I am a fool for not checking this properly but I cannot believe Cubase Artist 8 does not have Variaudio and instead some karioke sounding plugin for pitch correction. What makes Steinberg think an "artist" would not need decent pitch correction tools for his or her music? This is not a "commercial" requirement, but a personal one and am really dissapointed that it is not included. Can you purchase it separately? Any one else find this to be a bit of a dissapointment?

Features like that have their value and obviously are not likely to be in a cheaper product.
It is the same with every developer, and indeed should be part of your homework. My opinion/experience.

Indeed... but boy do I feel cut, open wound, bleeding. can I get a plugin VST like autotune or another brand?

Yes, there are a range of third party vsts you can look at. Autotune, Melodyne and WavesTune being a few popular ones.

Not to rub it in, but I'm finding Variaudio great.

It might be worth your while upgrading to 8 Pro rather than looking to third party pitch correction software like Melodyne. Having such functionality built in makes it easier to use, plus there are loads of other features that are Cubase Pro only you might find yourself needing in future.

To be fair it's not something one should necessarily expect outwith a flagship version of a DAW. Studio One for example only comes with Melodyne Essential in the Pro version.

I agree with this view. If you have artist 8 then upgrading isn't that expensive.
It's a little more than upgrading from version 7.
Third party plug-ins are probably the same price as the upgrading price.
Happy new year to you

There are various algorithms that effect that.. i had to swap to a better on in settings to not get it sound cheesy.. NOTE i'm in Nuendo but i think its the same for cubase. Check to make sure your not on the kinda crappy real time one.

Yes but I feel a bit uneasy about buying the full version of cubase 8. I am not a commercial studio and don't feel that it is fair that I should have to pay the same as a studio that bills by the hour to have a tool that is important for me. I would have liked steinberg to consider that there is a difference between the two things. However, I am still going to consider upgrading because I really think cubase is a sweet program and have used it over a period of 10 years or more (not continuously else I'd be a pro which I'm not)

Vari-audio isn't basic DAW functionality so you shouldn't expect it to come with the basic versions. It's totally fair enough for it to only be in the pro version.

There are plenty of people using the full version of cubase who aren't commercial studios nor bill by the hour. There are also some professional DAWs that don't include a pitch correction tool at all, even in the full version. If you've been using Cubase for ~10yrs I wouldn't see it as inappropriate for you to need the features in the full version, but whether you want to spend the money on it is your prerogative.

Should it cost me less to buy a hammer and nails because I'm not a professional woodworker?...

If you were to buy a plug-in and then try VariAudio you would then feel even worse about having paid for a plug-in. VariAudio is so integrated into Cubase that it is a joy to use.

I don't use Cubase commercially (just for my personal projects), but I've always owned the full versions and am now using Cubase Pro 8.

It's really not that expensive. In fact - rather than it being too expensive for personal use - it's actually pretty cheap for a commercial business, and cool that they didn't try and sell a commercial license for thou$ands.

In fact - I was able to purchase Cubase 7 with the money I got for doing one live recording for a friend.

This tool is importatnt to you and another Pro 8-only tool is important to someone else, etc. Where would they draw the line? Those DAWs are dead cheap. When I started doing recording you couldn't even get a decent 4-track cassette recorder for that price. Budget the computer and you're still getting it cheap.

KA

Variaudio is Elastique.....Zplane makes it for Steinberg. In fact I think zplane supplies ALL the daw makers with this technology. So just go to zplane and buy Elastique and there you are.

There are also other DAWs that do provide pitch correction, and are cheaper than even Cubase 'Artist'.

I know this is practically a trolling comment given I haven't touched Cubase for 10 years, but it is shockingly expensive compared to other DAWS.

Actually I believe those other DAWs to be shockingly cheap compared to Cubase.

Not really. The integration of VariAudio into the workflow in Cubendo is a major part of the appeal for me. It's superior to adding a plugin. It's directly competitive with Melodyne, actually, which would be the same or more $$$ as just upgrading to Cubase Pro.

Exactly. The deep integration of Vari-audio and how much better that makes the workflow can't be understated.

I wouldn't say it is:

Pro Tools 11 - £549
Ableton Live 9 Suite - £409
Cubase 8 Pro - £400
Sonar X3 - £385
Studio One Pro 2 - £289
Reason 8 - £269

After posting this I opened up a trial version of cubase 8 pro and am using it. The only thing I seem to want from it is vari-audio. I do like working with vari audio and the results are great so will consider upgrading.

Where did you get the trial version from? It's not been released yet.

I purchased Cubase Artist 7.5 and it came with a free upgrade to Artist 8. sometimes when I open the program it offers a Cubase 8 pro trial so I decided to try it.

Pro Tools I'd expect, Live has always been pricey perhaps because of the unique functions and samples. Compared to Logic, FL Studio and the other you've listed it seems like a lot.

Even so, it's great seeing Cubase doing so well after all these years - it kept my Atari going until 1998!

Cubase has some unique features as well.

Yeah, I'm out of touch with its progress - it does look quite sweet.

Woah! I hadn't realised Ableton came so high in that table!

Really if you mix music the big story with Cubase Pro 8 are the new VCA's.

Cubase Pro 8 now has VCA's, Virgin Territories for automation, Direct Routing for parallels, Wave Meters ..... for £400 is a very serious platform for professional mixing.
The new ASIO 2 hybrid engine is only catch up with other DAW's but still very well implemented, there is no other Native DAW with Cubase Pro 8 feature set.

Only the much more expensive PT HDX can match (surpass) CP8 imho.

I'm mixing exclusively in Cubase Pro 8 going forward.

Well, it's Live Suite that comes with 55Gb of content compared to Cubase's 15. Depending on the kind of music you do and your preferences, that 9£ can be worth it

KA

Which might be great if Live didn't sound gritty and lower-fi on a mix. I own both Live 9 Suite and Nuendo, do it's not like I dilsike Live. It's great for what it does, but I would not try to do a final mix on a commercial release with it. Just does not sound great. Wish it did.

If you use it as a "regular" DAW it will sound as good as any other. Use its time-stretching feature on every loop and audio content and it will sound as you say.

KA