Martín Sequeros

In issue 109 of ISP (March 2009), we published what was then presented as big news: the new version 5 of CUBASE. Now we've reached version 5.5, which we review with the usual enthusiasm the company inspires in us. The Cubase 5.5 update and the new HALion Sonic in our hands and, now, before your eyes.

And now the 5.5 update
Installing it is free for everyone who properly registered version 5. To get it, go to www.steinberg.com and download the corresponding .exe file to your computer. When the file runs, it will automatically check that you were already registered and that you have the official USB key, supplied with the CUBASE 5 installation discs, plugged into a USB port. Without that requirement you won't get anywhere, not even by copying the program discs, so it seems impossible to try it "the pirate way." In a few minutes (it took me about ten) the new installation will be complete, so the next time you open the program, the updated version will launch directly. It is, of course, very similar to the one you knew, although now, as expected, there are new functions and improved older ones.

When I installed my version 5, I chose Spanish as the language option. Now, once 5.5 is installed, a great deal of information remains in that language, but there's also a lot more with its original English name. Perhaps that's one of the unfinished tasks in this new version, which leans more toward displaying its information in German, English or French. It's also true that many of these descriptions are familiar to us and, although some others seem newer, we'll no doubt get used to them as we "tinker" with this program of so many possibilities.

In CUBASE we can find ways of reaching different results by different paths. On many occasions we'll be pleasantly surprised to find tools we'd never suspect could appear in this program. But the ways we worked with earlier versions will still be valid, both for recording and for playback through CUBASE.
I suppose you already know that with CUBASE you can work with unlimited separate tracks, and that it runs more or less smoothly depending on the structure and hardware of the computer we're using it on. It would work if our computer only had 1 GB of RAM, but it's better with at least 2 GB, and better still with 4 or more, with a better processor, a large screen, etc. Nowadays memory and hardware components have come down in price enough that this is no longer a problem.

Some of the new improvements in version 5.5
The algorithms in the audio engine have been readjusted to achieve lower latency and speed up processing, something that would be even more noticeable if our computer's processor had four or more cores (Intel already sells six-core ones). As you know, computing never stands still, and this version is already ahead of the curve. In any case, CUBASE 5.5 adapts to any system, although you know that "the more wood you add, the bigger and better the fire..." Its plug-ins in version 5.5 are designed to run at 64 bits, but they adapt and adjust automatically to 32-bit systems.

Its on-screen and video look has been given a good facelift, giving us a clearer view of how it works, especially in the access to each track and in mixing processes. VST connection configurations and other details have been simplified, which those of us used to it from earlier versions appreciate. Some level meters have also been updated, for example in the volume controls, along with a new slider for adjusting the density of any loop we decide to work with.

It also comes with a built-in keyboard that includes a virtual note recorder, letting us add specific musical phrases even more comfortably. There's a notable improvement that makes editing easier. The sample editor has been improved, with 800 new loops and 19 new kits. Its “LoopMash” application has been improved, with level meters and new parameters for better control. Its interface, called “MediaBay,” has been redesigned, integrating other new settings and configuration functions that make it easier to operate and improve its performance. New automation functions have now been added, along with an expanded “Quick Control,” which simplifies shortcuts for operating the program.

HALION SONIC
This is an option that complements CUBASE and consists of virtual sounds that can be used in the program. For this, Steinberg has developed and perfected a sampling technology with its own effective features, redesigned together with Yamaha's engineers. HALION SONIC now offers 1,200 extremely varied instrument sounds, ranging from the most purely classical or conventional to the strangest or most complex synthesized ones (as well as simple ones or combinations of them). It also contains many acoustic and electronic drum kits. Many of its percussion sounds can be applied in batches of different preprogrammed loops that end up shaping and developing a rhythm track with really very professional sounds, even if in reality you don't even know how to hold a pair of drumsticks...

Now, in HALION, YAMAHA has contributed and integrated all the development it has been working on for quite some time with instruments from the MOTIF series. It's one of the best software libraries of musical instrument sounds. Since HALION is developed by the same company, its integration into CUBASE is obviously ideal, as it includes VST support and a series of technical features that make it easy to use. HALION SONIC can be installed on both Windows and Mac systems, although the 64-bit version is for Windows only.

It comes on two DVDs
That's the content of the package, along with a few installation instructions and a sheet with an individual key that lets you activate it over the Internet, without which it won't work. In other words, there's no point copying the discs to install them on another computer without the proper permission from (and payment to) the company that developed it. It was to be expected that they would have this kind of protection well worked out by now...

The price of this package is about €249. When you insert disc number one into your computer, an efficient installation path is launched on screen. Files will then start loading onto your hard drive, without you having to do anything else in the process, except when it tells you to swap disc one for disc two to continue the installation, which will take several minutes depending on the power of your computer system. Its sample library will take up about 12 GB on your hard drive. It can load up to 16 instruments simultaneously, with four sound layers. It also contains its own four-way effects rack, including the famous “REVerence,” Steinberg's latest star, which its engineers consider one of the best software reverbs available today compared with the competition.

FlexPhrase
HALION SONIC also has those very special tools containing lots of percussion rhythms, various arpeggios and musical phrases, some quite complex, which automatically combine various articulations and changes that we can alter to our liking to "compose" our recordings in CUBASE. For this purpose, we can also make use of other tools such as “MIDI Learn,” “Quick Controls” or “MediaBay,” with which we can calmly edit different parameters for each sound in our compositions. It also contains 24 different filter types and virtually, theoretically unlimited polyphony, while its rack lets us use up to 16 programs simultaneously. With “MediaBay” you can search for sounds more quickly.

HALION SONIC on my computer
Its large number of tools and processes, some of them automated, gives us spectacular musical and virtual sounds with various structures, applicable to CUBASE. Many of these samples were made using renowned high-quality microphones, capturing the most suitable nuances and gathering them in this package.

HALION SONIC was designed so that the amount of memory needed would be very small when emulating some very complex instruments, since the samples don't need to be loaded in full to work; instead, it reads only the ones it needs at any given moment.

Each percussion sound, as well as its effects, can be tuned to our liking, and we can even randomly control each hit of those percussion sounds and the order of the loops, and export those loops as MIDI sequences. Using its so-called “virtual analog synthesis,” which uses multiple oscillators (sine, sawtooth, triangle, etc.), we can modify each sound, achieving, for example, a very deep bass, an unknown type of synthesizer, etc. We can mix these sounds using four types of algorithms or modulations (cross-modulated waves, varying their “pulse widths”…).

We may rarely use that kind of fine detail, but if you ever feel like it, you know it's there for when you want to get more out of your recordings... All you need is a "master keyboard" to comfortably enter musical notes via MIDI into the sequencer, and if we use HALION's sounds, they'll be integrated into CUBASE's audio tracks. Of course, at the same time we can add other sounds from external sources, such as a module or an electronic keyboard also connected to the computer, even mixing those with the very powerful ones HALION provides. The possible combinations are endless, often impressive, and achieved with a relatively comfortable process. Its sonic results are sometimes incredible and at other times almost "explosive."

Among HALION SONIC's sounds, I've heard a very powerful and spectacular synth with stereo echoes, and others of strings or brass with very surprising results in terms of their "body" or their performance. There are a huge number of combinations to choose from.

Used live on stage, we can transform the sounds we play, for example, from our "master keyboard," linked to a laptop on which we have these tools installed, modifying parameters and settings in real time, in the style of what DJs do, but with a more specific range of tools for musicians. It's true that we'll need to train well to achieve this without getting too distracted from our performance as musicians, rehearsing with the appropriate and automated procedures, and even better if we get technical help from another person next to our keyboard. In exchange, the spectacle can be TOTAL. We could, for example, be using (from our keyboard) the sound of an acoustic guitar and, in real time or during playback, make it stand out by playing with its high harmonics.

One of its important tools is the ability to “Undo/Redo” each of our moves or experiments, so we can be daring, since we can always go back step by step to a previous state and modify it again as we like.

According to my information, it seems they're already working on more updated versions, such as one that, as I understand it, they intend to call “VST HALION SONIC.” What is practically certain is that there will be updates and that, as already happens with CUBASE, "legal users," that is, users who previously purchased this version, will be able to update it over the Internet free of charge. You know the saying: you can wait for the next train, but it might then be traveling "at such a speed" that it will be much harder for you to catch.

To see the technical specifications and rating table, download the magazine in PDF