Reaper and Cubase ...and what each DAW is good for :


Reaper is the tool for real-time VST e-drumming

and

Cubase is the basic tool for midi / drum editing ...(for some MIDI-ediiting features I additionally use Reaper)


Cubase fails to be a suitable DAW for e-drum engines because even in 2025 you still cannot route midi from one track to another (*). (And there are other drawbacks, such as crazy bugs in the onboard MIDI plugins that appear with new major versions and cause your old projects/engines to no longer work -> What I just experienced with the new v15 is a total no-go...)

I use the Cubase MIDI/Drum Editor because it is simply better than the Reaper MIDI Editor in many aspects (e.g., appearance, customizability, workflow). However, there are also some features that I appreciate in the Reaper MIDI Editor, so I definitely use both; but I prefer to do the basic MIDI editing work in Cubase.


Why Reaper is my main Software Drumming DAW : DAW recommendation for VST-e-drumming ❗️👉


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* I avoid buying new Cubase Artit / Pro versions so I asked ChatGPT if anything has changed in terms of the midi routing issue.
This is what ChatGPT tells you about Cubase midi routing (in terms of routing midi from one track to another) :

my question:
Cubase 14 or 15 Artist / Pro: Is it now finally possible with those new versions to route midi from one track to another without using a midi plugin (that uses the vst buffer and therefore adds latency on midi routing)? (I know that it hasn't been possible with Cubase versions like v10 Artist / Pro.)


ChatGPT answer:
I checked current threads and user reports for Cubase 14 and 15 (Artist/Pro), and the short version is: No — you still can’t natively route MIDI from a MIDI track directly into another MIDI or Instrument track as a “track-to-track MIDI input” without going through a virtual MIDI port (that can be a VST plugin).

❌ What you still cannot do (as of Cubase 14/15) :
You cannot assign a MIDI track as the direct MIDI input for another MIDI or Instrument track. Tracks accept only MIDI ports, not other tracks.

Many users (on forums) still describe this as a limitation or “design quirk” of Cubase, even in the most recent versions.

🧐 What people say in 2025
A user in a forum post about Cubase 14 wrote only recently (Oct 2025):
“Inputs for instrument tracks can only be midi ports, not tracks. …"

And someone commented they don’t expect this to change in 15 — implying no official “track-to-track MIDI routing” was added yet. Steinberg Forums

🔎 Why this matters
Your original concern — avoiding a plugin-based (VST buffer) workaround that causes latency — is exactly why many users hoped for native track-to-track routing. But because Cubase’s architecture still expects “ports” rather than “tracks” as inputs, latency-free, direct track-to-track MIDI routing remains basically unsupported.