CUBASE 13 - An Honest Review

Let's talk about Cubase 13 in this honest review where we will cover the most overrated and the most underrated features in Cubase 13, an update that feels a bit mediocre...

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The Cubase 13 Upgrade receives a lot of hype but i don't see big innovations here. Of course, we're still talking about Cubase which is - according to many - the best DAW in the world. So i'm complaining on a very high level.

I had my reasons to spend 100 Coins on the update (from Cubase 12 Pro to 13 Pro) but i also can understand people who don't want to upgrade for whatever reasons. Because this update is a bit mediocre imo.

I cover the unnecessary design change, the most overrated feature, more disappointing things but also some of the good stuff in C13, like the most underrated feature and other positive things.

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◼ VIDEO CHAPTERS

0:00 Cubase 13 Honest Review
0:56 "New Modern Look"
2:40 Most Overrated Feature
4:20 Guitar Players?
5:25 Vocal Chain
5:58 Most Underrated Feature
6:45 Iconica Sketch
7:56 Chord Pads

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#TheGroundNoise #Cubase13

[hughesdrive]

Cubase 13 is working well. Mixed a couple of tunes in it. So far so good!

[arielperez]

Agree 100% on the GUI change.. A total crap marketing move from Steinberg.. I also tend to upgrade once a year or so to avoid the big cost hit if you wait too long.. but I am concerned about the performance comments I am seeing all over these initial reviews.. I am on the fence on this one.

[wiseoldfool]

G'Day, Marcus. There was a lot of hype around Cubase 13's launch. You, and "One man and his songs" have both given realistic, balanced perspectives. Definitely mediocre for my use cases at the moment. There's nothing in this update to make me rush out and buy it, I will wait for at least one maintenance update, possibly more. Some nice changes to MIDI editing that I will find useful, including the grouping, which I have heard mentioned for the first time in this review! I will be getting Iconica Sketch in the next Dorico release anyway, so I can wait for that. Lots of users have complained that the new colour scheme for the mixer is hard on the eyes, some previously existing features have been removed or broken, and as usual, many people are experiencing crashes on a system that was working perfectly with Cubase 12. There is an expectation that there will be a maintenance release before the end of the year.

[JohnMarshall-NI]

I have a made a couple of videos demonstrating performance issues with certain VST instruments/plugins and Cubase 12/13. I am pretty disappointed that these issues haven't been addressed in 13 (or even in 12!). I have also found a couple of workarounds for the performance issues if anyone is experiencing them. Hopefully Steinberg can get to the bottom of it and the next maintenance update addresses most of the bugs.

[theofficialkrushb]

I like the new channel strip, and pop up windows. If Steinberg makes them resizable they’d be perfect.

[BobBob-dvqh]

These are 20 year old features (left hand channel slider) that is from CUBASE SX 1- 1.06.
And mixing midi tracks into groups is also a 20 year old features. The "new visual layout" and use of pop up windows are also from the original cubase sx 1.0.
Sounds like and looks like a money grab upgrade.
I will probably get static from cubase users.
However I have used all versions up to cubase 12
I still run an old win xp computer with cubase sx 1.06 aswell. For older projects and to convert older project to .cpr files.
Anyhow my observation is that they RECYCLED old deleted FORGOTTEN user features which were there back in 2002.
It's not even a side step upgrade, looks to me like regurgitated old retro vintage user functions and visuals.
Hardly deserving of a Cubase 13 title/name. More so should have been released as a cubase retro package.
Very disheartened to see the new 1000 dollar software to new users or 150 buck upgrade to existing users has done little to nothing to improve anything. How do they justify the upgrade? Or " NEW" title. Seems like a way to remove compatibility with old VST instruments and or plug-ins. As computer technology is rapidly changing they write programs to run on the new latest OS. Be it Linux Apple or Microsoft.
Don't get me wrong steinberg has done well with keeping our existing versions compatible with new hardware. (Drivers etc)
I just don't see anything new worth the upgrade fees.
Visually yes I prefer the old versions of cubase (closer to the new look of 13) but hardly worth the upgrade when I seems like only yesterday we paid for the improved look of 11 and 12 etc...
In the end they don't tell you the compatibility features that are silently removed. Be sure they are there for us users to find.

[mrjohnwilkesbooth]

I'll stick with 12 Pro. I have no workflow issues w/12.

13 really isn't offering much besides a new gui and stereo/mono track of which none of that matters to me.

Now I'd upgrade if they would of added in a full version of GA-5 or Halion. Besides, that - there's nothing worth upgrading to tbh imho 🤔

[michaelhonormusic]

I´ll wait until this upgrade is on sale because i´m still enjoying Cubase 12.

[Byron_]

C13 is more about great > workflow improvments! I like the new GUI. With a litte tweaking it looks good and modern.
And this is exacly what I want. I don´t need fancy stuff like clip nmodes or modulation in every directions (If you like such crazy stuff, Ableton or Bitwig is your friend to go).
C123 is very stable on my systems. The new onstock fx and the new 5 GB FREE orchestral Iconica stuff is very nice to have and sound very good.

[dna]

Finally someone who tells it like it is. 😊A minor 0.5 update of a few visuals tweaks, so what. I'll wait till they do the usual 30% off later, maybe... the vocoder would be the only thing that I am interested in. And why do Dev's never keep the the old visual settings as an option? Some of us like it that way.

[errmable]

Like you I only upgraded to Nuendo because it was cheaper. I think it's snappier but hardly use it because I've switch to Logic Pro X. Better for arranging music, programming drums, woring in surround formats and less of a headache to setup. Honestly I can't think of a reason to go back to using Nuendo/Cubase anymore and probably would save my money if they do upgrades like this in the future. Great video btw!

[dykodesigns]

I don’t mind the new look of the UI but I still use Cubase Elements 9 as it serves me well as it’s good enough for me. The only thing I wish Steinberg would do is give the ASIO standard a much needed overhaul, some quality of life improvements are needed for the future. If they would modernise the standard to make it possible to use two ASIO drivers at the same time to separate the recording device from the playback device I would totally upgrade. ASIO still beats the native windows audio drivers in I/O features but in some ways it’s kind of stuck in 1997 beeing limited to a single device model. These days instruments with built-in USB audio interfaces are a thing and I just want to be able to use my Roland TR-6S together with my Steinberg UR-242 interface at the same time without having to use ASIO4all. Having to switch drivers gets a bit inconvenient at times. Steinberg used to be very innovative but they have totally forgotten about ASIO for so many years. I love Cubase and I hope they dust off the ASIO standard some day.

[zinghao]

I was late for the party to upgrade to C11, and it blew me away. It was a revolution to me. Then C12 was released in my grace period, and was a no-brainer (and no-dingle-dongle) upgrade. Then they gave me Arturia's CS-80 for free as a little surprise, and I was over the moon, yes! Now with C13, the string library sounds great but, for my own mediocre classical aspirations, BBCCO from Spitfire does the job, and it's free... You're right, this is no more than C12.5, and I am not upgrading as I'm not eligible for a freebie. I like to occasionally play around with a vocoder but then again I have got hardware for that rarely used effect. I also use 3rd party Pultec style EQ's already, and the extra tab for the channel? Sorry, I couldn't even imagine for a second to not mix with 2 screens and you can find a second fully working 16:9 screen by any skip near well, I am fairly positive I may upgrade in a year when C14 drops but for now, C12 does everything for me. To cut a long story short, they are a great team of developers but I am OK for now.

[pattardn]

Been using Cubase since SX. Love it. Haven't upgraded yet - still using 11. something. Use it in conjunction with Reason Studios which makes up a great team, I believe. I'll wait for 14, or maybe later if need be. Actually I'm more inclined to get into Dorico sometime in the near future.

[lawrencescotto]

Thanks for the info. I've been on the fence about the 13 update.

[kam]

Absolutely loved watching your review. Love your style and pretty much confirms my fears about Cubase 13 particularly the channel strip although this can be hidden. Tried the trial version and I'm struggling to justify updating, Really not sure I'd gain very much apart from a load of problems when I'm wanting to make music making easier.

[newman]

I used one year now cubase 13 but last week I open cubase 12 and I found diffract between sound I think cubase 12 have more solid sound

[djerikfox]

TOTALLY AGREE!!!...i wish cubase 13 could have, ,routing tracks, , like pro tools, logic, and st1....its a great feature too...regards

[DebowyMocny]

Good video, thanks for your content. I personally like the new GUI but I have limited experience with DAWs and only been using Cubase since version 11. I couldn't agree more about the Amp Rack, I am sure that this could benefit from a modern upgrade. I am primarly a bedroom guitar player and Cubase for me is means to record at home for non-professional use so a good built-in amp simulator would be great.

[vitaliistep]

I wish they would have finally added the undo to the mixer, like any other DAW out there! :) Thanks for sharing your experience.