Steinberg Nuendo 6 Review

Nuendo is Steinberg’s flagship audio post-production tool and shares much of its DNA with Cubase, although its focus is more on audiovisual work than traditional music recording. The two applications are closely linked and have much in common at a technological level, so it’s not surprising to see a new version of Nuendo that has many of the new features of Cubase 7. 

Price Nuendo 6 (boxed only) £1,388.
Update from Nuendo 5 (download and boxed) £203
Contact via website
Web www.steinberg.net
Minimum system requirements – PC Window 7 – Mac OSX 10.7

Old Meets New

One of the most significant new features is the MixConsole, a total redesign of the mixer that makes working with high track counts much easier. It’s very customisable, with advanced viewing and channel-linking options. Drag-and-drop is supported and there’s a Full Screen mode so that on a second monitor you can maximise the window. Each channel now has its own channel strip with filters, EQ, three compressors and a limiter plus 150 presets. A Channel Settings window for each channel gathers the parameters and sections you might need to view and edit into a single location; this updates as you flip between tracks.

Plug-ins have a new, streamlined browser complete with a search field, which makes finding and loading them much quicker. There’s also Nuendo-wide A/B of plug-in presets that makes comparing different treatments simple.

Making Connections

Nuendo is an extremely powerful environment for working with audio and focuses particularly on post and video sync work. As we found in Cubase, the new features are excellent for speeding up workflow and managing larger projects and feel like a generational step forward. You don’t get all of Cubase’s features, but the more music-centric ones (like scoring) can be added via the NEK expansion (a shade over £200). With its many new workflow enhancements, superior surround capabilities and advanced ADR tools, Nuendo becomes an even more complete audio post solution.

Verdict

+ Improved workflow features

+ New MixConsole is very powerful

+ Advanced surround features

+ Professional loudness metering

+ Excellent ADR tools

+ Improved remote control setup

– You may feel that for the price it should include the NEK expansion

A hugely powerful and flexible solution for audio post-production. Redesigned mixer, surround tools and enhanced workflow will be of real benefit to professionals. 

9/10

 
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