The first thing you’ll notice upon launching Cubase 8 is that the Project window has received some interface adjustments, and fans of darkness will be pleased to know that the brightness knob for the application’s default palette has once again been turned down. The differences between the Pro and Artist versions are noted in the ‘Artistic Differences’ box. For the sake of brevity - and possibly sanity - I’ll refer to the program as simply Cubase 8 in this article. Cubase Studio later became Cubase Artist, making things a little clearer, but in version 8 Steinberg have removed any possible ambiguity: this new Cubase is now called Cubase Pro 8. This would have been fine, except the junior version of Cubase, which had been called Cubase SL, became Cubase Studio, and you could be forgiven for assuming the ‘studio’ appendage denoted the bigger version. Steinberg have often struggled in distinguishing the higher- and lower-end versions by name alone over the years, initially calling the senior program Cubase SX, until version 4 when they dropped the SX. The first change in Cubase 8 is the name.

And if you can think of something, the chances are good this latest version of Steinberg’s popular “Advanced Music Production System” will offer the solution. With so much functionality being added in the last few years, it’s becoming difficult to think of features that don’t exist in Cubase that are implemented in competing products with longer release schedules.

In recent years, Steinberg have been releasing new versions of Cubase on an impressively paced annual schedule, alternating between major and ‘point five’ versions - many of which have nevertheless introduced important new features. Cubase Pro 8 in all its glory, playing back one of the construction kits from the included Allen Morgan Pop-Rock Toolbox.Ĭubase 8 combines powerful tools from Nuendo with new features such as VCA faders and the ability to render audio in place.

System exclusive editor in cubase pro 8