Pro Tools vs. Cubase/Nuendo

This seems to be an internet wide debate without an answer, and I will be glad to throw my opinion out there as to what I think of these two competing products. I have been fortunate enough to have experience working with both of these product types throughout the past few years, and I must say I have grown to like one over the other for multiple reasons. Before I reveal which one I prefer, I am going to try to give my limited review on each to the best of my knowledge. I am not an expert on either by any means, but have worked enough with the core to decide which one I like more.

Pro Tools is the industry standard computer recording DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation. It is in use by almost every major studio that I know of, and is typically the advertising point of most studios paraphernalia. It is sold with it’s own hardware, and uses a proprietary system of plug ins and hardware to give you the full pro tools setup. Pro tools features multi track recording, with the ability to edit your audio just about any way you would want, and can render out your final product for sale and distribution. This is obviously a very basic summary of pro tools, but for purposes of this view point, not much more is needed.

Cubase/Nuendo (I’ll refer to it as Cubase now since Nuendo runs the same engine but has more high end features for large studios and is out of most people’s price range) is a competitor to the pro tools system and performs many of the same functions as pro tools. It is a computer recording DAW, and performs the same core functions as Pro Tools. You can multi track your recordings, edit your audio just about any way you want, and play with the variety of plug ins to get your desired sound for final rendering.

The biggest difference between the two systems I see is their ability to place nice with others. Any Pro Tools engineer will tell you the system digidesign has is built to make them the most money. Their software only works with their approved and licensed hardware, typically coming from their company, and therefore gives them the option to charge more for what they produce if you want their product.

Cubase so far seems to buck that trend and go with the more open VST and ASIO standards. Many different types of ASIO hardware will work with the cubase engine other types of software that use the ASIO standard, and many VST plug ins work the same way. If you are on a budget and looking to get the most out of your home or small budget studio, I say cubase is the better option. There are some good free plug ins out there if you want to try out new things, and the ones you pay for are generally easy on the wallet. You can work with Pro Tools if you need to, and vice versa, but it takes a little more time to transfer back and forth. Sony based software works without a problem, with their Vegas, Cinescore, and Acid products being a great compliment for production needs without breaking the bank.

Pro Tools does have advantages, like being able to transfer sessions with larger studios easily if you need to do tracking in a better environment, but does that warrant the considerably higher cost of hardware and software. I use the Digi 002 from Digidesign and the Firestudio from presonus as my two budget examples. A Digi 002 is typically $200-$300 more in price than a Firestudio. The Digi uses Pro Tools and the Firestudio uses Cubase. If you are building a budget studio, why spend the extra money on the box with 4 fewer XLR preamps and a proprietary system. You could buy a descent mic, some headphones, monitors, whatever else to enhance and build your studio with that extra money.

This is just one guys opinion, but I have yet to find anyone that could justify to me why I should not stick with Cubase for the budget studio. The crossover of plugins between editing applications alone justify to use of Cubase over Pro Tools to me. To each his own, but I say spend wisely.