Cubase VS Nuendo
Internally, the Cubase and Nuendo engines are identical, and the only differences are in the appearance and the feature-set. As a quick recap that applies to both products, you get as many audio tracks as your PC hardware can handle, aided and abetted by a dizzying selection of software plug-ins. Each audio clip can be edited individually with features that include high-quality time stretching and tempo/beat matching. The overall architecture is similar to that of a hardware mixing desk. Plug-ins can be set to work on individual audio tracks, and tracks can also be sub-mixed as groups with their own independent plug-in chains. Full MIDI editing is also included, as is the printing and preparation of musical scores, though the latter lags behind the sophistication of dedicated packages, such as Sibelius and Finale.
The look of Nuendo has been modified to appear more business-like, with a dark grey rather than a light grey colour scheme, and meters that look like the plasma displays on an upmarket mixing desk. These changes are literally cosmetic – they’re just a different skin – but the result oozes professionalism. The look can be heavily customised, and it’s also possible to customise the menu trees. In fact, significant parts of the interface (and some of the features) are coded in XML, so XML experts will be able to get their hands dirty with some serious hacking here.
The other features aren’t easy to sum up. The biggest difference is that Nuendo caters for a much broader range of audio options. This applies to file formats, which include all the usual suspects (WAV, AIFF, MP3, OGG, etc) plus obscurities such as AES31 and OMF that never see the light out of day outside of the sound-for-movie business. Nuendo also offers more surround options. It can handle projects in unlikely formats, such as 10.2, and higher sampling rates, with a maximum of 192kHz for ultra-fi projects. A major difference is that Nuendo is generally more network aware, so projects can be shared among a workgroup more easily and efficiently. The details here are impressive, with automatic edit updates across instances of a project on a network, cross-network edit permissions for different levels of access, and even a live chat feature.
Oddly, perhaps, the differences between the plug-ins supplied with Nuendo and Cubase are the least significant. There’s a fascinating ‘Acoustic Stamp’ tool for applying convolution effects, so that you can make a recording of your favourite concert hall and apply it to your audio as an effect. There’s also a Nuendo-specific EQ tool that sounds marginally smoother than the default in Cubase, at the cost of some additional processor power. Steinberg’s now-ancient Denoiser and Declicker plug-ins are also thrown in to help clean up pops, clicks and other noises from dirty audio.
Unless you’re a home studio buff, Nuendo will almost certainly be too much for you, if only because of the inflated price. But if you’re serious about music, or you work with it professionally, it’s a more plausible option, especially in a sound-to-video context. What it does do, it does very well indeed. The notation editing could be updated but, otherwise, there’s very little to find fault with.
Most home studio users will be able to get by with Cubase, but for those who want the ultimate, Nuendo offers a realistic alternative to the competition at the very high end (and I mean high). And it comes with a much lower price than the five figures that are normal in that particular market.