Cubasis vs Auria

My UR44 arrived today woohoo! If you hate reading, just skim the bolded sections and the question at the bottom. :smiley:

So, as a follow-up to my Cubasis vs Cubase iC Pro thread here and after Carlos responded to my 1st Q but not my 2nd, I was wavering on which iPad app to purchase.

Firstly, I really wasn’t looking for a recording only app as I have the iPad 2 which I think is only 16bit and if I were to use an iPad for serious recording would want 24bit (even though I was impressed with the quality - see below)

Secondly, I was continuing my search for a possible live venue solution. My wife and I do some gigs with backing tracks and I am trying to “carry light” without sacrificing quality and flexibility.

So instead of dropping $49 for either one of these, I opted to shell out half and get Auria light. Unpacked the UR44, grabbed my iPad, plugged in the camera connection kit, set the compliant switch on the back of the UR, plugged a JVC cassette deck into inputs 5 & 6 (I am transferring some tapes for a friend). Powered everything up and voila, Sweetness! I was worried about some of the noise issues I’ve read about but nada!

Plugged a dynamic mic in and checked all the inputs. Played with the routings, recorded voice, and a piano solo from the cassette tape checking the differences with the Dolby switches. Wow, sounds great - so far so good!

NOW, I’m still curious about which app to purchase the FULL version. Auria is nice but it only has two screens - console & edit which works. But, what I’ve seen of Cubasis, I think the split screen might make it more efficient changing FX on channels in a Live setting. One of the other uses would be as an easy way to add 4 inputs to our FOH mixer at church. This would allow the sound guy to have just the iPad as opposed to another mixer sitting on top of the desk and the ability to zero in with effects those four instruments while utilizing just one FOH channel.

Anywho (sorry for my windy story!), anyone have input between Auria & Cusasis considering the above?

Thanks!
Happy Camper

I think you should try both apps first if you can. They are both very capable and both have advantages and disadvantages when compared to each other.
Also, I think that your iPad being 16 bit has nothing to do with audio recording, you can still record 24 bit audio.

Also, if the price is an issue, keep an eye out for special offers, Auria was on sale for $25 just last week, and Cubasis sometimes also goes down in price, I think I got it for $30.

here is onother Point:
you will really using the Touchscreen of the ipad for a live gig ?
the danger to touch not the correct Point in a live Situation should not be underestimated.
if so, cubasis has a slightly Advantage over auria. the touch spaces for sliders and Buttons are bigger and better separated. maybe a Little bit saver to prevent mistakes during playing live.

jan

another point to consider : Cubasis stops playback when you hit “undo” - and it’s rather easy to hit undo as it is located exactly under the transport section and among all the other tools…
and there is no sign that Steinberg is about to solve this issue ( it seems to require quite some recoding )

Thanks all - all good points to consider. As what I have will suffice for now, I will definately keep my eyes peeled for the sales on both these apps. Both apps look nice and why not? I’ve got Reaper, Sonar, Studio 1, and MixBus. Why not try a peak into Cubestuff?

Thanks again!

Hi

As an audio - only app Auria is pretty hard to beat with the versions we have today. its ability to send recordings to another DAW via AAF , it’s very high quality plug ins , and automation put it to the front of the pack.

However Cubasis has MIDI … Which Auria lacks completely. This means lots of compositional possibilities using synths and the like. So for an over all complete package, Cubasis wins IMO.

Of course there’s updates on the horizon for Cubasis which could equalize things audio-wise … And there’s always rumors of Auria getting MIDI.

So yeah, get both!

Thanks Lee, excellent points. I haven’t gotten as far as trying out the MIDI side of the iPad but might be handy for sure.

Wren

If you are using it for a live situation , as far as the mixers go, Auria is a clear winner for me, the full version that is as I do not have the le version. That is if you don’t need more than 48 tracks as that is the limit for Auria. Cubasis is unlimited depending on the ipad you have.
As far as the mixer goes Auria has 8 addition subgroup faders so you can send how even many drum mics to one fader. You can also using the ipad in portrait mode in Auria and have full 100 mm faders for more detail.
If you are using Auria LE you are missing a Lot of features that the full version has, I’d strongly recommend getting the full version at some point.
At this point I think Auria is a lot closer to a full on desktop Daw as far as the audio recording part and plugins.
In the long run you are going to spend a lot more on Auria if you decide to get some of the available 3rd party plugins. Some are really pricey to be honest. I’ve spent an addition $50 on plugins, 2 of the ones I bought were $20 each. Some that I haven’t purchased are more, some less. Anyway to blow it out you’d spend a lot more than what Cubasis cost.
Auria also has snap shots for each song so you can have a ton of saved settings that way. It also already has automation. It’s developer is promising a big update in the near future, including midi sequencing as an in app purchase. The lack of midi is the reason I bought Cubadis.

As far s Cubasis goes, I’m very pleased I got it, because for what it does on the midi side, it’s been extremely productive for sequencing and putting down quick ideas. Both apps have audiobus and inter app audio, but having things stay midi until you need to bounce a mix down and being able to edit midi notes is a beautiful thing.
As far as the virtual instrument in Cubasis, they range from not great to great, an some in the middle.
I find Cubasis to be very fast when putting together a song via midi and I kinda use it more at this point for that because not only can I do something fast and have it sound pretty good, the fact that it’s midi saves a ton of Ipad space. At to the moment I don’t have a lot of space, I’m on a 16 gig ipad 2. If I were on a 64 gig or 128 gig I’d probably use them equally.
As far as the whole Cubasis vs Auria question, at the end of of the day if it’s doable I’d say get Cubasis ANd Auria.

How about Caustic being factored into this? Looking at that for a viable alternative.

If you’re worried about hitting Undo in a live situation, deselect Tools , an it’s not in your way.