When I say Nuendo, I get a blank stare.
Then I mention that it is Cubase’s bigger, more mature brother and the blank stares go away.
Anyone else? Does anybody outside of producers and engineers know what Nuendo is?
Anyway, when people ask about the software, it either means they want to avoid it or use it themselves.
I’ve had two clients in the last 45 days that stated they were going to switch
to Steinberg products after their sessions here.
Your welcome Steinberg and I thank you as well.
Oh, yeah, I get those questions sometimes, not often though.
If it’s people who don’t know much about audio post I just tell them it’s “like Pro-Tools, only better”. 
Some of the more knowledgeable ones will raise concerns about compatibility, but that’s usually quickly resolved.
I say “Like ProTools, only better.”
Then I might add “It’s Cubase on steroids” if they’ve heard of Cubase.
I have PT HD so it adds some weight when I tell people I prefer Nuendo.
Dean
I think it’s one (very rare) way of small talk these days for men.
I have never been asked about the software/computer choice by women.
Some producers / directors like to chat about technological things. It used to be a war about pc/mac, daw, smartphone, operating system etc.but I think as people get older and more experienced they all find out that the only thing that matters is that the person you trust has the experience and does his best.
Ollie
i think you may be right. sometimes this is followed by something like “oh i know all about it, because i used to use this on atari back in the day. i remember we used a lot of reverb *dramatic pause to see the reaction to dropping the lingo ‘reverb’.”
Most of the non-professional people who mention the word ProTools, use it to generally describe a product as such, rather than point out the specific product. In my book, ProTools is now part of the long list of genericized trademarks.
Xerox, Asperine, Hoover, Auto-Tune, Jeep, Matchbox, … the list is endless.
A professional will ask it out of couriosity. And the highly unprofessional professionals will ask it to point out that anyone who doesn’t have ProTools is an amateur and shouldn’t be in this business. But I’ve known very few people like that …
Fredo
I’ve rarely been asked what software I’m using by clients, though I’ve often been told what software to use by supervising editors/designers.
I have both, I use both, I have a preference in Nuendo, and I hate that I must know and use both. I sell clients on my skills, and what software/workflow will allow me the most efficiencies, and that is always Nuendo. Not because I know it better or have used it longer, because it better suits my workflow and my business.
“Working in ProTools certainly isn’t going to hurt the project, but working in Nuendo could allow efficiencies to explore more creative options. Your call.”
The most difficult discussion after this is about compatibility. This is problematic. Clients worry about the “what-if” scenario, and know enough about ProTools in our market to understand that there is a likely chance that another studio simply could not work in Nuendo, and that options for revisiting the session are, perhaps, extremely limited in that immediate market. I do my best to play this as a strength on my end and a weakness on others’ ends - that the inability to work in Nuendo is more the problem than my choice to work in Nuendo.
There really needs to be a better way to transfer content between workstations. The madness would end. It would at least be better if Avid would fix ProTools’ inability to export AAFs without rendering the god damn fades. Tell me that’s an impossible task.
Cheers - good discussion!
what is reverb?
I do music production, not post.
First, I make to/from Pro Tools invisible to the client.
Second, I tell them I have Pro Tools, but prefer Nuendo for it’s flexibilty/speed and the subsequently greater focus I can put on creativity.
Third, I tell them that recall elsewhere is impossible anyway, even if I use PT, since I have many unique processes that happen outside the box when I mix. Much of that is multiple external summing paths that are instrument dependent. No way they can be duplicated elsewhere.
In the end, it is the result that matters for anyone who will prosper in this invigorating business we are in. People who are using their ears notice.
You guys mean your clients actually know and understand the term “Cubase”?
Wow! Most of my clients only know “Pro Tools”. They’ll call any DAW “Pro Tools”, be it an actual Pro Tools, a Sequoia, Fairlight or Nuendo. If I had a dime for every time a client’s said to me (after being at my studio some 10 times or so) “Can we book your PRO TOOLS next tuesday?” well, I wouldn’t have to work anymore. Sheesh! But I suppose that’s because I work for the TV industry. It’s probably better in the music business.
Well, have fun waiting for Hell to freeze over! That doesn’t even work properly for most Interplay transfers between MediaComposer and ProTools. I’ve got colleagues on the PT side with huge red right index fingers from having to press ENTER 2987 times before being able to start mixing because PT wants every fade render OK’d. On AVID’s OWN internal file exchange system… 
Actually, about 70% of my clients who ask if they can book my “PRO TOOLS”, and get compatibility qualms that have to be stroked away when I explain that I’m pure Nuendo, are women.
Unlike my “early days” I now just answer: “the very best DAW for your job.”
If somebody actually wants to know more, I give him a short, yet comprehensive enough run-down on the main features and end with a phrase like -It is an “eierlegende Wollmilchsau”-… a gigantic tool, capable of more than we ever might need for his production. Once we started working / recording / mixing, nobody has ever asked about it, again.
It was mostly colleagues, doing a job inhouse, who converted to Nuendo after having seen it in action or after using it themselves. And that went for years… until N6 and its Fisher-Price mixer, that is.
A pitty, considering all the great new features it brought, as well.
BTW, my smart intern has only lately bought the 6.5 NEK upgrade for the studio… out of his own pocket.
Not that anybody might think, I’ve gone soft on the N6 error GUI.
I still firmly believe that it is a p.i.t.a. and should be improved/changed better today than tomorrow.
Hello,
We use anything and everything. I tell them “whatever is best for the job, we use everything”. If they only get a warm and fuzzy when they see the PT screen then that’s what we use at a higher price, if they don’t care as long as we get results then we use Nuendo at a lower price. Price is one of those universals that tv producers always understand.
Interestingly we’ve used Nuendo on so many tv shows now that I personally have been directly responsible for at least a dozen sales of Nuendo to mixers and engineers. Being a PT operator has always had a bit of the “high priesthood” attitude about it. On shows where we’re using PT and Nuendo, they’ve been so impressed by the “non-squirrelliness” of Nuendo that they have bought it for themselves along with a madi interface. Unfortunately that’s taken away a small part of our business. I guess Steinberg owes me a “loss of business reward”. Hmmm…
Hugh