| Feature | Cubase Essential 4 | Cubase Studio 4 | Cubase 4 |
|---|
| Simultaneous playback of audio tracks | 64 | unlimited | unlimited |
| MIDI Tracks | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
| Physical Inputs/Outputs | 16 | 128 | 256 |
| Inserts | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Group channels | 256 | 256 | 256 |
| FX Send channels | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| FX Return Channels | 8 | 64 | 64 |
| Instrument Tracks | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
| VST Instrument Slots | 16 | 32 | 64 |
| MIDI insert plugins | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Number of mixer views | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Control Room | no | no | yes |
| Extended Channel EQ (VST3 Studio EQ) | no | no | yes |
| Extended Mixer view | no | yes | yes |
| Automation modes | touch fader | touch fader | touch fader, x-over, autolatch, trim, overwrite |
| VST3 plug-in support | yes | yes | yes |
| Sidechain Inputs | no | yes | yes |
| Recording from Busses | no | yes | yes |
| Mac OS X Universal Binary | yes | yes | yes |
| Multi Processing Support | yes | yes | yes |
| Surround: True Multichannel Audio Path | no | no | yes |
| Unlimited Undo and Redo functions | yes | yes | yes |
| Offline Process History | single undo | for built-in audio | for built-in audio and all plug-ins |
| MediaBay | limited* | limited* | full |
| Track Presets | yes | yes | yes |
| Studio Connections | Recall | Recall | Recall + Audio |
| External FX | no | no | yes |
| External Instruments | no | no | yes |
| Workspaces (virtual desktops) | no | yes | yes |
| Project Browser | no | yes | yes |
| Recording Modes: Mix, Overwrite, Normal, Merge, Stacked | excl. Stacked | yes | yes |
| Editors: Key, List, Basic Score | yes | yes | yes |
| Drum Editor | yes | yes | yes |
| Logical Editor | no | yes | yes |
| Project Logical Editor | no | no | yes |
| Inplace Editor (MIDI Editing in Project Window) | no | yes | yes |
| Advanced Options in Tempo Editor | no | no | yes |
| Volume Envelopes | no | yes | yes |
| Extended Track Inspector (shows VSTi channel for MIDI Tracks) | yes | yes | yes |
| MIDI Devices (Device Maps and Editors) | no | no | yes |
| Professional Score layout and printing functions (incl. MusicXML Import + Export) | no | yes | yes |
| Arranger Track | yes | yes | yes |
| Global Transpose Track | no | yes | yes |
| Audio Warp (Realtime Timestretching + PitchShifting) | playback only | yes | yes |
| Time Warp Tool | no | yes | yes |
| Pitch Shifting/Time Stretching algorithm | Realtime | Realtime + MPEX | Realtime + MPEX |
| Dithering | Apogee UV22HR | Apogee UV22HR | Apogee UV22HR |
| Key Command Macros | yes | yes | yes |
| Pool Import and Export | no | yes | yes |
| Rewire Support | yes | yes | yes |
| Track Archives | no | yes | yes |
| Extended Freeze for VST Instruments and Audio Tracks | yes | yes | yes |
| Hardware Controller Support | Only Houston, Generic + Tascam US-428/224, Mackie Universal and HUI | yes | yes |
| Track Quick Controls | no | yes | yes |
| Full MP3 Fraunhofer Encoding | available as update | available as update | yes |
| Windows Media WMA Pro Encoding | yes | yes | yes |
| Sequel Project Import | no | yes | yes |
| Number of VST MIDI effect plug-ins included | 15 | 16 | 16 |
| Number of VST audio effect plug-ins included | 31 | 37 | 55 |
| Number of VST instruments included | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Number of instrument sounds included | 135 | 600+ | 1000+ |
| Full printed Operations Manual | no | no | yes |
