Steinberg updates Cubase to v8.0.20

Steinberg has announced the availability of the Cubase Pro 8.0.20/Cubase Artist 8.0.20 maintenance update. The update resolves many bug fixes and improvements.

Improvements in Cubase 8.0.20

Render in Place (Cubase Artist / Pro only) :

• The "Render Settings" window has been cleaned up with all options integrated into one window page (the previous 2nd tab "Format" is obsolete).

• It is now possible to render tracks in either mono or stereo: For the render options "Dry (Transfer Channel Settings) " and "Channel Settings" the resulting audio tracks keep the formats of their source tracks. A mono track results in a mono track. For the render options "Complete Signal Path" and "Complete Signal Path + Master FX" the resulting audio file format is determined by the output channel of the source track. A mono track, routed to a stereo bus, results in stereo audio files.

Automation:

• The option "Automation Follows Events" now takes trimming of events into account.
• Additionally it reduces the amount of redundant automation points when moving events with this option enabled.
• Editing automation points or inaccurate writing of automation data can result in situations where the values briefly return to their initial value, visible as spikes in the automation curve or as jumping faders. In the Automation Settings, you can set a Spike Detection Range from 0 to 200 ms to adjust the detection window in which these spikes are found and treated by Cubase (Cubase Pro only).

Chord Pads:

• When working with Chord Pads, you can now set up MIDI or instrument tracks to use "No Player". This passes unchanged through MIDI data from your remote keyboard, which is useful for all tracks not suited to play chords at all (such as drum tracks). You no longer need to explicitly disable or close the Chord Pads in such cases.
• The Chord Assistant window now gives a hint when no chord has been referenced in order to get suggestions for other chords.

MixConsole:

• The "Link Groups Settings" window now includes the option to have the channel selection as part of the link group (or not) which comes also very handy when working with VCA Faders (Cubase Artist / Pro only).

Workspaces:

• You can determine the view of external projects when you open them in Cubase: In Preferences > General you have several options now for "Open Project in Last Used View" available to control the behavior (Cubase Artist / Pro only).

Groove Agent SE 4.2 (Cubase Artist / Pro / Elements only):

• MIDI Output for Host Recording: Groove Agent SE is now able to send MIDI to Cubase in order to record MIDI notes.
• Follow Host Transport: Activate "Follow Host Transport" and Groove Agent SE will start and stop with the transport in Cubase.
• Alternate Loop: Alternate loop and reverse alternate loop are now available as new loop modes in the Sample Editor.
• Live Mode on Dynamic FX: Compressor, Gate, Limiter and the Expander can know be switched into the low-latency mode.
• Pitchbend Support: Pitchbend is now available in the controller lane of the Pattern Editor.
• MIDI Channel for Pattern Pads: The Pattern Pads can be triggered using a dedicated MIDI channel.

Other Improvements:

• When removing selected tracks Cubase asks for confirmation in case there is still event data on the tracks (or in TrackVersions).
• From the File Menu you can now access "Save New Version" which was previously only available as a key command.
• In VST Expressions > Expressions Maps > Remote Settings you can define to use either "Key Switches" as before or the new "Program Change Messages" option (Cubase Pro only).
• When loadings projects in Cubase the application will prevent the ASIO port setup contained in the project file to override the ports currently in use for the Control Room, External Instruments and External FX. You may want to check your Input/Output setup in the VST Connections window in case you have to deal with ports set to "Not Connected".
• The Export Audio Mixdown windows now offers dedicated options in avoid file name conflicts.

Read the full version history here.