Some thoughts about the Future direction of Steinberg and it's products

[Thurisaz]

Hello @Matthias_Quellmann,
Thank you very much for the team’s hard work on bringing Cubase 15 up to all of us.
The DAW really gets modern with every release.

I would like to suggest few general ideas about the future destination of Cubase/Nuendo and Steinberg in general. I would like to invite @dspreadbury to see this comment.

1. Would be nice to see a centralization of the Audio Editing in Cubase/Nuendo

   • Something like Pro Tools’ - BeatDetective tool is a “must to have” in every modern DAW

   • BeatDetective makes the audio quantization and editing much faster than it is in Cubase/Nuendo currently.

2. This one is inspired by UAD Luna and their “Analogue” approach.

   • It’s nice that Cubase/Nuendo become more and more powerful towards sound design and electronic music, but still the Analogue Sound trend is growing.

   • Harrison Mixbus and Cakewalk are another DAWs which following the “Analogue” trend..

   • When it comes to “Analogue” even the GUI is important, to make you feel in an analogue environment.

3. Something Blackmagic - Davici Resolve and Affinity 3 (by Canva) inspired.

   • Would be great if we could have “All in One” (Cubase, Nuendo, Dorico, WaveLab and SpectraLayers) within a single, multi-module, application.

   • The availability of the modules will depend on the purchased licenses

   • Would be great if one doesn’t need to leave the app, or to launch another one, in order to accomplish all the needed tasks.

   • It will be more comfortable for those who uses instrument host like Vienna Ensemble Pro. It would be hard to connect two apps to VEP e.g. Dorico + Cubase.

   • Apps like Divisimate could be easily used for notation, due to it’s connection with Cubase/Nuendo. Currently it’s impossible to use it with Dorico.

   • Working with multiple applications isn’t a good idea and takes time jumping from one another.

   • That way those who need the Score Editor in Cubase will be able to use directly a limited edition of Dorico that covers the functionalities of the current Score Editor. The Score Editor in the Lower Zone should be preserved.

   • Dorico will be able to take advantage of the Cubase/Nuendo Mix Console, which is a very powerful tool.

   • Those of us who need to be able to import Audio to Dorico, will be able to use some limited edition of Cubase, or they could invest in Cubase Pro / Nuendo.

   • Cubase/Nuendo could take advantage of Dorico’s Expression/Percussion Maps, Playback Templates, Playing Techniques, Flows, Stages, Voices ordering per Staff, Automatic Performance and many tools that make the performance editing easier and faster.

   • The idea that is present in Dorico, about the Audio Engine as separate module is great! In case of a crash of the Audio Engine, the Dorico project is secured. This could be embraced in the “All in One” app I am suggesting.

   • An audio could be transcribed to notation by VariAudio, or Melodyne (A.R.A.).

   • The Dorico - Play mode could be replaced by fully functional Cubase Pro/Nuendo, or limited Cubase Artist, Elements, AI… (depending on the purchased license).

   • Most probably Qt should be adopted as the framework for the “All in One” app.

4. Let’s make Cubase/Nuendo more hardware integrated (another Luna inspired idea):

   • Luna has deep integration with the UAD interfaces Apollo and Volt. Here is an example of integration between Luna and Volt:
     https://youtu.be/RDEF2fxLzAY?t=227
   • Such integration with an audio interfaces as RME, Antelope, UAD… and digital mixers as Allen&Heath, Soundcraft, Behringer, Midas, Yamaha… will make Cubase/Nuendo a very preferable for studio and live recording.
   • The ability to control all the interface/mixer parameters within the DAW is a very comfortable and important feature. It eliminates the need to jump, back and forth, between the DAW and the interface/mixer software console.

5. Graphic tablets integration for Dorico.

   • No doubt an ability to manually input notes, by writing them into Dorico, will make the workflow more straightforward and closer to writing on paper.
   • Definitely we need a functionality like StaffPad in Dorico.
   • The graphic tablets are much affordable than tablets like iPad.

Best regards,
Thurisaz

P.S.: I would like to leave this thread here, too, as it is somehow related to the ideas I’m sharing here:

Cubase 15 - thoughts about direction (No judgement)

Well, here it is. Cubase 15. A lot has been done - so far, so good. Am I the only one with the following impression: Cubase is more and more specifically targeted at those who create kinds of electronic music, sound design and related things? A kind of “supersynthesizer” - with shrinking focus on the recording/daw functionality. I dont mean that as a rant, just an observation of what is added and improved. Yes, there are examples for other “genres” (i.e. Expression maps). For an upgrade from…

[Thurisaz]

Hello Steinberg team and colleagues,

I would like to аdd a clarification aimed more at product leadership and long-term strategy.

The intention of this thread is not to influence short-term roadmaps or request specific features, but to reflect on where Steinberg’s platform could meaningfully differentiate itself at a structural level over the long term.

Steinberg’s portfolio is unusually complete: composition, production, post-production, mastering and spectral processing all exist at a high professional standard under one roof. This is not just a product lineup — it is a potential platform, if viewed through an architectural and ecosystem lens.

The strategic opportunity, as seen from a user perspective, is not consolidation for its own sake, but intentional alignment: shared core technologies where it makes sense, coherent editing and interaction paradigms, and frictionless movement between creative stages that increasingly overlap in real-world workflows.

Many competitors excel in specific niches, but very few are structurally positioned to support an end-to-end creative process without forcing users into fragmented toolchains. Owning that continuity — even imperfectly, but deliberately — could define Steinberg’s product identity in a way that is difficult to replicate.

This is offered as long-horizon input rather than a proposal for immediate change, with the hope that it contributes, even in a small way, to internal discussions about how Steinberg’s products might evolve not just individually, but as a coherent whole.

Best regards,
Thurisaz

[eirik_myhr]

Dorico and Cubendo are made for fundamentally different work approaches with totally different design philosophies and should absolutely not be cluttered into one application. (Kind regards from a happy user of both)

[MatthewJohn]

Agree. I start most projects in Dorico, and complete them in Cubase. Dorico = composition (and score and parts) and Cubase = realization. It’s possible in 20 years things will be more integrated, who knows!

[Thurisaz]

Hello @eirik_myhr,

Just a short clarification to summarize the core idea behind this thread.
The proposal is not about merging Dorico, Cubase, WaveLab and SpectraLayers into a single, cluttered application, nor about compromising their individual design philosophies. It’s about a mode-based unified platform, where each product remains a focused, purpose-built environment, while sharing a common project foundation.
For users who work across composition, notation, production, audio editing and spectral processing on a daily basis, the biggest friction is often not the tools themselves, but the constant context switching between separate applications and project representations.
A relevant industry precedent here is Affinity by Canva, where previously independent applications with very different workflows are now accessible as distinct modes within a single platform — preserving specialization while enabling continuity across the creative process.
Importantly, this approach wouldn’t replace existing workflows. Users who prefer Dorico → Cubase as separate applications could continue working exactly as they do today. The goal is to extend Steinberg’s product leadership by offering an optional, integrated path for cross-domain creators.
I’m sharing this primarily as a long-term product vision and architectural discussion, rather than a request for short-term feature changes.

Best regards,
Thurisaz