I have no idea how many of us there actually are.
But I’m testing something that could be of interest. A way to extend the life of this fine platform for quite some time.
DM me.
NUAGE was Yamaha’s first venture into creating a control surface dedicated to DAWs. Naturally, I am well aware that it falls just short in a few areas. However, it remains an indisputable fact that Yamaha is a major corporate power—one that still manufactures the largest number of mixing consoles in the world and boasts an overwhelming user base.
To my eye, it appears they concluded that the DAW market could not serve as their primary battlefield. Even so, NUAGE—the sole model they distributed globally—is packed with the kind of “advanced efforts in audio manipulation” that not only music production, but the post-production audio market truly demands.
While it is disappointing that this unit has been discontinued and that Yamaha shows zero interest in developing a successor, I sincerely hope our market presence can prove its value, reigniting their passion to develop the hardware we actually crave.
My only true regret is that the proprietary protocol they developed for NUAGE was never opened up. Of course, that protocol is their intellectual property, and I have no intention of interfering with their business. Yet, by making it public, I genuinely hoped they could maintain their stature—much like Steinberg used to—standing tall at the absolute apex as the native standard of the industry.
Sounds like an interesting project. I am on PC, so everything is running fine… for now. However, I really feel bad for the MacOS users when support stopped for Apple Silicone.
I am so used to tactile tracking and editing, that when my Nuage is no longer operational I’ll probably end up moving to Pro Tools full time with an S4. Sad really… I have never used a controller as intuitive, yet very comprehensive and capable, as Nuage.
The shutdown of this unit was beyond heartbreaking! I was so looking forward to a Mark II version, to address dozens of little issues. Instead we got “kicked to the curb.”
Outside of the half a million dollar SSL Tempest Series of consoles (
), I have yet to find anything that is even close to being a suitable replacement. So, I don’t really have any choice but to keep mine operational for as long as possible.
Let me know what you guys come up with.
While the mouse is an exceptional input device, it is fundamentally limited to pointing at a single location at a time. In contrast, when controlling audio, it is crucial to have a control surface that enables the seamless, relative manipulation of two or more parameters simultaneously.
The most basic application is volume control, but in practice, you need to adjust parameters like EQ gain or compressor ratio relative to that volume. Nuage addresses this by featuring a function that allows two channel strips to be displayed and controlled at the same time.
Furthermore, there is a need to control both absolute and relative values independently. Parameters requiring absolute control should be assigned to faders, while those requiring relative control belong on knobs—meaning the surface must make it easy to assign both control types equally. Ideally, for example, you could assign 3D surround Height to a fader while simultaneously assigning Rotate to a knob.
Additionally, certain channels need their fader positions locked in place. In NUAGE, this is implemented as a feature to pin channels to the left or right side (though there may be room for an even better approach).
Regarding displays, while they are indispensable for modern mixing, design choices that force you to elevate the center speaker—especially in 3D audio production with a height dimension—must be avoided. Nuage resolves this by incorporating a function that raises the lower boundary of the display area.
Ideally, an even shorter front-to-back depth and a more compact chassis would be preferred. It would also be ideal to offer a versatile lineup ranging from small desktop setups to full-scale dubbing stages to match any project size.
I’m interested in this topic too!
My company bought a used 2019 Mac Pro (Intel-based) last year to extend the use of the Nuage for a few more years in the studio…
Since we love using this console, if anyone makes a version capable of working on Apple Silicon, we would be thrilled!
Well these are very interesting comments, in my current work its initially about beeing able to actually use the Nuage going forward as we have nine Nuage hardware units in four studios, all on MacPro 2019 still and I want to be able to keep using them for as long as they hold up including on modern computers like apple silicon (and that could also cover windows arm if there is need for it).
While doing that adding some features that I miss. but also allowing the unit to work as much as the original Nuage as possible for user familiarity (both at the same time is impossible so it would switch, but in real time).
And secondly perhaps looking at creating a custom post mix controller, but its not super easy, but AI is helping. I have learned a lot doing this so far. But that is for later and only if I feel like it, My day job is film and series mixing so I wont be starting a professional controller sales service (OR I might, who knows…)
It appears that the focus of these comments are Mac specific. Only 2 of us (bigcat75 & myself) are on PC’s. Are any of the propsed changes/improvements going to be available on both platforms?
Also, I’m a little confused about HOW this is going to work. Are you making some kind of interface device outside of Nuage that it will plug into to add these features or are we talking about some kind of software development to facilitate these changes?
I’m on PC.
I’m pretty sure there in general is likely to be more windows than Mac users.
Of course the advantages will be available to Windows users as well. Will they/you feel an urgent need to have it or use it?
That’s up to the user.
I am making it for me/us for my reasons.
Exactly how it works and what it will do differently is not going to be a secret, but i will leave that aside for now.
And saying that, it’s not rocket science, today anyone that has a clear idea and is willing to spend the time researching and testing can do something like this. Yes some development experience and systems knowledge helps.
We moved to Windows a couple of years ago but would very much like to go hybrid, as Pro Tools plays a bigger role. We were able to use the Nuage with a Mac Pro on Rosetta running Pro Tools together with an S1. That solves a lot of problems for us. The Main Machine would still run Nuendo and that would tbe our primary DAW, but having the ability to use Pro Tools on Mac and not having to run a second windows machine side by side would be good.
In the end it is all about versatility and freedom of technological choice in any given moment in time. And to be stuck on one system does not feel good.
Therefore, I am very interested at what you are cooking over there 
Edit:
For context: We run 3 Nuage Mixing rooms, each with 2 Faders and 1 Master. and 3 editing rooms go with Avid S3, Artist Mix and Artist Controls all on windows at the moment.
PC user here too. I bought my Nuage system at the trail end of its life, in connection with building my new (and most likely final) studio, just decided to go all in and not care about cost. I started with one fader module and a master, then added on one more fader unit a bit later. I got the latter at a lower price as a ‘demo unit’ from the distributor and it was only weeks later that I learned about the EOL. I had shortly before that been in contact with the distributor about some requests and suggestions for features, which they said they were going to bring directly to Yamaha in Japan. At the time it didn’t sound too far fetched since the manual had tons of version history info with tons of new features added all the time. Of course it was heartbreaking to learn that it was discontinued and I can’t imagine that the distributor didn’t know about it.
Anyway, I still use my setup, although I have actually yet to install the 2nd fader unit, it just sits in its box in the basement. The units still work fine but I don’t like the fact that there will never be any improvements or updates, and I assume that at some point it will be obsolete. I checked with Steinberg a while ago about the possibility of opening the source code so that there could be a user initiative or something to keep developing. It’s not like Yamaha would lose anything on it, you know? Steinberg did check with Yamaha, who unsurprisingly came back with a “no”. Such a shame.
Hi Erik
Sounds really interesting.
We bought our Nuage (master + fader) in 2021, with an option for a second one in 2022, but with the EOL announcement we didn’t go for that second one…
I started 28 years ago working on DAR daws and later worked for many years on Fairlight, so the Nuage is really my type of audio tool.
Our studio’s are MacOS based, the Nuage runs on a Mac Pro 7.1 Intel.
I will keep following this 
Best, Alan
Hi Erik!
Please, I will help in any way I can. Best controller I’ve ever had. I wrote all the tutorials and such for it and have managed to keep it running in Rosetta here on a mac and now also use it with Davinci which is a nice plus!
It appears that Mac OS is doing away with Rosetta so god willing a new Nuage Tool can be put together to run in Apple Silicon.
I have also been doing some coding projects for controller using AI and its amazing what is possible so I have hope!
Let me know how I can help and I owe you a drink next time I’m in Stockholm.
-Ashley
You are always welcome to hang out Ashley!
Your old videos are still the best thing for a new users to understand how the Nuage works. I guess I’ll have to make some new videos when my little application is done. I’m getting there.
But obviously mine doesn’t use the Nuage interface because Steinberg and Yamaha can’t or won’t do the work to re-compile it for silicon and arm.
Fun fact: when Yamaha were developing the Nuage, they toured a few studios. We were using both Fairlight and Nuendo at the time. I showed them the controller for the MFX3+ and said that that was the sort of rugged no-nonsense hardware we needed for a great controller. Seems it made it into the central unit!
Sadly, when we tested the Nuage once it came out we were underwhelmed by the number of knobs on the fader section, and ultimately went the Euphonix System5 route (with a S5MC also).