I've never personally used Cubase but u can download hundreds of vst synths online.

like at http://www.free-plugin-list.com/

Cool, thanks, that's useful.

My bigger problem though is with the interface. I learned on the simplicity of Garageband and would love something equally simple; just a big list of instruments I can apply to my midi, but not shitty ones.
(especially given that I can't even get those free synths from that link to work in LE. WHY CAN'T IT BE SIMPLER????!?!?)

Another quick question: Does Reaper offer that? A simple list of included virtual instruments to work from? That don't suck?

Odds are it doesn't have them built in.
This is the kind of thing you add with VSTi's and if Cubase doesn't support them, you're probably doing it wrong.

Oh, I'm well aware I'm doing wrong. I'm wondering how to do it right.

You see, I'm not a DAW junkie, and I'm looking for help. I didn't really even know "VSTi's" existed. I do know that Steinburg (who made Cubase) came up with VST, so it would support them.
Where would I find VSTi's?
I'm really just looking for some easy answers. I'm so fed up with trying to wrestle these programs that I'm hoping you experts can help me sort it out.

EDIT:
I found a site with some VSTi's. Anyone got some advice on particularly good ones (esp. piano), or a particular site for downloads?

Another edit: One of the instruments was an .exe, and that one works great. The other's a .dll, and another a .rar. I can't seem to get those into the program. Any thoughts?

.rar is a type of compressed file.

DLLs should be placed into some sort of folder which may be C:Program FilesSteinbergVstplugins or - better still - check your Cubase settings for an option to set the VSTi folder - then put the DLL, and the extracted RAR file into there.

(To extract the rar file, use [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.7-zip.or…"]7-zip[/]="http://www.7-zip.or…"]7-zip[/] or WinRAR - 7zip is free.)

That worked; for some reason LE wasn't detecting it until I restarted it. Thanks.

If anyone has thoughts on good VSTi's though, let me know still! Or my other questions.

go to IKmultimedia.com and download their free version of SampleTank and get the HQfreePiano downloadable...it is my goto piano for VST Instriments, heck, i like it better than the pianos that come with the full registered version.

Thanks man, that's cool. I'm having trouble getting SampleTank to show up as a plug-in in LE, but I'll keep trying. It's neat as a stand-alone.

So, I've got this great master reverb in my M-Audio Session program. But it's a huge pain in the butt to take all my finished audio files, export them into session, add the reverb, then export them again. Is there a way I could get this reverb into LE? It's an FXP file. That'd solve many problems, actually.

It sounds like you've started to get the hang of the VSTi architecture.

A VSTi is essentially a plugin. Some VSTi's (the i stands for instrument) are distributed as simply a DLL. In those cases, you'll need to manually put them in that directory. Most VSTi's come as installations. When they are installed, they will usually ask you where your VST directory is...which is generally that path that Codemonkey mentioned above.

When you install a new VST, you'll need to restart Cubase for it to detect it.

Many plug-ins are offered in different formats, VST, RTAS, AU and DX. Different applications (DAWs ) use different types. Some can use multiple types.

Is the reverb from your M-audio program an actual VST type of plug in? I'd guess no in which case it would not be something that could be used in Cubase. But check the documentation or M-Audio site to find out.

Another good resource for information about VSTs is link removed.

As for your piano question, good pianos aren't free and great ones aren't cheap. To get a good piano, my feeling is that you need a sampler VST and then load in a good set of piano samples.

So, I couldn't find any specific answers about the reverb on M-Audio, but the program is a FXP file, as I mentioned. Interestingly, when I go into Master Effects I have two menus. I have some built in effects, and when I select one a menu with the appears with the options to Load Bank, Save Bank, Load Effect, and Save Effect.
The Load Bank looks for a .fxb file, and the Load Effect looks for an .fxp file, which is the same as the reverb. Unfortunately, when I click to load it nothing happens.
This makes me think that it is supported by VST, but I'm not sure how. Also, all the other M-Audio instrument software I could find had VST support.

I'm not entirely sure what a sampler VST is. Is SampleTank one? Which, by the way, I JUST got to work! Woo!
Are samplers programs that can run a series of plug-ins.

Btw, thanks guys for helping guide me as I try and learn this mess of technology.

FXP files ->

(Dead Link Removed)

I just wrote a post about them. The one linked to, and the one directly below.

Basically FXP is a settings preset for a reverb - you will need the reverb DLL.

I think I get it.

Everything just sort of fell into place. I found a button I didn't know existed, allowing me to work SampleTank, and I found a .dll file that accompany's Session's fxp files.
The actual plug-in is called Syntax and is excellent. It's like having all the Garageband instruments again only now I realize how to edit their parameters directly. I also got the reverb and a whole slew of other effects. This is so awesome I can't articulate it.

I'm still having a little trouble with exporting; .wav is too big, naturally, LE only gives me 20 .mp3 exports, and .wma just freaks out and fails. For now I've downloaded a free trial version of a .wav to .mp3 converter, and am just using that.

I think I've gotten everything I need for now (unless anyone has thoughts on the exporting). You guys rock! I'm sure I'll be back with more if (let's be honest) when I get stuck again.

i was in the same boat. i like syntax, and gt express from session, but im not that fond of session after i started using reaper. i was able to get the loops, syntax and gt express into reaper.
then i got a lexicon alpha with cubase le. the alpha wont work with my reaper for some reason, and has way too much latency in session. i installed cubase, and it works great with the alpha, no latency, pops or clicks.
i was having problems getting syntax to work (now i know why, i was doing what you were doing). so i picked up crystal and installed that to my vsti's in cubase. what a great synth for free, i couldnt believe it. you should check it out.

still having problems with the gt express. it shows up, i can load a preset, but it recieves no input and produces no output.

Crystal looks sweet; I'm downloading it now.
So, of Session, Reaper and Cubase LE, which program did you find to be the best interface? Clearly not Session.

I like LE now that I know how it works, but the interface I have definitely looks like it's dated to around when the first gameboy came out. I gather there's Cubase LE 4, but I don't have it (I got my US-122 used) and I don't think there's a way to update it...

Alden wrote: Crystal looks sweet; I'm downloading it now.
So, of Session, Reaper and Cubase LE, which program did you find to be the best interface? Clearly not Session.

I like LE now that I know how it works, but the interface I have definitely looks like it's dated to around when the first gameboy came out. I gather there's Cubase LE 4, but I don't have it (I got my US-122 used) and I don't think there's a way to update it...

im using le4
it spanks session and reaper handily. its the best for me out of the 3.

session is cool in that you can install it and have a song in about 10 minutes. the guitar effects are cool and syntax is not horrible at all.
for 50$ you cannot complain (mine came with a midi controller for 100$)

reaper is cool because it is a marvelous DAW and for 50$ is wayyyyyy wayyyy better of a tool than session. (session is basically a toy, but a really cool toy). i only used it for a couple of days (literally 2 days) so i dont have any clue as to how much it can do, but i was able to do 2 songs on it, fairly intuitively, fairly fast. the interface looks great and it really lacked nothing for my purposes. now that i have cubase, i dont need reaper. if i ever change my mind, i will reinstall and pay the licensing fee.

cubase is a nice professional piece of software, i will most likely never need more than LE4. I really like it a lot. out of the three, it operates and sounds the best, with the least amount of latency with my interface.

greetings all!

hello, if you are looking to get cubase le 4 , here is what you can do...

call the usb 122 manufacturer.
tell them you lost, dont have, or what not your le4 and would like a replacement.

estimated price would be about 14 bucks.

Cool, thanks. It's a little strange they don't have an update available online. The LE support is pretty lacking, even giving that it's a free product.