An Open Letter to Keyboard Mag

From: Jay Ricketts
To: Greg Rule
Date: 8/28/02 1:01PM
Subject: Cubase SX, Pro Tools

I'm a Cubase 5.1 user, who hasn't made the jump to SX yet. Based on your review, it sounded like a really good thing to do, except that I'd have to upgrade to XP, which would force me to upgrade my version of Encore...

...but the point is, why was this NOT a Key Buy®? Further, how the heck did ProTools HD get to be a Key Buy®, and Cubase SX got passed up? SX is one tenth the price of PTHD, has a comparable feature list, is cross-platform (the only major player who is, anymore)... but none of that's good enough to be a Key Buy®?

The only thing I can think of is that PTHD is the "sequencer to the stars" and the acknowledged industry leader, so you couldn't NOT give them the award. The analogy, back in the day, would be that the mighty Yamaha DX-1, a DX-7 with some extra bells and whistles, would be the Key Buy® rather than the DX-7, 'cos it did a little more, and was used by "the stars", notably Michael Jackson. It was also 5-6 times the price.

That line of reasoning only works when you ignore bang for the buck. Ultimately, the presence or absence of a Key Buy® banner isn't a dealmaker/breaker for me, but credit needs to go where it's due, and Cubase SX got unduly shorted. IMO.

Jay Ricketts
Emmett, MI