Steinberg Cubase 4 Getting Started Manual

11
System requirements and installation
The Syncrosoft License Control Center (which can be 
found in the Start/Programs menu under Windows or the 
Applications folder on a Mac) is the place where you can 
check the licenses installed on your Steinberg Key. 
If you are using other copy-protected Steinberg prod-
ucts, you may want to transfer all licenses for your applica-
tions to only one Steinberg Key, thus using only one USB 
port of your computer. To transfer licenses between keys, 
launch the...

12
System requirements and installation
Installing Cubasew
The installation procedure puts all files in the right places, 
automatically.
Windows
1.Double-click the file called “Cubase4.msi” or 
“CubaseStudio4.msi”.
2.Follow the instructions on screen.
Macintosh
1.Double-click the file called “Cubase4.mpkg” or “Cu-
base Studio 4.mpkg”.
2.Follow the instructions on screen.
About the tutorials
The program DVD also contains several tutorial project 
files and videos. These are not installed during the...

3
Setting up your system 

14
Setting up your system
Setting up audio
Connecting audio
Exactly how to set up your system depends on many dif-
ferent factors, e. g. the kind of project you wish to create, 
the external equipment you want to use, the computer 
hardware available to you, etc. Therefore, the following 
sections can only serve as examples.
How you connect your equipment, i. e. whether you use 
digital or analog connections, also depends on your indi-
vidual setup.
Stereo input and output – the simplest connection
If...

15
Setting up your system
Connecting for surround sound (Cubase only)
If you plan to mix for surround sound, you can connect the 
audio outputs to a multi-channel power amplifier, driving a 
set of surround channels.
A surround sound playback configuration.
Cubase supports surround formats with up to 6 speaker 
channels. The figure above shows a 5.1 surround setup.
Recording from a CD player
Most computers come with a CD-ROM drive that can also 
be used as a regular CD player. In some cases the CD...

16
Setting up your system
Selecting a driver and making audio settings 
in Cubase
The first thing you need to do is select the correct driver in 
Cubase to make sure that the program can communicate 
with the audio hardware:
1.Launch Cubase, select Device Setup from the Devices 
menu and click on VST Audio System in the Devices list to 
the left.
The VST Audio System page in the Device Setup dialog.
2.Select your audio hardware driver from the ASIO 
Driver menu.
There may be several options here that all...

17
Setting up your system
If you are using audio hardware with a DirectX driver 
(Windows only)
Cubase comes with a driver called ASIO DirectX Full Du-
plex, available for selection on the ASIO Driver pop-up 
menu (VST Audio System page).
ÖTo be able to take full advantage of DirectX Full Du-
plex, the audio hardware must support WDM (Windows 
Driver Model) in combination with DirectX version 8.1 or 
higher. 
In all other cases, the audio inputs will be emulated by DirectX (see the 
dialog help for the...

18
Setting up your system
About monitoring
In Cubase, monitoring means listening to the input signal 
while preparing to record or while recording. There are 
three ways to monitor:
External monitoring
External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it 
goes into Cubase) requires an external mixer for mixing the 
audio playback with the input signal. This can be a classic 
mixing desk or a mixer application for your audio hardware, 
if this has a mode in which the input audio is sent back out...

19
Setting up your system
You might want to use even more instruments for playback. 
If you do, simply connect MIDI Thru on the sound module to 
MIDI In on the next instrument, and so on. In this hook-up, 
you will always play the first keyboard when recording. But 
you can still use all your devices for providing sounds on 
playback.
Setting MIDI Thru and Local On/Off
In the “MIDI” section in the Preferences dialog (located on 
the File menu under Windows and on the Cubase menu 
under Mac OS X), you...

20
Setting up your system
Setting up MIDI ports in Cubase
The Device Setup dialog lets you set up your MIDI system 
in the following ways:
ÖNote: When you change MIDI port settings in the De-
vice Setup dialog, these are automatically applied in the 
program.
Showing or hiding MIDI Ports
The MIDI ports are listed in the Device Setup dialog on the 
MIDI Port Setup page. By clicking in the “Visible” column 
for a MIDI input or output, you can specify whether or not it 
should be listed on the MIDI pop-up...