LONG POST ALERT! 
Settle in with a cup of coffee before you read! 
Over the years, in this and other forums, I’ve often advocated for using more than one DAW when needed, especially if it would help solve certain problems. I’ve even suggested using several DAWs if needed, which I did all the time. And for some people, I would still suggest that today… everyone’s situation is different, and it may (or may not) be the perfect solution for you.
HOWEVER, for myself, I’ve had an evolution in recent months, and it’s shaping up into a fundamental shift in how I use DAWs in general. So for the record, I decided to share some of my recent thinking. This will be a long post! But I’m hoping it helps someone else who might be on a long journey like myself, with many twists and turns over the years.
My multi-DAW approach yielded very good results for me for years, and due to the fact I also worked with many other people with a bunch of different DAWs, it was very logical and practical… and I became very comfortable with using many DAWs. It was definitely a good solution when one DAW fell short in some workflows.
I also have made my interest in Linux known in this and other forums, and I’ve spent a huge amount of time using Linux for many things, including attempting to migrate my studio to Linux several times, but unfortunately falling short every time… I won’t detail that here.
So if someone stumbles on an old post of mine advocating for this multi-DAW or similar approach, and/or advocating for Linux, and/or they are on some similar journey, I wanted to post my current shift of perspective, as of early 2025. And I expect it will continue to evolve! Who knows where I will be in 2026-27, but for now, I have a good sense of my trajectory…
And TBH this big shift is all because of Nuendo 14.
Or rather, to be much more precise, it’s all because of Steinberg ramping up its development process and quality in recent years in a BIG way, plus some surprising developments with Windows that bode well for the future. Throw in some other life events and epiphanies, and I’ve got a fundamental shift going on.
It started a few years ago when I noticed that Steinberg quietly supported efficiency cores better than other DAWs in the time frame when Apple Silicon and Intel P/E cores were arriving on the market. This may be a controversial statement, as some people think Steinberg hasn’t done a good job in this regard. I disagree. But let’s not get into specifics here. I pull from my personal experience where I tested across many DAWs myself on both Windows and MacOS (and actually Linux too), and while Steinberg’s response wasn’t perfect or the first out of the gate, of course, I personally witnessed very good performance on Apple Silicon, for example, when other DAWs were well behind the curve (and some still are lagging far behind).
That flew under the radar for many people at first, and Steinberg didn’t get enough credit IMO, but I was impressed that Steinberg was clearly not lagging behind when it came to adapting to new CPU architectures. In my personal testing, Steinberg was second in performance only to Reaper at the time for Apple Silicon. I tested against many DAWs, my own projects. That was impressive due to Reaper’s smaller codebase, tiny/nimble dev team, and efficient multi-platform build process (Reaper even supports Linux on ARM!).
Again, Steinberg wasn’t perfect, but they were ahead of many other DAW developers in those areas, and they didn’t get a lot of credit for it. But I noticed and respected it. And as it relates to this thread, I sensed something good might be happening behind the scenes with Steinberg. And I also realized that a negative narrative floating out there in the propaganda-vulnerable DAW community about Steinberg was not true… that the narrative that Steinberg’s codebase was somehow too bloated and ancient, was not correct. What I realized was that Steinberg was way more adaptable and agile than they were given credit for, that they were refactoring their code over time, and they were clearly doing good work behind the scenes, without much fanfare.
Meanwhile I was actually busy on multiple DAWs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux, and actually in the process of trying to migrate my music production over to Linux (which as I mentioned, ultimately failed yet again).
Then when I saw that Steinberg announced early and demonstrably solid support for Windows on ARM, ahead of many other developers, and not just for the DAW, but for several plugins, their licensing system, a Steinberg/Yamaha driver, AND a clear direction ahead with collaboration with Microsoft for MIDI 2.0, etc… I thought that was for sure a BIG sign that their development pipeline was really coming together in a good way. I was now very impressed. I felt that something deep inside Steinberg was quietly and consistently coming together like gears clicking together, and we were now seeing that pay off with real world results.
But not just at Steinberg. I noticed the improved collaborative synergy between Microsoft and the DAW community in general (thanks in good measure to @Psychlist1972 - Pete of Microsoft), and despite my own issues with Windows, and my personal preferences for Linux, I had to give credit where credit is due: Microsoft was making some good progress in the direction that would benefit pro audio! What a shocker! And kudos to Pete and his colleagues.
You could see this all coming together by watching Dom’s live demo of a Cubase beta on ARM on a Snapdragon laptop, and you can see something really good and maybe even cutting edge was happening with that synergy. Perhaps there’s still a long way to go, but it was absolutely a good evolution. Kudos to all involved. Keep it up, Steinberg and Microsoft!
And so it started to shift my perspective.
In this rough time period, some of my other favorite DAW developers were floundering, or having financial problems, or flirting with subscription models, or sending confusing messages, or shutting down their own public forum, or were being acquired by larger companies, etc., etc… and I noticed my own confidence in some of these other developers was slipping a little. Meanwhile my respect for Steinberg was going up, and even my respect for Microsoft was begrudgingly going up.
And THEN, when Steinberg released Cubase 14, I felt Steinberg had a big moment. Not only did Cubase have multiple major new features (some of which I had been requesting for years and years), but they were also implemented thoughtfully and intuitively, and it was also a relatively solid release (compared to some prior releases which were rougher around the edges). I was further impressed. Steinberg was on a roll as far as I was concerned. Cubase 14 was a killer DAW. 
And of course one of the big new features – the new score editor – showed another facet that impressed me maybe more than anything about this release… that their long-term planning was starting to pay off with the Dorico investment, that they were starting to reap the benefits of some well-planned business strategies… and whoever was making decisions at Steinberg HQ several years ago was thinking clearly, thoughtfully, and investing in the positive long-term evolution of Cubase and Nuendo.
Bravo once again to that executive/manager/leader/team who made those decisions years ago. And bravo again to all of Steinberg for weaving these various plans together into what we have now as Cubase 14… which I actually now see as the culmination of many years of planning, and the beginning of a new chapter for Steinberg, and a bright starting point for future evolution.
And then when I saw they took their time and released Nuendo 14 when it was more “ready” to launch, not rushing it like last time… that suggested to me that Steinberg had not only been improving their internal development pipeline and business planning with Windows on ARM and Cubase 14, etc., but that they were also finding a better balance of release cadence with Nuendo.
In other words, I felt that Steinberg’s development processes and business model were on a much more solid footing than they had been in many years, and the results of their hard work and planning were really coming together in a very impressive DAW.
But could it be the ONE DAW to replace my other DAWs? I would soon find out…
Meanwhile, my grand plans for Linux started collapsing for various reasons, the most important of which is that I had the epiphany that my time was precious and I needed to focus on the best tools to get things done, instead of finding workarounds, and that the OS was a secondary consideration. It’s more complex than that, but ultimately, I decided I had to abandon my plans for Linux pro audio for the time being, and focus on the best tools to get work done. Nothing against Linux. (I still love it and use it, and one day I hope Steinberg will see the light and support it… but for now, I needed the best TOOLS that save me TIME, and I needed them TODAY, not in some distant unknowable future.)
So when I upgraded to Nuendo 14 (I had already upgraded my Cubase license to v14 so I knew the main new features), I finally decided to do a big shootout/test with some real-world projects, to see if it was even remotely possible for me to move entirely to Nuendo.
And the results are in for me… I finished my testing. The verdict is in.
Yes, Nuendo 14 is truly outstanding. It has arrived in a big way. It’s a beast. It’s the best Nuendo release ever, and a forward-thinking fusion of many excellent ideas, in one solid environment. Insert applause here! HUGE congrats to Steinberg for what they have accomplished. It has so many improvements in so many areas that INDEED I found that I could replace several DAWs with it.
Notably absent in Cubase/Nuendo is of course my often-requested click-and-drag ripple editing. How much I wish that Steinberg would implement click-and-drag ripple editing (among a few other things I hope for). And yes I thought that maybe I’d have to keep Reaper around JUST for ripple editing, for example. However, after doing some hard-core testing in Nuendo 14, with several of the new workflow features, I found that the lack of click-and-drag ripple editing was compensated for by other new workflows that sped up my work in meaningful ways. Don’t get me wrong, Nuendo still needs click-and-drag ripple editing. But even without it, it’s a true powerhouse platform that can basically replace all my other DAWs.
So while there are still things I knew I would be giving up by migrating entirely to Nuendo 14, what I found was that some of the new workflows are excellent, some brilliant, some don’t exist in any DAW in this combination. Of course, YMMV, and you may be in a different boat than I am.
But once I proved to myself for my kinds of projects, that Nuendo 14 could actually cover my needs efficiently, even despite missing things like click-and-drag ripple editing, I realized that something finally clicked for me with how I use all these different DAWs.
I realized I didn’t need the other DAWs any more. I can actually do the vast majority of what I need to do in Nuendo now, and that was NOT the case before. I mean, even my usage of Bitwig has been significantly reduced since Cubase/Nuendo 14 now have very good modulators. Don’t get me wrong, Cubase/Nuendo can’t REPLACE what Bitwig does best of course, and I plan to keep Bitwig around because it is so unique for certain kinds of fun tasks I enjoy. But for the VAST majority of work, it turns out that Nuendo now can literally cover so many areas so well, that it no longer makes any sense for me to be using so many other DAWs. Again, YMMV. We’re all different.
And then add to that equation some more “little” things that Steinberg added, like DAWproject support, which opens the doors (somewhat) to better interoperability between various DAWs I have used. That’s a nice, albeit imperfect, but welcome, bridging feature.
And once I started adding all the variables up… I realized… I could actually go ALL-IN on Nuendo.
What a shocker.
And now, I don’t even like switching back and forth between Cubase and Nuendo. In the past I switched back and forth as needed for some post-specific features of Nuendo, but used Cubase more often. But now, I find I would rather just stay in Nuendo the whole time.
As for Windows, as long as Microsoft stays on this positive track towards this pro audio awareness with great advocates like @Psychlist1972, with upcoming features like MIDI 2.0, and ARM pro audio parity, and if Windows doesn’t get too bloated and obsessed with telemetry, I will accept Windows as my platform. And should Microsoft reverse course and abandon these positive developments, I know I can eventually transition all my Windows machines to Linux very easily if it ever came to that. So I decided Windows was the right choice for me for several reasons (I won’t list all of them here), nothing against MacOS, which I used extensively up until recently.
Bottom line is that all this has culminated in a fundamental shift in how I see and use DAWs, that I finally feel like I can focus on a single-DAW approach now, after all these years living a multi-DAW kind of life. There’s nothing wrong with that, but with Nuendo 14, I finally feel like I can have ONE master DAW that can serve as the hub of the vast majority of my projects. It’s a big relief in a way, and oddly refreshing to feel this way. It’s been decades since I felt this.
Of course, Steinberg and/or Microsoft could screw this all up, so I reserve the right to switch gears if I need to… and go right back to my multi-DAW insanity next year, lol. But as long as Steinberg sticks to this formula with Cubase/Nuendo (and PLEASE implement click-and-drag ripple editing!), and as long as Microsoft continues its steady progress with people like Pete building bridges in the DAW community and helping it evolve for pro audio, then for the first time in YEARS, I’ve got a new path forward.
Lastly, I’ll heap one more serving of praise on Steinberg for their hard work. Some people might think I’ve become a Steinberg fanboy. Nope. I’m still realistic, Steinberg can make mistakes, and they can still improve… but they DESERVE a giant thank you for what they have done here. Cubase/Nuendo 14 is a huge achievement, built over years of planning and good work by people who PLANNED this out carefully. Impressive. I’m even excited to pick up a next-gen Snapdragon laptop to run Nuendo on Windows/ARM. That would have sounded CRAZY to me one year ago.
And so they managed to take a guy like me – a skeptical multi-DAW user and Microsoft critic – and turn me into an appreciative Nuendo 14 advocate and Windows user. Talk about a fundamental shift.
Cheers!
