Not ready for the full force of Cubase? Then turn to Steinberg Cubase Elements 6 (Mac / Win), the entry-level version of Cubase 6.

Now shipping, Cubase Elements 6 still offers a comprehensive set of features, but does so at a more affordable price and scale. The music production software offers tools for composing, recording, editing, and mixing, with a maximum of 64 MIDI tracks and 48 audio tracks with full 24-bit resolution and 96 kHz sampling rate, along with cross-platform 32-bit and Native 64-bit compatibility with Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Some of its main features include studio-grade effects, the same professional user interface and 32-bit floating-point Steinberg audio engine as Cubase 6, flexible routing, fully automatic delay compensation, MIDI sequencing, score editing and sample editing tools, and included virtual instruments and presets.

At the heart of MIDI sequencing in Cubase is the Key Editor tool, which lets you enter, cut, move, and transpose individual notes or whole chords, edit MIDI parameters, and more. Key Editor’s Inspector provides access to the most important MIDI tools and functions, including Quantize, Transpose, Length, and more in one central location.

Cubase 6 Elements offers 24 physical inputs and outputs, 8 insert effect slots per channel, 8 FX send and return channels, as well as 16 groups / busses and a routing between audio channels, busses, groups, and FX. The system-wide automatic latency compensation synchronizes all audio streams in your system automatically.

The Score Editor in Cubase Elements 6 offers a notation environment based on the bigger version in Cubase 6. Completely integrated within Cubase Essential, the Score Editor lets you view and edit music in the form of scores, and then print them. Likewise, the Cubase Sample Editor provides a full editing toolset for doing everything from looping to beat slicing.

Cubase Elements 6 also delivers virtual instruments and presets -- over 550 presets span across the HALion Sonic SE virtual instrument, the Prologue synthesizer, and the MPC-style Groove Agent ONE drum machine -- along with VST effect processors, including EQ, Dynamics, Modulation, Reverb, Filters, Distortion, and special effects.

Other notable features include the easy to use MediaBay media file management system, pitch correction functionality via the PitchCorrect VST 3 plugin, and the AmpSimulator guitar amp and speaker simulation processor.

Cubase Elements 6 highlights:

• Streamlined, entry-level version of Cubase 6 flagship software
• The same 32-bit floating-point Steinberg audio engine as Cubase 6, with flexible routing and fully automatic delay compensation
• Supports up to 64 MIDI and 48 audio tracks simultaneously in DVD quality (24-bit, 96 kHz)
• Includes virtual instruments: HALion Sonic SE workstation, MPC-style Groove Agent ONE drum machine, and Prologue synthesizer
• Includes MIDI sequencing features, Score Editor, Cubase Sample Editor, and MediaBay media file management system
• Comes with 33 audio effect processors, including PitchCorrect for vocal intonation correction, plus AmpSimulator
• Cross-platform 32-bit / 64-bit for Windows and Mac OS X Intel

Steinberg Cubase Elements 6 is available as a boxed or download version from the Steinberg Online Shop for 99.99 EUR (approximately $141). Learn more at steinberg.net.