With v9.5 and on Steinberg seems set to make Cubase a more modern and clean looking DAW. In that spirit I hope they also start addressing general inconsistencies and menu “weirdness” in the coming updates.
For example, in the Console right click menu:
- Add FX Track
- Add Group Track
- Add VCA Track
- Add Group Channel To Selected Channels
- Add FX Channel To Selected Channels
- Add VCA Channel To Selected Channels
Can someone please explain to me why the order of 4 and 5 is reversed and inconsistent with FX, Group and VCA the first time around? And why on earth is it referred to as “Track” in the first 3 menu items and suddenly “Channel” in 4-6? It just makes the menu cluttered and unintelligible.
Something like this would make WAY more sense.
- Add FX Track
- Add Group Track
- Add VCA Track
- Add FX Track To Selected Channels
- Add Group Track To Selected Channels
- Add VCA Track To Selected Channels
Or even shorter with a “Track” headline or something along that line
-
- FX
-
- Group
-
- VCA
-
- FX to selected
-
- Group to selected
-
- VCA to selected
There are a bunch of things that are equally confusing and beg so many questions.
- Why does some DAW functions require 2 different key commands to turn a feature on/off while others use only 1?
(Toggle = easier to remember, simpler to use and more or less standard in software nowadays).
- Why is the layout of the Eq on the otherwise great CC121 hardware controller not consistently reflected in the software? And why no hardware update in over 10yrs to reflect the technical development? Things like these make Steinberg seem somewhat tired, old and sloppy compared to the fresh and thorough hardware ecosystem of Presonus, just to use one example.
- Why is Mute yellow and Solo red? To me it seems it should be the other way around? Like most other DAWs, where Mute is red, since audio is stopped, “warning, no audio!” I am sure people have been going “It’s been like this forever, it doesn’t matter if it defies logic!” If you are working in multiple DAWs, this can be a bit confusing. How about making it possible to switch in the color prefs?
- Why is the Console setting for “Default Stereo Panner Mode” under “VST”? It just makes no sense. This is just a random setting in the Preferences. In my opinion the entire layout of the Preferences is pretty confusing and in dire need of an overhaul, both graphically and structurally. I could go on and on.
Don’t get me wrong, Cubase is great. It’s managed to stick around for 30 yrs, but that might also be a good, strong reason why it’s time to look over the whole layout of the menus to match the intuitive and consistent feel of younger DAWs, to move Cubase fully into 2019. It feels like some things have just stayed the same since early days, without anyone reflecting over it, taking time to question it or bring it up to speed.
Now is the time.