Is Cubase SX3 a pain?

[kahuna]

I have just ordered SX 3 and I went to Cubase.net and whoa, I see so many complaints about dongle trouble and support attitude.

What's up?

Have I ordered a lemon or is it a case of the noisy few making a quality product look like crap? I hope so.

[lomky]

Have you ever seen a support forum that is filled with positive comments? Cubase has worked well for me, if I ever do have a problem the support forums can usually yield an answer. I wouldn't call it a lemon, but the dongle is a pain in the ass.

[kahuna]

Originally Posted by lomky

Have you ever seen a support forum that is filled with positive comments? Cubase has worked well for me, if I ever do have a problem the support forums can usually yield an answer. I wouldn't call it a lemon, but the dongle is a pain in the ass.

Thanks. It is just that the Cubase.net site seems especially angry.

Edmonton? Wow, I once landed there directly from Hawaii wearing board shorts and a light shirt - in the middle of Winter. Ha!

[kahuna]

By the way, I ordered the crossgrade version. Damn good deal at $320 considering the SX3 version costs up to $1300 here in Australia. You guys in North America don't know how good you have it price wise, for most things.

What is involved in registration with crossgrades? I own Audition 1.5, Vegas 5 & 6, both of which qualify for the crossgrade thing.

[Carter]

I still dont understand why everyone complains about the dongle, the program is great so dont worry about it!

[kahuna]

Originally Posted by Carter

I still dont understand why everyone complains about the dongle, the program is great so dont worry about it!

Music to my ringing ears.

[warrengtype]

I finally broke down and bought cubase sx3 about a month ago after years of using adobe audition. I have to tell you, at first I hated it. But only because it's so completely different from adobe, which was the only thing I knew and loved.

BUT, after lots of reading the HUGE manual, and after lots of trial and error, I'm finally getting the hang of it... AND, I would never ever go back to adobe at this point. It's so much more powerful in what it can do. And once you get into playing with midi and vsti, there's just no looking back. Not only is it a whole lot of fun, but it's jump started my creativity as well.

To answer your question, I personally have had zero problems with installation, or with the dongle, or with stability, or with anything at all. It's been all smooth sailing here. Of course that doesn't mean you'll have the same experience... I'm just telling you mine.

[kahuna]

Originally Posted by warrengtype

I finally broke down and bought cubase sx3 about a month ago after years of using adobe audition. I have to tell you, at first I hated it. But only because it's so completely different from adobe, which was the only thing I knew and loved.

BUT, after lots of reading the HUGE manual, and after lots of trial and error, I'm finally getting the hang of it... AND, I would never ever go back to adobe at this point. It's so much more powerful in what it can do. And once you get into playing with midi and vsti, there's just no looking back. Not only is it a whole lot of fun, but it's jump started my creativity as well.

To answer your question, I personally have had zero problems with installation, or with the dongle, or with stability, or with anything at all. It's been all smooth sailing here. Of course that doesn't mean you'll have the same experience... I'm just telling you mine.

Kool! Except for the huge manual bit, I seem to be suffering from manualitis - too many programs to learn already.

[lomky]

One thing to keep in mind when installing, when prompted for the serial number I entered the one on the box and it didn't work. I was freaking until I found the serial number they are referring to is the one on the CD case. Just wanted you to avoid the panic headache I got.

We are actually -1 Celsius right now!! It is practically shorts weather! On Christmas it's going to be like +6!!! Girls are going to be dancing in the streets in bikinis!

[kahuna]

Originally Posted by lomky

One thing to keep in mind when installing, when prompted for the serial number I entered the one on the box and it didn't work. I was freaking until I found the serial number they are referring to is the one on the CD case. Just wanted you to avoid the panic headache I got.

We are actually -1 Celsius right now!! It is practically shorts weather! On Christmas it's going to be like +6!!! Girls are going to be dancing in the streets in bikinis!

A heatwave!

Thanks for the tip - anything to reduce the frustration levels has got to be a good thing.

[Bass Master "K"]

While I am still in the dark ages using SX1, I can add more about the tone on the steinberg support forums as I have spent a lot of time there in the past researching stuff.

In my opinion, much of the angry tone there is anger misdirected. There are some people with ligitimate gripes...especially when a new version of Cubase is released as there are always bugs to work out. But the majority of posts I saw where people were pissed off, it was user error. They didn't have their system set up right, or didn't have their settings set correctly. They paid big money for a complex program that isn't working right for them and they are pissed. The problem is, after someone explains what setting they have wrong, they are like "ohh...thanks", but their title "SX BLOWS AND WON'T WORK AND IS A PIECE OF CRAP" is what people see when they pop into the forum. If more people there were honest and wrote "I don't know where I am going wrong" instead of the inflamitory thread titles it would look a lot different over there.

BTW, if you DO run into trouble post on the forum, don't bother emailing Steinberg, they have a very small support department and the forum is waaaaaaaay faster. Enjoy SX3!

[legionserial]

I think a lot of people expect to stick it in the cd drive, install it, and be away without having to tweak. Its a complex program, so there are going to have to be a few little tweaks you have to do here and there. I guess I was lucky in that I really didnt have to do much to get it up and running. But I would agree that every single technical support forum for any bit of software, from games to DAW's, has people complaining. There are a lot of different conbinations of hardware, and certain compatibility issues are going to occur with anything.

Unfortunately, not many people have the time to go on a forum and say, "this software is awesome", cos chances are they are to busy playing with their new toy if they like it

However I believe every forum has a "this bit of software sucks don't buy it, screw [insert software developer here], they are nothing but rip off artists, boycott them" post.

I just wish I had the sort of money to be able to just give up on a £600 piece of software when it doesn't work straight out of the box lol

Oh and in answer to your question, yes cubase is great...never had a problem with it, it does eveything I could ever need it to do as far as I know....you certainly havent bought a lemon. Have fun

[kahuna]

Thanks Guys.

Enjoy.

[Halion]

Only thing I hate is not beeing able to delete a track with the delete key anymore.

[TFunkadelic]

you can assign actions to keys.

[Pinachi]

Actualy i did that before,but even better thing to do is to learn the factory keyboard shortcuts,because then you'll not only master your own Cubase,but your friends,and the studio ones too

[altitude909]

On that tip, I have to reccomend the cubase shortcut stickers

[carlpony351]

i'm using sx 1 and it's fine for me,sx3 gave some problems at first.....guitar rig didn't work at all in it.

[Halion]

Originally Posted by TFunkadelic

you can assign actions to keys.

I have a controller that I bought just for Cubase, that gives me all the actions I need right under my fingertips. It's helpt the speed at which I work conciderably, I've just been used to being able to delete a track with the delete key, that's all.

[noisewreck]

Originally Posted by kahuna

Kool! Except for the huge manual bit, I seem to be suffering from manualitis - too many programs to learn already.

If you hate reading manuals, I suggest you make friends with the Help menu in Cubase. I am still using SX2 and the Help menu is basically the searchable version of the manual. There is nothing that's covered in the manual and isn't covered in Help. I see no reason why this wouldn't also be the case with SX3.

From the sounds of it, you already have good experience with other music software, so you're not a novice. This means that at least you'll know what to look for, and for that I'd say Help is great. Just read the "Getting Started" part in the manual to get you going with the setup and some audio/MIDI configs, and for the rest use Help.

[kahuna]

Originally Posted by noisewreck

If you hate reading manuals, I suggest you make friends with the Help menu in Cubase. Just read the "Getting Started" part in the manual to get you going with the setup and some audio/MIDI configs, and for the rest use Help.

Manuals have their place. It's just that I have taken on too many new programs and all I want to do is have some fun, so the online help is probably my best bet - thanks!

[carlpony351]

what the hell is a dongle anyways??

so basicaly cubase sx3 is not that much different than 1.0 huh?