Mixer scroll not working

Cubase
1

Dear Steinberg Team,

I was really excited to see the mouse scroll feature for navigating the mixer. However, in practice, it’s unfortunately not working as smoothly as expected – and in many cases, it’s not working at all.

Here’s what I had truly hoped for:

Holding Shift + using the scroll wheel should scroll horizontally no matter where the mouse is located on the mixer. This is standard behavior in almost every modern app by 2025 – and it’s what users intuitively expect.

Trackpad scrolling should also work freely in all directions, just like in any other application.

Beyond that, the current default scroll functionality often feels broken. For example, when hovering over an empty insert slot, it becomes impossible to scroll vertically through the upper section – which disrupts the workflow.

There’s also a lot of unused space between the strip section and the faders, depending on screen size – yet that area doesn’t allow horizontal scrolling. Instead, scrolling only works when the mouse is directly above certain zones, such as the faders. That’s very limiting.

Honestly, it’s 2025 – this should just work more intuitively and universally.

Also worth noting: pressing the middle mouse button allows smooth movement – which is actually great! It feels much better than with the scroll wheel on the mouse! That’s the level of control and responsiveness the scroll wheel should offer, too. Plus, movements in all directions with the trackpad, would be expected.

Additionally, the tiny buttons that appear when hovering (e.g. around the sends) are extremely difficult to use. They’re so small that it’s easy to click the wrong function – like accidentally switching the pre/post send mode. This really slows down the workflow.

I also remember there used to be a shortcut where you could click a send while holding a modifier key to directly open the destination plugin. Has that been removed? If so, please bring it back!

In general, the send section feels too fragile and sensitive – it should be solid and easy to use, without fear of misclicks.

So in short:

– Please improve horizontal scrolling (Shift + scroll should work anywhere on the mixer).

– Make all scroll behavior (mouse and trackpad) more consistent and modern.

– Improve usability of send controls – larger hit zones, fewer accidental clicks.

– Consider reintroducing quick-access shortcuts to send destinations.

Thanks for reading – I really hope these points can be improved soon.

Best regards,

1 Like
2

Please improve horizontal scrolling (Shift + scroll should work anywhere on the mixer).

  • I agree.

Make all scroll behavior (mouse and trackpad) more consistent and modern.

  • On a MacBook the mouse and trackpad are consistent to each other provided the mouse and trackpad settings are the same in System Preferences.

Improve usability of send controls – larger hit zones, fewer accidental clicks.

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  • When you right click the send and select the above menu, you have the option to change the way the sends look like. The highlighted setting along with a vertically zoomed mixer window reduces the accidental clicks.
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3

Say what? Panning is between outputs, how can it be vertical? Are you working with immersive, 3D audio? My middle mouse button does not enable panning at all.

4

I am on 1920*1080 and there is absolutely no gap at all between the racks (vertical scrolling) and the faders/latency display/track pictures (horizontal scrolling).
Which resolution and scaling do you use?

5

This is governed by the preference setting:
grafik
Editing → Controls
If “Enable” then you can’t scroll vertically on an insert slot. If you chose any of the two “Disable” options you can.

6

I highly disagree. The racks are a vertical scroll section. How else would you navigate there?

7

The word panning pertains to more than audio. A camera for example can also pan left/right.
I imagine @pmistygatz means the middle mouse button allows you to scroll in two axis.

8

Some users might disable or collapse certain components of the mixer allowing space between the rack and the faders. (Workflow preferences though).

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It would be nice to be able to scroll horizontally while hovering at the empty portions and scrolling vertically when hovering over the rack items.

1 Like
9

What’s to disagree holding shift + scroll, list like in the arranger? Are you kidding me?

10

Exactly, thanks for clarifying that :+1:

11

I can confirm vertical scrolling via mouse wheel not working when hovering above inserts (and other areas) in Cubase Pro 14.0.30 (Win 11 Pro) in all mouse wheel modes (I already reported it in a dedicated post).

+1 for horizontal scrolling via shift+mouse wheel. I don’t understand Johnny’s objection either because you could still scroll vertically without modifier and the racks are scrollable horizontally, not just vertically. IMO, it’s very important to maintain consistency with the rest of the program and general conventions, especially when muscle memory is involved. Deviation from standard behavior should be optional and not imposed on users.

1 Like
12

I have to say, that is a fair point from Paul and yourself - except that there are quite a few users out there who primarily want to scroll horizontally in the MixConsole. We know this from the amount of people having requested the “disable wheel for changing parameters” over the years. All of them alway mentioned horizontal scrolling.

So, it would not be a good idea to alienate a group of users by forcing them to use a modifier in order to achieve horizontal scrolling. From reports I hear from these audio engineers and producers vertical scrolling in the MixConsole is not used nearly as often as horizontal scrolling.

So, Steinberg would have to flip the mouse wheel scrolling in the way that just using the wheel would work horizontally and in conjunction with the Shift modifier it works vertically. But then you already have an inconsistency, so things really don*t get better.

1 Like
13

Nothing against your request. Just a small explanation regarding the current situation: the free space that you describe is part of the rack section. Since there is only vertical scrolling in the rack section but, if there is free space, there is obviously no need for vertical scrolling (ie. no scroll bar) then nothing happens.

Again: nothing against your request.

14

I have requested disabling mouse wheel for parameter change myself. Sorry if I wasn’t clear, but I’m requesting changing the current behavior of shift + mouse wheel to horizontal scrolling so that users can scroll in all areas of the mixer horizontally (not just the fader area). This could be achieved without changing the non-modified behavior.

I agree, horizontal scrolling is more important in the mixer and there is currently no way of doing that in the rack area, hence the request. Shift + mouse wheel currently does nothing in the rack area, and scrolls vertically in the fader area for some reason (which probably nobody uses since disabling “change parameter via mouse wheel” in the fader area was just recently added), so changing the current behavior wouldn’t inconvenience anyone.

IMO, horizontal scrolling via mouse wheel without modifier should only be imposed on the user if the area is not scrollable vertically, which is the case in the fader area so I have no problem with the current implementation of the mouse-wheel without modifier. But users should still be able to scroll horizontally with shift as well to avoid hampering muscle memory. So it would be better to have shift + mouse wheel scroll horizontally everywhere (even if it would be redundant in the fader area). I hope that makes sense.

15

I understand you but I don’t agree with you. The reason: I think you are focusing of one partial aspect while the developers have to take all aspects into account.

But surely we can agree to disagree?

16

Yes, I understand.

Thanks!

1 Like
17

Of course but in the future, if you have a problem with a feature request, please make your points relevant to the actual request and be specific.

Previously, you objected about forcing users to use a modifier which nobody suggested. Again, the request is to add horizontal scrolling via shift + mouse wheel, users could still scroll horizontally without modifier in the fader area.

Now you’re saying other mysterious aspects need to be considered without specifying anything which doesn’t help anyone (least of all developers).

The most effective way to make your case would simply be to clearly explain why the current shift + mouse wheel behavior (i.e. do nothing in the rack area and vertical scrolling in the fader area) is better than the suggested behavior (horizontal scrolling everywhere).

I’ll leave it at that, take care.

18

Whenever there is a point of discussion like this, I am not arguing with the other person about what is better or worse. I am merely trying to display a point of view for the developers to consider, in case they read this topic and start to think about it. Neither of us has anything to gain in convincing the other.

I feel I have, but you feel i haven’t. I wil meditate about this.

You too. I hope the future Cubase will have scrolling in the MixConsole that satifsies your needs.

19

From reports I hear from these audio engineers and producers vertical scrolling in the MixConsole is not used nearly as often as horizontal scrolling.

Yes, I’m strongly in this camp, specially in large sessions it’s much more useful to finally being able to fly left or right in the mixer without fear of messing the faders! And also because, unfortunately, there are no folders in the mix console so it gets very wide.

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I ALWAYS talk about horizontal scrolling