Following Apple’s recent announcement of Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos on Apple Music at no additional cost, we decided to look further afield and see what other DAWs can offer when it comes to producing Dolby Atmos content. In this article, we take a look at the features in Steinberg’s Nuendo 11, designed to be a completely integrated solution to create Dolby Atmos content.

Steinberg Nuendo 11, comes with ADM authoring for Dolby Atmos, integrated Dolby Atmos Renderer, Netflix Loudness Meter and Intelligibility Meter, plus many other feature additions and workflow enhancements.

Nuendo 11 New Feature Summary

• Dolby Atmos production workflow for authoring content to Dolby Atmos specifications within Nuendo

• SuperVision metering plug-in suite with customizable settings for the most accurate view of your sound

• Netflix Loudness Meter for ensuring your streamed content is compliant to Netflix specifications

• Intelligibility Meter for making sure dialog is both audible and intelligible to the listener

• Job Queues for queueing multiple jobs with different export requirements and processing all at once

• Sound design tools and content for creating enhanced sonic experiences in any genre

• Soundly Cloud Services support for sending files from Soundly into Nuendo 11 

• SpectraLayers One for surgically editing sound in the spectral domain

• Sampler Track including slicing, LFOs and legato glide

• Scale Assistant allows you to follow, quantize and play live to a set scale

• Advanced Key Editor for creating perfect pitch bends and more

• Global Tracks lets you stay in sync more easily

• Frequency 2 is an amazingly precise dynamic EQ for better mixing

• Imager for placing up to four bands of different frequencies in independent locations in the stereo field

• Squasher lets you improve leads, tame bass and enhance reverb

• Score Editor featuring new workflow improvements and beautiful new fonts

• New samples including six fresh, exclusive sound and loop sets

• Enhanced workflow and performance including ARA improvements, variable DPI for Windows and Marker Lines

• VST Connect SE 5 for remote recording over the Internet

• Eucon integration for compatibility with the newest Avid consoles

• DOP Pin Process for a smoother workflow

• Apple Metal Acceleration for maximum performance by communicating directly with the GPU

• New Track pictures for visually identifying different track types

• OSC Renderer for the creation and mix of object-based content using the OSC network protocol

• Various workflow and user interface improvements

Authoring For Dolby Atmos

Following Avid, Steinberg has added ADM authoring for Dolby Atmos support in Nuendo 11.

But unlike Avid that uses the separate Dolby rendering tools like the Dolby Atmos Production Suite or Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite, Steinberg has taken a fully integrated approach enabling users to mix for Dolby Atmos with no external hardware and no third-party software.

The integrated Dolby Atmos renderer and ADM authoring module in Nuendo 11 enables users to create, mix and deliver Dolby Atmos-compliant ADM broadcast WAV files and stems in multiple surround configurations.

The video above from the team over at Steinberg shows you how to get started with the Nuendo workflow for setting up a Dolby Atmos project. Everything from object-based monitoring, the ADM authoring panel, file export with 3d panning metadata, static metadata and rendering instructions, as well as downmixing an object-based mix to a channel-based mix.

Live Event - Authoring For Dolby Atmos Workflow

Nuendo VST Ambidecode

Dolby Atmos and surround monitoring on headphones is now possible with Nuendo by using Immerse with ambidecoder. With your Immerse profile and the native Nuendo VST Ambidecoder, you can have premium spatial monitoring for mixing surround sound anywhere with your favourite set of headphones.

Maybe we will see a setting here that simulates Apple’s binaural rendering algorithm, which is different to the binaural rendering model used by Dolby?

Sound Design Tools

Nuendo 11 adds several enhancements to its sound design tools, with MultiTap Delay now supporting up to 7.1 surround sound and Frequency 2 offers dynamic EQ, with the filter nodes of the eight available bands responding to the input signal and also offering independent side-chaining. 

Nuendo 11 has a new Multiband Imager that places up to four bands in different locations within the stereo image. Also new is Squasher, which compresses the input signal in up to three bands, with an individual gate, saturation effect and independent side-chaining. The enhanced Sampler Track now slices samples and includes two global LFOs.

SpectraLayers One is a simplified version of the acclaimed spectral editing software SpectraLayers Pro 7. SpectraLayers One offers a spectrogram view of the audio tracks in Nuendo, including selection, editing and display tools that allow intricate editing to improve dialogue and location audio.

VST Connect SE 5, the remote recording plug-in already included in Nuendo, now supports HiDPI and offers a redesigned interface with a scalable window.

Metering Plug-ins

Nuendo now includes a metering plug-in suite providing more than 20 different display modules for level metering, loudness measurement and analysis, SuperVision is designed to be flexible and offers customisable settings and layouts for up to nine module slots.

Steinberg has included an Intelligibility Meter in Nuendo 11. This follows iZotope including an intelligibility meter in their metering suite - Insight 2. It turns out that Steinberg’s Intelligibility Meter has been developed by the very clever people at Fraunhofer. In its article, we investigate what intelligibility is and why it matters and explore how the new Fraunhofer meter used in Steinberg’s Nuendo 2 works.

When Its In The Red - They Are Mumbling

The new feature analyses incoming audio signals via a speech intelligibility model with automatic speech recognition technology and calculates how much effort the listener must put in to understand the spoken words within the mix. Dr. Jan Rennies-Hochmuth, Head of Personalized Hearing Systems at Fraunhofer IDMT explains…

“The tool Intelligibility Meter measures objective speech intelligibility in media production in real time, controlled by artificial intelligence. It is a results of several years of hearing research in Oldenburg.”

Timo Wildenhain, Head of ProAudio at Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH continues…

“In order to do justice to different hearing preferences and hearing losses associated with demographic change, it is important for producers and sound designers to be able to objectively approximate the actual hearing ability of end-users. We are pleased to offer our customers the Intelligibility Meter, a major enhancement to the Nuendo product.”

The method developed at Fraunhofer IDMT is based on neural networks and enables an automatic and target group-specific measurement of speech intelligibility across applications. Thus, not only sound creators are supported in post-production. It can also be used directly on set or in the field of sound reinforcement technology.

The Netflix Loudness Meter has been calibrated to the official Sound Mix Specifications and Best Practices, measuring the dialogue-gated loudness as required by Netflix.

Job Queues 

Nuendo 11 allow for up to 20 different tasks to be loaded into job queues, for time-saving processing, for example, stems can be individually exported together with all the settings available in the Export Audio Mixdown dialogue, but the tasks are processed in one single action.

Post Presets and Game Sound-FX Content

Nuendo 11 includes a superb new collection of sound effect content from leading SFX provider SoundBits. Featuring over 750 premium sound effects — including Foley, ambiences, impacts, vehicles and weapons — while more than 200 plug-in and track presets means you can create a wide range of real and sci-fi environments, along with the sounds of everyday devices like telephones, radio, television, and more.

Steinberg has also provided seamless integration with the Soundly cloud library of sound effects, allowing users to tap into a variety of premium sounds. Senior Product Manager, Content Creation, at Dolby Laboratories, Jordan Glasgow told us…

“Nuendo 11 is a huge step forward for Dolby Atmos content creation. Having all this functionality inside of Nuendo really streamlines the workflow, as you no longer need to toggle between applications or wait for your final output file to print in real time. I think this release is definitely going to make a lot of Dolby Atmos content creators very happy.”

Steinberg’s Marketing Manager for Nuendo, Luis Dongo, commented:

“We’re delighted to be launching Nuendo 11 during its twentieth anniversary year. It’s a major update and it has a lot to offer. Offering the ability to create content for Dolby Atmos, Netflix approved loudness metering, studio-grade instruments as well as the many other additions and improvements, Version 11 is a giant leap forward that provides new opportunities for producers and engineers working on commercial audio productions.”

Nuendo 11 For Musicians

Nuendo 11 also has several new tools for musicians. The Scale Assistant lets users set the scale of the music, which is then adjusted accordingly within the newly enhanced Key Editor, which now displays Global Tracks.

Along with other improvements, the Score Editor includes Note Length and Velocity Overlays to edit notes, the new Property tab for easy access to notation settings and support for Dorico’s Bravura and Petaluma fonts.

Nuendo 11 provides many additional workflow and performance enhancements, including:

• ARA improvements

• Variable DPI on Windows 10 computers

• Optimized GUI on macOS computers

• Extended Eucon integration

• Marker lines for an improved display of marker events

• Further refinements to continue to facilitate working with Nuendo

Availability And Pricing

Nuendo 11 is available from resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop, at these suggested retail prices:

• Nuendo 11 Boxed Version – $999.99

• Nuendo 11 Downloadable Version – $972.00

Various upgrades, crossgrades, and education versions are exclusively available through the Steinberg Online Shop.