Steinberg updated Cubase seriously in all platforms - 64 bit Vista version has arrived also as a beta. The new Cubase 4.5 supports all the new Steinberg interface-controllers that were introduced earlier. New on the support topic is the VST integration of the Yamaha Motif XS synths - you just connect it via Firewire and the hardware synth acts as a plugin. A new format is also introduced: VST Sound, which can hold any type of a synth sound for any gardware or software synth or effect. A useful extra is bundled: 1.5 gigabytes of sound sample material for HALion. Here is the detailed spec list, and here is the download link.

Steinberg has released Sequel 2, the next version of the popular entry-level sequencer. What is new is well-known from Cubase: advanced Media Bay, track freeze tu unload the processor power, virtual on-screen MIDI keyboard and so on. Newcomers pay 99 USD for it, and users of the previous version are charged to 29 USD to upgrade. To learn more click here.

Steinberg has decided a serious price cut: they offer the full Cubase 4 and Wavelab for 599 euro right from now. Experts call it Logic Pro-effect...

Frankfurt' Musikmesse, the world's biggest musical instrument and studio equipment show was held last week, and we were there of course to have an insider view of the current state of the music industry. We experienced slightly even worse mood than last year, the industry's weaking and transforming rapidly. Three sharp process can be observed:

A new edition of the popular sequencing software is starting by Steinberg, Cubase Essentials. It is based around the Cubase 4 engine, with some restrictions: 64 tracks only, 32 physical ins and outs only, sixteen VST instruments at a time, no  sidechain, no surround mixing, a cut-down Mediabay, limited notation features, and only one instrument bundled. Its cost is 150 euro for the end user, check here the full feature list.

Another news from Steinberg: VST3 Developer Kit is out now, free as always, programmers go download from here.

Cubase 4 is one year old in these days - Steinberg did not plan a major new version upgrade but considering the competitors' steps they had to do something... This is the new 4.1 version, with several major advancements. At first, it is fully Vista-compatible, and Steinberg implemented this year's sequencing hit, effect sidechaining. It is done by a very clever method, free routing, which means that you can send signal from virtually any point of your VST mixer to a real lot of possible inputs - for example VST3 effects' sidechin input also. More news are: global transpose track, some MediaBay advancements, Sequel compatibility, redesigned sample editor and so on - check the info page. Downloads can be arranged from here, and you can find a preview version of Cubase 4.1 64 bit also if you mind.

Steinberg has released a tremendously cheap version of their flagship wave editor, Wavelab 6: the Wavelab Essentials is targeted to the home studio and podcasting arena with its price of 50 USD. The software based on the original Wavelab environment, with slight feature cut-down: 24/96 maximum editing resolution, file size limit at 2 gigabytes, 32 bit floating point internal resolution instead of 64, no spectrum editing, no save in the background, only one instance can run at a time, limited batch processing functions and so on. Check the features and the full comparison table here.

Sequel, Steinberg's new entry-level music creation tool is in the shops from now. Its price of 79 euro helps to make Garageband's life harder, and the very simple operating model with only a single window also supports it. It has 600 preset sounds plus 60 drum kits, and a huge array of 5000 grooves. A fine feature is the real-time pitch shift and time stretch of the audio track regarding the tempo changes, but we still miss the VST plugin support. It has an own domain with an own site.