1.) TotalMix isn’t “Free”, it is bundled with hardware in which only then it is useable - and at that - RME hardware is by no means cheap… I think their lowest budget interfaces is the BabyFace which is $1000usd. Also, obviously, TotalMix isn’t a DAW, it is a signal router with some DSP processing.
2.) Forum users are the minority of users, but also the vocal “loud” majority - which can skew perception.
3.) From what I’ve seen on the forum, for every post there has been about “GUI Needs to be better/overhauled”, I see just as many if not more people saying it doesn’t (myself included).
4.a.) I’m very curious about how long you have been using Cubase, and what you mean by “Overhaul”… Because the current iteration of Cubases GUI is the end result of “overhauling” it… over many years…
4.b.)… As I’ve said in another recent thread about “Cubase GUI not good”… People have been complaining and creating these types of threads for as long as I can remember (I’ve been using since SX3) - it has at the very least been a major back and forth discussion since version 5…
There’s always a group of people who say “Cubase GUI must change”, for example, “Cubase GUI needs to be more flat” - it becomes that and that group of users becomes placated, but then another group of users enters the chat freaking that the change is terrible and needs to be reverted and that their world is ending… and then a couple years later, another new group of people enter the chat saying, “Cubases GUI needs to be overhauled or else I’m switching DAWS”.
If Mr Quellmann does indeed end up reading this thread… I have to say as a user since SX3, and a professional/power-user since around version 8… I’m pretty tired of GUI changes. I’ve pretty well been fine with every iteration of Cubases GUI because it doesn’t affect me getting work done… It’s the constant changes themselves that are annoying, not what the changes are or are not.
It took me a bit to get accustomed to the current iteration, but I think I like it the most and am completely content with the current style… Apart from a few specific UI/UX protocols and details (like menu systems).
Imo, the more neutral and utilitarian the better - it looks the most professional, and looks best when you work with a video preview on the screen, and plugins pop nicely.
5.) when it comes to broad stylistic “overhauls” - by the time peoples requests are absorbed, and by the time the UI changes are planned/tested, and implemented - the trends have already changed again and so the company is just perpetually “behind” on UI trends.
At what point does one realize that isn’t going to work, and isn’t a good development path? Development wise, it’s a silly and immature thing to chase which hinders the software and development into a negative feedback loop of never being consolidated.
… Hence the benefit of not caring about UI trends, and developing something that is neutral and utilitarian. It just needs to be as functional as possible. There is nothing non-functional about the current UI style…
Nothing about the UI is stopping Hans Zimmer or Ian Kirkpatrick or Tom Holkenborg or Amon Tobin or any other number of top tier talent from getting work done.
6.) As someone who uses TotalMix, I’m failing to see what it is about TotalMix that Cubase should be?
7.) You’ve called on a developer in a new thread with a non-descriptive title with a question and opinion that is incredibly abstract. If I’m being straight with you, it’s utterly totally blatantly not useful. You’ve given zero details, personal use-case examples, direct aspect/feature comparisons, etc…
What is it about RME TotalMix? Are you using Cubase MixConsole/ControlRoom as your live monitoring mixer and there aspects of TotalMix you feel would benefit live monitor mixing/routing in Cubase?
I’d place a bet that not a single person on this forum, developer or user, will have any idea what you’re talking about - even those who also say “Cubase GUI need overhaul” - because you might have completely different ideas on what overhaul means.
There might even be aspects of what you want that I agree with, but I definitely don’t agree with Cubase needing an “overhaul”. That’s an extremely drastic word for a program that just consolidated it’s GUI style across all aspects of the program, old and new.
Here are some examples of UI/UX suggestions/complaints of mine, very specific and detailed:
-UI/menu protocol design - example: Pre/Post Commands Menu in PLE - Cubase - Steinberg Forums
-Complete reworking of Project Logical Editor GUI/UX - Cubase - Steinberg Forums
For whatever it’s worth, apart from some of the details/UI+UX protocols, I think Cubendo has the best GUI on the market, and Steinberg have found the near perfect balance of neutral/utilitarian without being completely boring and bland looking (like Logic) or janky like Reaper, or Reskin-Old like Pro-Tools, etc, etc.