Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

and hardware company based in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. It develops music writing, recording, arranging, and editing software, most notably

Cubase Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-dow ...

Nuendo Nuendo is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging, editing and post-production. The package is aimed at audio and video post-production market segments (marketed as an 'Advanced Audio Post-Producti ...

, and

Dorico Dorico () is a scorewriter software; along with Finale (software), Finale and Sibelius (scorewriter), Sibelius, it is one of the three leading professional-level music notation programs. Dorico's development team consists of most of the former ...

. It also designs

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

and

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

hardware interfaces, controllers, and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

music apps including

Cubasis Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-dow ...

. Steinberg created several industry standard music technologies including the

Virtual Studio Technology Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional rec ...

(VST) format for plug-ins and the ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) protocol. Steinberg has been a wholly owned subsidiary of

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

since 2005.

History

The company was founded in 1984 by

Karl Steinberg Karl "Charlie" Steinberg (born 15 April 1952) is a German businessman best known for being the co-founder of Steinberg Media Technologies in 1983 with Manfred Rürup. Their tools helped to make digital audio editing popular, most notably through ...

and Manfred Rürup in Hamburg. As early proponents and fans of the

protocol, the two developed Pro 16, a MIDI sequencing application for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

and soon afterwards, Pro 24 for the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

platform. The ST had built-in MIDI ports which helped to quickly increase interest in the new technology across the music world. In 1989 Steinberg released

for Atari, and versions for the Mac and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

platforms would follow soon afterwards. It became a very popular MIDI sequencer, used in studios around the globe. Steinberg Media Technologies AG had a revenue of 25 million DM in 1999. It had 180 employees in 2000. A planned entry on the Neuer Markt (New Market, NEMAX50) of the

Deutsche Börse Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to glo ...

failed. The company had a revenue of 20 million in 2001 and 130 employees in 2002. In 2003 Steinberg was acquired by

Pinnacle Systems Pinnacle Systems, Inc. is a California-based American manufacturer of digital video hardware and software for the mainstream and broadcast markets. The company was founded in 1986 by Ajay Chopra (CEO), Mirek Jiricka and Randall Moore. The company ...

and shortly after that, by

in 2004. With its new mother company Yamaha, Steinberg expanded design and production of its own hardware, and since 2008 it has created a range of audio and MIDI interface hardware including the UR, MR816, CC and CI series. In 2012, Steinberg launched its first iOS sequencer, Cubasis, which has seen regular updates since then. The Steinberg satellite office in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was also opened in 2012. Steinberg has won a number of industry awards including several MIPA awards, and accolades for Cubasis and its CMC controllers amongst others.

Dorico team acquisition

In 2012, Steinberg acquired the former development team behind

Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, following the closure of Avid's London office in July, to begin development on a new professional scoring software named ''

''. It was released on 19 October 2016.

Product History

was released in 1989, initially as a MIDI sequencer. Digital audio recording followed in 1992 with Cubase Audio, followed by VST support in 1996 which made it possible for third-party software programmers to create and sell virtual instruments for Cubase. Steinberg bundled its own VST instruments and effects with Cubase, as well as continuing to develop standalone instruments as well. Atari support eventually ended and Cubase became a Mac and Windows DAW (digital audio workstation), with feature parity across both platforms. The

WaveLab WaveLab is a digital audio editor and recording computer software application for Windows and macOS, created by Steinberg. WaveLab was started in 1995 and it is mainly the work of one programmer, Philippe Goutier. Audio can be edited as a sin ...

audio editing and mastering suite followed in 1995 for Windows, and the VST and ASIO protocols – open technologies that could be used by any manufacturer – were first released in 1997. WaveLab would come to the Mac in 2010. In 2000 the company released

, a new DAW clearly targeted at the broadcast and media industries. 2001 saw the release of

HALion HALion is a software instrument application, created by German music software company Steinberg for macOS and Windows. It uses a sample-based approach to emulate the acoustic sounds of a full orchestra, such as the strings, brass, woodwind, and pe ...

, a dedicated software sampler. A complete rewrite of Cubase in 2002 was necessary due to its legacy code which was no longer maintainable, leading to a name change to Cubase SX, ditching older technology and using the audio engine from Nuendo. Since this time, Cubase and Nuendo have shared many core technologies. Cubase currently comes in three versions – Elements, Artist and Pro. Steinberg was one of the first DAW manufacturers who started using automatic delay compensation for synchronization of different channels of the mixer which may have different latency. With the growing popularity of mobile devices, Steinberg develops apps for iOS including Cubasis, a fully featured DAW for iPad with plug-ins, full audio and MIDI recording and editing and many other professional features. It also creates standalone apps including the Nanologue synth and LoopMash. In 2016 Steinberg released Dorico, a professional music notation and scoring suite.

Steinberg VST

As part of the development of its flagship, the sequencer

, Steinberg defined the

VST VST may refer to: * Vancouver School of Theology, a theological graduate school in British Columbia, Canada * VST, Stockholm Västerås Airport in Sweden (IATA airport code) * Vehicle safety technology * Virtual Studio Technology, Steinberg's stand ...

interface (Virtual Studio Technology) in 1996, by means of which external programs can be integrated as virtual instruments playable via MIDI. VST simulates a real-time studio environment with EQs, effects, mixing and automation and has become a quasi-standard supported by many other audio editing programs. The latest version is VST 3. The VST 3 is a general rework of the long-serving VST plug-in interface. It is not compatible with the older VST versions, but it includes some new features and possibilities. Initially developed for Macintosh only, Steinberg Cubase VST for the PC followed a year later and established VST and the Audio Stream Input/Output Protocol (ASIO) as open standards that enabled third parties to develop plug-ins and audio hardware. ASIO ensures that the delay caused by the audio hardware during sound output is kept to a minimum to enable hardware manufacturers to provide specialized drivers. ASIO has established itself as the standard for audio drivers.

Products

Current products

Music software

SpectraLayers SpectraLayers is a digital audio editing software suite published by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. It is designed for audio spectrum editing, catering to professional and semi-professional users. It was originally published by Sony Creative ...

*Sequel *

''(for

and

)''

VST instruments

(SE/Sonic) - virtual sampling and sound design system * HALion Symphonic Orchestra *Groove Agent - electronic and acoustic drums *The Grand - virtual Piano *Padshop - granular synthesizer *Retrologue - analog synthesizer *Dark Planet - dark sounds for cinematic and electronic music *Hypnotic Dance - synth-based dance sounds *Triebwerk - Sounds for Elektro, Techno and House *Iconica - Orchester Library, recorded at Funkhaus Berlin

Hardware

*Steinberg AXR4 – 28x24 Thunderbolt 2 Audio Interface with 32-Bit Integer Recording and RND SILK *Steinberg UR824 – 24x24 USB 2.0 audio interface with 8x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz, on board DSP, zero latency monitoring, advanced integration. Their top-of-the-line USB audio interface *Steinberg CC121 – Advanced Integration Controller *Steinberg CI2 – Advanced Integration Controller *Steinberg MR816 CSX – Advanced Integration DSP Studio *Steinberg MR816 X – Advanced Integration DSP Studio *Steinberg UR44 – 6x4 USB 2.0 audio interface with 4x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz support & MIDI I/O *Steinberg UR22mkII – 2x2 USB 2.0 audio interface with 2x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz support & MIDI I/O *Steinberg UR12 – ''2x2 USB 2.0 audio interface with 1x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz support *Steinberg Key (License Control Device for Steinberg Software - Dongle) *eLicenser (License Control Management for Steinberg Software - Dongle)

Past products

Music software

*Pro 16 (for

) *Trackstar (for Commodore 64) *Pro 24 (for

Commodore Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

) *The Ear (for Atari ST) *Twelve (for Atari ST) *Tango (for Atari) *MusiCal (for Atari ST) *Cubeat (for Atari ST) *Cubase Lite (for Atari ST/Mac/PC) * SoundWorks series (for Atari ST) - Sample editors for the Akai S900,

Ensoniq Mirage The Ensoniq Mirage is one of the earliest affordable sampler-synths, introduced in 1984 as Ensoniq's first product. Introduced at a list price of $1,695 with features previously only found on more expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI, the M ...

, E-mu Emax and Sequential Prophet 2000 * SynthWorks series (for Atari ST) - Patch editor/librarians for the

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

, DX7II, TX7 and TX81z, Roland D50 and MT32 and

Ensoniq ESQ-1 Ensoniq ESQ-1 is a 61-key, velocity sensitive, eight-note polyphony (instrument), polyphonic and multitimbral synthesizer released by Ensoniq in 1985. It was marketed as a "digital wave synthesizer" but was an early Music Workstation. Although it ...

*Cubase SX *Cubase

*Avalon - ''sample editor for Atari'' * V-Stack *ReCycle - Windows/Mac sample editor

VST instruments

*Plex *D'cota *Hypersonic *X-phraze *Model-E *Virtual Guitarist *Virtual Bassist

Hardware

*MIDEX-8 - USB MIDI interface *MIDEX-3 - USB MIDI interface *MIDEX+ - Atari MIDI interface *Steinberg Amiga MIDI interface *Steinberg Media Interface 4 (MI4) - USB MIDI interface *Avalon 16 DA Converter - AD Converter for Atari *SMP-24 - SMPTE/MIDI processor *Timelock - SMPTE processor *Topaz - Computer controlled recorder

Protocols

Steinberg have introduced several industry-standard software protocols. These include: *

ASIO ''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and S ...

(a low- latency communication protocol between software and

sound card A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term ''sound card'' is also applied to external audio i ...

s) *

(a protocol allowing third-party

audio plugin An audio plug-in, in computer software, is a plug-in that can add or enhance audio-related functionality in a computer program. Such functionality may include digital signal processing or sound synthesis. Audio plug-ins usually provide their o ...

s and virtual instruments) * LTB (providing accurate timing for its now-discontinued MIDI interfaces) * VSL (an audio/MIDI network protocol which allows the connection and synchronisation of multiple computers running Steinberg software) Steinberg's notable packages include the sequencers ''

'' and ''

'', as well as ''

'' (a digital audio editor) and numerous

VST plugin Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional rec ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control German brands Software companies of Germany Music equipment manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Hamburg Manufacturing companies established in 1984 Software companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in Germany Yamaha Corporation 2005 mergers and acquisitions

History

Dorico team acquisition

Product History

Steinberg VST

Products

Current products

Music software

VST instruments

Hardware

Past products

Music software

VST instruments

Hardware

Protocols

References

Further reading

External links