Steinberg Cubase 4 Operation Manual

							151
Control Room (Cubase only)
The Control Room Overview
You can access the Control Room Overview from the De-
vices menu. The Control Room Overview is designed to 
display the current configuration of the Control Room. The 
window shows all possible channels, with active channels 
highlighted once they have been created in the VST Con-
nections window. Channels that are grayed out have not 
been defined in the VST Connections window.
The Control Room Overview allows you to see the signal 
flow through the Control Room Mixer. All the routing func-
tions of the Control Room Mixer are duplicated in the 
Overview.
The Control Room Overview
Open the Control Room Mixer and the Control Room Over-
view windows side by side. As you operate the controls in 
the Mixer you will see the various pale green squares light 
up in the Overview, indicating changes in signal flow. You 
can also click the squares in the Overview and watch the 
controls in the Mixer reflect the changes in signal flow.
The Control Room Mixer
The Control Room Mixer is where you access all the fea-
tures of the Control Room. The Control Room Mixer can 
be resized to accommodate more channels and to display 
more controls. When you open the window for the first 
time, it will show none of the extendable panels.
The Control Room Mixer
Configuring the Control Room Mixer
In order to display more controls in the Control Room 
Mixer, the small arrows at the lower left and right corners 
can be clicked to open or close the extended speaker 
controls on the right (“Right Strip”) and the External Input 
and Talkback controls on the left (“Left Strip”).
The arrow at the upper right corner of the Control Room 
Mixer extends the Mixer vertically to display meters and in-
serts (“Extended view”). A second arrow appears above 
the inserts and meter display. Extending the Mixer using 
this arrow exposes the Input Gain and Input Phase switch, 
channel configuration and name for each channel (“Rout-
ing view”).  
						

							152
Control Room (Cubase only)
The different Control Room Mixer panels are handled in 
the same way as the Project Mixer panels, see “Configu-
ring the mixer” on page 122.
Control Room inserts and meters
When the Control Room Mixer displays the Extended 
View, the meters become visible. These meters look and 
function the same way as the ones in the Project Mixer.
Pressing the small meter icon at the center right side of 
the mixer will change the view to display inserts. Alterna-
tively, these can also be displayed by deactivating the 
Show Meters option on the Window submenu of the Con-
trol Room Mixer context menu.Each Control Room channel has a set of inserts config-
ured as six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts. External 
inputs and Monitor channels only have the six pre-fader in-
serts.
The Control Room Mixer’s Extended View displaying channel inserts
If you do not wish to see full sized meters but still want 
some indication of signal activity, activate the option “Sig-
nal Presence Indicators” in the Preferences (VST–Control 
Room page). They will be displayed next to the input se-
lection buttons and will indicate signal presence for all in-
puts.
The Control Room Mixer with all Signal Presence indicators lit up.
Inserts for external inputs
Each external input has its own set of six inserts. Selecting 
each external input by clicking the button next to its name 
at the left of the Mixer window will display the inserts as-
sociated with that channel in the extended view.
!You can also use the Window submenu on the Con-
trol Room Mixer context menu to show/hide the dif-
ferent panels, just as in the Project Mixer. 
						

							153
Control Room (Cubase only)
Inserts for the Talkback channel
The Talkback channel has a separate set of eight inserts. 
In order to view and adjust them, the Talkback must be en-
abled via the TALK button located to the lower right of the 
Control Room Mixer. Click once on the Talkback to latch it 
on. The inserts for external inputs will now display the 
Talkback inserts. Once the Talkback is disabled, the view 
will revert back to external input inserts.
Monitor Inserts
Each Monitor channel has a set of six inserts. These in-
serts are all post Control Room fader level and are most 
useful for surround decoding or brickwall limiting to pro-
tect sensitive monitor speakers.
Each set of monitors has its own Input Phase and Input 
Gain settings available in the top section of the extended 
Control Room Mixer. In addition, there are speaker solo 
icons along with various soloing modes and speaker rout-
ing options in the Speaker Solo panel.
The Speaker Solo panel
ÖUse the speaker solos to test your multichannel speaker 
system and ensure that the proper channels are routed to 
each speaker.
Just below the configuration display, all settings for auto-
matic downmixing of multichannel sources are shown. 
There are four down-mix presets. Some will automatically 
configure themselves for the sets of monitors you have 
defined. Each preset is adjustable by accessing the Mix-
Convert plug-in by clicking the small arrow icon above the 
downmix presets section.
The Down-Mix Presets section.
Control Room operations
In traditional analog studios, the control room section of 
the console contained the most used set of controls in the 
whole studio. Often, the studio monitor level had all the 
markings rubbed off from so much use.
The need to constantly be able to switch monitoring 
sources, adjust the volume of monitors and route various 
cue mixes and other sources to headphone systems is the 
norm in most sessions. Meeting the needs of several per-
formers in the studio plus a producer and the engineer be-
comes a constant task that requires flexibility and ease of 
operation. Communication between everyone must be 
flawlessly clear without intruding on the creativity of per-
formers.
With all this in mind, the Cubase Control Room Mixer is 
designed to fill those needs with a simple yet highly flexi-
ble solution. The virtual mixing environment of VST is the 
ideal solution to the varied needs of a control room matrix. 
With a virtual mixer, a high degree of customization and 
precise settings are possible with the ability to completely 
recall these settings at any time.
!You can easily identify the inserts for the Talkback 
since they have six pre-fader and two post-fader in-
serts while the external inputs only have six pre-fader 
inserts. If the Control Room Mixer is fully expanded, 
the name displayed at the very top of the Mixer will re-
flect which channel is currently in the Extended View.
!Automatic configuration of the downmix settings fol-
lows a logical path. For example, if you have defined 
one set of 5.1 monitors and another set of stereo 
monitors, Cubase will create a 5.1 to stereo downmix 
preset and another downmix to mono. You can mod-
ify all the settings for each downmix preset using the 
MixConvert plug-in.
Click here to open the 
MixConvert control panel. 
						

							154
Control Room (Cubase only)
Control Room Mixer layout
The Control Room Mixer has a variety of controls, some 
that are similar to the Project Mixer and some that are 
unique to Control Room operations. The following dia-
grams show every control, followed by a brief description 
of what each control does.
1.
2.3.4. 5. 6.
7.
8.
9.
6.
11.
10.
12.
13.
14.
15.
6.
16. 17.18.19.20.21. 22.6.
23. 24. 25.
26.
27.
28.
29. 
						

							155
Control Room (Cubase only)
1.Input Phase
Each external input and Monitor speaker output has an Input Phase re-
versal switch. When lit, all audio paths within the channel will have their 
phase reversed.
2.Input Gain
Each external input, Monitor speaker output and the Talkback input has 
an Input Gain control. When an external input or Monitor becomes ac-
tive, the Gain settings will be recalled.
3.Channel Inserts
Each channel in the Control Room Mixer has inserts available. While most 
channels have six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts, the external inputs 
and Monitors only have six pre-fader inserts.
4.Channel Configuration
This displays the current configuration of audio paths in the channel, e. g. 
Stereo, 5.1, etc.
5.Channel Labels
This displays the name of the channel as defined in the VST Connec-
tions.
6.Expansion controls
There are several arrow buttons that open and close various panels of 
the Control Room Mixer. By default, all expandable panels are hidden.
7.Use Reference Level
When you click this button, the Control Room Level is set to the refer-
ence level set in the Preferences, e. g. a level for calibrated mixing envi-
ronments such as film dubbing stages. Press [Alt]/[Option] and click on 
this button to set the Preferences reference level setting to the current 
Control Room level.
8.Control Room and Headphone Input Selectors
These buttons allow the selection of various input sources for the Con-
trol Room and Headphone channels. The choices are for External Input, 
Main Mix, or any one of the four Studio channels.
9.Show Meters/Inserts button
This allows you to switch between the display of Meters and Inserts for 
the extended Mixer view.
10.Listen Bus AFL/PFL
This button determines whether the source signals sent to the Listen bus 
are pre-fader (PFL) or post-fader (AFL).
11.Global Listen Defeat
When lit, this indicates that one or more channels in the Project Mixer are 
Listen enabled. Clicking on this button defeats Listen mode for all chan-
nels.
12.Listen DIM
This gain control adjusts the volume of the Main Mix when channels have 
been put in Listen mode. This allows you to keep Listen enabled chan-
nels in context with the Main Mix. If the Listen DIM is set to minus infinity, 
Listen enabled channels will be heard by themselves. Any other setting 
leaves the Main Mix on at a lower level.
13.DIM Enable
This turns the Control Room Level down by a preset amount (the default 
setting is -30 dB). This allows a quick reduction in monitor volume with-
out disturbing the current monitor level. Clicking on the DIM button again 
returns the monitor level to the previous setting.
14.Talkback Enable
Click the Talk button to turn on the Talkback system, allowing communi-
cation between the control room and performers in the studio. There are 
two modes of operation: momentary mode used by clicking and holding 
the Talk button, and latch mode where clicking once turns the Talkback 
on until you click it again to turn it off.
15.Talkback DIM Level
When the Talkback is enabled, this control allows you to determine how 
much the output of all the channels in the Control Room Mixer is re-
duced. This prevents unwanted feedback. If the Talkback DIM level is set 
to 0dB, no change will occur in the Control Room channels.
16.Cycle Down-Mix Preset Selection
The Control Room allows four different Speaker down-mix settings for 
auditioning with various speaker configurations. Clicking this button cy-
cles through the four down-mix presets. Various icons appear to show 
which preset is active.
17.Cycle Monitor Selection
Pressing this button changes the Monitor selection to the next available 
set. As Monitors are changed, so are the down-mix presets, Monitor in-
serts, Input Gain and Input Phase controls associated with that Monitor 
set.
18.Listen Bus Enable
This turns on Listen bus functions for either the Control Room or Head-
phone outputs. If this is not enabled, the Listen bus will not be routed to 
that channel.
19.Listen Bus Gain
This level adjustment determines how loud Listen bus signals are when 
routed to the Control Room or Headphone outputs. Clicking on the num-
ber pops up a fader control for adjustment.
20.Studio Input Selectors
For Studio Channels, the input choices are External Input, Aux (from Studio 
Sends) or Main Mix.
21.Activate Channel Buttons
These buttons turn each channel’s output on or off. When lit, the channel 
is on. 
						

							156
Control Room (Cubase only)
22.Channel Labels
These labels reflect the names created in the VST Connections window.
23.Talkback Level
This pop-up fader controls the amount of Talkback signal fed to the output 
of each Studio.
24.Talkback Enable
In order for Talkback signals to be routed to a Studio, this button must be 
lit. Clicking on it turns it on or off. When Talkback Enable is deactivated, 
the Talkback DIM setting has no effect on this output.
25.Metronome Mix
These level and pan controls determine how the Metronome will be 
heard in each channel. These controls are independent for each channel.
26.Metronome Enable
This determines whether click signals are sent to each channel. When lit, 
click signals will be heard in that output.
27.Channel Level Control
This is the main volume for each Control Room output. These faders do not 
affect recording input levels or the Main Mix level for exporting mixdowns.
28.External input switching
There are six available external inputs. These buttons determine which 
external input is currently being used. The names for each external input 
are displayed here as they were created in the VST Connections.
29.Signal Presence Indicators
In the Preferences dialog, there is the option to display these Signal 
Presence Indicators as a substitute for the full size meters.
The Monitor controls in the Control Room Mixer
30.Individual Speaker Solos
Each speaker icon is a solo button for that channel. [Shift]-clicking a 
speaker will solo all the speakers in that row (front or rear). [Ctrl]/[Com-
mand]-clicking on a speaker that is already soloed will mute that speaker 
and solo all other channels.
31.LFE Solo
The plus icon solos the LFE channel.
32.Solo Rear Channels
This solos all rear channels.
33.Listen to Rear Channels on Front Monitors
This button solos the rear channels and routes them to the front speak-
ers.
34.Listen to Solo Channels on Center Monitor
When this button is enabled, all speakers that are soloed will be heard in 
the center channel if there is one in the configuration. If not (as with stereo) 
the soloed channel will be heard equally in both left and right speakers.
35.Edit Down-Mix
Clicking on this tab opens the MixConvert plug-in used to down-mix mul-
tichannel signals for monitoring.
36.Down-Mix Labels
This area displays the names of the four down-mix presets. You may click 
on a name to change it. A “?” appears when there is no preset defined 
for that down-mix.
37.Monitor Labels
This area displays the names of the four possible Monitors. The names 
are created in the VST Connections when you define a Monitor channel.
38.Monitor Selection
These buttons select the current Monitor set. Each Monitor has its own 
settings including down-mix preset, solo enables, inserts, Input Gain and 
Input Phase. These settings are automatically recalled when a Monitor is 
selected.
39.Down-Mix Preset Selection
These buttons select the down-mix preset for the current Monitor.
40.Speaker Solo Defeat
This button defeats all speaker solos, resetting them for normal playback.
41.Solo Front Channels
This button solos all front speakers.
42.Solo Left and Right Channels
This button solos the left and right channels.
30.
31.
33. 32.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 
						

							157
Control Room (Cubase only)
The Main Mix and the Control Room channel
The channel configuration of the “Main Mix” (the default 
output) determines what the channel configuration of the 
Control Room channel will be. Switching between a project 
that has a stereo Main Mix to a project that has a 5.1 Main 
Mix will cause the Control Room channel in the Control 
Room Mixer to change from a stereo to a 5.1 configuration.
The Main Mix configuration also determines the layout of 
the Speaker Solo panel. If the Main Mix is stereo, there will 
only be a left and right speaker in the solo panel.
Any external input that has more channels than the Main 
Mix will not be heard correctly when routed to the Control 
Room channel. Only the channels available will be heard.
ÖIf a 5.1 external input is routed to a stereo Control 
Room channel, only the left and right channels will be heard 
even if a 5.1 Monitor is selected. Only two channels can be 
routed through a stereo Control Room channel. You could 
use an instance of MixConvert on the external input’s in-
serts to down-mix the material to stereo in order to hear it.
Suggested settings
With all the versatility that the Control Room provides 
there are also opportunities for confusion when first set-
ting up the Control Room. The following list contains sug-
gestions that could help to quickly set up the Control 
Room to get started for recording and mixing.
 If you do not have a master recording device and only use the 
Export Mixdown function to create finished mix files, set your 
Main Mix output to “Not Assigned”. This eliminates many con-
fusing errors and unpredictable behavior since outputs and 
Control Room Monitors can share hardware outputs. The 
Main Mix is automatically routed to the Control Room channel 
and will not be affected.
 Create one stereo Monitor to familiarize yourself with the Con-
trol Room level controls, DIM settings, the Listen Bus and 
other monitoring features. Once you have become acquainted 
to some of these functions, create additional Monitors for ev-
ery set of speakers you intend to use.
 Use the inserts on Monitor channels for surround decoding 
and bass management plug-ins among other things.
 Use the inserts on the Control Room channel for metering and 
spectral analysis plug-ins. All solos including the Listen Bus 
will come through the Control Room channel allowing analysis 
of individual sounds. A brickwall limiter in the last insert of the Control Room chan-
nel can prevent accidental overloads and damage to speaker 
systems.
 Use the inserts for the Talkback channel to control the dynam-
ics of the talkback microphone. This will help protect perform-
ers’ hearing and ensure that everyone can be heard over the 
talkback microphone.
 Use the Gain settings on the external inputs to level balance 
CD players and other sources to the Main Mix level for A/B 
comparisons.
 Use the Gain settings on each Monitor to level balance all your 
monitor systems. Switching between sets of speakers will re-
sult in the same playback volume.
 Use the calibrated Control Room level for film or DVD mixing. 
Set this level to the proper speaker volume as determined by 
the mixing standard you choose to follow.
Control Room preferences
There are several preferences for the Control Room Mixer. 
These are found in the Preferences (VST–Control Room 
page).
The Control Room Preferences
Most of these preferences deal with what options are visi-
ble in the Control Room Mixer. This allows you to custom-
ize the layout of the Mixer and only have the controls 
visible that you use the most without added clutter.
The other preferences have the following functionality:
Reference Level 
This setting determines the Control Room level used when the Refer-
ence Level button is activated. 
						

							158
Control Room (Cubase only)
Main Dim Volume 
This is the amount of gain reduction applied to the Control Room chan-
nel when the DIM button is activated.
Show Control Room Volume in Transport Panel
This option makes the small fader at the right hand side of the Transport 
Panel control the Control Room level. When this option is not activated 
(or the Control Room is disabled), that fader controls the level of the 
Main Mix bus.
Disable Talkback during Recording
When activated, this option will turn off the Talkback channel when the 
transport enters Record. It is advisable to set the Talkback DIM to 0dB 
when using this feature so as not to radically change the mix level when 
punching in and out of Record.
Use Phones Channel as Preview Channel
When activated, the Headphone output will be used for Preview options 
such as Import preview, scrubbing, offline process preview and certain 
Sample Editor operations. Note that when using the Headphones output 
for preview, the Control Room channel will no longer output preview audio.
Dim Studio during Talkback
When this option is enabled, the cue mix heard in a Studio will be dimmed 
(by the amount set in the Talkback dim level field (below the TALK button) 
for as long as the Talkback channel is used. When disabled, the cue mix 
level remains the same during Talkback.
Studios and Studio Sends
Studio Sends are displayed in the Cubase Project Mixer 
and the Inspector. Each Studio Send is intended for the 
creation of a discrete cue mix for performers to listen to 
during recording. Studio Sends are essentially stereo aux 
sends that are routed to Studio outputs in the Control 
Room Mixer. There are up to four Studios and Studio 
Sends available.
Configuring Studio Sends
Studio Sends only become active when a Studio channel 
has been created in the VST Connections window. Other-
wise they remain grayed out. For every Studio defined in 
the VST Connections, every channel in the Project Mixer 
has an additional aux send with level, pan and pre/post-
fader selection. This aux send is used to create a mix for a 
performer to listen to while recording.In the Project Mixer, the Studio Sends are accessed by 
choosing the Studio Sends option from the View options 
pop-up menu in each channel or by clicking the star icon 
(“Show Studio Sends”) on the common panel of the ex-
tended Project Mixer.
The Studio Sends view in the Project Mixer 
						

							159
Control Room (Cubase only)
In the Inspector, a Studio Sends tab can be found. This 
will display all Studio Sends for the selected track.
Please note that not all Inspector sections are available by default. To 
show/hide a section, right-click on an Inspector section and activate/
deactivate the desired option on the context menu.
The Studio Sends tab in the Inspector
Each Studio can have a unique name in order to help 
identify what it is being used for. For example, the four 
Studios could be named:
 Vocalist Mix


 Drummer’s Mix
The name of each Studio is displayed in the Control Room 
Mixer. To hear the Studio Sends mix in the Studio output, 
the input selector for each Studio must be set to “Aux”.
A Studio channel in the Control Room Mixer with its input set to Aux.
Setting up a Studio cue mix
The Studio Sends are very flexible. There are several ways 
to create a cue mix for each Studio in a very fast and effi-
cient manner. Simple “more me” mixes and more complex 
discrete mixes are easily accommodated by the Studio 
Sends.
Using fader and pan settings from the Project Mixer
You can create a cue mix from the fader and pan levels al-
ready used in the Project Mixer and then alter them to 
meet the needs of an individual performer. You can do this 
with any single channel or group of channels at any time. 
To copy fader and pan information from the main mix, pro-
ceed as follows:
1.In the Project Mixer, select all the channels that you 
wish to copy settings from.
The following operations affect only selected channels. 
						

							160
Control Room (Cubase only)
2.In the Control Room Mixer, right-click anywhere in a 
Studio Channel’s mixer strip and a context menu will ap-
pear that has the Studio’s name as a submenu.
This submenu contains all the Studio Send functions for that Studio. If 
you open the context menu outside of a Studio mixer strip, the submenu 
will be for All Studios. 
The Control Room Mixer’s context menu
3.Choose the “Use Current Mix Levels” option to copy 
the fader levels on the selected tracks to the Studio Sends.
This option sets all Studio Send levels for the selected tracks to the 
same level as the main channel fader. It also changes the Studio Send 
status to pre-fader so that changes in the main mix do not affect the Stu-
dio Sends.
4.Choose the “Use Current Pan Settings” option to 
copy pan information from the main mix to the Studio 
Sends on selected tracks.
Studio Sends are either mono or stereo. If the Send is mono, the pan 
setting will still be copied. However, the output of the Studio Send will 
sum the left and right channels together.
5.Choose the “Enable Studio Sends” option to activate 
the Sends on selected channels.
By default, Studio Sends are not enabled even when level and pan infor-
mation is copied to them. You must enable them in order to hear the Stu-
dio cue mix.
By copying the level and pan information from the main 
mix to the Studio Sends, a rough balance can be created 
in a matter of moments. Next, you may alter the level and 
pan settings on any channel’s Studio Sends to change the 
mix to meet the performer’s needs. This may require in-
creasing the volume of the performer herself. This is often 
referred to as a “more me” mix.
Adjusting the overall Studio Send level
Levels in the main mix are often optimized for the loudest 
signal level possible without clipping. However, when you 
are creating a “more me” mix, you may find that there is not 
enough headroom available in the Studio Send to turn up 
channels without clipping becoming a possibility.
Fortunately, the Studio Sends have an option to adjust 
multiple send levels at the same time, allowing you to keep 
the blend intact while lowering the overall volume to make 
room for “more me” signals.
Once you have created a Studio Send mix, proceed as 
follows to adjust their relative levels.
1.Select all the channels you wish to modify.
Only selected channels are affected by the context menu commands.
2.Right-click anywhere in the Studio mixer strip on the 
Control Room Mixer to open the context menu for that 
Studio. 
You may also use the context menu outside of the Studio strip to adjust 
all four Studio Sends on the selected channels at the same time.
3.Choose the “Change Studio Sends Level” option from 
the Studio submenu.
This will bring up a gain window with a checkbox that reads “Relative 
Mode”. Make sure this is activated if you want to adjust already existing 
levels.
4.Either use the up and down buttons or click on the nu-
meric readout to open a pop-up fader and adjust the gain 
as necessary.
The level of all selected Studio Sends will be adjusted by the amount 
shown here. For example, if the amount reads -3dB, then each Studio 
Send level is reduced by 3 dB.