parameters for the currently selected lane. This makes perfect sense when programming beats, but becomes more clumsy when working with pitched patterns.

The Pattern Editor itself has loads of flexibility, with both global and per-lane step length, resolution, direction and swing, plus timing offset per lane. There are also various randomising elements for injecting variation, perfect for creating generative music and to inspire new ideas.

Any number of patterns can be defined within the editor and, unlike when working with MIDI parts, there’s no need to create events on the timeline in which to store each pattern. When ready to create an arrangement, patterns are dragged from the Pattern Editor to the timeline where they appear as Pattern Events that can be worked with in much the same way as any other event type.

Cubase’s new-found pattern tools are exceptionally good at combining a modern approach to pattern sequencing with a traditional linear timeline. However, there are a couple of issues. First and foremost, patterns are only stored at the project level, so there’s no way to load and save them independently. Secondly, changes made in the Pattern Editor are not included in the undo buffer, so you can’t quickly reverse experimental or accidental modifications. These two issues can be lived with and worked around, but I hope they’re high on Steinberg’s to-do list.

What workflow improvements have been made in Cubase 14?

The Pattern Editor’s ability to give each trigger a probability and velocity variance is great for creating interesting and natural-sounding parts. I’m therefore thrilled to find that both the Key Editor and Drum Editor have been given this ability too, adding a contemporary twist to two of Cubase’s classic tools.

Over in the main project timeline, audio event blocks can now have volume curves applied directly to them, in effect automating the event volume parameter. This is for dealing with unwanted volume fluctuations within an audio recording, ducking and boosting segments as needed so that a more consistent signal is then passed into the mixing channel.

All of the usual automation curve tools are available, and the impact of the curve is reflected in the audio waveform too, all of which makes light work of this sort of gain staging. Also, unlike channel pre-gain or volume automation, the event volume curves are locked to the event itself, which makes for far fewer headaches when moving, copying or editing events.

Many editing tasks have been streamlined thanks to tweaks made to how the Range tool operates. Although these changes may only save a few mouse clicks, many operations feel much less clumsy for it.

For example, nudging or muting sections within an event no longer requires the section in question to be separated into its own event. Just drag out a selection and use the nudge or mute keyboard shortcuts, and Cubase automatically separates the event before applying the operation. Also, after performing a range-based edit, the selection now remains in place so that you can carry on working with it.

There are of course many other workflow improvements, such as sharing of audio in/outs ports for external instruments and effects, the ability to offset the start point of Ruler tracks, and support for the DAWProject file format that’s set to supersede AAF and OMF for exchanging projects between different DAWs. The entire list can be perused on Steinberg’s website, including which of the new features are available in Cubase’s Artist and Elements editions.

What new plugins are included?

Cubase’s bundled plugin collection has also received a welcome boost.

Underwater is by far the simplest of the bunch, being a straight-forward, one-knob implementation of the ‘party next door’ low-pass filtering effect in which the top- and mid-range frequencies are cut away, making it sound like the music is coming through a wall or ceiling.

Throw it onto a submix group that contains everything but the vocals, automate or modulate the knob, and enjoy!

Auto Filter combines a multi-mode resonant filter featuring low-, band- and high-pass options, with an envelope follower controlling the filter cutoff frequency. The filter has a pleasingly edgy character that ensures it stands out, and allows the envelope to be bypassed so that the cutoff can be controlled manually, by automation, or via Modulators.

Things get a bit more advanced with StudioDelay and Shimmer. StudioDelay makes light work of creating rhythmic and syncopated delay lines, whilst Shimmer is a particularly flexible incarnation of the quintessential modulated and pitch-shifted shimmer reverb effect.

One DAW to rule them all?

The changes Steinberg has made to its longest-serving product focus far more on establishing new features and workflows than on tweaking existing ones.

Although nothing fundamental or impossible to live with, there are some loose ends that still need tidying up such as the absence of global Modulator hosting slots, awkwardness configuring Pattern Events for pitched instruments, and edits to Pattern Events being omitted from the undo buffer.

Nevertheless, the results of Steinberg’s work are hugely significant, smoothly integrating modern production techniques and tools into Cubase in a way that complements, and does not interfere with, the venerable DAW’s long-established workflows and capabilities.

If Modulators and Drum Tracks and pattern sequencing are not your thing then no problem; you can safely ignore these features and still enjoy the other improvements. But if you’re one of the many producers sick of jumping between, and paying for, multiple DAWs just to ensure you have the right tools for any job, then you really have to check out what Steinberg has done. It’s knocked it out of the park!

What the internet is saying

Cubase is a mainstay among many professional composers — a group that includes popular YouTuber Guy Mitchelmore. “The whole thing seems a bit more frisky and sprightly”, he says in his Cubase 14 First Look video. And on the subject of Cubase’s new Modulators, he takes the view they are “Super powerful. Super useful. There are so many things you’re going to be able to do with (them)”.

Guy goes on to say that, unlike programs such as Apple Logic Pro 11 and Native Instruments Kontakt 8, which he feels have tried too hard to make themselves easy for non-musicians to use, “Steinberg has gone in the opposite direction”. Following this with a heartfelt “THANK YOU!” makes it clear that Guy is pleased with this turn of events.

Coming at things from a contemporary producer’s point of view, Chris Selim – Mixdown Online says “This is probably one of the best – if not THE best – Cubase version ever”, and that “This upgrade is huge!”. Also, as is proving a common sentiment across many users and reviewers, Chris is particularly impressed by the new Modulators feature because it “opens the door to so much creativity. ”

Not everyone is so pleased with the modulators, although it seems the main objection is that it’s not an original Steinberg innovation. For example, in his overview video on YouTube, Weaver Beats suggests that they are “nearly copyright infringement of Bitwig”. We disagree — clearly, Steinberg has taken inspiration from other DAWs, but there are only so many ways to skin the proverbial cat, and it makes sense to add capabilities that have already proved themselves to be popular elsewhere. One commenter on Weaver Beats’ video also jokingly remarks: “As a Bitwig user, 6 modulators is cute” — Bitwig has 43 different types of Modulators, and the number of Modulators you can use per device is unlimited.

Key features

• For Windows 10 and above / macOS 13 (Ventura) and above
• Native support for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs
• Unlimited audio, MIDI and Instrument tracks
• 92 professional plugin effects
• 4 instruments and library of over 3000 presets, sounds and loops
• 64-bit audio engine
• 192 kHz maximum operating sample rate