Cakewalk or Cubase?

[mcurran]

I'm looking for an easy to use
sequencing software to compose/
sequence MIDI parts to use as the
basis for demos to be recorded
to ADAT.

I've tried the basic version of
Cakewalk, and after working with
it for a week, find it terribly
clunky and complicated to use.

A local musician recommended I try
Cubase, saying it's much easier to
work with.

Any opinions from someone who has used
both extensively?

[unreal]

I've been using Cubase for quite some time already (since Atari ST, if you must know...) and I can assure you it's THE program to own.
On top of that, if you only require MIDI you can use an older version if you choose to buy it.
By the way, I've seen CakeWalk running, and I have to admit it looks awfully complicated, so I decided it was best to stay with Cubase!

[rjt]

I have used both. My personal preference is for Cakewalk. It (I think) has much beter midi implementation than Cubase. When I used Cubase, it required a hardward dongle, which I really dislike. Finally, Cubase was a native Mac program. Although they have done PC for some time, I think they write/update etc more quickly for Mac. All that being said, it is a matter of personal taste.

[nubius]

I'm surprised to see people saying that Cakewalk is clunky and that Cubase is easier to use. To me, Cubase has always been a hell of a lot more complicated (and powerful) than Cakewalk.
I've never found Cakewalk anything other than easy to use, streamlined and stable - especially with MIDI.

Cubase is still the dog's bollocks, though...

mcurran, If you want easy to use, why not try Sweet Sixteen??

[John Sayers]

I have to agree with all you guys - I started on cubase with an atari mega ST with 4 meg of ram and a 100meg! hard drive - then I went to PC and I love Cakewalk It is stable as hell and because they were writing for PC when I was mucking around on my atari it has lots of really good right click functions and the new Nine is great. I watch friends on cubase and it's not in the game anymore for me. Everyone reckons logic audio is the best but I've tried it and its really complicated and really doesn't seem to be a user friendly as cakewalk. thanks radium

[mcurran]

Great replies!

I've been researching a bit more on
both of these programs. The concensus
seems to be that Cakewalk is easier and
more flexible than Cubase.

I am now using Cakewalk Express, I think
the problems I am having have mroe to do with the learning curve than anything else.

I'm finding it difficult dealing with the
"empty holes", and moving and copying.

A step by step tutorial on this product
would be great.

Don't know if "Express" will suffice for
my current needs. I believe it should.

I was thinking about an upgrade to 9, but I don't think I need all of 9's features.

Al I am doing with Cakewalk is sequencing the keyboard parts and the hopefully, my drum machine also (Roland/Boss DR 770), (I haven't tried this yet) then submixing those to ADAT, and adding/mixing the rest of the parts on the ADAT side.

Then will do the final mixdown to a CD burner
on my computer using Alesis ADAT Edit package/soundcard/board.

Has anyone tried programming the drum machine
through Cakewalk yet?

[nubius]

You may want to consider upgrading to v9. There are a number of improvements to the MIDI side (MIDI FX & Style Enhancer) and the StudioWare Panels may make it easier to interface your drum machine.

What are your problems with moving/copying/holes??

[mcurran]

Nubius,

It has been a few months since
I've been able to use the sequencer,
but as I recall, I would have one
hell of a time getting the measures
just right.

I would cut out parts that overshot
the verses, because it would take extra seconds to turn off the recorder after finishing the part, leaving black sound holes, and then try to get rid of the silent beats and end up cutting off the end of the
part, that kind of thing.

I would also make a lot of mistakes inserting and copying sections.

I think it's just a matter of using it
a lot, like for several months, and
calling tech support.

[nubius]

Let us know if you're still having problems when you start using it again..

[istyle]

i used cake and tried both logic and cubase which are very hard to do
but the tradeoff for cakewalk is that, i think is the audio quality
i think the mix from cake is shallow not as deep as other 2
anyone?

[AlChuck]

???

The software captures the digital audio that you record, using the same drivers for the audio hardware. How could they sound different, unless you're doing different resolutions and bit rates in one compared to the other?

-AlChuck

[John Sayers]

I'm finding it difficult dealing with the
"empty holes", and moving and copying.

Yes *I have a problem with that feature. If you say play a snare on 2 and 4 the box starts at beat 2 whereas all the boxes on cubase start and stop on full bars - its just a visual thing - but if you are using auto record from say bar 4 - 8 you loose the first beat of bar nine! anyone else have this problem??

[monty]

Empty holes? You want "full" holes? Are you talking about gaps between recorded sections of track?

[mcurran]

I'm working with Cakewalk again, and
I just bought a pretty nice recording
rig, 16 channels of ADAT (2 Alesis
XT20's) and a Boss Dr-770 drum machine.

It's been so long since I used a drum
machine I'm lost.

I want to sequence with Cakewalk, using
my keyboard as a trigger. I can multi-
track parts using my Roland Sound Canvas,
at least until I run out of voices, and
I can submix those parts to my DAT or I
can sync them later with a Sync Box.

The problem is with the drum machine.

One problem I am having right now is
figuring out how to program my drum
machine to play from the Cakewalk
sequencer.

Do I assign the drum machine to a track
on Cakewalk, and assign it a Midi Send
Channel, such as Midi Channel 10, and
while the sequencer plays the keyboard
on Channel one, I program the drum machine?

It's really confusing.