PRODUCT
TESTS
Steinberg Cubase Pro 10.5 Music Creation Software
By Eric Price
I
t’s that time of the year again where we
get to have a look at the latest Cubase
Pro upgrade. This time around, Stein-
berg bumps Cubase 10 Pro up to 10.5
Pro. Though this update skews heavily
towards small refinements and enhance-
ments, it still adds many new and worthwhile
features.
Features
At the top of my list of new favourites is the
overhauled channel EQ, which now includes
a Spectral Comparison option whereby you
can compare the EQ curves of two different
tracks at the same time. For example, choose
a kick drum and a bass instrument and you
can visually and aurally make sure the two
are not walking over each other’s sonic
footprint. The feature allows you to switch
instantly between the two channels’ EQs for
quick tweaking – a great way to easily help
clean up your mixes and something I made
use of straight away.
Under the “cool” heading, we find a new
multi-tap delay. This effect allows for up to
eight separate delay taps! You can then add
other effects to any of the delay taps or to
the output of the entire plug-in. This effect
allows you to get very creative with sound
manipulation with minimal effort and is also
on my “thumbs up” list.
Next up is one of the handiest updates, the
new video export option. You can now render
MP4 files with both the video and the audio
combined. This is great for content creators
as you can finally complete your videos with
only one stop! Export allows for H.264 video
compression with 16-bit stereo audio at either
44.1 or 48 kHz. You also have the option of
adding timecode for reference and exporting
only a portion or range of the video.
The VST instrument Padshop, Steinberg’s
granular synthesizer, got an overhaul as
well. The newly-christened Padshop2 takes
some features from Retrologue (mainly the
arpeggiator) and incorporates them into this
retooled VST. Samples can now be dragged-
and-dropped into Padshop2 and then edited
using the synthesizer's controls. They have
also included 100 new presets for you to
work with.
Also, under most requested features,
Steinberg has added more options in the
Import Tracks from Projects menu. They have
also greatly increased the number of track
types you can import, such as Folder tracks,
Group tracks, and FX tracks. Plus, you can
22 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
choose which attributes from a track to im-
port. This enhancement now brings Cubase
more in-line with other major DAWs’ abilities.
Lastly, in the overhaul department, the
Retrospective MIDI Record feature gets
expanded. For those unaware, this feature
allows you to capture MIDI data even if you
are not recording, making sure you never
miss a creative moment. Though this feature
has existed for some time now, Steinberg
has made it stronger by capturing looped
cycles on separate tracks as well as continu-
ous recording.
Workflow
On to workflow improvements. First and
foremost, on my wish list was the ability to
combine the select tool with another tool
and Steinberg has now delivered. They have
added an option on the tools menu for you
to be able to merge both the Range tool and
the Object Select tool into one without the
need to go back and forth between the two.
You will need to have the track height a mini-
mum size to use the tool but basically, when
in combined mode, the cursor, if located in
the lower half of the track window, acts as the
Object Select tool; however, when placed in
the top half of the track window, the Range
tool becomes active. It took me very little
practice to get used to working that way and
what a time-saver once I got the hang of it!
Yet another regular feature request from
users was the ability to colourize each of the
mixer channels. With many projects now us-
ing high channel counts, it’s getting tougher
to tell tracks apart quickly and easily in the
MixConsole. Now that you can choose a
track’s colour and brightness, it goes a long
way to helping you visually sort tracks on
the fly.
A few last items to mention: you now
have the ability to open Cubase in Safe
Mode. This is where Cubase will disable all
third-party plug-ins in an effort to help you
diagnose annoying start up issues.
There have also been improvements
made to the scoring section of the program
and there is a new track picker window with
more choices available, making your initial
track selection easier.
Summary
Steinberg remains a leader in the DAW world
by continually raising the bar. The latest
workflow enhancements and new features
in Cubase Pro 10.5 make it a worthwhile
purchase, even to version 10 users.
Note that this review covers the fully-
featured Pro version of Cubase and not the
Artist or Elements editions, meaning that
some of the features, options, and enhance-
ments mentioned here may not be available
in either of those versions. When in doubt (or
to see in-depth videos and descriptions of
the new features), visit www.steinberg.net.
Eric Price wrote this review with unwanted
assistance from his cat Chico, who made
countless contributions to both grammar
and spelling that Eric certainly could have
done without. You can reach Eric or Chico at
[email protected].