Cubasis 3 Reviews

Guys... Had it not been for me having Cubasis TWO still, I would have not been able to confirm the fact that Cubasis THREE puts tracks OFF SYNC after they have been mixed down. This has driven me crazy for a month. I searched every parameter within 3, performed mix down after mixdown, and every time, at least one track is NOT in sync after having hit the mixdown button and then reviewed in auto play. I finally went back to Cubasis TWO and redid the very same files, mixed down, and NO PROBLEM.... I appreciate the improvements you’ve made with 3, but DAYAM... Do you have any idea how much time I have wasted?? And it would be nice if I could find a person to actually REPORT this to. This was unacceptable. Do you have any idea just how many apps, plugins, and other crap I have purchased through the years? SOMEBODY....PLEASE get in touch with me about this. I’m even willing to accept that maybe I’m overlooking something. But after putting it all back into Cubasis TWO with no problem, I’ll be waiting.......

Every update fixes one problem yet introduces another. And these are in or glitches that can be worked around but major glitches that completely shut down the workflow. When it wasnt complete crashes due to AUv3 compatibility, it was phantom clips moving all over the screen. And now Cubasis3 just completely freezes all controls in the middle of editing. This has happened now in every project ive tried to work on recently. Every time i want to believe Cubasis is ready to go after a new update it disappoints me. Y’all have charged people way too much money in base price and add-ones to continuously have this many workflow-killing bugs. I keep coming back to it because ive already paid for it and I demand a better product that does what it is right now!

Potential means nothing if its not even close to being realized. Smh As far as its potential its should be a 5 star app...but due to it’s bugs it barely gets 2 stars from me. Ive never been more disappointed with an app purchase than with Cubasis 3.

Edit: If it isn’t one problem it’s another! Every update fixes one problem and then adds another. I invested my money with faith that Cubasis3 would be better....it’s not. If you’re a professional musician, steer away.

I wish cubasis 3 was like fr studio and what I mean by this is I wish they added how when you use your own sounds and kits and you put them down into a piano roll like on for studio. Example let’s say we’re gonna use 808 when you choose your own kit and choose an 808 and put it down it shows up in piano roll we’re you can plug in each notes and what semitones they are so there not all the same sounds so it goes up and down octaves etc I really wish they add single notes to cubasis like fr studio so when I make hi hats I can plug them in then put hi hat rolls at different octaves or semitones please add this please please please add this in your mini sampler so when I choose my own sounds it doesn’t use just that one key for that sound but uses all keys would love this to happen !!!!!! I would like to see this like GarageBand mobile how you put one sound in the sampler and then you go to the piano roll and the sound you chose has different tones as you click up and down the piano roll please change the sampler to be a single sampler like fr studio and GarageBand mobile !!!!!! I’m begging

I have been a loyal Steinberg customer for many years and this was my first foray into their mobile offerings as I just got a new iPad, but I am sad to say that this product does not match the quality of their products. It seems rushed and incomplete. I found out after purchasing that the sampler edit functionality isn’t even included in the initial release. Now I have to wait until at least end of March. Really？That is very basic DAW stuff. Not to mention the instability and crackling with IAA apps. I would have much preferred they waited to release until it was perfect. It has a lot of potential to be the best iOS DAW but it has left a bad taste in my mouth about Steinberg and how they treat their customers. When I spend 50 bucks on an app I expect it to work as intended and at the very least be fully functional on release. Very disappointed. I know they are diligently trying to fix it but it still baffles me how it could be released like this. Some features I hope they include in the future are the ability to use search terms in the media bay and side chain compression at the minimum.

I love the workflow of Cubasis 3, but there is no support for either tempo or meter (time signature) changes, which for me prevents using it for serious music production. I bought Cubasis 3 when it was first released and I’ve been waiting patiently for Steinberg to add support for tempo changes (tempo track support), meter changes (such as from 4/4 to 3/4 ) or support alternate time signatures (like 6/8). However, the stock answer from Steinberg has been the same for years, with no indication whether it will be months or years before support for these features is added: “Tempo / Signature track support remains on our list, but the feature is unlikely to be added short- or mid-term”. This is such basic functionality for music recording, I can’t believe we’re still waiting for this - very disappointed. I love Cubasis 3 - it’s touch interface is very elegant - but I may be forced to abandon it. My review would be 5 stars if Cubasis included these basic DAW features. Other iOS DAW competitors have these features but the workflow is not as smooth or intuitive. Such a shame.

As a person who is a fan of Cubase, Cubasis3 is a HUGE letdown. Almost every time I try to record a midi track, none of the keys or pads do anything, as if it can’t register me touching the screen. Then I try to pause the track but it just keeps playing, causing me to have to close Cubasis3 (and the track continues to play even after Cubasis3 is closed). Then, when I reopen Cubasis, any and all progress I had made is gone. Extremely frustrating. I feel like Cubasis3 tries to do more than what it can process, which is a shame because it has so much potential to be superior to any other mobile DAW available. I also wish you could change the song key like you can do in Cubase.
Sure, Cubasis offers a lot more features than other mobile DAWs, such as GarageBand (which is free and runs almost flawlessly), but it isn’t worth the frustration or time lost.
Cubasis3 has a lot of improvements that need to be made. Until then, I’m sorry to say, I highly advise that you do NOT purchase Cubasis3.

First off, this DAW is very likely to take over as my main workhorse..... eventually.

I really do love it and enjoy using it. The workflow feels good, a very inspiring GUI, decent enough built in instruments but nothing spectacular, but hey, that’s what AUV3 is for.

With that said, this needed wayyyyy better testing before being released. It’s Beta quality at best. Before you buy make sure to check out the Steinberg forums for the known issues, and maybe wait for this long anticipated 3.0.1 update that is taking entirely too long.

There’s no pencil support, copy/pasted midi events don’t play, a whole laundry list of little issues I won’t go in to, but they’re all there on the forum so check it out before spending the money.

Aside from that, it has massive potential, and the devs have been good about communicating with the backlash with promises of this future update. If they do a good job correcting the issues this has a great chance of being a game changer. Don’t take my negativity towards the issues wrong way. This is/will be a S.O.L.I.D. DAW, it just simply isn’t a finished product yet, and they probably shouldn’t have rushed it out the door, but I understand the business model of hitting the holiday season when everyone is spending those Apple store gift cards. Hopefully that money goes into further development, and finishing what they started. If they do I will gladly be changing this to a 5 star review.

Cubasis 3 is a decent DAW for iPad, but there are several flaws that absolutely ruin the user experience for me.

Select Doesn’t Work: First, choose the select tool and then trying to draw a box around events just doesn’t work. It looks like it tries to start to draw the bounding box, but then it just disappears. That makes it impossible to select MIDI notes you want to work with and ruins the piano roll editor.

Merge Clips: if you’re in loop mode and overdub MIDI parts, it records new clips on every pass but puts them on top of existing clips. The new clips, on playback, mask the clips below them from being selected. You can hear them, but you can see them or select them without moving the clips on top out of the way first. So, consequently, when you select what you think is a whole part to copy and paste it, you’re only selecting the top layer or your last recording pass. There’s no way I can find to flatten the clips into one.

I think like many of us hoping Apple will soon provide Logic for the newer M1 iPad Pro’s, this is a fair breath of fresh air. I like the ease and familiarity and features of Logic on Mac, but Cubasis does provide some top tier features for an on the go feel. An iPad could essentially be your studio centerpiece (with appropriate USB hubs and such for expansion), and with it’s in app purchases, and third party plug ins, (ideally iK’s MixBox) you can track and mix a song from front to back anywhere with some very good quality plugins.

It’s features and highlights are already highlighted, and they’r very handy. Of course the virtual mixer, it’s very easy to track and add plug ins, and polish things up with minimal gear. A midi controller, a decent mic, and a decent interface with decent monitors, can all go a long way to now make mobile pro production a breeze.
I 100% recommend, and give it a 4 out of pure stinginess of hoping Logic will some day find its way on here, as if I had to choose between mobile producing on an iPad with Cubasis or Logic, I’d have to go the Logic route mainly from personal preference and experience, and not at all a jab down towards Cubasis. Great job Steinberg!

This is a great app for the most part. About everything you would expect from a DAW that you would even find on a desktop. However, there are 2 borderline absurd oversights for this DAW that will keep me in BeatMaker 3 and from purchasing any IAPs until these are fixed: pencil support and MIDI learn! It’s insane that you can use the pencil for some things but not others, and for iPadOS producers this is basically like telling a Mac user to use only a ball mouse from the 90s instead of whatever mouse they choose. Not having MIDI learn is super crippling as far as automation is concerned. It prevents proper use of knobs and faders defecates on potential or existing workflows.

EDIT: Developer response leaves me hopeful. When these 2 features get me implemented I will up the review to 5 stars, which is what it will deserve then. For now I put it up to 4 stars from 3 for the promise of these features being implemented and the developers listening.

Wow I have dreamed of a DAW like this one on mobile device for years. I dare anyone to name one that comes even close for audio recording mixed with midi. This is a portable recording studio. The integration with third party effects and virtual instruments is so smooth. I guess most of the bad reviews were left months ago when Cubasis3 was still in its infancy but really, Cubasis3 today deserves nothing less than 5 stars. I have used cubase on desktop my whole life and trust Steinberg to deliver awesome products. Even if Cubasis3 starts with bugs they eventually make you a satisfied customer. You can even tell by the way almost every review here is address by a human. Try finding many developers like that.
Cubasis3 looks beautiful on my iPad screen. It has all the essential features cubase has, down to the colorization of individual tracks. The way files, settings and features are managed and selected is pure genius. I could go on and on but i will let you judge for yourselves after downloading the lite version if you want to try first. I can safely recommend to any serious musician wanting to have a reliable mobile recording studio to just close their eyes and get Cubasis 3. Most issues you may have will eventually get resolved because the devs are listening, so what do you have to loose?

First let me say I'm very excited about the promise of this new version. Steinberg had clearly listened to or feedback and that's not something I would have said 10 or 15 years ago.

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to play with it over the holiday break. I'm seeing bugs that make it unusable. On my iPad pro I can usually run tons of instruments and efx before I need to freeze or bounce. With just a couple of instruments running it slows down so badly the GUI becomes sluggish and glitchy. Freezing the track does help but it breaks my workflow as I have to keep freezing and unfreezing to tweak sounds. Now way I could get a song finished like this but at least I can learn the new features..

Hopefully bug fixes will come quickly.

I have had Cubasis for years and I have enjoyed watching it grow into an even more fantastic application. On my iPad Pro it is a thing of awe and wonder. It is so powerful and it does so much. I learn something new almost daily. Originally I never came close to what Cubasis was capable of doing. As a guitarist, Cubasis was a great way to lay down a few fast tracks. Jam Origin Midi Guitar opened the door to being able to play soft synths with a guitar. Cubasis allows me to multi track to my hearts delight. There has never been a more exciting time to work with sound. I can carry my music studio with me wherever ever the muse takes me. Cubasis 3 nearly explodes with potential. I have a lot to learn which is actually very exciting. Cubasis has brought many things together l have been working on for awhile. It’s like getting the sonic circus under one tent. Carl R.

The developers have taken it upon themselves to blow our minds with these awesome platform upgrades….and have never disappointed. With the recent update including 3 …4 new expertly sampled synths , I kicked myself for buying libraries of expensive synth apps … The new ( and old ones ) added into Cubasis 3 , hit a higher level of quality ,..drastically lessening the need to connect via, In app audio , or external Audio ,units. The drums are absolutely authentic and can be used as midi ,audio samples ,..and the speed of creating original samples inside Cubasis3 are just one small item on the list of user functionality that just keeps growing… This is one app that I advise purchasing every add on .

That was the end of 2024 🌗 now it’s 2025 🌓…and
I had to come back and compliment the workers and company for their attention to the costumers and musicians everywhere that now have access to the beautiful Iconica sketch app that adds yet another universe ,…this time of all the symphonic and String tools you could never get anywhere else …like programmable tempo . 💪🏼
YES.

Ok guys, this is a significant step above the previous version, which was nearly perfect to me and has been good to me for more than fifteen full length albums. This new one has amazing updates, and yes a TAD BUGGY (freeze exports sometimes not how intended) but as a chip musician, and experienced producer on a multitude of platforms and hardwares, all of the bugs are dismissible, Cubasis 3 remembers where I last was, right before a crash, and the chord editor is so incredibly powerful, I can’t complain about anything. The previous version had bugs with some internal effects, and those glitches are gone. Those glitches were way more annoying than the minor bugs I get in this one. More efficient than audio pro in my book and more dynamic and organized than any other app of its kind. Amazing work guys. I would pay a LOT more money if you ever wanted to add visual elements or video editing capabilities to this software.

I started muaic production on my iPhone, then took it o an ipad, but i felt like the result of it was weird. I always had quality sound problems, and there were some stuff i didnt like. Then i tried cubasis 3, wich is the best daw i used by far. It runs smoothly (sometimes overpwering it bugs it, but i just need to close Cubasis3 and reopen it). I like working my drums on beatmaker 3, and producing, organizing and mixing on Cubasis. Ive made like 30 songs in the past year and i cant complain, love the plugins that are available, plus the interface is very well done and comfortable to use. I appreciate the last update, i can see how commited is steinber, keep dropping those jewels. The only thing i dont like is the microsonic instruments, i mean theyre alright, but you cant control ASDR, the pitch, or other cool stuff like fx. I find myself using Model D and Synthmaster 2, but i wished i had some quality “normal” instruments instead of using synths.

So I’ve been working with this software since Cubase 5 and I must say Cubasis3 is absolutely amazing for a mobile app, I feel way more “unlimited” in Cubasis3 than I did with GarageBand & sequencing is such a breeze.. BUT what I would take Cubasis3 OVER THE TOP for me would be two simple things: One, it was be AMAZING to have TIME MARKERS. So much easier to see where I’m at in my project if i can just label a “Verse” “Chorus” “Bridge” etc and if that becomes implemented we should be able to have the option to click on our “verse” or “chorus” and just copy the whole section & paste it to where we need it. It would speed up workflow so much.. And of course, more VST’s. I loved HalionOne as a stock engine but I’m assuming Microsonic is essentially the answer to that? But other than that, I LOVE Cubasis3 and it’s definitely my go to until I can build an actual set up with Cubase 11. Thanks for satisfying my creative urges yall are seriously amazing.

For a mobile DAW, this is pretty packed. If you’re a serious hobbiest or if you’re full time job is music production, this DAW has it. It has its limitations naturally, but 80% of composition and production can be done here. There are relatively basic features that I am surprised are missing: visual view of envelops on each track, and song key/scale setting. For the audio envelopes, Cubasis3 offers ways around this, however, it would be nice to see the envelope right on the track itself, and be able to adjust the points right there. For the song key/scale setting - most if not all DAWs have this feature. Even basic ones. So why it’s missing here, beyond me.

Last gripe I have is with the inter app function - it doesn’t work, bottom line. It freezes. Crashes. Doesn’t matter which app I’m using. I have the latest iPad and using updated ios. This feature does not work.

Otherwise, solid release and happy to support this in the future. It sounds like the developers listen and that’s a big plus.

Update: The recording of audio over usb works as it should… this was my fault. I turned off the microphone. I guess that is part of the chain of recording the external hardware tracks. Thanks to the great people at CUBASIS they found out what I had did.

Recording audio over usb from external hardware synth (Yamaha Modx) no longer works. I have been using CUBASIS 3 since it came out. Unless you guys have changed the way you set it up. It no longer works. And yes I’m aware of the video Dom Sigalas put out. That is the way I first learned how to set it up. There is also a newer video by The Sound Test Room (CUBASIS 3.2 Tutorial - How To Record & Playback MIDI & Audio For Your Hardware Synths). It is no longer useful. I originally purchased Cubasis3 because of that one fact… that it would work with my Yamaha products since Steinberg is a subsidiary of Yamaha. If the Developers need any info all they need to do is go by theses videos above and they will see they no longer work.

Get Cubasis3 and don’t think twice about it. With each upgrade, it just gets better. I have been using DAWs for close to 20 years and Cubasis3 is so intuitive. I constantly tell folks trying to get into electronic music and music production, if you can’t afford to buy a bunch of gear, this is a really great option and will give you really high quality results. Wanna do a podcast with full production? 😎 I think with anything it can always get better though. It would be nice to add a video input option, so you could score to a film on the go. The new M1 chips are insane and take some serious processing. Tip of the hat Steinberg, thank you for so many countless hours of creativity. Cheers!