Steinberg Cubase Pro 8 to be available December 8

One year after releasing the point update, Cubase is back with major updates boasting a vast range of studio-grade audio and MIDI tools for composing, recording, editing and mixing. First and foremost: Cubase becomes Cubase Pro. The name change reflects the 25-year evolution of Steinberg's advanced music production system and spearheads the Cubase range of DAWs.

Both Cubase Pro 8 and Cubase Artist 8 witness a massive engine rebuild, which lets you run more instruments and more tracks. ASIO-Guard 2 is the magic word, improving the audio processing performance for instrument tracks and channels. Automation enhancements are key to Cubase Pro 8, giving you VCA faders. Steinberg also added render in-place to both versions for bouncing MIDI and audio parts in a really easy way. Chord pads, Chord Assistant modes and MIDI tempo detection are introduced to the creative feature set of both Pro and Artist, while the new Rack Zone provides a dedicated area for the MediaBay sound browser and VST Instrument Rack.

The redesigned Track List and Inspector, the new plug-in manager, global workspaces plus improved windows handling on PCs make the lives of Cubase users that bit easier. Then there's the rejuvenated Quadrafuzz multiband distortion plug-in, the new Virtual Bass Amp, Multiband Expander, Multiband Envelope Shaper and many other effects. Groove Agent SE 4 now includes an acoustic drum kit, the Acoustic Agent, with 20 drum style patterns. The MixConsole has also witnessed feature additions and there's a new version of VST Connect for remote recording over the Web.

The Cubase Pro 8 and Cubase Artist 8 full retail versions are available for pre-order now, shipping begins on December 8, 2014. Users who have activated Cubase 7.5 and Cubase Artist 7.5 since October 15, 2014, are now eligible for a free, downloadable update to version 8.