Hi Folks,
I’m trying to use Spectral Layers 13 inside Nuendo 15 and whenever I try and apply any module processing via Spectral Layers (e.g. DeReverb) Nuendo either:
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Enters an indefinite spin cycle with Apple’s finder telling me that the application has crashed.
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I get the following error: “The project could not be saved because: The Project is corrupted! No new project could be created.”
With #2 I’m not able to save or back up my Nuendo project in any way.
The only thing loaded in my project are mono audio files and the inbuilt Renderer for Dolby Atmos (as I’m trying to make an Atmos Mix).
Why would Spectral Layers be doing this?
Is there anything to be done so that I can keep working or do I just have to stop using Spectral Layers?
Any advice most appreciated!
I’m not sure if it’s SpectraLayers, Nuendo, or ARA, but it is a miserable experience trying to edit audio. I swore it off for a while, tried again just now and it was complete nonsense. Copy/paste only worked sometimes (some of the times it didn’t work, it copy pasted in the main session timeline instead, even though it wasn’t focused). Undo sometimes completely deletes SpectraLayers instead of undoing any action. Using the eraser is extremely slow. It’s just impossible, and there seems to be minimal movement on fixing it.
Thanks @fakemaxwell - if you’ve been having negative experiences I might change my pipeline.
Does anyone know if Steinberg is working on this currently given the new version of Spectral Layers just being released?
You might get greater visibility in the SpectraLayers section of this forum. The developer has announced that the first patch to SL Pro 13 is to be released tomorrow (15-Jul-2026).
Yes… agreed. And as has also been mentioned in there, a ‘patch 2’ is hot on its heels - being worked on right now.
I’ll add.. @MixMinded - can you supply a small ‘dummy’ project perhaps for @Robin_Lobel to investigate.? Key things here may lie in this being a Dolby Atmos/Renderer based project..
Any more detail you or @fakemaxwell can supply about your systems etc, too.? How long a file are you editing in SLP for example…?
There’s a thread in the SLP forum pages reporting similar/other concerns with ‘Undo’ in SLP 13 already… perhaps worth adding to the thread.?
No undo while selection is active - Bug? - SpectraLayers - Steinberg Forums
I’d suggest this could absolutely do with reporting over there in the SLP forum… be as detailed as possible… and/or run a search for similar threads.?
Good luck.!
The eraser issue is known by the developer and he told me this new patch fixes it!
It has improved greatly in SL13, but you still need to avoid certain FFT sizes combined with long stretches of audio visible in the spectrum.
Setting the realtime preview for tools to zero also helps.
The laggyness is there, but it is completely manageable IMO.
Regarding the undo issue, what I pointed out in that topic is a different problem.
What OP is facing seems to be simply that if you undo while the timeline is in focus, the last action in the history will be the “apply extension” you used to open SL in a clip, so that will be undone. It is annoying indeed, but I guess there’s not much you can do.
The only possibility I see is an option to be prompted for confirmation in case of undoing an “apply extension” action, but honestly I don’t see Steinberg implementing it.
I really think the issue lies mostly with ARA, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’ve posted threads (ARA2 changing volume levels of events in Cubase/Nuendo) that have not gone anywhere. It hasn’t been only with Nuendo that I’ve had issues, but there’s not really a workaround for plugins like SpectraLayers that currently (as far as I can tell) only can be used with ARA.
Hi @Puma0382,
I will check out the patch and if it doesn’t help I’ll post in the SL forums as suggested. The version installed on my machine is SL 13.0 with Nuendo 154.0.30 and OSX 26.5.2 on an Apple MacBook Pro M3 Max.
I’m working on an orchestral mix of a symphony so the audio files are long but it’s only 32 Tracks in total. The performance is continuous and needs to be synced to video - it was recorded live so the signals are blended. Apart from some clean up in SL it doesn’t require additional processing. SL with Nuendo would be the optimal pipeline because I can have the precise spatialisation while doing cleanup which would be helpful.
Might be tricky to share a demo file on the forum because of the contents being for a commercial client. I could share it directly with Steinberg if that’s needed.
Hi - makes sense…
My closing comments on this is that I’ve found doing any ARA based editing with ‘long’ audio files can be problematic. By long I mean anything like 10 minute chunks. That might be down to my system; it might just be Cubase itself - haven’t tried similar in StudioOne/StudioPro. I don’t have Reaper or Nuendo.
Either way, worth raising all this on the SL forums - maybe you’ll get into a dialogue with the developer himself over there… Be clear all the steps you’re taking to see the issue.
They (Steinberg) absolutely welcome project/demo submissions on a private (NDA) basis - unless you can replicate a problem in a test project, without any sensitive material, you make yourself.?
Anyway, good luck.!
Yep same here - Can’t load any old project with Spectral Layers ARA in them. Only since updating to 15. The new Spectral Layers made no difference, but Since the new SL update - it doesn’t work with 14 either
