In a strategic move that affects audio creators, studios and business users alike, Steinberg and Yamaha have announced that Steinberg’s hardware products will now be fully rebranded under Yamaha, allowing Steinberg to focus purely on software development.
Why the shift matters
Steinberg, founded in 1984 in Hamburg, has been a key player in music production and audio‑engineering hardware—its early work included MIDI sequencers and Commodore 64 interfaces.For over 20 years it has been part of the Yamaha Group, sharing manufacturing and development with Yamaha, especially for hardware products.
By making the hardware transition to Yamaha’s branding, the two companies aim to cleanly divide responsibilities: Yamaha will handle design, manufacture and global distribution of hardware, while Steinberg will dedicate itself to software creation and sales.
For creators and businesses, that means a clearer message on who makes what, and because hardware and software are already deeply integrated, an opportunity for smoother user experiences.
What’s changing
The widely used “UR”‑series audio interfaces from Steinberg will now appear under Yamaha branding. For example:
- Steinberg IXO12 and IXO22 → Yamaha UR12MK3 & UR22MK3
- Steinberg UR44C → Yamaha URX44C
Support and drivers for existing Steinberg‑branded hardware will continue for the foreseeable future, so current users are not left stranded.
What this means for creators and businesses
For small businesses, content creators, educators and teams using audio hardware and software workflows, this shift brings a few key advantages:
- Simplified branding: one company (Yamaha) for hardware, one (Steinberg) for software.
- Potentially stronger hardware‑software integration, since both sides are aligned under one group’s strategy.
- Clearer product roadmaps: hardware expecting Yamaha’s global reach and resources; software benefitting from Steinberg’s specialization.
If you use Steinberg hardware today, don’t worry — support continues, but going forward look for Yamaha‑branded interfaces.
If you’re evaluating audio gear for your business or content‑production workflow, this brand transition means you can treat Yamaha as the trusted hardware partner and Steinberg as the software specialist.
