Steinberg Cubase 4 Operation Manual

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The mixer
Any individual channel settings you have made before 
linking will remain until you alter the same setting for any of 
the linked channels.
For example, if you link three channels, and one of them was muted at the 
time you applied the Link Channel function, this channel will remain muted 
after linking. However, if you mute another channel all linked channels will 
be muted. Thus, the individual setting for one channel is lost as soon as 
you change the same parameter setting for any of the linked channels.
Fader levels will be “ganged”.
The relative level offset between channels will be kept if you move a 
linked channel fader.
The three channels shown are linked. Pulling down one fader changes 
the levels for all three channels, but keeps the relative level mix.
By pressing [Alt]/[Option], you can make individual set-
tings and changes for channels that are linked.
ÖLinked channels have individual automation subtracks. 
These are completely independent, and are not affected 
by the Link function.
The Window submenu
The Mixer context menu, opened by right-clicking anywhere 
on the Mixer window background, provides the Window 
submenu. Its options are handy for quickly switching to an-
other open mixer window, showing/hiding the different 
mixer panes etc. It contains the following options:
Show Routing View
Allows you to show/hide the topmost section of the mixer which contains 
the input/output routing settings.
Show Extended View
Allows you to show/hide the middle section of the mixer, where you can 
display different settings for the channels (EQs, Send effects, etc.).
Next Mixer
This displays the next mixer window (if you have several mixer windows 
open).
Saving mixer settings
It is possible to save complete mixer settings for selected 
or all audio channels in the mixer. These can later be 
loaded into any project. Channel settings are saved as 
mixer settings files. These have the Windows file exten-
sion “.vmx”. 
!Saving/Loading mixer settings does not apply to 
MIDI channels in the mixer – only audio-related 
channels (group, audio, instrument, effect return, 
VSTi and ReWire) are saved with this function! 
						

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The mixer
Right-clicking somewhere in the mixer panel or in the 
Channel Settings window brings up the Mixer context 
menu where the following Save options can be found:
“Save Selected Channels” will save all channel settings 
for the selected channels.
Input/output routings are not saved.
“Save All Mixer Settings” saves all channel settings for 
all channels.
When you select any of the above options, a standard file 
dialog opens where you can select a name and storage lo-
cation on your disk for the file.
Loading mixer settings 
Load Selected Channels
To load mixer settings saved for selected channels, pro-
ceed as follows:
1.Select the same number of channels in the new project 
to match the number of channels you saved settings for in 
the previous project.
For example, if you saved settings for six channels, select six channels in 
the mixer.
Mixer settings will be applied in the same order as they 
were in the mixer.
Thus, if you save settings from channels 4, 6 and 8 and apply these set-
tings to channels 1, 2 and 3, the settings saved for channel 4 would be 
applied to channel 1, the settings saved for channel 6 to channel 2 and 
so on.
2.Right-click the mixer panel to open the context menu, 
and select “Load Selected Channels”.
A standard file dialog appears, where you can locate the saved file.
3.Select the file and click “Open”.
The channel settings are applied to the selected channels.
Load All Mixer Settings
Selecting “Load All Mixer Settings” from the context menu 
allows you to open a saved mixer settings file, and have 
the stored settings applied to all channels for which there 
is information included in the file. All channels, master set-
tings, VST Instruments, sends and master effects will be 
affected.
ÖPlease note that if the saved mixer settings were for 
24 channels, for example, and the mixer you apply it to 
currently contains 16 channels, only the settings for chan-
nels 1 to 16 will be applied – this function will not auto-
matically add channels.
About the VST Performance window
The VST Performance window is opened from the Devices 
menu. It indicates the current load on the CPU and the hard 
disk transfer rate. It is recommended that you check this 
from time to time, or keep it always open. Even though you 
have been able to activate a number of audio channels in 
the project without getting any warning, you may run into 
performance problems when adding EQ or effects.
The upper bar graph shows the CPU (processor) load.
If the red Overload indicator lights up, you need to decrease the number 
of EQ modules, active effects and/or audio channels playing back simul-
taneously.
The lower bar graph shows the hard disk transfer load.
If the red overload indicator lights up, the hard disk is not supplying data 
fast enough to the computer. You may need to reduce the number of tracks 
playing back by using the Disable Track function (see “About track disable/
enable” on page 63). If this doesn’t help, you need a faster hard disk. 
Note that the overload indicator may occasionally blink, e.g. when you lo-
cate during playback. This does not indicate a problem, but happens be-
cause the program needs a moment for all channels to load data for the 
new playback position.
ÖThe CPU and Disk load meters can also be shown on 
the Transport panel (as “Performance”) and on the Project 
window toolbar (as “Performance Meter”).
There they are shown as two miniature vertical meters (by default at the 
left side of the panel/toolbar).
!If you choose to apply mixer settings to fewer chan-
nels than you saved, the order of the saved channels 
in the mixer applies – i.e. the saved channels that are 
“left over” and not applied will be the channels with 
the highest channel numbers (or furthest to the right 
in the mixer). 
						

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The mixer
VST Mixer Diagrams 
Input Objects
Channel Objects
!Note that the AFL/PFL Listen Bus architecture is 
available only in Cubase.
Input Channel External Input Channel (Cubase only) Talkback Channel (Cubase only)
Audio ChannelReWire Channel
VSTi ChannelExternal Instrument (Cubase only) 
						

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The mixer
Summing Objects
Control Room Objects (Cubase only)
Group ChannelFX Channel
Output BusMain Mix Bus
Control Room ChannelPhones Channel
Studio ChannelMonitor 
						

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The mixer
Overall (Cubase only) 
						

							12
Control Room (Cubase only) 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
Background
Large console Monitoring sections
In traditional analog studios, the audio console maintained 
control over every audio signal in the studio, including the 
control room monitors, headphone systems, external 2-
track tape machines and communications such as the talk-
back system.
The console itself provided a means of creating multiple 
cue mixes for performers in the studio. Using available aux 
sends, the engineer could create multiple cue mixes for 
the various performers, each one having a unique mix tai-
lored for that person or group of performers.
With the advent of the DAW, many of the functions of the 
console started being performed inside the audio soft-
ware, allowing for more flexibility and instant recall of any 
setting. In many studios, the console sat idle except for 
adjusting the playback level of the speakers, switching to 
monitor external devices and routing signals to head-
phones and other cue mix playback systems.
Smaller hardware units have been made to replace the 
monitoring section using a simple volume knob with 
speaker and input switches. Some even include a talkback 
system and headphone amplifiers.
Surround sound
With more and more surround recording and mixing being 
performed in the DAW environment, the needs of the mon-
itoring section have become magnified. Surround speaker 
setups must be able to work with smaller, stereo speakers 
and even mono speaker systems. Switching back and forth 
between them can become quite complicated. Also, the 
ability to perform downmixes of multi-channel audio is now 
needed on a regular basis for many audio professionals. 
Virtual Control Room solution
Cubase has now added the functionality of the control 
room monitoring section of large format analog consoles to 
the virtual audio environment of VST with the creation of the 
Control Room Mixer and Control Room Overview windows.
The concept
The concept behind creating the Control Room features 
was to divide the studio environment into the performing 
area (studio) and the engineer/producer area (control 
room) common to traditional studios. Previously, an analog 
console or some method of speaker control and monitor 
routing was necessary to provide this functionality to the 
DAW environment. 
Cubase now provides all the functionality of the analog 
console’s monitoring section, along with many more fea-
tures, in the virtual world where flexibility and instant recall 
are expected.
Control Room features
The following features are available for the Control Room 
Mixer:
 Support for up to four sets of monitors with various speaker 
configurations from mono up to 6.0 Music or Cine speaker 
systems.
 Dedicated Headphone output.
 Support for up to four discrete cue mix outputs called “Studios”.
 Dedicated Talkback channel with flexible routing and automatic 
record defeat.
 Support for up to six external inputs with configurations up to 
6.0 surround.
 Click track routing and level control to all Control Room out-
puts.
 Flexible Listen Bus options with the Listen Dim setting that 
allows Listen-enabled tracks to be heard in context with the 
whole mix.
 Listen Bus Enabling on both Control Room and Headphone 
outputs.
 User-definable downmix settings using the MixConvert plug-in 
for all speaker configurations.
 Individual speaker soloing for all speaker configurations.
 Multiple inserts on each Control Room channel for metering 
and surround de-coding among other possibilities.
 Monitor Dim function with adjustable level.
 User-defined Calibrated Monitor level for post-production 
mixing in a calibrated environment.
!Please note that when we speak of “the Mixer” in this 
chapter we refer to the Control Room Mixer window. 
The normal Cubase Mixer is referred to as the 
“Project Mixer”. For information about the Project 
mixer, see the chapter “The mixer” on page 118. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
 Adjustable Input Gain and Input Phase on all external inputs 
and Speaker outputs.
 Full-sized meters on every Control Room channel.
 Support for up to four aux sends (Studio Sends) for creation 
of discrete cue mixes for performers. Each Studio output has 
its own cue mix.
 The ability to disable the Control Room Section when working 
with an external monitoring solution or console.
Configuring the Control Room
The Control Room features are configured in several loca-
tions within Cubase. 
 The VST Connections window has a tab labelled “Studio” in 
which the hardware inputs and output are defined for the 
Control Room channels.
 In the Devices menu you will find the Control Room Overview 
that displays a visual overview of the Control Room channels 
and signal flow.
 In the Devices menu you will find the Control Room Mixer 
which allows operation of the Control Room features.
 In the Preferences (VST–Control Room page) you will find 
some settings for altering the Control Room preferences.
VST Connections Studio tab
The Studio tab of the VST Connections window is where 
you configure the inputs and outputs for the Control Room 
Mixer. For more information, see the chapter “VST Connec-
tions: Setting up input and output busses” on page 13.
Control Room channels
There are five types of channels that you can create, each 
defining either an input or output of the Control Room 
Mixer. As more channels are created, the Control Room 
Mixer expands to display controls for each channel.
 Monitors
Each Monitor channel is a set of outputs that are connected to monitor 
speakers in the Control Room. Each Monitor can be configured for a 
mono, stereo or up to a 6.0 surround speaker configuration. Up to four 
Monitors can be created, each with a different speaker configuration.
 Phones
The Phones channel is used by the engineer in the control room for 
checking cue mixes and as another option for listening to the mix or ex-
ternal inputs on a pair of headphones. It is not intended for cue mixes that 
performers use while recording. Only one stereo Headphone channel is 
available.

Studio channels are intended for sending cue mixes to performers in the 
studio during recording. They have talkback and click functions and can 
monitor the main mix, external inputs or a dedicated cue mix. Up to four 
Studios can be created allowing four discrete cue mixes for performers.
 External inputs
External inputs are for monitoring external devices such as CD players, 
multi-channel recorders or any other audio source. Up to six external in-
puts can be created with various configurations from mono up to 6.0 sur-
round.
 Talkback
The Talkback is a mono input used for a communications system be-
tween the control room and performers in the studio. Only one mono 
Talkback channel is available.
Control Room channels cannot share hardware inputs or 
outputs with external FX or external instruments, as de-
fined in the VST Connections window (see “Connecting 
the external effect/instrument” on page 21). As you create 
connections for each channel, only those device ports that 
have not been used for external FX or instruments will be 
available. However, Control Room channels and inputs 
and outputs can share the same device ports. 
A great deal of confusion can result if outputs and Control 
Room Monitor channels share the same device ports. As a 
starting point, set all the outputs to “Not Assigned” while 
the Control Room is set up. By default, one stereo Monitor 
channel is created after installing Cubase.
!The Control Room Mixer is designed to display infor-
mation and controls only for the channels you have 
defined in the VST Connections dialog. For example, 
if you have not defined any Studio channels, they will 
not appear in the Control Room Mixer. The Control 
Room Overview displays all the possible channels 
but only highlights the ones that have been defined. 
To see all the available controls in the Control Room 
Mixer, start by creating the maximum amount of 
channels in the VST Connections Studio tab. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
Creating a Control Room channel
To create a new channel, click on the Add Channel button 
in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. A pop-
up menu lists all available channels along with how many 
of each type are available. Select the type of channel you 
wish to create and a dialog will appear allowing you to 
choose the configuration of the channel (stereo, 5.1, etc.). 
The Studio tab of the VST Connections window with several Control 
Room Channels created
After clicking OK, the new channel will appear in the VST 
Connections window. You can now connect it to any 
available device port using the “+” buttons and the con-
text menu in the Device Port column. An audio device 
must be selected and then a device port must be chosen 
for each audio path. You assign device ports to channels 
in the same fashion as assigning any VST connection.
Monitors
Create a Monitor channel for every set of speakers in your 
studio. A typical post-production studio could have one 
set of 5.1 surround speakers, another stereo set of speak-
ers and even a single, mono speaker for checking bal-
ances for mono broadcast. The Control Room Mixer will 
allow you to switch speakers easily. Each set of Monitors 
can have its own custom downmix settings, input gain and 
input phase adjustments.
Phones
Create a Phones channel if you intend to listen to head-
phones in the control room. The Phones channel is not in-
tended for use by performers in the studio. It is designed 
for the engineer to quickly listen to any source in the stu-
dio, including the four cue mixes, as a reference.
Studios
Create a Studio channel for each cue mix you wish to cre-
ate for performers in the studio. For example, if you have 
two available headphone amplifiers for performers to use, 
create two Studio channels, one for each headphone mix. 
There are four available Studio channels. 
External inputs
Create external input channels for every playback device 
you wish to be able to monitor in the Control Room. There 
are six available external inputs with channel configura-
tions from mono up to 6.0 surround. Use external inputs to 
quickly listen to CD players, master recorders, or other 
workstations. 
Talkback
Create a Talkback channel if you have a microphone in the 
control room available for communication with performers in 
the studio. The Talkback channel can be routed to each 
Studio channel with variable levels in order to optimize 
communications between the control room and performers.
Additionally, the Talkback is available as a possible input 
source for audio tracks. You can record from the Talkback 
just like any other input.
!If you are adding the Talkback or Phones channels, 
there are no channel configuration choices since Talk-
back is mono only and Phones are stereo only. Also, 
Studio channels can either be mono or stereo only.
!Control Room channels can share device ports with 
each other. This can be helpful if you use the same 
speakers as a stereo pair and also as the left and 
right channels of a surround speaker configuration. 
Switching between monitors that share device ports 
will be seamless, providing any downmix of multi-
channel audio to stereo if needed. Only one monitor 
set can be active at a time.
!The Phones channel is stereo only.
!Studio channels can either be mono or stereo.
!If you select external inputs as input source of an au-
dio channel, you can record them. In this case, you 
will not need to assign the device ports to the input 
channel (see “Routing” on page 17).
!Inserts are available on the Talkback and all other 
Control Room channels. A compressor/limiter can 
be inserted on the Talkback channel to ensure that 
erratic levels do not bother performers and clear 
communication with everyone is possible. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
Disabling the Control Room
Once you have created all the channels for your studio 
configuration, the Control Room functions are available for 
use. If you need to use Cubase without the Control Room 
functions, you can simply press the Disable Control Room 
button on the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. 
Any channels you have created will be saved and when 
you enable the Control Room again, that configuration will 
be reloaded.
You can also create presets for the Control Room config-
uration in the same manner as for inputs and outputs, see 
“Other bus operations” on page 17. 
Outputs – Main Mix
For the Control Room to function correctly, the Main Mix in 
the Outputs tab must be assigned to the set of outputs that 
actually contains your final mix signal. If you only have one 
output bus, it will be the Main Mix by default.
If you have more than one output bus defined, you can 
change which one is the Main Mix by right-clicking on the 
name of the output and selecting “Set “Out” as Main Mix”. 
The Main Mix is marked by a small speaker icon to the left 
of its name.
The VST Connections Output tab showing one bus as the Main Mix 
marked by the small speaker icon.
outputs other than the Main Mix are not routed through the 
Control Room Mixer. They can, however, share the device 
ports of Studio and Monitor channels in the Control Room. 
Output click enabling
There may be a situation when you want the click to be 
routed always to a specific output bus, regardless of the 
actual Control Room settings, or indeed when the Control 
Room is disabled. In these cases, enable the click on spe-
cific outputs using the Click column on the Outputs tab in 
the VST Connections window.
The Output tab showing two stereo outputs, the Main Mix and a second 
output that is click enabled.   
!If you disable the Control Room, make sure that 
there are device ports assigned to the default output 
bus “Main Mix” on the outputs tab. Otherwise, you 
will not hear any sound from the Main Mix. 
!The click will only be heard in outputs that are as-
signed to device ports. Be aware that the click can 
also be routed to device ports using the Control 
Room features. 
!Sharing audio device ports between outputs and 
Control Room channels can cause confusing behav-
ior and possible overload of those ports without any 
indication from Cubase. It is advisable to disconnect 
all outputs from all device ports when first configur-
ing the Control Room. 
!Be aware that some audio interfaces allow very flexi-
ble routing within the hardware itself. Certain routing 
configurations could cause overloads and possible 
damage to speaker equipment. Consult the hard-
ware documentation for further information.