Subtle UI changes in Cubase 15 that can add up to great change

estevancarlos · November 12, 2025, 12:20am

When I teach UI design, I often say, “death by a thousand cuts”. There are so many small decisions one has to make but they add up to creating a positive psychological experience. Here some changes I’ve noticed in Cubase 15 compared to Nuendo 14.

Cubase 15 on the Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

Larger font size and use of padding for text within the Media Browser in Cubase 15. It’s subtle but it allow the information to feel easier to read.

More negative space between bullet point accordian items. This can continue to improve the reading experience and comfort level.

Cubase 15 on Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

Less use of the high-contrast black UI color. It’s darker behind the “editor, Chord Pads text in version 14. Reducing higher contrast sometimes reduces the strain on the eyes BUT lowering contrast can sometimes be a problem depending the viewing conditions.

Cubase 15 on Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

Color Consistency

The Arranger arrow buttons no longer default to green in Cubase 15.

Cubase 15 on Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

The broken “Gray” preset is no longer an option . The medium gray preset in previous versions would break the color system in a handful of scenarios.
Cubase 15 on Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

They updated the UI options. It now follows a clearer logic and system! zoinc yeah Steinberg.

The “User Color Scheme” option is automatically darker while the accent colors are forced into a brighter range.

Some colors, reds, are not included in the background colors and there’s a forced desaturation.

Overall, more sensible and structured. Follows a clearer system with better contraints. Great job folks!

Cubase 15 on Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

estevancarlos · November 12, 2025, 12:27am

Version 15 also allow you to create a brighter UI than before. Why does this matter? The UI colors/contrast matter most depending on your lighting conditions. We often need less contrast in low light and more contrast and brightness in brighter conditions.

I mean, I feel like Steinberg can cite these updates in their marketing.

Cubase 15 on Left; Nuendo 14 on the Right

Reco29 · November 12, 2025, 2:29pm

Thank you for pointing out differences for untrained eyes like mine

There are many other little improvements as well which never make it into the release notes or the manual - let alone a marketing campaign. They should definitely promote them, too, like any other company would most certainly do. These are missed opportunities.
Why do they take little or no credit at all for these achievements?
Maybe, it’s in line with an old tradition of hanseatic understatement around Hamburg. Or it’s due to a communication deficit between different departments.
We don’t know.

Electriks · November 12, 2025, 3:36pm

Yes I noticed these too, along with a couple other little things. Definitely on the right path!

estevancarlos · November 12, 2025, 3:59pm

Obviously I’m very pleased but I’m pretty sure this will make others satisfied. This forum is full of SO many other people who struggled to read and see the interface. I have thick glasses. I’m getting older. Steinberg deserves to really emphasize these sensible changes.

fese · November 12, 2025, 4:38pm

I noticed that they also increased the fond size in the plugin manager. I haven’t tried customizing it back to a lighter interface, but it is good to hear that it seems now more possible.

I am not sure I find the new color pickers easier to use (that might also be because I hate horizontal faders…) and I don’t understand when they rewrote them, why they didn’t keep a history of like 10 last selected colors, as color pickers in other applications have been doing since Windows 95 or so… but that is just my 2c.

There are still several parts of the UI where the font size is still smaller than in C12 (and for me hard to read).

e.g. Mix console, visibility, C12 vs. C15.

Mix console, insert names (with “plugin Names & insert controls”):

(this is the worst offender for me, tiny font, although there is loads of wasted space, less contrast. This view is unusable for me since 13…).

Mix console (right is actually C14, I only have C15 LE atm, so maybe they fixed it, hopefully??):

smaller fonts in the hi/lo cut filters, for no obvious reason, and the lack of contrast in the “Gain” fader…

They changed the font color in the section headers for the inspector to black:

For me personally, that is much harder to read… (also: those icons! Some of them are clickable buttons, some not. Only differentiated by a 1px small, practically invisible line)

I am aware that SB changed some things for the better since C12 (font size in the menus adheres to global Windows settings, e.g.), but there are a lot of areas, especially the new mix console, where imho legibility has simply decreased since 12, due to font size and color contrast, and haven’t been addressed yet, despite a lot of people having issues with it (as show by the responses to respective threads here).

estevancarlos · November 12, 2025, 4:44pm

Yes, the font sizes in the Pres are drastically small. Should be resolved.

This issue requires more work. The problem is that both approaches are sort of sensible and it depends on the user. Some software currently provides an option for a “high contrast” mode. The left hand example shows higher contrast. Depending on different conditions for the user, this may be more appropriate. However, for others, a lower contrast (right hand side) may reduce eye strain.

Studio One and Ableton Live both provide contrast controls.

Ableton Live

So these are all valid points of course.

BrunoDSL · November 12, 2025, 10:43pm

Ideally, they should comply with the European Accessibility Act directive which is in effect since June. Steinberg being stationed in an EU country and all.

estevancarlos · November 12, 2025, 10:47pm

Yes. That is something we all have to figure out. Hopefully projects with legacy code can be given some additional time.

zooterman · November 13, 2025, 6:16am

What is color accent in the new Cubase 15?

ggmanestraki · November 13, 2025, 9:39am

What used to be Focus I guess? The border of each zone etc when selected?

zooterman · November 14, 2025, 12:34am

I thought the same, didn’t notice a change to that focus color when I adjusted it, but I was rushing admittedly.

Jeremy_Gillam · November 14, 2025, 1:22am

Nice observations. I’ve seen a lot of griping about the newer UIs, but personally I find most of it to be much cleaner and more modern than in the past. Of course I understand that all of this is pretty subjective.

I personally generally prefer lighter themes, and I’m hoping for more of the white text to invert to dark (media bay, plugin manager, MIDI editor etc.) when using a lighter color scheme in future maintenance updates. BTW they fixed that “color drift” bug in a previous release. I really wish Steinberg would add some options or a lighter preset in Groove Agent and Halion, and the included plugins as well. Reading so much hyper contrasty inverted text is not always my favorite.

SugarFree · November 14, 2025, 1:53am

Couldn’t disagree more. N14 had a full hue range, with the center around blue. In C15 the hue range is arbitarily limited from brown to green to teal, which is a bizarre choice. This give no choice of the traditional rich grey (with a tiny bit of purple).

The editor background cannot be set to any light color, because CC lanes can only be displayed with an even lighter color, so when the background is light, CCs are invisible.

The tiny, non-descriptive icons increasing the mental toll.

and the list goes on and on…

estevancarlos · November 14, 2025, 3:39am

The “User Color Scheme” option addresses the main surface color for most of the UI. The hue is limited from a red to green to blue. It is also limited in saturation and it executes it better than N14/C14. There’s a reason for this.

V14

V14 allows you to create bright UIs with lots of chroma (hue)

V15

This version does not allow for certain hues nor does it allow for that much saturation. These are examples of the brightest colors you can create.

V15 Limited Hue Range

One reason the range may be limited is because they want to reserve those non-available colors to only be used on the foreground. By excluding some hues that means they can reserve it for buttons and increased visual hierarchy. For example, you can not create any purples. This means their Quick controls can have some foreground contrast on the background:

V14 Broken Example

This is an example of when the background conflicts with the foreground. Can you tell that the track is armed? It’s easy to miss even though the circle is black:

The editor background cannot be set to any light color, because CC lanes can only be displayed with an even lighter color, so when the background is light, CCs are invisible.

The tiny, non-descriptive icons increasing the mental toll.

Those are problems that have not been addressed. I agree. I am just commending them on finally addressing some other problems. Maybe V16 will fix what you describe.

SugarFree · November 14, 2025, 5:49am

I don’t mind desaturated colors, I discussed the limited hue range (hue, not chroma), which produces very unpleasant desaturated blue (as in your V15 example). It looks greenish. The color scheme I’m used to is no longer possible. Sure, it’s a personal preference, but this one was the easiest on my eyes.