cubase SX new user

[outlawtorn86]

aight ive been using vegas video for audio recording like almost a year, but it doesnt have the VST feature... now im lookin to expand in software technology... can anyone tell me whats so magicall about this pogram that it costs about 500 bucks??? i think thats way overboard

[Bass Master "K"]

With a program as diverse and deep as Cubase SX it's kinda hard to tell you what is so "magical" about it in a short thread. You may not need something as powerful as SX if all you want is VST compatibility. Perhaps SL would do the trick for cheaper.
Are you trying to replace Vegas, or are you looking for something that uses VST that you may be able to port audio over to vegas? You might consider Cubasis if that is the case.

The best thing you can do is go to steinbergs site and really check out the features for each of the versions and see what suits your need the best.

Good luck!

[outlawtorn86]

k ive got songs i wanna record and i have a home studio set up here, my friends got a midi controller with all that crazy sampler shits. im wonder this: i have a regular 16 channel mixer. can i hook it up to my PC so i can like work it digitally? or i need a console for that?

[Bass Master "K"]

Let me say that I don't use an outboard mixer with my setup, I use an aardvark Q-10 soundcard that has a built in mixer with the driver/aardvark programming.

That being said, I have seen other peoples setups and you can use your 16 channel mixer, but it doesn't have to do so much with SX as it does your soundcard. If your soundcard only has one input then your not going to be able to fly in 16 different channels at one time just because you have 16 on your mixer. Think of your mixer as a way to control the sounds that go into your soundcard, then sent from your soundcard to SX to be tracked, then SX's mixer is what you use to automate and manipulate the tracks.

SX has a mixer built into the program. Fully automatable with automatable effects, automatable well...just about everything.

There are consoles/controllers that let you automate from them, and there might be a way to hook yours up, I'm not sure. Blue Bear is very knowledgable about systems and he might be able to better answer your question.

Where does this hook in with VST?

[outlawtorn86]

my mixer doesnt hook in VST, at least i dont think so. its a mx1604A eurorack

[Bass Master "K"]

lol, I'm sorry it was late when I posted and I wasn't clear. I meant what does your mixer have to do with VST...in your first post you mentioned you needed to use VST. Does your buddy's MIDI stuff need it?

I guess the bottom line regarding SX is this. It's expensive, yes. But there are (literally) hundreds of thousands of people who thought enough of the program to decide that it was worth the money. It really is an amazing progam. But you also have to weigh what you really need a program to do. I have read posts where someone was unhappy with what they had to pay for SX and then you find out that for what they use it for, they could have saved $400 and gone with Cubasis, or saved $250 and gone with SL. Steinberg has free demos you can download, but realistically it is hard to figure out what SX can do in the amount of time the demo is good for. Best bet is to go to Steiny's site and check out the features list and maybe even download the manuals and check out what each program can and can't do.