Steinberg releases Cubase Elements 8 Entry-level DAW

Steinberg Media Technologies announced the availability of its Cubase Elements 8 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.
 
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. Moderately priced, the Cubase Elements music production software allows aspiring producers and musicians to begin exploring the fascinating world of computer music production and recording.

Cubase Elements 8 supports 64 MIDI and 48 simultaneous audio tracks with up to 24-bit/192 kHz and uses the same 32-bit floating-point Steinberg audio engine with flexible routing and full automatic delay compensation. The package includes HALion Sonic SE workstation, MPC-style Groove, Agent SE drum machine, and Prologue synthesizer virtual instruments, together with 44 audio effect processors, including Pitch Correct for vocal intonation correction, MorphFilter and the VST Amp Rack guitar tone suite.
 
User interface 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.

A fully functional trial version of Cubase Elements 8 is now also available as download from the Steinberg website. This version expires after 30 days and does not require the USB-eLicenser dongle.

Steinberg’s product marketing lead, Helge Vogt, commented: “By releasing Cubase Elements 8, we have now completed the current Cubase product range. Considered our entry-level DAW, Cubase Elements offers a whole set of tools and capabilities to get started right away without overwhelming the user with too many options. Its straight-to-the-point approach will appeal to
those looking to record, mix and edit their music at an extremely reasonable price.”

The full retail version of Cubase Elements 8 is available for 99.99 euros or $99.99. The Cubase Elements 8 update from Cubase Elements 7 and 6 is available as download through the Steinberg Online Shop. Cubase Elements 7 and 6 customers can purchase the update for the discounted price of 19.99 euros / $19.99 until April 30, 2015, after which the retail price will be 24.99 euros / $24.99.
www.steinberg.net/cubase