Steinberg has announced the release of Cubase Elements 8, the entry-level music production system for sound recording, editing and mixing.

Cubase Elements 8 combines studio technologies and tools that are accountable for the popularity of Cubase with many exciting features new to version 8. Moderately priced, the Cubase Elements music production software throws its doors wide open for aspiring producers and musicians, inviting them to begin exploring the fascinating world of Cubase.

After unveiling Cubase Pro 8 and Cubase Artist 8 to great acclaim at the end of last year, Cubase Elements 8 now completes the latest Cubase range, offering new sounds, new effects and many other features that easily turn any Mac or Windows computer into a music production system.

UI enhancements include window docking for the VST Instrument Rack and MediaBay, a redesigned Track List and Inspector for improved readability, a new plug-in manager for easy customization and a flexible window layout for PC versions.

Chord pads adds to the creative feature set in Cubase Elements 8, allowing users to trigger chords and change voicing and tension through MIDI parameters on any record-enabled MIDI or instrument track. A circle of fifths representation provides a graphical overview to understand the theory behind available chord progressions.

The instruments HALion Sonic SE 2 and Groove Agent SE 4 boast brand-new sounds and a generous variety of drum kits. HALion Sonic SE 2 also features Trip virtual analog arp synthesizer plus eight new effects.

Further advancements include ASIO-Guard 2 to ensure low latencies at all times as well as an enhanced EQ module on each channel strip, displaying values for gain, frequency and note pitch as well as offering the option to enter pitch notes and cent values in lieu of frequencies. The re-record mode new to the transport controls in Cubase Elements enables instant record restart at the original position. A revised version of the Tuner plug-in offers strobe tuning and improved handling.

Cubase Elements has many other useful tools in store, such as the MP3 codec for unlimited encoding and decoding of MP3 files as well as taking full advantage of the FLAC lossless compression codec.

Cubase Elements 8 features

  • Personal music production system, offering a set of streamlined audio/MIDI recording, editing, scoring and mixing tools.
  • Based on proven Steinberg Cubase technology used by professionals around the world.
  • Supports 64 MIDI and 48 simultaneous audio tracks with up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
  • Award-winning 32-bit floating-point Steinberg audio engine, flexible routing and full automatic delay compensation.
  • Includes outstanding virtual instruments: HALion Sonic SE workstation, MPC-style Groove Agent SE drum machine, Prologue synthesizer.
  • Comes ready with 44 audio effect processors, including Pitch Correct for vocal intonation correction, MorphFilter and the extraordinary VST Amp Rack guitar tone suite.
  • MixConsole provides the stellar mixing experience with full flexibility and integrated EQ/Dynamics channel strip modules for epic pro-console sound.
  • Chord pads for easy chord composing and management.
  • Includes dozens of presets and thousands of MIDI construction loops.
  • Streamlined score editing feature set.

Cubase Elements 8 is available for purchase for the suggested retail price of 99.99 EUR, including German VAT. Cubase Elements 7 and 6 customers can update to version 8 for the discounted price of 19.99 EUR until April 30th, 2015, after which the retail price will be 24.99 EUR. Customers who purchased a copy of Cubase Elements 7 from January 15, 2015, are entitled to the free Grace Period update to Cubase Elements 8.

More information: Steinberg / Cubase Elements 8