Cubase 13 is great, but the look changed for the worse

You should because if using version 13 is making you physically sick then it’s just plain dumb to use it when you have a perfectly usable version 12 you could use instead.

Nobody here is forced to use v13.

As an analogy it fails because I never implied that people shouldn’t mind that the release isn’t to their liking. But once people start talking about being forced to use something that causes them physical pain and then makes it personal (toward the people in charge) my empathy starts to wane a bit.

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You have a strange attitude , telling people not to use what they have paid for . this conversions over

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I think I understand your very important perspective.

I think it’s also important to acknowledge that no one said the new version of Cubase would be right for everyone.

The most prudent thing to do might have been to wait for a trial version before forking over the money.

That’s what I’ll probably do for a different reason.

I hope your people’s experiences turn out OK, and better.

:slight_smile:

If California’s AB1757 passes then software companies will be subjected to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It shouldn’t even have to go this far. Just put out a product that works with the visually impaired. Again Steinberg knew before they released this program that it was a problem. They just need to hurry up and fix it.

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A lot of software companies are having a difficult time addressing these issues and it is overdue. Using the law to pressure companies to address it may be the only way to create change.

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Why wouldn’t i think it’s right after using Cubase for 34 years ?

Why would i want to use a trial after using Cubase for 34 years ?

Normally @alexis after this amount of time there’s something called …TRUST, but that’s now dissolved , from this point , hence not even wanting to attempt to install C13.0.20 and the main reason why ? A big gripe with me now is the FORCED Mediabay update a soon as you log in to the SDA , potential DAW suicide

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Woe…I feel the frustration but I don’t think this is limited to Steinberg. Every software product on the market has endured some troublesome releases and a period of dark times getting everything back on the ‘road map’ that they intend.

If the budget is that tight, ALWAYS take advantage of the trial period first. In the least, wait a few months after release and see what the buzz is all about (reviews, tutorials, live meets on Youtube, etc).

Consider that the upgrade from 12 to 13 cost less than a couple of meals out (or ONE with clients or family). If you just got the whole kit brand new and 13 isn’t working for you because of the colors and fonts, it’s only a few clicks to install and try 12 too.

With the Steinberg model, you always pay-for and register the ‘latest version’ when you first come on-board. You can always run older and lesser versions though. I.E. A license for Cubase Pro v13 lets you also run Cubase Artist/SE/LE. Current and older stuff. If you don’t have a dongle it’s a bit more involved to roll back further than v12, but it is still possible if you really need it (contact support, get a dongle and a key).

For me it’s been common practice to be at least 6 months to a year behind in implementing major system upgrades. I do go ahead and buy them and install in a test bed, start getting familiar with it, and running my own series of TESTS, since the devs need a payday to keep on working, but I take my sweet time implementing it all.

Never fails that I find some issue with my system and end up sending some logs, sample projects to ‘reproduce an issue’, crash reports, etc. Not just Steinberg, but with all of it. Windows OS itself, other music tools I use, various kit parts and drivers, and more.

I’m not thrilled with version 13 presently for reasons of my own, but I see a LOT of workflow growth that I’m eager to be able to implement eventually. I am already using sketch and some other ‘across the Steinberg world’ plugins/sound libraries, and other enhancements that shipped with v13 in v12, and with hosts like Dorico 5 (which doesn’t include sketch yet, but will soon, so they’ve allowed it to ‘work’ already). That alone is immediately worth the upgrade price ‘to me’.

If it’s mission critical, or I’m in front of clients/peers, I stick with the most stable version that I know the best. Personally, there are sessions that I feel better going with v11.5 and the old dongle, but I’m mostly on v12 these days. I’ll transition to v13 when it’s ready for me, and I ready for it.

Changing the GUI of a DAW is a very sensitive topic. The least important aspect of it are aesthetics, which can be argued about and boils down to taste.

But the most important thing for me is the ability to find things on screen and have something to look at that doesn’t strain my eyes.

Let’s look at Cubase 12:

My setup is dark.
There is depth, it’s relaxing to look at. The writing is mostly dark and doesn’t hurt my eyes. The colors are vivid but not overbearing.

Now, let’s look at Cubase 13:

My setup is still dark, but all the depth has gone. It’s flat and seems two-dimensional. The colors look aggresive and cheap. All the fonts have become white and painfully bright. Everything looks like a downgrade to me, including the faders. Even the menu bar has become white. Why?

Side by side comparison:

To sum it up:

I find the new look horrendous and while opinions may differ regarding taste there are some things to consider when it comes to how a working surface should look or not look like, apart from style, in order to ensure the users are capable of quickly navigating the DAW and being able to look at it with ease, especially over long periods of time. The new layout, in my eyes, doesn’t fulfill those needs and is a step backwards in most regards.

The solution to the problem?

Let the user decide what works best for them.
If you’re convinced the new design is so great, make it an option to change it in Cubase 13 instead of making it mandatory for everyone when upgrading from a system they know and have worked with for years. Give us the ability to customize the way things look, so we can make it the DAW we want and need.

Thank you.

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That’s not what I said. But if you’re literally experiencing physical sickness using a product then you should probably stop. Anything else would be stupid. That doesn’t seem like a strange thing to point out.

How do we know this? I’m genuinely curious because I haven’t seen them say this.

Of course we can’t use it and that’s a big problem because we are falling behind in learning the new features. So if a client comes over that has been using it and WE haven’t and we are left looking dumb. Lots of variable to not just using it. Steinberg needs to just fix it or give the 12 look back. This is pretty ridiculous.

Because no Company could miss the fact that the design has big flaws unless they are truly incompetent beyond belief. When my 13 year old saw it for the first time and he has no visual issues at all he asked, “Why did they mess it up, it’s ugly?” He uses Cubase all the time making tracks for him and his friends in his own little production studio. Multiple clients have said the same thing in one way or another. So again either Steinberg is either seriously incompetent or they knew it was a problem and still pushed it out.

The discussion we were having was about problems for the visually impaired I thought. A design that you just don’t like aesthetically, disregarding disabilities, is a completely different matter. Yeah, I don’t “get” either why it looks the way it looks since some things are “obviously” wrong to me. I too wish it looked differently, I’ve said that several times.

However, it’s a very different proposition to say that they knew it would make the software unusable to you and others with disability problems. And that is what I thought we were talking about.

I don’t care about the the feature updates that I dislike, I care about being able to look at the program with out my eyes hurting, period. Steinberg knew this was an issue and still pushed it. Any designer that claims to be a professional designer should have known this was going to be a issue And any Company that approved this terrible design again is either incompetent or knew and pushed it anyways. Nothing you can say will have me think different.

Yeah, and while they could possibly have known some would not have liked the updated gui it’s very different to say they knew that it would literally hurt your eyes because you’re disabled.

If you can’t comprehend that difference then I don’t really know what to say.

That’s a Windows issue and is related to their codebase.

I mention in another post that professionally, I think it’s a bad idea to ask the user to fix their UI by providing a dozen settings. Instead we should ask Steinberg to provide professionally created themes with a limited amount of customization. Themes that address different color blindness needs, vision limitations, and eye strain.

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You must not really understand they have guidelines for designing software and websites for visual accessibility issues. 13 Looks like Steinberg said skip all of them WE gonna do it how ever we want. Soon when these accessibility bills pass if companies want their software in the US they will have to follow the guidelines.

I’m not in Germany, and I’m not inside Steinberg, so I would obviously not know that they have these guidelines that would have spelled out clearly that what they did made it unworkable for visually impaired people.

Not sure how you know that that’s the case, but I’ll take your word for it.

I agree.

Though I think, within these provided themes it would be nice to have more options to customize. For example:

In the new Cubase 13 Mixer skin, it would be nice to choose my own colors for the writing, or choose colors for input-plugins or pre/post fader sends in general. Choosing different fader caps shouldn’t be too hard either.

Ever hear of the ADA?