I think it it is the most accurate answer to a rather poor question.
I heard someone else saying Cubase looks like an Excel spreadsheet.
Old computer game, Excel spreadsheet… objectively not really the same, but my answer fits both.
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On one paragraph, he claims this:
Then on the third paragraph, he says this:
I don’t know about you, but that looks like two points that contradict each other to me.
Both are good (shock horror, you can like apples and oranges !!!)
Flat Design is great when you want to emphasis clean, clinical, minimalist, professional environments. The focus is not on the GUI, its almost like your getting out of the way of the functionality.
skeuomorphism is great when you want to be gimmicky, trendy, follow a current fad, in the context of audio, make your consumers feel like there using a real SSL 4000 console, make them feel like instead of moving digits there turning a big button/knob with shadows. Make vst panels metallic and used future so people can justify spending $99 on another eq, that behind the GUI is doing the same thing as the DAW stock eq.
Cubase = Pro mixing environment
Reason = nostalgic fun gimmicky reminder of 1980s electronic audio racks
I dont want Cubendo making me feel like im in a studio in 1987, i want it to be clean and clinical.
Ableton perfected this environment, they are not enslaved to any GUI commitments of improvement, they soley focus on function of the DAW.
There are to many people making music who seem obsessed with the way tools look ! and pay not enough attention to what there music sounds like !!!
You see, I’m the opposite. I don’t want Cubase to look like Excel. I don’t wanna feel, while making music, like I’m in an office typing numbers. Currently, Cubase reminds me environment of Severance.
As I said previously, Live was made from the beginning with such an interface in mind. Cubase didn’t. Making a flat 1.0 design, they did a plastic surgery on the level of those ageing Hollywood stars with Botox.
It’s funny because Flat design is nothing more than a current trend
That’s the thing: everyone is different. For some of us, visual stimuli is very important. Besides that, some people enjoy looking at nice things. As I work with Cubase daily for those 8h/d, more or less, I prefer it to look pleasant. For clinical and boring, I have MS Office, game engines, source control, Jira, etc.
Have you ever been to a pro recording studio? Do they look like an Excel? Are those big mixing consoles have flat design? Nope. None of that. Yet those are still professional mixing environments. Often, with visual decorations to stimulate artists.
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Its ironic that the blandest DAW has created the most popular music !
Pro Tools looks very 2000s and bland, the focus is on sound ! not looks, if your getting distracted by looks, you aint focusing on sounds.
This is a game where the geniuses block out visuality and focus in on the invisible.
Stripping the tools down to bare basics to get focus on making the best audio is the goal.
I want a command line, not a videogame, i want punch in commands, they follow and i want to hear the results, if it starts looking like a ps5 game its getting in my way.
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my biggest fear, is one day this is the standard.
People staring at a pretty bubbly GUI and not actually making any good music at all !
I quite like neumorphism…where flat design gets some curves.
Baby Audio are great at this style.
Article here
There’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle.
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Looks horrific, faddy trendy, and then the trend ends and the DAW goes the complete opposite and wastes time revamping instead of killing 500 bugs.
I want my DEVS consumed by solving issues in the latest version, not spending 5000 hours making a Playstation game background.
That’s quite rich considering you’ve just said this a few posts ago:
And then finished with this:
There’s at least one person here who seems to be obsessed with how things look instead of making music. And that person is you.
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Wow, I didn’t mean to throw the planet off axis over this. I guess what it comes down to me is I like the look of Cubase 12 pro much better than Cubase 15 pro. I was hoping I could get some input on settings that would make it more appealing. I have made some setting changes that are better for me. Everyone has their on preferences as to what a DAW should look like. I have been a Cubase user since Cubase 6 and Nuendo 3, I have always preferred Cubase over Protools for many reasons. Cubase sounds very good with many I/O choices. My system Latency is below 2ms, most Protools systems I have worked on have been higher. To me it is all about the sounds and the ease of use to get to get them. These days as a retired engineer of over 45 years all I work on for the most part is classic rock based music. Loud drums, bass, B3, keys and lots of guitar tracks and vocals.
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I think that you may missed the big topic about Cubase 14 (or was it 13?) GUI 
One question has not yet been adressed: which video game are we talking about? Since there’s an undeniable preference for black in Cubase 15 I’d like to think the OP is referring to Asteroids by Atari:
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I hope we are forced to run Cubase on vector displays on version 16, if not sooner.
I mean, what Ableton did back then was innovative with the single screen approach divided into panels. However, they have FAR FEWER features and that’s part of the reason their simple UI/UX has been managable.
If you compare Live v12 to v9 there’s a big difference. If you notice carefully, you may see that Live’s UI may have to change more and more moving forward. It may not be as simple as you’re suggesting in the next few years.
However, Cubase’s UI has been rooted in what I call a pre-UX philosophy that does need to move forward. Some features are based on past approaches and that includes how they address UI needs. Steinberg has a very different path ahead of them and they can’t just copy the perceived simplicity of Ableton Live.
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Can you point me to the era in User Interface design history that you don’t consider to be faddy or trendy? 50’s radios, 1880’s steam engines, 1980’s ZX 81s, Casio LED watches, IOS v1, Atari GEM, 1960s Olivetti Typewriters, 1960s Braun, KDE Plasma 6 ?
You need a hi-res screen to enjoy hi-res graphics.
One of my favourite GUIs from the C64, shown here in original resolution:
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