What is it?

Cubase is one of the oldest DAWs, with origins going back to the late '80s when the concept of recording and editing audio next to MIDI tracks was the preserve of a few high-end, and largely unaffordable, boutique systems. Within 10 years though it was leading the way in the same field, and had developed the VST plugin format.

Flash forward further and we arrive at Cubase 14. Coming hot on the heels of Cubase 13 it breaks the recent biennial major update cycle. As before, it is available in three main flavours, with the Artist and Elements versions offering cut-down feature sets in comparison to the full-fat Cubase Pro 14.

Whilst the primary component in the Cubase package is the DAW itself, you also get quite a bit of supplemental sound content and the Spectralayers application (a spectral editor that can be run within Cubase via ARA). But what’s new?

Performance

A completely new feature comes in the shape of six modulator tools. These generate modulation data that can then control one or more plugin or channel parameters. They cover common generators like an LFO and Step Modulator, but you also get an Envelope Follower, Shaper (for creating repeating complex triggers and curves), Macro Knob (allowing one knob to control multiple parameters) and Mod Scripter (for programming your own modulators). The latter is certainly not for the faint-hearted, but has a lot of potential for creating very complex interactions.

A simple example of how one can use a modulator might be to use a tempo-synced LFO modulator to control the cutoff frequency of a filter plugin so that it moves in time with the track. However, they are one of those features that seem to promise ever more potential the deeper you go, and they are a great way to add interesting production touches that in the past would have required lots of recording and editing with automation. A nice and very creative addition.

Also new is the Pattern Sequencer geared toward beat creation, though also capable of triggering notes on any instrument MIDI track. In fact it arrives alongside – and works best with – the new Drum Track and Drum Machine (more on this shortly).

On first glance the Pattern Sequencer appears to be a pretty standard X0X-style grid programmer, but it also offers some enticing extras like probability and velocity variation settings per lane, as well as randomised and Euclidean programming, plus step repeat and parameter tweaking (such as pitch) per step. Pattern management functions such as copy/paste and step shifting are missing, but it remains simple and effective. The hope is that it will be developed further in the future.

The aforementioned Drum Machine (where do they get these crazy creative names!), that integrates so well with the new sequencer, is a sample and synthesis-based instrument hosted on Drum Tracks. It has an array of pads that can each trigger up to four sound elements. Whilst these can be samples, there is also some decent drum synthesis on board, which utilises a range of classic analogue-style approaches, and provides quite a lot tweaking capability. There are loads of ready-made kits included which give a good idea of what’s possible, but editing is simple and straightforward. As with a few other areas of Cubase there are some less than optimum design choices (when compared to some other DAWs) which diminish clarity and readability – especially on larger screens.

There are no other new instruments, but effects plugins get a boost with Shimmer and Studio Delay. These are both nicely tweakable and capable of creating a wide range of useful and engaging treatments. Shimmer is excellent for long modulated ambience as well as swirling pitched reverbs. Studio Delay has eight built-in patterns that determine the level and panning of repeats, and there are controls for adding modulation, distortion, reverb and pitch-shifting to the delayed audio. We would have liked to have seen a built-in ducking control, but the new Envelope Follower modulator allows you to do this pretty easily, so we can forgive the omission.

Shimmer’s CPU load was initially through the roof, but has since been tamed following the latest interim update. In fact, it was the perfect excuse to make use of the new Performance Monitor, which now offers the ability to track load with graphs aligned to project position. Audio dropouts are flagged and information on each track’s CPU usage provides an aid to tracking down problem plugins – it even offers suggestions for improving the situation. It won’t make your music sound better in any direct way, but this is a very useful project management feature.

Back with plugins, there's also Auto Filter, Volume and (the somewhat absurd) Underwater. There’s no need to explain what it does to your audio!

An important change on the plugin front in C14 is the official start of retirement for VST 2. Plugins in this format are not scanned or shown by default, but they can be enabled (for the time being).

Event Volume Curves get a complete overhaul in Cubase 14. This always felt like an incomplete and difficult to use area of the program, so the ability to select a portion of an event and adjust its volume easily, and with good visual and numerical feedback, brings it back to life. This comes alongside some nice enhancements to the Range Selection Tool.

There are a bunch of other new or expanded features, and these include the availability of shared external audio in/out ports, more preview options in Mediabay, a refresh of the Control Room, Ruler Track offsets and a full MixConsole view in the Lower Zone.

Significantly also, the Score Editor has been completely revamped, with the older editor being replaced by a new one from the Dorico team. It does necessitate some re-learning, and this will frustrate long-term users, though on this front at least Steinberg seems open to feedback.

Verdict

Most major DAWs offer broadly similar core functionality these days, and it is often only when you delve that more significant differences become apparent.

Any update has to both wow prospective users and keep current ones satisfied – a hard ask in a world where composer/producers come with such a widely diverse range of needs and wants. There are certainly some areas in the Cubase GUI that could still be improved – and there are some users who regularly ask for more customisation of the interface – but this version does come with some interesting and genuinely useful new features. Also, in a world where AI is starting to impact in so many areas of tech, it is notable (and perhaps refreshing) that this gets no mention in this release, but we can’t help feeling that this might be the calm before a storm that will likely impact many aspects of composition, recording and production.

Cubase remains a powerful DAW, and Cubase 14 should manage to live up to most of the requirements of its extremely varied user base, whilst garnering new users and converts in the process.

MusicRadar verdict: This is a solid, if not ground-breaking, update to one of the original workhorses of the DAW world.

Hands-on demos

Cubase

Specifications

• macOS Ventura / Sonoma / Sequoia. Intel® Core™ i5 (late 2018 or later) or Apple silicon (minimum). Graphic card with Metal support.
• 64-bit Windows 11 Version 23H2 / 64-bit Windows 10 Version 22H2 (or higher). Intel® Core™ i5 (4th Generation) or AMD Ryzen™ (min). AMD R or RX series or NVIDIA Series 700 graphics and later.
• Cores - 4 or more.
• RAM - 8GB (min).
• Storage - 1Gb (min).
• Display Resolution - 1440 x 900 (min).
• CONTACT: Steinberg

Steinberg has announced the release of Cubase 14, bringing new instruments, effects and modulators to the next version of its flagship DAW, along with a host of workflow tweaks and enhancements.

Cubase's latest version finds Steinberg catching up with Bitwig and Ableton by introducing a set of six Modulators that can be used to modulate parameters across plugins, virtual instruments and the DAW itself. Along with a conventional LFO, you've got an Envelope Follower, Shaper, Macro Knob, ModScripter and Step Modulator.

Cubase 14 also sees the introduction of an entirely new track type: the Drum Track. Here you'll find a new Drum Machine, a hybrid of drum sampler and percussion synth that enables you to design custom drum kits, and a new Pattern Editor, a versatile step sequencer that can be used to sequence not only drum patterns, but all of Cubase's track types.

Elsewhere, you'll find several new audio effects: Shimmer is a reverb capable of conjuring "ethereal ambiences and dreamlike, reverberant spaces", and StudioDelay is a full-featured delay equipped with a variety of other effects that includes modulation, distortion, reverb and pitch-shifting, along with vintage-inspired saturation. Cubase 14 also features a new filter, AutoFilter, designed specifically for rhythmic side-chained filtering.

Steinberg has revamped Cubase's Score Editor, bringing in a version of the editor from its music notation software Dorico, and introduced enhanced volume curve editing, allowing gain adjustment to be applied directly to events on the timeline via the same tools used for automation editing.

Cubase 14 is available in three tiers, each of which offers a different selection of features: Cubase Pro is priced at $579.99, while Artist and Elements editions are priced at $329.99 and $99.99, respectively.

Find out more on Steinberg's website.

Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 11: What is it?

There are a handful of audio editors that can stray into spectral (that is, frequency-specific) territory – Steinberg WaveLab and Adobe Audition spring to mind. But if you wish to unlock the true potential – and, let’s face it, near magic – of this novel technology, there are only two shows in town: iZotope RX and Steinberg SpectraLayers. 

We looked at the 11th edition of the former in an earlier issue, so now that Steinberg has turned its offering up to 11 too, we thought we’d best take a gander…

Peeling back the layers

Unlike a conventional waveform that shows only how signal amplitude changes over time, a spectrogram visualises both frequency and amplitude by using varying colour and/or brightness to represent amplitude of each frequency at each point in time. SpectraLayers takes this a step further by allowing its spectrogram to be morphed into quasi-3D with a moveable point-of-view, making it easier to read and understand your audio’s spectral makeup.

In line with other spectral editors, SpectraLayers’ tools for selecting time and frequency ranges within its spectrogram are strikingly similar to those found in image editors like Adobe Photoshop: rectangle, marquee, magic wand, etc. SpectraLayers takes the similarity further with the provision of audio layers, each able to be independently edited. 

In essence, layers turn SpectraLayers into a multitrack spectral editor, with big advantages. Notably, audio selections and separated stems/parts/components can sit in their own layers where they can be further processed. 

Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 11: Performance and verdict

SpectraLayers’ all-new Module Toolbar, which lists all processing modules, provides a much improved workflow over the previous approach. It is somewhat RX-like (as is the new Home Screen), but the list can be filtered using preset Unmix, Utilities and Restoration groups. A nice touch here is that you can also define your own filters containing custom selections of modules.

Also smelling a bit RX-like is the Modules Chain, used for hosting and managing stacks of processing modules. What we particularly like here is that each module in a chain can target a specific layer and/or selection, and can even target layers that will be created by modules positioned earlier in the chain. Modules Chain also sits behind the new Batch Processing feature, defining the processing chain each file will be fed through.

Voice DeClip will be a huge timesaver in film and TV production, where it’s common to be presented with hundreds of vocal takes, any number of which may contain the hard-to-repair crunch of a clipped recording. Voice DeClip’s AI can locate and repair such problems in moments: the sort of AI that’s welcome in our corner of the production world!

There are also a couple of useful new cursor tools. Transfer Brush is a huge time saver, capturing in a single mouse click the procedure of making a selection and cut-and-pasting it to a new layer. The Transient Pencil tool is a bit more specialised, its usefulness largely focussed on creative sound design, although it can help with repairing poor quality audio too.

Unmixing magic

Unmixing, that most impressive ability of spectral editors, relies on neural networks trained to recognise different voices and instruments within a mixed recording. Steinberg’s developers have taken a huge step forward in this area with improvements to the existing AI, and a clutch of new modules.

Unmix Song adds brass to its roster of recognised instruments alongside the existing vocals, drums, bass, guitars and piano. This is more that SpectraLayers’ main rival can recognise, and the accuracy is astonishing. Sure, you may get the occasional stray artefact turning up in the wrong place, but overall the results are clean and eminently useable.

Unmix Drums delivers improved results too, now recognising cymbals as distinct from hi-hats, and with improvements to its understanding of complex rhythms and simultaneous drum sounds. More impressively, you can now train Unmix Multiple Voices to recognise and separate each voice in a recording. Closely related is the new Unmix Chorus module, which separates lead and backing vocals, and Unmix Crowd Noise, ideal for refining and cleaning live recordings. 

As ever, we’re mostly spotlighting the big-ticket items within this review, and there are a bunch of smaller changes and additions to SpectraLayers that add even more power to the platform, such as Mid/Side decoding and per-layer volume automation. 

There is an undeniable convergence with main rival RX, but this is only skin-deep. SpectraLayers 11 retains its own character, and the AI-tech that underpins its most impressive unmixing and noise reduction/removal tricks delivers the best results we have yet heard.

MusicRadar verdict: The combo of powerful, flexible, multi-layered spectral audio editing with cutting edge AI-based neural networks adds up to the best SpectraLayers edition yet.

Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 11: Hands-on demos

Steinberg

Folia Soundstudio

White Noise Studio

DarkWhite Productions

Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 11: Specifications

• macOS 11 (Big Sur), macOS 12 (Monterey), macOS 13 (Ventura) or macOS 14 (Sonoma).
• Windows 10 (64-bit) or Windows 11 (64-bit).
• CONTACT: Steinberg

Steinberg WaveLab Pro 12: What is it?

WaveLab has appeared to be a bit of a laggard of late, stuck at version 11 whilst its Steinberg stablemates, Cubase and Nuendo, stormed ahead to version 13. 

It’s therefore little surprise that WaveLab’s long awaited version 12 update packs in a dizzying stack of improvements and new features.

Steinberg WaveLab Pro 12: Performance and verdict

There has been a major overhaul to the way audio and other assets are handled by WaveLab Projects and Montages. Where previously one could take a fairly ad-hoc approach to how these assets were arranged within the filesystem, WaveLab 12 has its own ideas about where those assets should be located. 

This is, allegedly, only optional and you can continue to work as you wish, but when we did so, WaveLab created an unfathomable mess of files and folders in which Super Clips (ie child Montages embedded within a parent Montage) no longer linked to their original Montage files. As best as we can tell, then, it is now vital to create an outer WaveLab Project folder and file, and to ensure all assets for a project are located within this outer WaveLab Project folder.

The way Super Clips are handled has changed too (Super Clips being nested bundles of clips wrapped in their own Montage). Gone is the old system of internal ‘I-Clips’ and external ‘X-Clips’, replaced by a single flavour of Super Clip. This streamlines things a lot, and does away with the shortcomings of the old system, but we did encounter some teething troubles: Waveforms for modified Super Clips don’t update in the parent Montage, and there can be problems getting deeply nested Super Clips to re-render within all ancestor Montages after modification. Thankfully, these issues can be worked around, and will doubtless be fixed in a maintenance update.

It isn’t all problems of course, as there are some fantastic new Montage features here as well (and these work exactly as intended!). The most significant has to be the new visual Loudness Analysis tool which overlays the clips in a Montage with traces for various loudness and level metrics. You can analyse both the raw and rendered audio, and show both simultaneously to compare them.

Pre- and post-processing comparison of audio has been improved in a few other ways too. Firstly, you can now enable a volume compensation at all Montage processing stages (Clip, Track, etc.) to remove the volume change when comparing raw and processed audio, and on Reference tracks to make it easier to compare your audio to the reference audio. Secondly, the new Null Test track type creates a phase-inverted copy of your rendered audio so that, when enabled, any differences between the two can be heard. 

Also worthy of mention is the new Output Filters section. This lets you isolate different frequency bands so you can hear exactly what’s happening in each, and can be particularly useful when comparing your masters to a Reference track.

Daw integration and more

WaveLab has always integrated well with Cubase and Nuendo, both of which can pass audio directly to WaveLab for editing and processing. This integration can now be made much deeper, and is available to other DAWs, thanks to a new WaveLab ARA plugin that ports the program’s powerful audio editing tools to your project.

This can be particularly useful if you need to work in the frequency domain thanks to WaveLab’s existing Spectrogram and Wavelet views, and these have now been enhanced with the option to overlay a conventional peak waveform, making them much easier to read and navigate. Additionally, there’s WaveLab 12’s new Rainbow view which adds frequency information to a peak waveform by varying the colour of the waveform; points with high dynamic ranges (ie, the loudest peaks) can also be marked. The colours that are shown are fully configurable, and can be stored as presets, making this an ideal tool for highlighting problem areas such as hums, resonances, sibilances and mic pops, saving you from having to hunt such things out with your ears.

Major update

We’ve only scratched the surface of everything that’s new in WaveLab 12. Unlike those we’ve highlighted above, many of the changes are quite minor in-and-of themselves.

For example decibel rulers on Montage track heads, RMS overlays to peak waveforms, and each speaker output configuration having its own independent plugin stack. You can check out the full list on Steinberg’s product pages, but there’s no doubt that, taken together, these small changes add up to a sizeable – and, let’s face it, somewhat overdue – update for WaveLab.

Given the deep scope of some changes it is inevitable that there remain some creases to be ironed out. Nevertheless, all of the changes are positive and welcome, and many are an absolute dream. 

MusicRadar verdict: We’ve been waiting a long time for this major update and it was worth it, although there’s some fine-tuning still required.

Steinberg WaveLab Pro 12: Hands-on demos

WaveLab

Steinberg WaveLab Pro 12: Specifications

• macOS Monterey, macOS Ventura, macOS Sonoma. Rosetta 2 App, Native App
• Windows  11 Version 22H2 (or higher), 64-bit Windows 10 Version 22H2 (or higher), 64-bit
• CONTACT: Steinberg

The vast majority of audio editing and processing is performed in the time domain: we specify a time range and then apply edits or processes to the audio that falls within it. There are tasks, though, that demand we work in the frequency domain too – that is, working with specific time and frequency ranges. This is where spectral editors come to the fore.

Spectral editors are especially adept at removing pops and clicks, filtering noise and eliminating hums. They also empower sound designers with the ability to sculpt and paint sound with a palette of transients, harmonics and noise. These abilities cemented spectral editing as an invaluable tool for TV and film post production. More recently, advancements in AI technology have seen growing spectral editor use amongst music producers too.

RX 11 and SpectraLayers 11

Many audio editors have some degree of spectral ability, but there are two apps in particular that stand out for being spectral all the way: iZotope RX and Steinberg SpectraLayers. This pair also incorporate a growing collection of processing modules that leverage AI-based neural networks trained to recognise different sounds, and which can therefore manipulate those sounds independently of the the rest of the audio.

To the casual observer there's very little difference between RX and SpectraLayers: They are designed for near-identical use-cases, their GUIs are similar, many modules found in one are mirrored in the other, and both have recently been updated to their eleventh version. What's needed is for someone to pit the two against each other... which is exactly what we’ve done!

The most fundamental difference is that RX works on just one audio file or clip at a time whilst SpectraLayers can work on multiple audio elements simultaneously by arranging them into layers (analogous to layers in an image editing app). Audio within a layer can be edited, processed, mixed, soloed and/or muted independently of audio within other layers. This makes SpectraLayers unquestionably a more flexible editor than RX. Layers aside, though, things are not so clear-cut...

Round 1: Spectrograms and cursor tools

The spectrograms drawn by both apps are essentially the same, with the much same selection of parameters for setting the resolution of the visualisation. RX can adjust these parameters automatically to account for the current zoom level, making for less fiddling with settings, although making it susceptible to slow spectrogram redraws when zoomed-in.

SpectraLayers doesn't exhibit this lagginess, and also has a neat trick of allowing the spectrogram to be dragged into a quasi-3D viewpoint that makes the amplitude and frequency patterns easier to understand.

RX overlays a standard waveform on its spectrogram to aid navigation. This waveform can be distracting, but it can be dimmed-down or hidden altogether if wanted. SpectraLayers, by contrast, shows its waveform in a panel above the spectrogram, so the two visualisations never get in each other's way. 

Both apps feature cursor tools for interacting with the spectrogram. SpectraLayers is the clear winner here, with all of the same selection tools as RX (time-range, frequency-range, time-and-frequency rectangle, lasso, brush and magic wand) alongside a big collection of modifier and editing tools that RX lacks. 

The question of which app gives the best view is largely subjective, then, but the many ways in which SpectraLayers allows us to interact with its spectrogram hands it the win in this round.

Round 2: General noise reduction

"Noise" has many meanings in the context of an audio recording: The unwanted environmental sounds picked up by microphones; the hissy noise floor inherent in analogue signal chains; hums and buzzes caused by bad cables, electrical interference and earthing loops; and any number of other take-ruining clicks and crunches. 

RX and SpectraLayers both feature a suite of processing modules for tackling such noises, and the choices are remarkably similar: RX's De-click, De-clip, De-hum and Spectral De-noise modules are directly mirrored by SpectraLayers' DeClick, DeClip, DeHum and DeNoise modules, respectively.

A noticeable difference here is that RX's modules tend to present more parameters than SpectraLayers', and so offer a greater degree of control over how the noise reduction process will do its thing. Many of SpectraLayers' modules offer just a single "Strength" (or similar) slider. 

Both apps deliver very good results, but taking the time to hone RX's extended parameters to suit the circumstances can lead to even better results and/or fewer unwanted artefacts. Conversely, when time is of the essence, SpectraLayers' simplicity can be a big advantage.

There's not a huge amount to separate the two apps here, but based on quality of results we think RX has the upper hand.

Round 3: Voice repair

Recording clean vocals or dialogue is challenging. Mics pick up spill from other performers/actors and from the environment – especially challenging during TV and film production when working outside of the controlled environment of a studio or sound stage. There are many other common issues too, such as mic pops and mouth clicks.

SpectraLayers and RX both offer two modules for general voice de-noising, the former's Voice DeNoise and Unmix Noisy Speech mirrored by the latter's Voice De-noise and Dialogue Isolate.

SpectraLayers' Voice DeNoise uses AI to separate the voice from background noise, music or even other voices, something it does exceptionally well with only minimal sonic artefacts. In contrast, RX's Voice De-noise uses traditional noise reduction filtering that does a good job for constant, steady noise, but doesn't cope well with constantly-shifting environmental noise.

RX's AI comes into play with the Dialogue Isolate module, which allows you to rebalance or mute the voice, noise and/or reverb within a recording. The SpectraLayers equivalent, Unmix Noisy Speech, does something very similar, splitting dialogue and noise onto separate layers from where they can be rebalanced or muted. Comparing the two we found that RX's results could become somewhat grainy and distorted, whereas SpectraLayers could completely eliminate loud and complex environmental noise with barely a single artefact sneaking through.

Both apps have modules for treating other common voice problems, and whilst RX has more of these, SpectraLayers has cursor tools that can do similar tasks, albeit manually. 

For example, RX has a De-plosive module for tackling mic pops and SpectraLayers does not. Conversely, SpectraLayers has editing tools that make it easy to remove mic pops manually, a procedure which would be far more long-winded if done in RX.

RX's additional voice processors notwithstanding though, the sheer effectiveness of SpectraLayers' voice denoising modules sees it win this round with ease.

Round 4: Reverb control

Studios can spend a fortune on acoustic treatment, much of which is aimed at reducing unwanted or unpleasant reverberations. When recording outside of a studio, though, reverb can be a big nuisance.

SpectraLayers and RX each offer both a general purpose and a voice-specific de-reverb module. The former's general-purpose DeReverb uses AI to tackle the problem, making a definite improvement but one that does sound somewhat processed. 

RX's De-reverb, on the other hand, has to learn the reverb pattern, with the results being entirely dependant on whether a suitable portion of reverb can be found. If seeded with an impulse recording – a hand clap or clapperboard clack, for example – it works exceptionally well.

For voice-specific work, SpectraLayers' Voice DeReverb performs well, but it does have a noticeable impact on the voice itself. In contrast, RX's Dialogue Isolate module is spectacularly effective at removing reverb from speech, giving clean, reverb-free results effortlessly.

On the flip side of the coin, SpectraLayers includes Reverb Match (RX has no equivalent) which learns the reverb from one recording an applies it to another. As with RX's De-reverb, results depend on finding a "clean" portion of reverb to analyse so, again, best results are achieved using an impulse recording. Even so, a half-decent convolution reverb plugin loaded with that impulse will deliver an as-good-or-better result.

Overall, RX's reverb removal results are consistently cleaner and less artefact-y than SpectraLayers', making RX the clear winner in this round.

Round 5: EQ matching

TV and film post-production often involves combining dialogue elements that have been recorded at different times, at different locations, and using different (often multiple) mics. This presents significant challenges for the audio post-production team who need to account for the sonic differences that result from the disjointed production process.

The EQ matching modules found in both RX and SpectraLayers are intended for just such mic-matching use-cases. What they aren't designed to do is imprint the EQ characteristics of a full mix onto another, and they don't do a very good job of this...

...not that they did a much better job of mic matching in our tests either! SpectraLayers' EQ Match module failed even to approach a good match, and whilst RX's equivalent did a better job, it was still little better than could be achieved with a few minutes of regular EQ-ing. 

RX therefore wins the EQ matching bout, but only by default.

Round 6: Stem separation

Only a few years ago we would have pointed and laughed at anybody claiming they could take a finished, mixed track and break it up into its constituent stems, yet this is something that AI-empowered spectral editors are now doing to an increasingly impressive level of accuracy. 

The benefits for music producers are huge, especially remixers and DJs who can isolate, reuse and rework the elements of a track that most inspire them. It's also handy when editing background and incidental music for TV and film, allowing vocals to be removed and making it easier to match the music to the flow of the visuals.

The secret to this near magic lies in training neural networks to recognise different sounds and instruments. In RX's case, the Music Rebalance module recognises vocals, drums and bass, with everything else grouped as "Other", and offers the choice of either adjusting the volume balance of these stems or splitting them out into individual files.

SpectraLayers has a far wider repertoire, recognising the same sounds as RX as well as guitars, piano and "sax & brass" (although in our tests, the sax & brass recognition was rather hit-and-miss). Each stem is split to its own layer from where you can mix, mute, solo and export them as needed. 

SpectraLayers also includes modules that can further deconstruct stems: Unmix Drums separates a drum kit into its constituent kick, snare, hi-hat and cymbal parts; Unmix Chorus can separate lead and backing vocals (although not very reliably in our tests); and Unmix Multiple Voices can be trained to recognise different voices in a recording and then isolate each.

This is cutting-edge stuff, so it is unrealistic to expect perfection. Nevertheless, whilst RX's separation is impressive, SpectraLayers' is even more so. This, plus the larger repertoire and additional unmixing modules, sees SpectraLayers win this particular round by a country mile.

Round 7: DAW integration

RX and SpectraLayers are fully standalone apps, but both have ways in which they can integrate with a host DAW. The simplest relies on passing audio from DAW to editor, and then back again after editing. RX comes with the Connect plugin that, when loaded into a DAW track, manages the round-trip. SpectraLayers relies on the ability of many DAWs to register external editing apps with which to share audio, and also has an AAX AudioSuite plugin for doing the same in Pro Tools.

Both apps also come with ARA2 plugins that integrate the app directly into your DAW. At the time of writing, RX supports Avid Pro Tools, Apple Logic and Presonus Studio One. SpectraLayers' ARA2 plugin has wider compatibility, supporting Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo, Magix Samplitude, Sequoia and Sound Forge, Presonus Studio One, Cockos Reaper, BandLab Cakewalk and MOTU Digital Performer. 

In addition to its ARA2 plugin, RX includes standard plugin versions of many of its processing modules. This makes up for the shorter list of DAWs supported by its ARA2 plugin, and leads us to judge this round as a dead heat.

Round 8: Miscellany

RX and SpectraLayers both have modules and features that aren't shared by the other, and that do not fall into any of the above categories. RX has more modules, and whilst many of these are standard fare – dithering, gain adjustment and the like – it does also have a clutch of modules aimed squarely at audio mastering: Loudness Optimise, Loudness Control and Streaming Preview. Useful though these modules are, there is nothing spectral about them and so they have no weight when comparing RX with SpectraLayers.

One trick both apps do have in common is the ability to transcribe a dialogue recording, although they go about it in different ways. Neither app is immune from making mistakes here, but we found SpectraLayers' transcriptions to be consistently the most accurate.

The final thing to compare is pricing. RX often gets a bad rap here due to the eye-watering price of its Advanced edition, some 4x to 5x higher than the fully-featured SpectraLayers Pro. The features Advanced has over-and-above its Standard edition are aimed solely at TV and film post-production, though, so it is fairer to compare SpectraLayers Pro to RX Standard. Both also come in cut-down Elements editions. 

So, whilst RX Standard and Elements are only marginally more expensive than SpectraLayers Pro and Elements (respectively), the objective numbers show that SpectraLayers is slightly better value for money.

Conclusion

The capabilities of RX and SpectraLayers are endlessly impressive and astonishing in their own right, but it's impossible to declare that one is better than the other. Even if we could do so, the pendulum will swing back-and-forth as the respective development teams continue to train the neural networks that underlie both apps’ cleverest features.

What does seem to be the case, though, is that RX's strengths and features lean slightly more towards TV and film post production than do SpectraLayers', which lean slightly more towards music production. It's a marginal distinction, though, so be sure to grab the demo versions and see which works best for you and your productions.

Steinberg has unveiled the latest edition of its SpectraLayers software, a suite of spectral editing and audio processing tools for musicians, producers and content creators. SpectraLayers 11 updates the software with a host of new features and a reimagined user interface.

The latest version of Spectralayers features new and improved algorithms for unmixing (also known as stem separation) that utilize artificial intelligence to separate the constitutent parts of a recording. 

The Unmix Song algorithm has been redesigned to deliver cleaner and more accurate stems while separating up to seven individual instruments, including vocals, drums, guitar, piano, bass, and brass.

SpectraLayers' new Unmix Chorus module can separate lead and background vocals, while the Unmix Crowd Noise module can clean up live recordings by removing crowd noise. 

You'll also find an Unmix Mid/Side module for splitting a stereo or multichannel audio file into its mid and side layers, and a new Voice DeClip module for repairing clipping artifacts in speech recordings.

The software's UI has received a significant overhaul, with a new dedicated Modules Panel helping to facilitate quick and easy access to the software's many processing tools, and a newly-customizable Display Panel that can host specific configurations of controls. 

There's also a variety of workflow enhancements in SpectraLayers 11, including process chaining, batch processing and volume envelope control, and a Transfer Brush tool that can be used to conveniently shift spectral content between two audio files by drawing on the spectrogram. 

SpectraLayers Pro 11 and Elements 11 are priced at $259/£248 and $71/£67. If you own an earlier version of the software or one of a list of competing products that includes iZotope RX and Adobe Audition, you'll be eligible for a discount.

Visit Steinberg's website for a full list of updates to SpectraLayers 11.

Steinberg Nuendo 13: What is it?

Nuendo has always been an advancement of its stablemate, Cubase Pro, the only obvious visual difference being the program icon and name shown on window titlebars. 

This close relationship means that Nuendo 13 includes all of the updates and additions found in the recently released Cubase Pro 13... that’s a lot of updates. We aren’t going to be looking at those here, but check out our full Cubase 13 review if you’re looking to find out about those very significant new features.

Steinberg Nuendo 13: Performance and verdict

Much of the audio post production workflow for film projects centres around dialogue, and this is where many of Nuendo 13’s most significant updates are being focussed. The Detect Silence tool now allows the background noise between spans of dialogue (or other audio) to be separated, as opposed to being discarded completely. This makes further editing easier, especially when there are sounds and events in the background of the source recording that you might have been wishing to maintain in the finished mix.

There is also an all-new AI-powered VoiceSeparator tool for adjusting the balance between dialogue and background noise. We’ve seen such tools before, and it’s a trick the included (and improved) Steinberg SpectraLayers has been able to pull off for a while now, but what’s notable here is that VocalSeparator can run as a VST plugin as well as an offline process. This lets you hear immediately the impact of any settings changes you make, and keeps the dialogue/background balance tweakable all the way through to the final export of your mix.

ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) is the post-production process of replacing dialogue recorded on set/location with cleaner audio recorded in the studio. Nuendo’s mature workflow in this area has been boosted by the new ADR Script Reader that includes a built in web server that allows any computer or device on the same LAN to access the ADR session’s scripts and other info. All updates and changes to the scripts are synchronised to all users instantly, sidestepping the need to print and circulate paper scripts, or manage and sync script files.

Matching the tonal characteristics of ADR recordings with the original location recordings (or, indeed, vice versa) can be a painstaking and frustrating process, but not for Nuendo 13’s TonalMatch offline processor. This imprints the tonal characteristics of one recording onto another, and is both a much simpler and more precise task than endlessly fiddling with a stack of EQs would be.

Immersive audio

Nuendo has supported surround mixing since inception. Dolby Atmos support was added in v11, allowing channels and busses to be handled as beds and objects in a 3D soundstage, and for the results to be rendered natively into a finished ADM file (ADM being a data-encoding technique that multiplexes discrete channels into a single stream). 

The Renderer for Dolby Atmos in Nuendo 13 brings support for the 9.1.6 speaker configuration (increasingly found in cinemas). Perhaps more important is the all-new support for MPEG-H audio. This has similarities to Dolby Atmos, handling audio as objects within a 3D scene and recreating that scene accurately, no matter the listener’s speaker configuration, but adds an extra vertical layer allowing sounds to come from below the listener. This is supported by a new 3-layer Z-panning mode within Nuendo’s 3D panner. Also, new response curves for Headphones Match help maintain an accurate soundstage when working with a surround project in downmixed stereo.

Professional yet accessible

Nuendo itself is now smoother when dealing with any project that includes video, with improved support for modern CPUs (ie Apple Silicon), and a video engine that makes more use of the system’s GPU. The video track itself now supports Track Versions, especially useful if working on promo films that often require various different length versions of the same project. Such projects are easier to audition too, thanks to Nuendo’s newfound ability to replace the soundtrack in an MP4 file without needing to re-render the video track.

Despite the focus on post production, none of the new updates detract from Nuendo’s suitability as a music-making and sound design platform. The DAW’s advanced tools are perfectly honed for use in high-pressure, tight-deadline production environments, yet these pro-grade tools are within reach of music producers and the growing cadre of small-budget content creators.

There are, of course, many other changes and tweaks that accompany the headline updates that we’ve mentioned. These, taken together and bundled with the extensive updates shared with Cubase Pro 13, add up to an extremely significant and very well executed update to this remarkably powerful audio production platform, and present fascinating possibilities for the more adventurous and explorative producer.

MusicRadar verdict: Whether music producer, sound designer, or file post production engineer, Nuendo has the tools to deliver pro results with minimal fuss.

Steinberg Nuendo 13: Hands-on demos

Nuendo

Jef Gibbons

Saro Sahihi

Steinberg Nuendo 13: Specifications

• macOS 11, 12, 64-bit.
• Windows from 10 64-bit.
• CPU min Intel Core i5. RAM min 8GB
• CONTACT: Steinberg

Okay, it’s getting to that time of year when retailers start competing to see who can offer the best discounts and savings ahead of Black Friday and Christmas. Now, while the Black Friday music deals are a matter of weeks away, it hasn’t stopped Thomann from dropping a pretty spectacular deal early. The music retail giant has just slashed a mammoth 50% off Steinberg Nuendo 12 - which was only released in August. 

Most keen music producers know Steinberg’s insanely popular and very accessible DAW, Cubase, but not everyone is clued up on its sister programme, Nuendo. Released back in 2000, Nuendo was a companion piece to the long-established Cubase, with a focus on the post-production market. 

This very powerful digital audio workstation comes loaded with an array of features for everything from games development to VR content creation and even advanced sound design for movies. The newest iteration - Nuendo 12 - sees brand new features and improvements, making massive strides forward in dialogue recording and editing, headphone-based binaural mixes and so much more.

Looking for more great deals on plugins and music production software? Keep it locked to our Black Friday plugin deals page for all the latest savings and offers. For even more music-making discounts, explore our Black Friday music deals hub.

Need more information about home recording equipment? Well, check out our expert studio buyer's guides

• Our pick of the best studio monitors for home recording
• Best budget studio monitors: affordable studio speakers
• The best MIDI pad controllers for beat-making and sequencing
• The best audio interfaces you can buy right now
• The best studio headphones for music production

Steinberg isn’t messing about with its new AXR4 audio interface: it’s a 28-in/24-out Thunderbolt device that offers latency-free DSP-powered monitoring and effects, stacks of I/O and plenty of routing flexibility.

To demonstrate the power and flexibility of the AXR4 in a practical studio scenario, we’re going to hook up and record a live studio jam session using a multi-output drum machine and hardware synths, all running in real-time.

In this five-part series, we explore the I/O, routing options, onboard DSP and Rupert Neve Designs-powered Silk preamps.

Chapter 1: Basic setup

Chapter 2: Hybrid mic preamps

Cpater 3: dspMixFX AXR DSP mixing

Chapter 4: Yamaha DSP effects

Chapter 5: Live jam session

Steinberg AXR4 specs

• 12 physical inputs – four Neutrik combo inputs on the front, featuring Rupert Neve Designs-powered SILK preamps; and eight TRS line inputs on the rear  
• Eight physical TRS line outputs
• Two independent headphone outputs
• Two pairs of ADAT I/O doubling as S/PDIF for 16 additional channels of connectivity; the second also handling AES/SBU Sub-D
• Word clock, introducing SSPLL, Steinberg’s latest jitter-reduction technology 
• MIDI In and Out
• 32-bit integer resolution and up to 384 kHz recording and playback
• dspMixFX AXR software with 28x24 matrix mixer
• Latency-free DSP-powered monitoring with high-quality Yamaha plugins for real-time monitoring and processing 
• Daisy-chaining of up to three devices
• And Steinberg’s Cubase AI DAW, which is capable of 32-bit integer recording

Find out more about the AXR audio interface on the Steinberg website now.