Surface Pro 2 and Cubase 7

I’m going to install Cubase on my new Surface Pro 2 for easy take-away and basic recording outside the studio.

The Surface Pro only got one USB connector and I want to use it for other things than the dongle and I also want to avoid breaking/losing the dongle when I’m running around recording. So, I was thinking as a Cubase 7 owner, is it possible to somehow run Cubase Elements (which isn’t using a dongle)?

Why not use a USB Hub…?

if you buy a Cubase elements licence then yes, you can use elements as a soft licence

I believe it should work since the Surface Pro runs Windows proper.
You will have to buy it and install it first. Or, try a USB hub and use the full Cubase (just to see how it does). Then, if it works very well and you really don’t want to bother with the dongle, you could buy Elements for the tablet. If you do, please report back how it works out (particularly performance wise). There are several people here wondering about a “Cubase on a tablet” solution.
HTH
J.L.

seems you already know the answer jaslan

And the specific question was about running “Elements”

Thanks for pointing that out… I had not yet seen anything discussing how well it actually worked (had not seen that gearslutz post at the end).

you welcome matey :wink:

I just bought a Dell Venue 8 Pro. Interesting product, full Windows 8.1 on an 8-inch screen (8.1 supposedly has solved all the scaling issues) with an excellent screen and even an active digitizer. Quad-core CPU (new Bay Trail chip, allegedly with performance comparable to i3), 2 gigs of RAM, 64 gb of storage plus an additional 64 on microSD, USB 2.0 port. IMHO this is what a tablet should have been from the start: a full-fledged computer that you can carry around in a coat pocket and not just a bigger smartphone. Dell had a promotion where they would give you the 64gb model at 32gb price ($299), because allegedly they ran out of 32gb models and people don’t want to spend more than 300. Heck of a deal!!

It’s already in the mail, so I should get it early next week. Looking forward to testing Cubase on that.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/dell-venue-8-pro/pd

I have the Surface Pro with 128GB an use Cubase 7 Elements and der Soft-Licence.

Use it to collect ideas on the go, and then it is then further processed in the large computer.

Exactly what tablets should be able to do, and not by using different software than what you use on your main machine. Windows tablets (except for anything RT) have this IMMENSE advantage for musicians, that they allow you to use the very same DAW and not a watered-down version like GarageBand or Cubasis. I saw an Apple ad bragging that GB can now use a whopping 32 tracks!! LOL, I could do that with my Atari ST in 1987…

Please let us know your experience with this. I have the venue 11 pro on per-order and plan to use it for working on things like midi drums in piano roll. Amazon had it for $433 for a few days. Its only 2G memory but I plan to work with several audio tracks exported from my main rig and a few midi work tracks. But not sure how well all this touch stuff will work on a non touch Cubase 7. Also having the dongle hang from the device is not optimal. I have and ipad with Cubasis but its too limited and moving files via iTunes is only part of the pain working between it and the full Cubase. I am going to try Cubase 7 & Artist and Reaper and Sonar X2 on the Venue Pro 11 once I get the device in Dec. Sonar may work the best with the basic touch support they have added, but may DAW of choice is Cubase. I hope that there is touch support in a future dongle-less version of Cubase.

The Venue only comes with one microUSB port (at least the 8", not sure about the 11"), so I’ll have to get an OTG cable and a hub and then attach the dongle and the interface to the latter. Not very practical, but I’ll have to do that for the test. If I’m satisfied, then I’ll probably get an Essential license. I don’t think I’ll be using VariAudio or VSTExpression on this thing, so Essentiall will do. I’m pretty sure Sonar X3 will be a more satisfying experience, being already touch-friendly.

I’ll report on my tests here.

Guys, for recording can’t you use the Ai version? It comes free with any Steinberg hardware. I use this for exactly the same reasons you mention on my laptop and it works fine, it’s just a very basic Cubase 7 version.



MC

You’re right, I didn’t even think about that. I have a ton of AI licenses, considering I bought each and every CMC device. Not to mention my Yamaha keyboards. I just assumed it was basically a useless demo.

Now the real problem is that the vendor has informed me that they’re out of 64gb V8P’s and I had to cancel the order. I immediately ordered directly from Dell, but someone told me they’re they’re out of stock too (I hope it’s not true, but I fear it is…) I guess after the Surface fiasco last year tech companies don’t want to take huge risks with inventory and order limited quantities. Apparently, this little sucker is selling like hotcakes. I’m not surprised, as this is the tablet I’ve been waiting for since Microsoft started selling tablets some 15 years ago…

Be aware the Ai install is a bit strange, took me a while to navigate to where it was. I think it’s in your user area of my Steinberg, it wasn’t where I expected :smiley:

Keep us updated with how you get on with this.

MC

How many simultaneous inputs can you have with AI7?