PDA

View Full Version : Nuendo Live



Patrick
08-02-2012, 11:38 AM
The folks at Steinberg recently released a new product called "Nuendo Live" so I thought I'd post a little review here.

Steinberg is mostly known for their audio products Cubase, Nuendo and Wavelab.

Both Cubase and Nuendo are professional recording tools (DAW's) and Wavelab is an Audio Editing and Mastering Suite.

Cubase starts around €99 for it's cheapest (Elements) version and ends around €610 for it's most advanced Cubase 6.5 version.

Nuendo is even more advanced and for professional studio technicians and costs around €1830

So, what is Nuendo-Live ?

Nuendo Live is specially made for making live recordings (like a gig), it's less advanced as Cubase (the User Interface has a lot less options) and it's setup from the start.

When you start Nuendo Live you get a window to start a new project or continue one. After selecting a new project you are almost ready to go, the entire input setup is already done so you only need to arm the tracks you want to record and start recording (Cubase requires some more steps to be able to start recording).

Another advantage of Nuendo Live is that you can save the projects and open them directly in it's big brother Nuendo 5 (as far as I know they don't work in Cubase) and you can simply do a mixdown to wave or mp3 so it's very easy to record and export.

The price is around €330 which makes it a bit more expensive then the mid-ranged "Cubase Artist 6.5" which costs around €305

So it's not the cheapest option but it might provide a good recording platform for live performances and with the projects being able to be opened in Nuendo 5 by a professional technician a lot of post-production options are available.

One of the downsides of this product is that it requires the Steinberg eLicenser.

the eLicenser is used for Steinbergs more expensive products. Both Cubase Elements 6, Wavelab Elements 7 and Sequel (and the Sequel sound plug-ins) don't require this USB-Key but they use a software-based eLicenser.

Products like Cubase Artist, Cubase, Nuendo, Wavelab, ... and now Nuendo Live require the USB eLicenser.

The eLicenser is NOT included when you purchase Nuendo-Live (when you get Cubase, Nuendo or Wavelab it is included except with some updates).

The eLicenser will cost around €15.

This means that you can download Nuendo Live after purchase but you cannot use it until the eLicenser has arrived by mail (and you also need this key for the Trial versions so that doesn't help).

Anyway, Here are a few pics comparing Cubase 6.5 with Nuendo Live 1

Nuendo Live after startup (I've set both channels to Record so the monitors work, you can see there is sound comming in at input 02 (my Mic. input)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7698661622_b32c306a78.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661622/)
nuendo-live-001 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661622/) by PatrickKox (http://www.flickr.com/people/patrick_kox/), on Flickr

nuendo Live while recording
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7137/7698661188_734accbc01.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661188/)
nuendo-live-002 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661188/) by PatrickKox (http://www.flickr.com/people/patrick_kox/), on Flickr

Nuendo Live recording with the recorder open
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7276/7698661032_1b44633a96.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661032/)
nuendo-live-003 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661032/) by PatrickKox (http://www.flickr.com/people/patrick_kox/), on Flickr

Cubase 6.5 after startup
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/7698662258_07795335a2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698662258/)
Cubase-001 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698662258/) by PatrickKox (http://www.flickr.com/people/patrick_kox/), on Flickr

Cubase 6.5 with a new project added
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7698662072_b0001db8ba.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698662072/)
Cubase-002 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698662072/) by PatrickKox (http://www.flickr.com/people/patrick_kox/), on Flickr

Cubase 6.5 with 2 tracks (like in Nuendo Live) and recording on Input 1
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7698661870_b708211193.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661870/)
Cubase-003 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_kox/7698661870/) by PatrickKox (http://www.flickr.com/people/patrick_kox/), on Flickr