Why I think a VCA fix should be sooner than "normal update"

Hello Steinberg,

I would like to make the case, respectfully, that responding to the confirmed bugs that render Nuendo 7.0.30 VCAs largely unusable by informing users it will be addressed in the previously established, normal update time line is not the wisest decision.

Bugs happen. We get that. I began beta testing software for Gerhard Lengeling (genius!) on Atari C-Lab Creator and continued through Notator and up through Emagic Logic 5 on PC. I’ve seen and reported lots of bugs along the way, including some not previously reported and subsequently confirmed by Steinberg. It happens. And I/we understand that’s simply the reality of software development. It’s normal, like it or not.

However, the current state of VCAs in Nuendo 7 is not “normal”. N7 VCAs are a brand new, much requested flagship feature that was a major bulletpoint in marketing materials, videos and the Nuendo 7 World Tour. People were motivated by their inclusion, and to some degree, persuaded to update as a result. That feature being in the mostly unusable state it currently occupies strikes at the credibility of Steinberg’s marketing. I’m not trying to be harsh here, just realistic.

To put the VCA issues in the same category as other minor bugs is a corporate mistake in my opinion. This deserves a corporate response above that level of priority in order to communicate that Steinberg takes their marketing promises seriously. Which I believe is the case, internally.

I am asking, on behalf of the users here, that Steinberg commit to resolve the VCA problems on a fast track in order to demonstrate good faith. I think that’s the right thing to do, both for the users and for Steinberg. I am an appreciative user of Nuendo since N2 and am believing for a positive response.

Thanks for reading,
Brian

I couldn’t agree with you more.

I used to own a software company and if a bug appeared after an update I took it personally and made sure that it was fixed and posted without delay - sometimes the same day.

Once a bug is found, the advantage of fixing it quickly is that you minimize your support requirement by preventing other users from experiencing it, plus it gets it off your desk.

Ever the optimist, I log in every day to see if Steinberg have released a fix, but no - nothing happens day after day after day after day with no comment from them.

Edited 12/10/15

Well said.

Very well said and I agree. VCA’s did determine if and when I would upgrade.

I wish I had known about this bug earlier… I have wasted hours trying to sort a mix out after implementing a VCA…

Again, the next update “will be released whenever it is ready after the usual maintenance cycle, 7.0.30 was just released so I wouldn’t expect it any time soon.”

Kudos to all on the “professional language” though.

Steinberg keeps quiet. I guess we get to wait over a half a year before VCAs work as they should.



Martin: Sorry to hear that you wasted hours on it. Some people think it’s a simple matter of “just don’t use it then”, but forget that if one assumes things work as advertised one might end up in your unfortunate situation. And it’s also unfortunate that bringing this up to spare people your experience is considered whining, or “unprofessional language”, or whatever.

LOL re “Kudos to all on the “professional language” though.” I knew you’d get to use that in your favour :slight_smile:

I really feel gutted for those who are new to Nuendo, shelled out $'s making the jump on the back of the VCA promise, believing it would work as advertised. I guess they hyped it too much. In all honesty, I’m not so affected. I got on well without it and can wait until its properly resolved. I’ve gotten used to waiting until the kinks have been ironed out before adopting into any workflow.

Pretty much a response that is in direct opposition to the first post - which was eloquently put.

Well, you probably know what I think about this.

Well, of course it’s not exactly great news, but at least there is some communication.
If you read between the lines that might be translated to “the dev team needs to work on the next Cubase release first”.

Ollie

I appreciate the candor of Luis’ information and apology, but unfortunately, not the content.

Steinberg has innovated so many good tools over the years. Many of which have been copied by other developers. But even great companies make mistakes now and then. I think the N7 VCA release elevates from the status of a bug to the status of a mistake.

I am sure there are various consequences internally over this, none of which we will hear about, which is fine. But I would think that either the person in charge of creating the VCA protocol did not fully understand the complete concept, or more likely, there was poor coordination between teams developing the different feature sets introduced in Nuendo 7. Or maybe a combo of the two. But someone in oversight should have pulled the plug on VCA inclusion until it was in a much more final state than it was at the time of release and released an announcement to that effect.

Best outcome is a reevaluation and consequent improvement in development process at Steinberg. Hopefully, that is under way now. I believe the increasing complexity of the application over time is presenting a challenge for the various coders involved to avoid stepping on each other’s toes in the development process, with unanticipated consequences. That will require an adjustment to the process to avoid scenarios such as this one moving forward. I have no doubt that Nuendo is a complicated application to program, in the extreme. It’s capabilities are amazing. I doubt any single user has ever used them all.

I do wish Steinberg all the best in resolving issues with and improving both the VCAs and the process that got it to this point of failure.

“A day late and a dollar short”

If the existing Cubase version suffers an equally unusable (and embarrassing) feature then one could maybe make the argument that it should be released first. But it’s hard to argue that an issue such as this one should take the backseat to the cheaper application.

If we’re going to pay a premium for features then perhaps make those features work first, then go back to the cheaper app and fiddle with it, don’t you think that’s fair?

Hi guys,

I can understand your frustration, I really do. I wish we were able to fix this issue sooner, everybody here does! Do you really believe we don’t care about our customer’s satisfaction? Of course we do! We like to be proud of our programs, and we love that our customers are proud to be Steinberg users as well!

This issue is a high priority. If it was an easy fix, of course we would have done it already, but it isn’t. I am not a developer, so I can’t really get too much into the technicalities of it (I think that wouldn’t be interesting for you anyway) and I could start giving you all kinds of excuses, but I don’t think you care about them either.

The truth is we are working on it, but promising you that it will be available very soon would be irresponsible from my side, because I know that is not realistic and I don’t want to be apologising again in a few weeks for giving you false hope. If we get to fix the problem before the next update, we will add the fix to that update, but if not, unfortunately we will have to wait until the next one to finally have fully functional VCAs.

Again, I know it is frustrating, and I can understand this is not the kind of information we were hoping for, but this is all I can tell you so far. All I can promise you is that I’ll keep you updated on any developments.

Regards

Exactly, to me that’s the question of the year 2015. You nailed it:

What is a fair deal?

We have just received a very nice update to our niche product. One feature does not work as advertised.
BUT I’ve been already mixed many great tv shows with N7 and apart from the automation thinning bug (for which you showed me the workaround) it’s been a rather painless experience.

So yes, VCAs are seriously broken and now they announced that decisions have been taken to make us accept that for the moment. They have not been quiet about this, which I believe is brave.

Consider the alternative:

Switch to PT? They offer a subscription model without even employing anyone who can code a complex application like a DAW it seems. New features (that nobody in the audio post world cares about) have been announced, but not seen the light of day for 2 years now. €600 for a handful of empty promises and a new splash screen… :mrgreen: Is that fair?

If I remember correctly the updates to N6/6.5 and 7 were about the same price but deliverd an ADR system with a working video engine that comes with text overlay,TC burn in. Now we have Reconform by EDL, bounce in place, new plugins…

For me Nuendo is a stable and superb platform that has been in active development for quite a while now. It’s come a long way over the years. Yes, there are things that I would like to see implemented or solved in a different way and yes, sometimes it takes ages for stuff to get fixed (virgin territory and the broken AAF filter in the 64bit Mac version of 5.5 AND 6.0 were MUCH worse, I believe). But look they’ve solved that and the communication has been excellent (Thanks Thorsten!). I’m quite positive that the VCA thing will eventually work.

Until then, I’ve got a amazing platform that works exceptionally well although I push it very hard with tons of tracks though insane deadlines and endless hours. Seriously, to me as a sound designer and mixer it’s a real miracle how insanely fantastic this DAW is, I’ve worked with Fairlight that cost a small house and was not expandable at all. PT cost a nice car. N7 is BY FAR the best system I have ever worked on in my 15 years in audio post and it costs as much as a high end smartphone with a 2 year contract. So it’s VCAs are broken and I have to give them another couple of months to fix them…Not only can I live with that…

…I also consider it a very fair deal indeed

Very witty. Perhaps this thread isn’t for you.

Thanks, Luis. I appreciate your straightforward communication. And for the sake of clarity, if you read back through my posts, I think you’ll see that I’ve never questioned Steinberg’s good intentions. Just some missteps along the way.

If you can’t fix the issue quickly, providing clear and honest answers is the best you can do. Thanks again for doing that.

Totally agree. Have been using many platforms for many years, and with many collaborators. Its soft ware. But on balance, I for one am very pleased with Yamaha /Steinberg, their products and their people. There will always be bugs, new incompatible OSs, and new hardware which relentlessly drives the consumption cycle. Tis the nature of the beast.

Cubase 8.5 is out now…

It’s 4 weeks later. How are things progressing? You managed to squeeze out Cubase 8.5 in this time, so one is naturally curious.

Are you sure!? :open_mouth:

Some users saw it, and got it. Then it disappeared. Weird. Check Gearslutz.



Cubase 8.5 just came out. It included an updated VSTi among other things.
Cubase 8.0.35 is coming out next week.

It’s been almost two months since your last post.
It’s been almost three months since the one update.
It’s been almost six months since release…