Hi there,
If you’re considering switching from Cubase to Nuendo, I strongly advise against it. I’ve been using Nuendo since January, and everything has been flawless. However, since the last Nuendo update, Cubase has appeared to be more stable and compatible with sound interfaces (check out my post on iRig incompatibility)
So, I kindly request that you preserve both licenses. Why? Because Nuendo’s customer service practically doesn’t exist.
Hi,
I am pretty confident that you keep both licenses. You have to update both of them separately if you want to, yes. But you don’t lose any of your licenses and you can still use them like before.
Oh, that’s what he meant. Yes, I have both and they are separate licenses.
It’s better to keep both licenses and avoid the crossgrade.
Again - you haven’t lost and you will not loose any of your licenses, no matter if you update/crossgrade any of them or not. You can indefinetly work with each version - maybe you got that wrong. Lucky for us, Cubendo is not based on a subscription model.
Hi,
Interesting discussion. So, crossgrading from C14 Pro (with the tempting current 50% offer) would leave me with both C14 and Nuendo, right?
I only do mixing and some mastering (trying to get better at that) in Cubase. My projects only contain audio files (recorded by me on a separate 16-track setup, and imported into Cubase projects). I never use midi, no VSTis etc.
All my work in Cubase is rock music @ 44.1/24. No film etc. Only songs.
Would I benefit from Nuendo? Or should I stay put? I have checked the comparison between N and C on Steinberg’s site. They seem pretty similar to me for my purposes.
On the whole, I am very happy with C14 Pro (Win 11). My only gripes are its core handling, which could be better (like Reaper), and the sad fact that the meters in the lower zone mixer cannot be customised (except for colour), i.e. as K14, K20 etc. I guess both those things are the same in Nuendo. Or?
Any help to think this through would be greatly appreciated.
All the best,
Magnus
If you start out on Cubase and crossgrade to Nuendo, you only gain a new license since both are always upgradeable.
Since Steinberg dispensed with the old Elicenser (eLc) system, prices have only gone down and both trialling and updating software has become evermore easier and simpler, in the process.
Yes, and due to lower pricing ongoing, you can skip a version here or there without being gouged later on.
There would be a reason for this, I am sure but exactly why I do not know however, one thing I do know, is many games only support single-threaded operation, and the fact is efficiency only comes with OS optimisation since there is more besides audio, that a system must handle, in order to provide that audio for recording and playback, besides graphical components.
All I can say is, Microsoft and Steinberg have a very close relationship so if anything can be done, in this area it will be but only in good time.
Maybe you can consider WoA, if you only use audio, as I am sure your feedback would be very helpful to Steinberg, as well as feature requests, like the one you mentioned with the MixConsole.
Best
Can’t speak to core handling on your computer but I’m happy on my systems.
Only you can decide about an upgrade…but this time of year/this kind of sale price is THE time to do it if you’re gonna pull the trigger. Otherwise, a similar sale may appear late in 2026….you never know.
I own Cubase and Nuendo 14 pro as well as older versions too.
To me, Nuendo had a waaayyyy better look/feel than Cubase…..in 2009.
Now….mostly the same look/feel.
I keep upgrading both each year, mostly out of habit….the yearly upgrade price is almost a no-brainer for me ….
plus, I can theoretically synchronize 3 Cubases…3 Nuendos….and a dongled Cubase 6.5….to seven simultaneous computers.
In theory 
I don’t do that many at a time….but can.
At this point in 2025, if I WERE going to stop upgrading one or the other, it would be cubase….keeping nuendo in the upgrade loop.
But like I say, Cubendo upgrade prices are so low each year…I get extreme productivity….and I just enjoy supporting Steinberg.
My only goal is to actually arrive at the Yamaha Namm booth in January when Timo’s actually there Tried to meet him last year and kept missing him
Thanks for valuable comments. What is WoA, though? I would love to provide feedback to Steinberg.
As I said initially, I am very happy with Cubase overall.
All the best,
Magnus
Thanks for sharing your Cubendo experience. Perhaps I will just stay put on Cubase?
I agree that the time to upgrade is during these sales. That’s when I upgraded to Cubase Pro, from Artist, years ago. It was very affordable.
All the best,
Magnus
I do so enjoy all of the consitencies that Steinberg implement over the course of successive product cycles, however while features come with that, sometimes flexibility does not, an example would be when creating audio tracks, it is not really possible to set i/o to nothing, since sometimes I want to create the track with effects and send levels already set before working out where to send audio, that means I can look to another machine, once it (networked computer) has finished whatever time-intensive process was running.
Windows on ARM, akin to using a processor more like what would be in a phone, than a desktop PC.
If you don’t use MIDI, then you might be interested in this as it will have a fully Native ASIO driver at some stage, albeit not multi-client but nonethless, operational with any hardware manufacturer, that develops for Windows.
In any case, there are relatively few plug-in’s for WoA, anyway which is why I will wait until 2026, for the new Intel CPU’s based on fabrication in the United States of America.