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Reader SurveyIntegrate Review — Steinberg Nuendo 2.0
Feb 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Gary Eskow
Complete digital audio workstation offers surround mixing.
In the mid 1990s, Steinberg, a German music software company, teamed up with Silicon Graphics and released Nuendo, a digital audio workstation that took advantage of the power of the Unix platform that SGI was based upon. At that time, SGI was the only platform able to deliver realtime streaming audio on multiple processors over a network and floating-point technology. But throughout its developmental stage, developers wrote Nuendo as a portable Unix code, which meant that it could migrate to both Mac and PC in the future. With the release of OS X — which scraps the Mac's earlier code in favor of one based on Unix — and the even earlier appearance of Windows NT, Nuendo 2.0 is now fully functional on both platforms.
 Nuendo 2.0, a 2003 Video Systems Vanguard Award winner, combines a highly developed MIDI sequencer with a digital recorder and a surround mixer. |
A review of Nuendo 2.0 must start off with a caveat. This product combines a highly developed MIDI sequencer, a digital recorder, and a mixer capable of executing surround mixes in multiple formats. Unlike many of the products that I have reviewed for Video Systems, Nuendo 2.0 is not intended for the videographer who dabbles in audio.
The Project window is the program's main work space. Like all areas of Nuendo, it defaults to a pleasing battleship gray that can be altered if desired. Running horizontally along the top area of the screen is a series of icons that let the user customize the Project window to taste. Below this, the Project window divides into three main areas: the Inspector, the Track list, and the Event list.
The Inspector, which the user can hide, is one of several areas where a track's functions — mute, solo, record, and write — can be engaged. Users can also make I/O assignments in the Inspector, along with Inserts and Sends. Use the drop-down menu in the Inspector to activate surround panning. The individual channel Mixer strip can also open similarly. Open the Inspector on a MIDI track, and all of Nuendo's extensive MIDI functionality is accessible. One of the most attractive aspects of Nuendo is the intelligence of its design. It presents a lot of information, and to free up screen space the software lets the user hide entire sections, like the Inspector, with a simple mouse click. Users may also leave Inspector subsections open or close them with a click.
The Track list is straightforward. In addition to audio and MIDI tracks, you may list Video and Marker tracks in this column. Nuendo allows synchronization to an external video deck, and AVIs are also importable. You can view streaming video on an internal QuickTime video player and as a thumbnail video track. Working with the thumbnail lets the user edit this track in tandem with audio and MIDI tracks. Individual tracks in the Track list are resizeable.
Thanks to Steinberg's efforts to streamline Nuendo's visual aspect, users may combine a number of associated tracks in a Folder track. You may, for example, want to tuck all MIDI tracks into one Folder track, sound effects into another, and voiceovers into a third, leaving each of the Folder tracks closed when you're not working on them, thereby freeing screen space for other functions.
Nuendo also supports the creation of multiple ruler tracks. This can be very helpful to the composer who, for example, needs to think of time in both musical terms — bars and beats — and as existing along a SMPTE grid.
FX Channels are also available. These tracks give access to the audio plug-ins that ship with Nuendo — primarily used to handle compression and limiting — as well as to third-party plug-ins. Steinberg is the author of the VST plug-in protocol, and Nuendo allows you to create VST tracks for any VST instrument. Users can also make group channels to control multiple tracks at one time. Anyone who has used other digital audio sequencers will be immediately comfortable with the Tracks window and the Event display window to its right.
Why has Nuendo 2.0 gathered such high praise from engineers and musicians? The sound quality of this application has clearly jumped up several notches over earlier releases, due in large part to the decrease in phase cancellation. The Freeze function allows the user to free the computer to handle other tasks by committing CPU-intensive VST tracks to audio tracks, which are less demanding. This function uses 32-bit floating-point processing, which results in no loss of audio quality, according to Steinberg. I created a bunch of VST tracks using Spectrasonics Atmosphere and Trilogy and Steinberg's own Groove Agent plug-in (which is very cool), and I was extremely impressed with the quality of the Freeze function.
Speaking of 32-bit floating point, all of Nuendo 2.0's automation and MIDI functions are resolved to this standard. The result is a higher degree of accuracy than was possible in Nuendo 1.0 when you, for example, execute a velocity fade using the Mixer's master fader. Networking capability has also escalated in the new release. You can network projects over a standard LAN or WAN, which means that the Internet now can connect several post facilities with one another.
Nuendo 2.0 also deals with latency very quickly and intelligently. Playing a VST instrument in realtime strains a computer. Simply put, it's impossible for a computer to synchronize a note struck on a keyboard with pre-recorded material because it takes time for the instrument receiving the sound to report back to the host, which then has to output the data through its mix buss. Even in playback, some delay is introduced.
All digital audio sequencers deal with latency to some degree, but Nuendo 2.0 and Cubase SX integrate delay compensation at the core level. (Cubase SX is a very near cousin of Nuendo 2.0, which is less expensive and lacks some surround, networking, and cross-fading capabilities.) Upon playback, every VST plug-in reports a sample latency to Nuendo's core engine, which then pre-delays — pushes the track ahead in time — to compensate for this delay. The result is a very tightly timed program.
Nuendo 2.0's Mixer is designed extremely well. More important, the equalization is very good, and the summing buss, which is responsible for much of any mixer's overall sound level, is outstanding.
It's hard not to think of an SSL board when looking at the Nuendo 2.0 mixer — the default color and the look of the icons are reminiscent of this classic line of boards. Once again, Steinberg lets the user customize the views with a column of buttons on the left side that show and hide Meters, Panners, and processors as well as various groups of channels, including Audio, MIDI, and VST channels.
If you're serious about surround-sound mixing for audio post, Nuendo 2.0 is a must-consider product. You can, for example, change the board's routing design on the fly. If you're creating a a 5.1 mix and suddenly realize that you need to execute a backup copy onto a Tascam DA98, you can easily create a buss for it. The mixer has, in essence, a very large and flexible patchbay built into it.
If you like to work with real faders, Nuendo 2.0 supports a number of different control surfaces, including all of the Tascam and Mackie controllers, the Yamaha DM2000, and Steinberg's own Houston.
I ran Nuendo 2.0 on a 733MHz Mac G4 running Panther. Although the speed of the program was acceptable when I tasked it with about 16 tracks and some realtime processing, I'd be tempted to move over to a G5 as quickly as possible if I were running a professional studio. Steinberg tells me that, roughly speaking, a 2GHz P4 machine would yield the same results on the PC side.
All DAW manufacturers have a large mountain to climb due to the widespread industry acceptance of Pro Tools. It is also true that many top music engineers and, increasingly, some in audio post have embraced Nuendo because of its audio sheen and functionality. Although Nuendo 2.0 is on the high end of the price scale for products I review, I have included it because of its outstanding value.
Gary Eskow, a contributing editor for Mix magazine, is a freelance composer and journalist who lives in central New Jersey. He can be reached through his website at www.garyeskow.com.
BOTTOM LINE
Company: Steinberg Burbank, Calif. www.steinberg.net
Product: Nuendo 2.0
Assets: Excellent audio quality; well-designed interface; supports LAN or WAN project networking; high degree of fader accuracy.
Caveats: Not for the videographer who dabbles casually in audio.
Demographics: Users looking for a complete DAW, especially one with surround-sound mixing.
Price: $1,499; $299 for upgrade.
feedback
To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorial staff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.
