Cubase Vs. Digital Performer., Vs. Options

[The_Circle]

I am just confused which software is best for Midi,i am working with pro-tools digi002 for audio but i need a good Midi sequencer and i am stuck in between cubase and digital performer..Any hints??

[jetcity]

Hey there.

I use DP 4.12 and love it. It's very easy to use, and easy on the eyes too for long sessions.

One thing you might want to consider is that DP (and Logic) is Mac-only. Cubase is on both platforms, and the Mac version always lags behind the PC version in terms of performance and bug fixes.

Another thing to consider is the learning curve. DP is musician-centric and easy to learn coming from Pro Tools. Logic and Cubase are both powerful, but you have to think more like a programmer, especially in Logic.

As far as REX: You can drag and drop REX files into DP and they will stretch to whatever tempo you set. However, to make REX files, you'll still need a beat slicer like ReCycle.

As far as latency/delay: There are only two ways around it. One way is track at 64 or 128 buffer -- but you can't use too many instruments or effects.The other way is hardware monitoring: Some audio interfaces(like MOTU) allows you to monitor your record-enabled tracks directly from the hardware, instead of going round-trip through the Mac. However, you won't be able to hear any plugins, because the sound you hear is not going through the plugin path.

The way I get around all this is freezing tracks (available in DP, Logic, Cubase). I have two mixing board layouts (easy to switch in DP): One with effects, one without. I mix at 1024 with effects, then freeze everything to a stereo track, switch to the empty mixing board at 128, add some tracks, switch back to the effects mixing board, etc. DP makes this easy.

Good luck,
Pete

This post has been edited by jetcity: Sat 13 Mar 2004, 21:18