Cubase Pro 15 review - Cubase sings!

While some updates are distinguished by an interface overhaul or additions to the essential functionality, it seems that with this fifteenth release, no significant work has been undertaken on the software’s major foundations (console, piano roll, arrangement). Instead, Steinberg mostly added plug-ins and other secondary tools.

One UI area that did get a revamp, however, is the Hub, the screen that greets the user when the program starts. That space has been reorganized for greater clarity, and an interesting new feature has been added: the ability to preview a project without opening it. This is an excellent idea that will save you a lot of time in your day-to-day work, especially if you’re the kind of person who accumulates bits of music and labels them with esoteric names, or doesn’t name them at all. Knowing what’s behind Project127, or behind NewIdeaCool12, no longer requires you to open the project to find out. However, while it is possible to automate the generation of pre-listens at project exit, Steinberg hasn’t considered providing us with a tool to do the same retroactively for all our old projects, without us having to open them one by one. Let’s hear it!

We’ll skip this detail, however, and turn our attention to the other new features Steinberg has put forward, many of which are compositional aids.

Melody maker…

Such is the case with the brand-new Pattern Sequencer designed to create “melodies” (understand melody in the hip hop/electro sense of the term, i.e., a sequence of notes which will often be more or less an arpeggio). There’s nothing to fault in this tool, which, like a melodic version of the Drum Machine that appeared in V14, has everything you need to easily create small sequences in ways that are more or less constrained by scale or rhythm, and more or less random. It’s a good addition, then, and all the more so as the tool is complete both in the rules you can use to generate patterns and the ability to edit them. In particular, we appreciate the ability to start from a chord, even if we’d have loved to be able to manage, beyond that, a chord progression.

In short, this new feature will delight many, even if it won’t be of use to everyone, whether it doesn’t lend itself to their preferred musical genre, they don’t feel the need for it, or they already have a more complete tool like the excellent Scaler, for example.

A throw of the dice…

More likely to interest everyone, in my opinion, are six new modulators: Attack Decay, Sample & Hold, Wavefold LFO, which allow you to generate modulations as their name suggests. Morph LFO and Crossfader let you combine two modulators, and Random Generator allows you to generate a random signal using several methods.

The latter, beyond being useful for making random sounds, will prove invaluable for giving a slightly more unpredictable, and therefore more human or analog, feel to certain instruments or MIDI parts. Imagine finely varying the position of the pick on the string block of a Modobass, or subtly varying the pitch or filter of a synth to simulate the instability of old analog cuckoo clocks.

Hear what it sounds like in this example, where I slightly modulate the cutoff frequency of a filter and its resonance on a Writing Room Synths patch:

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These are all extremely interesting tools which, because they can be combined, significantly expand the playground of both Cubase and the plug-ins you’re likely to use.

The effect, nothing but the effect

And while we’re on the subject of plug-ins, we’d like to welcome two newcomers, starting with Pitchshifter. It allows the signal to be pitched up or down by two octaves, with separate settings for the right and left channels, and the option to parametrize the formants and introduce distortion. It’s useful for vocal sound design, for example, as well as for more subtle modification of a complete mix to give it some grain.

The other debuting plug-in is Ultrashaper, a tool designed to shape your signal’s dynamics while preserving its transients, with an integrated clipper, sidechain, and EQ. What can I say? It’s one of Cubase’s most complete tools for dynamic processing, and it’s versatile enough to be used as a slice insert as well as on a bus or master. Here again, a good addition, even if Cubase wasn’t lacking in dynamic processing, and most users probably already have solutions that are just as relevant, if not more so.

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Of déjà-vu…

From effects, we move on to instruments with the arrival of 32 new kits for Groove Agent SE (mainly in the Hip Hop genre), 30 new presets for chord pads, and a ROMpler answering to the sweet name of Writing Room Synths. The latter is a collection of vintage synth sounds divided into several categories: leads, basses, pads, brass & winds, strings, and keys.

The instrument is intended to be extremely simple, and is reminiscent of what Native Instruments has been releasing for some time now, namely a sample player flanked by an arpeggiator and a small effects section with a few settings to tweak things a bit.

We’d be wrong to grumble at the arrival of a newcomer, but we’ll still regret its very conventional side doubling as an otherwise more powerful Retrologue, and the instrument’s overly rustic nature: we’d have loved to have a dual-player architecture like Native or UVI, for example, and, let’s be crazy, a few granular functions perhaps to make the thing a little more interesting. Again, although the addition is welcome, it’s not certain that those who are fond of this kind of sound or tool aren’t already (better) provided for in their plug-in collections.

…to the unedited…

Steinberg has also added Omnivocal, which is produced by Yamaha. What’s Omnivocal? A V-Synth-style virtual singer! Two voices are included, one male and one female, with the option to adjust a few parameters to make the vocals more or less dynamic or to transpose them.

While initial tests detected a number of artificial aspects in the synthesis, it’s clear that, when used in a mix with the right amount of reverb, Omnivocal will be an invaluable tool for creating provisional voice models or even definitive backing vocals. It’s a far cry from Vocaloid’s early quirks.

And compared to a V-Synth? Let’s say that, without being quite as convincing, Omnivocal enjoys perfect Cubase integration. From the piano roll, you trace the notes and enter the lyrics, and it sings! Even if we’d like to see more voice timbres and even more realism, let’s admit it’s a very interesting and fun tool that will delight those who sing too badly to risk themselves in front of a microphone. That’s original, in any case!

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And for a few more functions

Also new is an AI-powered Stem Separation feature. We won’t dwell long on its unmixing capability, not that it isn’t interesting or well-realized. However, it’s in every way similar to what we see from the competition, because it’s most likely based on the same open-source algorithms. Far from the prowess of a Spectralayers Pro, we’ll have to make do here with a four-stem demix: drums, bass, vocals, and the rest, which is nonetheless very interesting, whether for sampling or remixing.

A more original addition in Cubase 15 is found in the Expression Map editing, which takes a big leap forward. You now have a set of tools for adjusting the way Cubase will use an instrument’s articulation. With adjustable parameters such as transposition, length, and velocity range, it’s a real plus to be able to edit at this level, as it avoids many tedious piano roll tweaks. In this context, the ability to compensate for a too-slow attack is especially appreciated, allowing you to put a sequence back on beat with just two clicks.

Practical too is the new automation system, which memorizes the parameters you touch on an instrument or effect and then displays them to you. In this way, it becomes extremely quick to create several automation tracks without having to juggle menus and go back and forth between the arrangement window and the plug-in interface.

Finally, among a host of little things, we’ll mention a few notable new features such as fast mixdown or, brace yourself, the ability to switch to full screen under Mac: it’s not for lack of having asked for it in every review for the last ten years or so!