https://audio.dev/ -- @audiodevcon​
ADC Bristol ​- 9th - 11th November
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Optimizing UI Rendering Performance in Cubase and Nuendo - Erich Krey - ADC 2025
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In this talk, I’d like to take you on a journey through how we significantly improved UI rendering performance in Cubase and Nuendo on macOS by integrating Apple’s Metal technology into our framework.
While I’ll provide some high-level insights into how UI rendering works in Cubase and Nuendo (Steinberg DAW), the main focus of my talk is the journey itself.
We’ll start at the point where we realized that our existing implementation no longer performed adequately on modern Macs, and follow the path through what we achieved, the key challenges we faced, and how we overcame them.
Hopefully, many of the concepts and solutions I present will be broadly applicable.
So—does all’s well that ends well?
Well, not quite. I’ll conclude by highlighting one key issue that still remains—an issue relevant to all of us developing DAWs or plug-ins.
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Erich Krey

I’m an Application Performance Manager at Steinberg, where I’ve been working since 2013.

I’m passionate about all things related to performance. The first computer I ever used was a Macintosh Performa 630.

I work in a hybrid role—continuing to develop for Cubase and Nuendo while also collaborating with various teams at Steinberg and external partners. Together, we analyze performance issues, propose solutions, and plan the necessary fixes.

During my studies, I worked as a piano player in restaurants and produced an album with a friend. I still enjoy composing piano tracks to this day.

If you’re interested in chatting about performance, Cubase, Nuendo, or anything else, feel free to reach out!
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ADC is an annual event celebrating all audio development technologies, from music applications and game audio to audio processing and embedded systems. ADC’s mission is to help attendees acquire and develop new audio development skills, and build a network that will support their audio developer career.
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Streamed & Edited by Digital Medium Ltd: https://online.digital-medium.co.uk
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Organized and produced by JUCE: https://juce.com/
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Special thanks to the ADC25 Team:

Sophie Carus
Derek Heimlich
Andrew Kirk
Bobby Lombardi
Tom Poole
Ralph Richbourg
Jim Roper
Jonathan Roper
Prashant Mishra

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