Steinberg Cubasis Brings Cubase To The iPad

Steinberg today introduced Cubasis — a new multitouch sequencer that brings a streamlined version of Cubase to the iPad.

Steinberg Cubasis goes far beyond what’s possible on the iPad with Garageband. The number of tracks is not limited by the software – just what your hardware is capable of doing. Cubasis also lets you sequence other CoreMIDI apps and run Cubasis simultaneously, via background audio.. And you can export work and open it in Cubase, or share your tracks via email, SoundCloud or DropBox.

Here are the details:

Key Features:

  • Unlimited audio and MIDI tracks (limited only by what your hardware can do – on the iPad 4 or iPad mini, Steinberg says you can 64 tracks)
  • Over 70 virtual instrument sounds and more than 300 audio and MIDI loops
  • Mixer with over 10 effect processors (inserts and sends)
  • Sample and key editors, virtual keyboard and virtual drum pads
  • Export projects to Cubase and upload your mixdowns to Dropbox, SoundCloud, Audio Copy/Paste and email
  • Core Audio and Core MIDI compatible hardware supported
  • Sequence other CoreMIDI apps and run Cubasis simultaneously via background audio
  • Import audio from your iTunes music library or use iTunes file sharing & AudioPaste or set up a Wi-Fi server in Cubasis

Cubasis is available now in the App Store for $49.99.

If you’ve used Cubasis, let us know what you think of it!

via aymat

55 thoughts on “Steinberg Cubasis Brings Cubase To The iPad”

  1. I’m put off by the price. It’s not mega-expensive but the multi-track recorder app with audiobus is probably a more flexible option and it’s cheaper.
    Or Nanostudio, obviously, does anyone know if Nanostudio is getting audiobus support?

    1. Higher prices for iPad apps are going to be inevitable, as they apps get more sophisticated. I’m OK with that, it it means we get more advanced apps. There are enough apps that do 2/3rds of what you want them to do!

      Garageband can be cheap because it will sell to a million people. When it comes to porting Cubase, though, the audience is going to be a lot smaller and they’re going to expect a lot more.

      I’d like to see Live & Logic on the iPad and I’d be glad to pay $50 for either.

  2. If they make it a natural (and free!!) extension of Cubase I’m all in. I’m fed up with the lack of a Logic update and the new Cubase seems like a great replacement.

  4. Wow that’s a bad video. @jojo: nano has said on their forum they do not have any plans for audiobus.
    How is it that cubasis can record the audio from iPad apps and sequence them without audiobus? That’s either a typo, or a poorly worded sentence. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

      1. That will be the shit…too bad. If and when they add audiobus…. controlling Sunriser or another good app via midi, and having it record back into an audio track. Hopefully the bigger companies are not afraid to get on the bus for proprietary reasons.

        1. as soon as it gets audio bus support im all in. I just cant bring myself to pay 5o, for something that wont do what im about to use a lot. PLus a cheaper price would help a ton but, if it were a really nice ableton or logic app id pay hundreds if it were good enough

  5. Kudos to Steinberg!

    Nicely done, very responsive UI and good use of screen real estate. Audio seems to run with good latency using 256 buffer samples. All tested on iPad3.

    Great, that they have included Virtual Core MIDI from the beginning. I’ve tested with my NLogSynth and using the “Virtual MIDI” output with right channel setting it works fine. For using “NLog Synth PRO” port NLog needs to be started first. Will research this further.

    What’s IMHO missing (or haven’t found yet, anyone?):

    – MIDI Clock for sync
    – MIDI mixer slider should send MIDI CC Vol messages
    – Linked clips

    I head that AudioBus will also follow.

    So, Ableton, anywhere? Logic for iPad? Cubasis is a great start.

    Cheers!
    Rolf

  6. This looks pretty awesome. I really want Ableton and Logic to do this as well. Yes Beatmaker and Nanosutdio and other apps are great. BUT try then incorporating these into DAWS for larger scale production and more tweaking. It can be done to some degree but it is not easy. One app that I really love is imaschine. The reason being I take the train to work and like to come up with simple ideas on this….and then open the file and expand it in maschine and ableton. No nanobridge or something similar is necessary. That app is not that powerful yet its simplicity makes it a great quick idea / songwriting tool that you can later take the ideas further later on…in a simple way because you can just open the file. The midi is there. The audio is there. The sounds are there…. So my point it that this simple integration is fantastic, in my opinion. This is good step forward. Garage band started this and was powerful when it first came out but it is not utilizing the full power of newer devices and has other various limitations. To me, if I was a Cubase user, I would not hesitate at the $50 price tag. It would be worth every penny.

      1. I think its super underrated. THere is a need for full-blown daws and other times there is a need for mobile, simple and fast songwriting tools. Glad to see Im not the only one loving it so much. I rarely hear about it. An update on that would be cool too….

  7. Part of your $50 goes to the girl who handed him the ipad.

    It doesn’t seem this is backward compatible…which is not surprising. It would be hard to traslate a full blown file from mac/pc to this…..I guess mostly because of the plugins, automation data, etc. That will take awhile to work out….

  8. Son … I am disappoint…

    I thought this was gonna be some cool advanced integrated controller for cubase but, it is just a stripped down mobile version of cubase. Hopefully apple can pull off something cool with the ipad and logic x.

  9. As a very happy Logic user, I’d like to quietly “defend” the platform. I keep seeing people grouse about the lack of updates, but those are usually minor bells and whistles at best. IMO, Logic doesn’t need updating AS A TOOL. Its damned near as matured as an acoustic piano. Time Stretch is a good idea and the more recent stompbox and amp models likewise. However, with a DAW that will print out scores, doesn’t charge extra for MP3 convertors or instruments, allows you to build your own arpeggiators and the like per track and offers a convolution reverb, the notion of an update seems quaint. OS updates and iPad conversions are fine, but I’m hard-pressed to see anything Logic lacks musically. With version 8, its last few maddening operational bugs were pretty well streamlined. When I sweat over Logic, its not because I have to fight with quirks; its because the labor-of-love factor is off the charts. I mean… aren’t you guys HAPPY about your gear…? 😛

    1. And the OSC support with custom template for touchOSC in Logic is relatively new and a promising look into what they might be working on. I’m not sure any other DAWs have both an official template and OSC support. Mainstage and the environment get a lot more interesting if they become ways to interact with OSC.

    2. Overall happy Logic User too. And IMO there is no doubt its a amazing value. Crazy really. However, there are some things they could improve musically:
      1) Tuning. Cubase has added this functionality as others have as well. You are able to move the pitch around per note as in auto tune/melodyne.
      2) I’ve just gotten into LIVE and it seems much more capable control. Or at least much easier. The assigning of knobs/macros, etc. This has a musical effect, especially for people who want to tweak sounds.
      3) The automation linked to virtually every parameter is so easy. This allows you to make some pretty cool musical effects. This is surprisingly easy in LIVE.
      4) Anything similar to LIVEs session view would not hurt. Its great for getting ideas down. Maybe there is a creative way to do something similar without outright copying it.

      I’m sure there are more I’m not thinking of right now. Not dissing Logic at all, but i think its far from perfect and various improvements would be appreciated, by me at least anyway.

    3. I agree with your points on Logic. It’s mature and an incredible value, and I have loved it since version 1.x. But… it’s mature. 🙂 There are things about Logic that are still like they were in version 1.0, like the clunky “tools” (really? A whole tool just to change text?). There have been nearly two decades of user interface improvements and Logic seriously could use an update in that area. Also, it is, like most other DAWs, strictly a linear digital tape machine. While that is fine for many users, it’s something just as many of us would like to get away from and never go back. A “modern tape deck” like Studio 1 isn’t appealing at all to many of us, where as something like Ableton is.

      I applaud iPad apps, but I wish they would stop emulating the linear thinking and instead give us light and portable ways to sketch and compose, with solid pipelines back to whatever our DAW of choice is. I don’t want to replace my desktop DAW with a portable DAW. I want to replace my desktop DAW entirely with something… uh… modern. I expect Logic X is taking so long because it’s going to be a complete and total overhaul, and the linearity will take a back seat.

  10. Mmmmllllllnnnnyyyeeehh… Looks kind of cool, but not 50 bucks cool. Besides, never really trusted a DAW that includes auodio loops. So sorry Mr. Smug Guy in video, I’ll have to pass on this one.

  11. BTW, Cubasis was my first DAW years ago, so its nice to see it reappear. That was a mere $99, so $50 is not a bad price here. I’d simply suggest stacking it up against the full version of Logic, downloadable for $199. There was once a cheaper version, Logic Express, but with the main app now so refined, there seems to be little point in it when for just a tad more money, you get a blow-away deal. The simplest surface use of Logic as a mere recorder will still trump any starter DAW and several of the more refined ones. Not to diss anyone; I’ve simply used 3 different DAWs and for me, this one is the best of the lot.

  12. Angelina, as a long time logic and ableton user, i’m totally happy if my apps bounce audio and midi, preferably all tracks separately in one go. Everything else is just cosmetics. If imaschine works for you, great. I think it is just as lame a marketing gag, or toy, as figure is.

  13. I like both programs as well. I knew when i mentioned imaschine someone would say something. I suggest you try it if you have not. Like I said its simple. However, it does access (although only a selection of) every sound pack they make. The sounds are VERY good. Its not a powerful app but its cool every once in awhile to use something extreeemly simple and just think about melodies or beats……
    Yes its possible to bounce the audio and midi but workflow is important. Would be very cool if you could come up with a beat, melodies, and vocal hook on your idevice (like in imaschine)..-and then just open it in LIVE….would it not? I think thats the same idea here with Cubasis. You can lay down some fundamentals….get ideas going and then SEAMLESSLY and EASILY move into your DAW for more advanced stuff.

    1. Wise Old Troll – you can export the parts separately, it just doesn’t do it automatically for you.

      Like Angelina said – more seamless integration with DAWs would be nice, but iMaschine is fantastic for what it is.

    2. Angelina, IMan, i did try it when it was released and some of the sounds really are quite nice. As expected from an NI library. But open the project in live? Only works if you have maschine, which i dont. Right? Cubasis for ipad will surely be well integrated in cubase, but i dont use cubase. So yes, full DAW integration is a fine utopia, but so far its only proprietary solutions. Developers please always include multitrack bouncing instead of proprietary solutions only a fraction of users will ever use.
      Btw. If you like imaschine and such, check tweakybeat, it makes for great bus and train rides! : )

  14. I’m confused when folks are mentioning that they wish there was something like this for Logic. That’s exactly what GB for iOS does. I can seamlessly open up my iPad GB projects in Logic 9 and all sounds and effects settings (even loops) come straight across. I would like to see some major updates to GB for iPad however…Audiobus, automation, more than 8 tracks, more editable synth parameters, insert effects per track, etc. But it DOES integrate well with Logic and is a perfectly fine scratchpad. For Cubase folks, I think Cubasis is a nice addition to their workflow.

    1. This is true. I think we equate GB for iPad more with GB. A logic version would by nature be more powerful presumably.GB was ahead if its time but now we need a nice update.

  15. I think Apple (software) is quitely waiting for processors to catch up…most likely with ipad5 ( and the A7 processor ) we should see more powerful apps coming.
    Most likely , you will have a mainstage for ipad which will reinvent how ipad is used as a Controller …
    Mainstage and Garageband on ipad will be a powerful combination …
    Just give it some time..i think 2013 Oct you will see the apps with new powerful iPad …as usual , most likely will only work on iPad4 and thats it :-)…

    (All the above are speculation and random stuff from me brain )

    1. Ipad “4” is already out lol

      These mobile chips are getting faster everyday. I heard somewhere that apple wants to ditch intel in the future and do there own “thang”.

      I hope they do

      1. Oh yea, I’m sure we all remember how well that went with the PPC chip apple fiasco. I love the fact that Apples have off the rack intel’s, and that they can run both MAc OS and Windows on the same hardware.

  17. Should Steinberg work on Cubase 7 instead of that piece of software?! I’m totally disappointed about Cubase 7 as basic(!) things DO NOT WORK AS THEY SHOULD. The new Mixer is NOT PROPERLY THOUGHT OUT in terms of basic window settings and scalability. After a week with C7, i created a workflow with two maximized windows for arrangement and mixer. I did this, because i was desperate to get a single window configuration to work useful and clear. I’m loosing screenspace on windowframes and bars so heavily, that i actually need a 4K resolution screen. The Mixer is not fully scalable and the steps to zoom in the arrangement window go from half to full screen cover in one step. Now guess what happens, as i decided to work with a maximized arrangement and mixer window? EVERY SINGLE WINDOW STARTS MAXIMIZED COVERING THE WHOLE SCREEN!!! Aaaaaaargh! Why do i have a 30′ TFT? For a Key-Editor or Audio-Routing in full screen? No! I have a large TFT to arrange what i need all over the surface as flexible/possible. DEAR STEINBERGIANS, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! This is the only audio application i know, which is suffering from such basic things over such a great livespan. LET EACH WINDOW BE CONFIGURED AS IT WAS ONCE ADJUSTED! Another bad thing: If you click on a midi part, only this part should be editable and viewed properly in a closed window. If i would be interested in parts before and after the selected part, i would have selected them. I dont want to see anything else than selected! Do this like on Atari 1989! It was better to define a midi part as a closed and good scaled window. It’s the lot of not automatically good working processes that makes me miss the eighties and nineties. In these days, you had to think economically and efficient as your resources were limited. Maybe, and that’s why all this is written here, the iPad helps Cubase to become what it once was. EFFICIENT!!! That’s enough for today and believe me, the list of things hatred is much longer. Stay with your DAW if it is not Cubase.

  18. I love this app. As a cubase user it is all I need to create music on the go, and then easily transfer it to cubase for further development.
    I have tryed almost every “daw” app there is, but this is by far the best one for me. Its a complex app that makes thing easy.
    Whith support for audiobus to use with animoog, it will be the only music app I need for a long time.

    1. I’ll have to polish my thinking a bit on iPads. I’ve always dreamed of a synth WITH SPEAKERS that I could haul about like a guitar. The power required by even small speakers has always nixed that idea. The idea of going from GB to Logic for the big finish sheds a better light on it. I’ve always been so piano-centric that I tend to gauge things from that level of immediacy and intimacy first, but that’s not the only viable starting point now.
      OTOH, with my weird ideas, it might do just as well to carry a pocket digi-recorder around, whistle my inspirations into it and then sit down at home in front of Big Bertha to work as I usually do. I’m not yet satisfied with the horsepower of iPads, because for that price, I want it to be as accessible as Logic on my desktop and its a ways off, but give it a couple more generations and I may hit the sweet spot of seeing the crossover as viable.

  20. I just watched this video again. The more you watch it the more you realize that this guy is like a god. For now on I’m going to imagine him waking me up in the morning… prepping me for my day. He’s super motivational. I’m gonna have an imaginary pep talk with him every time I’m about to sit down in the lab and bang out some hot spit. I need his poster in my room. I need him.

      2. Isn’t it both amusing and maddening to see great high-tech tools presented in a clumsy, 7th-grade fashion? All that hard design work deserves better pitches that come from the same angle as the users. Find a person with a voice that’s mid-range and semi-announcer-like; run through the features steadily, because I’m already a synth guy who understands the drill, so don’t re-write the basics of synthesis; present a BROAD range of the sounds in the base set; and don’t use just one wailing lead patch or ANY dubstep. Both of those cloud things rather than giving me a decent taste of the device’s real potential. If your promo is fumbly, the inference is that the product is as well.

  21. Love this app. As a long time Steinberg user (since Atari ST days), I have bought in a blink of an eye and no regrets whatsoever.
    Btw; AudioBus support coming really soon – confirmed by Steinberg on their forums 🙂

  22. For cubase users this is probably really handy. The convenience factor is worth the money. But for the rest of us, I don’t see any features that we don’t already have on a number of other apps (in fact it looks like less!), and in that context the price tag is completely ridiculous. $50 narrows their market to current cubase users or steinberg fans.

  23. Live for ios!
    Live for ios!
    Live for ios!
    …with audiobus compatability?

    This is good news though, first pro daw on ios? I find GarageBand very limiting. Tend to use Hokusai to get audio from ios to desktop. Would appreciate something high end to complement what I already use.

  24. I read a review strongly indicating that I wont be able to import my own samples or sample directly into my project to slice and dice audio and assign it to keys in the keyboard and pads on the drum pad on cubasis.
    Is this an issue that has been fixed?

  25. Hi, I just got the software and I would like to bounce vocal tracks to a stereo track to apply more effects and save CPU power. Does this feature exists? If does please someone point to it for me! Otherwise, I think it is a great on the go songwriting tool! The price is ok too. Most of us are used to cheap SWs and the 49€ seems high. Think of it this way, it cost the same as a decent dinner for two and you eat that in less than an hour. On the other hand Cubesis gives you hours on and fun on the go!

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