An open plea to Steinberg

I can image monthly bugfix/hotfix updates… A team specialized in doing just that.
Maybe tackle from 5-20 bugs every month.

The new major releases can then boast with new features and not bugfixes. (.0&.5)

That would be a great idea. It would be a ridiculous proposal but I would be willing to pay $5/month for them to do that.

Im not gonna pay for things that should already work…

Ok, but in essence you’re singing the exact same tune.

If new users coming in happen to read reviews in and outside of this forum, won’t they be tempted to go elsewhere when they see a whole bunch of complaints and unhappy existing users here who are growing increasingly tired and frustrated from release to release?

For instance I did just that before I came here from Sonar when I jumped in at 7.0.

If I were Steinberg’s head of the decision committee, I’d post the following statement [where applicable to Cubase]:

I’d like to personally apologize for the quality of the Lightroom 6.2 release we shipped on Monday. The team cares passionately about our product and our customers and we failed on multiple fronts with this release. In our efforts to simplify the import experience we introduced instability that resulted in a significant crashing bug. The scope of that bug was unclear and we made the incorrect decision to ship with the bug while we continued to search for a reproducible case(Reproducible cases are essential for allowing an engineer to solve a problem). The bug has been fixed and today’s update addresses the stability of Lightroom 6.

I’d also announce that this was in the works, so as to inform the current user base, [which would be highly considerate], and also prevent most from being tempted to look elsewhere while they patiently wait for ‘said promises’.

Then, before long, Steinberg would have [and be known for] a ‘top notch, stellar, no bugs, works excellent’ DAW that others would migrate to, which would also be supported and boasted about here, there and everywhere from Cubase users all over the globe.

Then Steinberg would recoup their temporary losses from doing this, by attracting newer users all the time, and also prevent their existing user base from shopping elsewhere, [which I’m sure we’d all much rather stay then go], since most, if not all, would then be quite happy and productive as designed.

Of course, that’s why I said it would be a ridiculous proposal. But in a very extreme case, I’d be willing to do that for a short time if that would guarantee a certain number of bug fixes a month.

+1

+1

+1

All it would need is one or two patches with a bigger number of fixes and a faster timing of delivery.(specially for the older and more annoying ones- VSL mute bug, graphic annoyances,…).

This system of 3 or 4 patches per version in last few versions (usually it takes approx. 4 months for each one) is quite problematic. It makes software unusable (if the issues are show stoping) for the majority of time and gets fixed just in time when a new version with new issues arrives. Also they changed the numbering to be more suitable for hotfixing (they added a zero at the end), but in Cubases case there wasnt a single hotfix yet.


Also if totally necessary I would pay for stability (But some of the issues are quite old so we already payed quite a few times). I like working in Cubase, Id just like that it would get more stable and problem free.

The current state is not good at all.

+1

Great Post… +1

All the features in the world means nothing if the program is full of bugs and we can’t use the features fully anyway.

Noiseboyuk, your letter has been written so many times in the past. I should accuse you of plagiarism since I wrote this…back when Cubase SX was released. :laughing:

This cycle is nothing new at all. However since Cubase 6.5 I think the cycle has become increasingly vicious because as more users become experienced over time, the Cubase faults shine brighter. But to offset this, new users think everything is almost perfect. Some of them morph into fanboys, then wars start, then most silently slip away or re-invent themselves under a new name, and come back with a bit more experience. The cycle is endless.

Follow the money. It’s not coming from pro users. It’s coming from kids who want that “make me a hit” preset. And they want it now…screw the manual or even video tutorials.

Keep things in perspective. I would guess active participants here represent maybe 1% of total users.

But at the end of the day what are you going to do? For myself I simply lower my expectations of Steinberg. I haven’t found any alternatives because Cubase is still the best for what I do.

Just to be clear - I think Cubase is a great program. Personally I’m not looking elsewhere - I’m welded to Cubase for better or worse until any other competitor offers midi CC control over EuCon, which none do (and this has been the case for many years). Cubase does some stuff better than any other DAW on the market, and I want to see it improve rather than look elsewhere.

Here’s hoping that, if nothing else, this gets a dialogue going. Getting some of the software folks to visit here once in a while could be transformative. And don’t laugh ye cynics - Microsoft engaged actively on Gearslutz for many months ahead of W10, personally replying to queries, taking suggestions and so on. It was remarkably civil, forum conversation doesn’t have to be a bear pit.

Reading through the replies, I have an uncomfortable feeling that Steinberg might deduce that Subscription is the answer. Actually, maybe it would help, but only if done absolutely right. Sonar customers seem very happy with their subscription model, crucially you can opt in and out any time without penalty, and you keep a permanent license. At the other end of the scale we have Avid, a company who relocated to Mordor a number of years ago and who seem hellbent on discovering new and innovative ways to wave goodbye to loyal customers at great personal cost.

I really don’t know if subs would honestly help this issue. If done right, a la Sonar, I’d be happy. I somehow doubt its absolutely necessary though. What I think is essential is that some serious head scratching goes on at Steinberg. As someone who absolutely wants to see them succeed and remain top of the tree - indeed I’d love to see them really start to encroach on Pro Tools’ territory - there needs to be a better plan of how to get there.

Greggybud - you had me until “follow the money” which lands at kids with presets. They have no money, or what they do have they won’t spend on legal software. Cubase is now called Pro 8, I don’t think we should lose sight of the fact that this is a serious tool designed for (and used by) professionals. Also, back in SX days, the competition was hardly the same as now - the marketplace has changed completely. Just because something was true then, doesn’t mean it is false now, and it might be time to reassess strategy.

+1000 I’m voting no with my wallet this time. We still don’t have a working W10 driver for MR816s, which was Steinberg’s “flagship” interface. It’s been 6+ months and still all I get is “we’ll get back to you.” Until a majority of the users decide they won’t tolerate it anymore, and stop purchasing the shiny new updates (that don’t address the existing problems and add new unnecessary features that just create more bugs for Steinberg to fix) it won’t change.

+1

Overall the update is good, but again as said, not fixing bugs. Fixing bugs should be number 1 priority for every software developer. Why doesn’t Steinberg see that? It would make Cubase better and provide a stable future.

+1

Well written Guy!

Gets my vote. But it won’t happen

+100,000,000,000²

They should have 9.0 come out 18 months from now with whatever Shiny New Stuff (SNS) they want to include. But 12 months from now they should put out 8.8 with only bug & workflow in it. With all/most of the bugs gone I’d bet the time to develop the SNS would shrink dramatically.

+1

Making people pay for a few bug fixes and a pile of unwanted features (cloud) is just wrong. Fix the previous version before you release a new version. That’s just good business practices and will make people stay with you.

+1,000,000,000

I appreciate you taking the time to write this noiseboy, I hope things change but Steiny have been set in their ways for years :unamused: