Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Cubase 12 – no sound
  • TheFlyingOx
    Full Member

    I know there are a few music types on here so wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction with Cubase 12.

    I was previously tinkering about with Ableton and had no issues really, but I saw the recent sale on Steinberg website so I thought I’d give Cubase a go as it seems to be slightly less “producer” and slightly more “musician” – this works for me as a brass player wanting to arrange stuff for brass ensembles. All was fine when I originally installed but this was on a laptop that ended up being RMAd for a GPU error. The replacement laptop (different brand, not a straight swap) just doesn’t seem to want to play nicely with Cubase and I can’t hear anything at all despite all visual cues suggesting that audio is being played. I’ve tried all sorts and briefly got some audio output by downloading ASIO4ALL but now that doesn’t seem to be working either. I’ve not changed anything, the only thing being switching the laptop off for a couple of days.

    I’ll admit that Cubase appears to be WAY more in-depth than Ableton, which was pretty much install and go, so I’m wondering if there’s something blatantly obvious I’m missing in the setup of the software. Anyone able to assist?

    lesgrandepotato
    Full Member

    I’ve had moments like this with a couple of DAW’s.

    I suspect you need to workout where the output is going to. Sounds like you have an ASIO4all driver installed. Is the Audio mapped to that? Does it have a test mode to see if it makes any output sound?

    mickyfinn
    Free Member

    From the studio menu open audio connections and make sure your main outputs are mapped to your sound card (native or via asio4all) outputs.

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    TheFlyingOx
    Full Member

    Right, so I’ve checked as above and ended up being able to hear previews of VST instruments etc. so it’s set up ok as far as sound output goes. I think it might need a restart whenever the ASIO output is changed, but I can live with that.

    I was trying to use the chord extractor thing with an mp3 but couldn’t hear anything until I selected “spectralayers” in the mp3 track output. I guess it’s a much steeper learning curve than Ableton. Any recommendations for picking up the basics or shall I just go with a Udemy course or similar?

    dmorts
    Full Member

    A decent external soundcard might be a good investment. My knowledge of Cubase is over 10 years out of date but I remember it always was a bit fussy about in-built/generic sound cards

    ajantom
    Full Member

    As someone who produces electronic music but also records and produces ‘real’ music by bands, Ableton does everything extremely well, and personally I find it great for productivity.

    I’ve used Cubase in the past, and personally I find it needlessly complicated in a lot of the workflow, which was mostly solved when I switched to using Ableton full-time.

    You say Cubase ‘appears’ way more in-depth than Ableton, but I’d guess that’s just down to the more complicated setup in the DAW itself.
    If Ableton was working fine before then personally I’d stick with that!

    Otherwise, check drivers, make sure outputs are properly mapped in the settings, and if your haven’t already, invest in a decent external soundcard.

    mickyfinn
    Free Member

    Groove3 do good Cubase tutorials.
    Tbh I’ve never got on with Ableton or Bitwig but I come from a trad ‘go into a studio and make and album’ background. Even when making random ambient stuff I like the traditional DAW linear workflow.

    Also what Anjatom says…. Get a usb sound card with proper ASIO drivers (oh thank god for my Mac and built into the OS CoreAudio and CoreMidi.)

    jambourgie
    Free Member

    Long time Cubase sufferer here. It makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes but I’m too old to learn new tricks (Ableton) so I stick with Cubase. I’m upgrade-phobic so still running 8.5 but even so, one gets used to the annoyances. Sometimes there’s no audio like you describe and is usually solved by the digital equivalent of unplugging stuff and plugging it back in,  Like go to VST Audio System and select a different ASIO driver, load it, then reload the original one. Or try ‘trashing the preferences’ (google it). Or even reinstalling.

    The thing with Cubase is that it can do everything but it needs to be set up to do what you want it to do. People moan because they get it and struggle to make their own preferred dance music micro genre straight out of the box. It’s like it’s been designed for the LA Super-Studio producer working on everything from Orchestras to bands to Hip Hop. Steinberg seem to have lost sight of the fact (or more likely trying to be everything to everyone…) that it’s mainly solo people in bedrooms trying to record their guitar or make grime/techno etc. I make house and techno personally and have templates set up in Cubase which allows me to do this more efficiently. I know I’d  be better off with Ableton but I’m kind of wedded to Cubase. I’ve tried other things but usually get frustrated that I can’t find a certain function and come back to Cubase. Another thing I really like is that because it’s so flabby and complicated there is always multiple ways of doing the same thing, and sometimes you mess something up which introduces spontaneous serendipity into your work.

    ajantom
    Full Member

    traditional DAW linear workflow.

    Which Ableton has if you switch to arrangement view.
    I tend to have two screens running with both views open, arrangement for more traditional DAW-like view, and session to use as faders and monitoring levels.

    But back to Cubase. I know a couple of people who swear by it, but even they end up resorting to online videos/tutorials to solve issues sometimes.

    jambourgie
    Free Member

    I think I’ll be ready to give Ableton another try soon. How much is it these days? Last time I tried about ten years ago I  go annoyed with the MIDI implementation for some reason. Connecting a HW synth and editing the MIDI data.

    ajantom
    Full Member

    How much is it these days?

    I don’t know as a standalone product.
    I’ve gone down the upgrade every couple of releases path over the last decade or so.
    Started on a free version of V2 or 3.
    Then ran a cracked copy of V5, which then died suddenly (the day before a gig!) So I bought the full version of V6, bought a very cheap upgrade to V7.
    Then I bought an upgrade to full V9 suite (was maybe £150?) which came with a free upgrade to V10.
    That’s where I am now, v11 is out, but I’m not needing any of the extra features it offers.
    Maybe in a year or so with V12.

    plaidTortoise
    Free Member

    I have found Cubase 12 sometimes doesn’t detect the correct audio output and sometimes doesn’t have any audio output selected at all. To get it to work I have to select Studio/Studio Setup from the menu at the top then from this window select the Control Panel Button in the Built in Audio section.

    From this window then select the appropriate output. Even if the right output is ‘ticked’ already when ‘close’ is selected the program starts using the output correctly. May or may not help.

    TheFlyingOx
    Full Member

    Well it seems to be a laptop-only issue, my desktop is working fine. I’ll figure it out eventually, I’m sure.

    I’ve gone for the Groove3 course, thanks mickyfinn

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