I bought Cubase for a school lab years ago. Some computers were stolen and we also lost the dongles. The insurance payout took about a month - different version of Cubase was then released but I couldn't afford to upgrade the entire lab, so had to teach with two different versions. It was a big decision to stop using Cubase as I loved it but I will no longer buy anything that uses a dongle. I do have a single Mac licence but haven't used it since I bought a new Macbook - dongles/adapters - easier to just use Logic. If Steinberg got rid of the dongle for edu multi seat licences then I would consider both Cubase and Dorico in the future. I'll keep using Sonar in the lab until I can afford to buy something else - students will still be able to learn skills that are transferable to other DAWS, but teaching using "dead" software is not ideal.

mritenburg
Four questions:
 
1. Is the $255 crossgrade the one that is 50% off?
2. How long will the promotion run?
3. Does Sweetwater carry the USB eLicenser?
4. Up above Greg said that Cubase does support ARA, but there are subsequent posts complaining that it does not.  What is the full story on ARA support?
 
Thanks!

 
1. Yes.
2. IDK
3. Yes. I ordered one from them today.
4. I suspect that Greg made an unfortunate error/typo when he wrote "Cubase does offer ARA support but has a lot of functionality built in such as the Vari Audio editor for pitch correction." I think he meant to write "Cubase does NOT offer ARA support but has a lot of functionality built in such as the Vari Audio editor for pitch correction."
 
Check out this link: https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=252&t=108207
 
The most recent post in that thread is less than a month old, and they are still asking Steinberg to add ARA integration.

I ordered from Sweetwater today - Cubase 9.5 crossgrade.  However, Sweetwater wrote to me and said they are having trouble processing my order - so I have no product to download yet ):

35mm

Ken Matson
Yeah while I know Cubase is fine software, the combination of having to have a hardware dongle and the lack of ARA support is enough to probably push me to Studio One.

Yes, my thoughts exactly. Also having to pay to renew the license every time there's an update - not that you have to update each time, but from my past experience, you don't get free updates within a year or anything. I am torn about which way to go.

I own Sonar, Cubase 9 and Studio One 3.5.  Yes I agree that the dongle is draconian and definitely a downside of Cubase but I do all my out-of-studio stuff on an iPad now so that isn't such a problem for me anymore.  On the plus side, Cubase is a very deep professional program from a company (actually 2 Yamaha and Steinberg) that have shown serious dedication to the advancement of music technology.  I've been on it for over 2 years and still there are plenty of functions that I haven't learned yet.  I think the notation section of the manual might be as big as Sopnar's whole manual.  I don't miss the ARA stuff since Cubase's audio pitch and timing functions are very powerful. Since owning Cubase I've become quite a Steinberg fan.  I just purchased their Black Friday 40% off deal on Absolute 3 (their version of Komplete) and I'm blown away all over again. (I also own Komplete 11 Ultimate).  The only issue for me is that since there is so much in it I can get overwhelmed.  While its well thought out and logical, it has taken me some dedication to learn it - probably because there are so many options.
 
Studio One is a fine program with some very creative workflows from another dedicated and serious company.  I don't use it much anymore because, since it's still a new fairly new DAW, it's missing too many functions that I really need.  Others may not need the same things and find Studio One perfect as it its a really good DAW... just a little under-cooked at present IMO and for my needs.
 
Anyway hope this helps.  If anyone has any questions I'll help if I can.   (
 
P.S. I don't know much about Mixcraft but it sounds interesting.

Greg Ondo
Cubase does offer ARA support but has a lot of functionality built in such as the VAri Audio editor for pitch correction.
 
 All the best,
 
Greg

Hi Greg.  I'm a Cubase user and didn't realize Cubase has ARA support.  

chuckebaby
If its for "Sonar only" users than im very grateful.

Looking at the Sweetwater site, this appears to be a general crossgrade offer from ANY qualifying product, nothing special for SONAR.
 
It seems that in some respects Cubase is lagging far behind what we were accustomed to with SONAR.  Is it true they are not supporting the Melodyne regions with ARA integration?  If 9.5 is only just out, then it seems we'd be looking at 2019 before getting that feature.  It is in StudioOne Already.
 
There are some aspects of Cubase that look interesting, but frankly I am put off by what seems like quite a limited architecture, where they only support a certain number of tracks and only a certain number of effects per track and so on.  It is hard to see that as a top tier product with such limitations.

I will NEVER use a DAW that Spams a forum to get sales!!!
_ OFF!

Some questions:
* level of multi monitor support
* level of support for hi-dpi monitors
* support for touch monitors
* plans for support for Surface devices: Pen and Dial
* more detail on 32-bit VST support/limitations on 64-bit version
* any support for DX/DXi
* MIDI FX included
* any support for/equivalent of ProChannel

Will this be recorded as well? Looks like I'll be driving at this time, so will be unable to attend.

I also decided to take advantage of the crossgrade offer. I had leanings towards StudioOne from Presonus, but I'm mainly a midi guy and that ultimately tipped the scales toward Cubase. I do use an outboard rompler and it's quite important to me. I made the purchase as soon Sweetwater came out with the $255 crossgrade price. I haven't gotten a dl link yet either, but I'm not worried. I'm on holiday and won't be home until Monday evening, and the elicenser key still has to come via snail mail.