Switch from Ableton to Cubase?

[Denkii]

I still use live if I just want to have fun.
If I need to get stuff done, I use something else.
Went from S1 (v3) to Cubase Pro and recently back to S1 (v5). I prefer working in S1 over Cubase by a lot. The only thing I regularly find annoying is how clunky it is to set up and work with video in S1 compared to Cubase.
Also: If you need to work in 5.1 or more, stay away from S1.

Other than that: I love it and will try to stick with it as long as possible. They update it frequently, most things are easily accessible and layed out in an easy way (looking at you Cubase), the hardware/software with integration with Presonus controllers is top notch.

In the end, it's always the same: You need to get used to whatever you end up with. They all do 98 % of the same things, just in a different way. Cubase probably has the other 2 % over the rest...it is just not for me.

 

[darkogav]

Hello everyone! I bought Ableton to make techno music. But then I discovered SA libraries and now I’m only making orchestral music. I’m thinking about switching from Ableton to Cubase since pianoroll midi editing and orchestral programming looks easier with Cubase. Therefore I was wondering if other people have experience with switching from Ableton to Cubase. Why did you switch? Is it worth it to switch DAW or is it not the DAW but my lack of skills that makes Ableton nog enjoyable to work with?

And If I would switch, would you recommend the Pro version or is Artist fine as well?

A DAW is just a DAW. I see a fellow on YouTube making orchestral scores in FL Studio. You only need to worry about DAWs if you are exchanging projects and most audio post is ProTools anyways.

If you switch to Cubase, you need Pro[1]. I would save my money and keep using Ableton and just wait. Steinberg/Yamaha are in the process of re-vamping their licensing scheme.

[1] https://new.steinberg.net/cubase/compare-editions/

 

[Leo Brennauer]

A DAW is just a DAW. I see a fellow on YouTube making orchestral scores in FL Studio. You only need to worry about DAWs if you are exchanging projects and most audio post is ProTools anyways.

If you switch to Cubase, you need Pro[1]. I would save my money and keep using Ableton and just wait. Steinberg/Yamaha are in the process of re-vamping their licensing scheme.

[1] https://new.steinberg.net/cubase/compare-editions/

Do you have any source for this revamping romour? I’m not finding any information. Or do I just miss sth

 

[darkogav]

Do you have any source for this revamping romour? I’m not finding any information. Or do I just miss sth

I think its public. Lots of posts. I even saw them discuss it on Facebook. I believe the plan is to phase out the dongle. So wait a bit and save $50 if you won't need one.

 

[Leo Brennauer]

I think its public. Lots of posts. I even saw them discuss it on Facebook. I believe the plan is to phase out the dongle. So wait a bit and save $50 if you won't need one.

Ah just saw it. Thanks!


Hello all,

For many of you this is the announcement you have been waiting for. While we put our heart and soul into developing ground-breaking products in your best interests, we haven’t accomplished our promise to provide you with the user experience you deserve in every part of Steinberg’s technologies in recent time.


We have been listening to your feedback for years, but significant changes need time, and we had to carefully lay out our vision for the future. But now the time has come to put our approach to license management at the center of our attention. We have decided to adopt a new license management technology that everyone will benefit from to prepare for coming requirements.

An authorization system shouldn’t get in your way, but support you in the onboarding process. Anti-piracy protection technology shouldn’t restrict you as the customer, but secure your investment. A license management shouldn’t stop you from using your products, but enable you to be creative, whenever and wherever you are.

At this point in time, all we can tell you is that everyone at Steinberg is strongly committed to providing you as soon as possible with a solution that offers more flexibility, more reliability and, of course, a seamless migration. It’s too early to announce details on the schedule or the new environment, but one thing is for sure: The future will be dongle-free.

The Steinberg Team

 

[Waywyn]

Definitely go for the trial but also don’t sleep on Studio One. The new updates have been fantastic, they’ve added more orchestral focused pieces (see the articulation maps they just came out with), and overall it’s a great middle ground between Live and Cubase (from my limited experience with the Cubase trial). Granted I’m still very much a beginner, especially in comparison to Daniel James, so take everything with a big grain of salt there. However I really love what Presonus is doing and highly recommend checking out their trial as well!

I’m not sure if Daniel has tried it but his comparison would be way more useful than mine

My two cents on this whole thing would be that if you don't care too much about advanced video features, don't need OSC and you are not using a touch screen controller for example, and don't use an orchestral template above 1000 tracks, I would strongly recommend Studio One. To me, it is one of the most intuitive DAWs out there, everything works with drag and drop and once these above-mentioned features are fixed I can't wait for the day to finally leave the Cubase world. I have been using it for 15 years and it is time they overhaul their core engine rather than building and building on top of it.


... and thanks for the mention @Daniel James

 

[CATDAD]

Not Cubase, but I switched from Ableton to Studio One and have most of all enjoyed the UI for mixing. Routing is fairly intuitive (there is a learning curve coming from Ableton, but feels more flexible and logically laid out to me) and it seems really silly but I also didn't realize how much I disliked Ableton having its track headers on the right side. The session view was always a waste for me, and much prefer having a mixing console view to see all my chains at once. I also very much dislike Ableton's UI for its plugins due to their tiny space constraints, stuff I didn't know mattered to me when I started.

Like @Waywyn and @Denkii said above, Studio One is sleek but is fairly lacking in video features aside from some basic stuff (it can lay out a video track and export it at least) so if you have any intention of doing involved video syncing, be wary. (I think at this point it's more likely Studio One will add more video functions sooner than Cubase will overhaul decades of engine code though)

Something to keep in mind too is if you use a lot of Ableton's native plugins, make sure to checklist whether or not there are equivalents in whatever DAW you choose, and during a trial, keep track of which features you use and whether they are in the "Pro" version of the new DAW or not. If you work a lot with 3rd party plugins, you may only need what the "artist" versions offer for the most part.

I think Cubase and Studio One have full-featured 30 day trials so just try em out! 30 days is more than enough to overcome the very beginning learning curve and just take a look at what it feels like to do what you do in those environments.