Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual

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Control Room (Cubase only)
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.
It has a variety of controls, some that are similar to the Pro-
ject Mixer and some that are unique to Control Room op-
erations. The following diagrams show every control, 
followed by a brief description of what each control does.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 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 are recalled.
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. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
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, or 5.1.
5.Channel labels
This displays the name of the channel as defined in the VST Connections 
window.
6.Expansion controls
There are several arrow buttons that open and close various panels of 
the Control Room Mixer. By default, all extended panels are hidden.
7.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 External Input, 
Main Mix, or any one of the four Studio channels.
8.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.
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.Listen Activate/Deactivate All Listen
When lit, this indicates that one or more channels in the Project Mixer are 
Listen enabled. Clicking this button deactivates Listen for all channels.
12.Listen DIM Level
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 at a lower level.
13.DIM Signal
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.Activate Talkback
Click the TALK button to turn on the Talkback system, allowing commu-
nication between the control room and performers in the studio. There 
are two modes of operation: momentary mode used by clicking and hold-
ing the Talk button, and latch mode where clicking once turns the Talk-
back 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 0 dB, no change will occur in the Control Room channels.
16.Cycle Downmix Preset Selection
The Control Room allows four different Speaker downmix settings for au-
ditioning with various speaker configurations. Clicking this button cycles 
through the four downmix 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 downmix presets, Monitor in-
serts, Input Gain and Input Phase controls associated with that Monitor 
set.
18.Listen Enable for Output
This turns on Listen bus functions for either the Control Room or Head-
phone output. If this is not enabled, the Listen bus will not be routed to 
that channel.
19.Listen Level for Output
This level adjustment determines how loud Listen bus signals are when 
routed to the Control Room or Headphone output. 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.
22.Channel labels
These labels reflect the names created in the VST Connections window.
23.Talkback amount to Studio
This pop-up fader controls the amount of Talkback signal fed to the output 
of each Studio.
24.Talkback Enable to Studio
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. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
25.Metronome Level and Pan
The Level and Pan controls determine how the Metronome will be heard 
in each channel. These controls are independent for each channel.
26.Activate Metronome Click
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 ex-
ternal input is currently being used. The names for each external input are 
displayed here as they were created in the VST Connections window.
29.Signal Presence Indicators
In the Preferences dialog, there is an option to display these Signal Pres-
ence 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 Front Channels
This button solos all front speakers.
33.Solo Left and Right Channels
This button solos the left and right channels.
34.Solo Rear Channels
This solos all rear channels.
35.Cancel Speaker Solo
This button defeats all speaker solos, resetting them to normal playback.
36.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.
37.Listen to Rear Channels on Front Monitors
This button solos the rear channels and routes them to the front 
speakers.
38.Open MixConvert Settings
Clicking on this tab opens the MixConvert plug-in used to downmix 
multi-channel signals for monitoring.
39.Downmix labels
This area displays the names of the four downmix presets. You can click 
on a name to change it. A “?” appears when there is no preset defined 
for that downmix.
40.Downmix Preset Selection
With these buttons you can select the downmix preset for the current 
Monitor.
41.Monitor labels
This area displays the names of the four possible Monitors. The names 
are created in the VST Connections window when you define a Monitor 
channel.
42.Monitor selection
With these buttons you can select the current Monitor set. Each Monitor 
has its own settings including downmix preset, solo enables, inserts, in-
put gain and input phase. These settings are automatically recalled when 
a Monitor is selected.
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 in 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 con-
trols, the channel configuration and the name of each 
channel (“routing view”). 
30.
31.
37. 34.
36.
38.
39.
41.
42. 40. 35. 33.
32. 
						

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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 112.
Control Room inserts and meters
In the extended view of the Control Room Mixer the meters 
are visible. They function the same way as the ones in the 
Project Mixer.
When you click on the Show Meters/Inserts button to the 
right of the meters/inserts display, the view changes to 
show inserts instead of meters. Alternatively, these can 
also be displayed by deactivating the Show Meters option 
on the Window submenu of the Control Room Mixer con-
text menu.
Each Control Room channel has a set of inserts configured 
as six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts. External inputs 
and Monitor channels only have the six pre-fader inserts.
The extended view with the Show Inserts/Meters button highlighted
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 indicates signal presence for all inputs.
Control Room Mixer channels with active Signal Presence indicators
Inserts for external inputs
Each external input has its own set of six inserts. By click-
ing the button next to the name of an external input at the 
left of the Mixer window the inserts associated with that 
channel are displayed in the extended view.
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 in the bottom right sec-
tion of the Control Room Mixer. Click once on the TALK 
button to activate the Talkback system. The inserts for ex-
ternal inputs are now replaced with the Talkback inserts. 
Once the Talkback is disabled, the view reverts 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 multi-channel 
speaker system and ensure that the proper channels are 
routed to each speaker.
!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.
!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. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
Just below the configuration display, all settings for auto-
matic downmixing of multi-channel sources are shown. 
There are four downmix presets. Some will automatically be 
configured for the sets of monitors you have defined. Each 
preset is adjustable with the MixConvert plug-in, which you 
access by clicking the small arrow icon above the Downmix 
Presets section.
The Downmix Presets section
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 downmix 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 
with some of these functions, create additional Monitors for 
every 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.
!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. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
Control Room preferences
There are several preferences for the Control Room Mixer. 
These are found in the Preferences dialog (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.
The other preferences have the following functionality:
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 mode. It is advisable to set the Talkback DIM to 
0 dB when using this feature so as not to radically change the mix level 
when punching in and out of record mode.
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 but-
ton) for as long as the Talkback channel is used. When disabled, the cue 
mix level remains the same during Talkback.
Reference Level 
This setting determines the Control Room level used when the Refer-
ence Level button is activated.
Main Dim Volume 
This is the amount of gain reduction applied to the Control Room chan-
nel when the DIM button is activated.
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 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
In the Inspector, a Studio Sends tab can be found. This 
displays 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 select/dese-
lect the corresponding 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”.
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.
2.In the Control Room Mixer, right-click anywhere in a 
Studio Channel’s mixer strip to open the context menu 
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.
A Studio channel in 
the Control Room 
Mixer with its input 
set to Aux. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
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 
be a sum of the left and right channels.
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 arrow buttons or click on 
the numeric 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 -3 dB, then each Studio 
Send level is reduced by 3 dB.
5.Click OK to change the level.
It is possible to view these changes as they occur if you have the Project 
Mixer open and the extended view set to show the Studio Sends.
Using Studio Sends from outputs
Each output also has Studio Sends. Studio Sends from 
the Main Mix output can be used to route the main mix in-
stantly to the Studio output. 
Any level changes made to the main mix are reflected in 
the signal sent by the Studio Send. Setting the level lower 
than 0 dB can leave headroom for “more me” signals in the 
Studio channel output.
Post-Fader Studio Sends
It is also possible to use the Studio Sends as post-fader 
aux sends. This is another way for the cue mix to follow 
changes made to the Main Mix. The Reset function is very 
helpful in this regard.
To reset the Studio Sends to the post-fader default level 
of -6 dB, proceed as follows:
1.Select all the channels you wish to reset.
Studio Send commands only work on selected channels.
!If you deactivate the “Relative Mode” option, all Stu-
dio Sends will be set to the same absolute level. 
While the dialog window is still open, you may check 
the “Relative Mode” box again and reload the previ-
ous relative levels. Only when you click OK, will the 
level settings be made permanent. Choosing Cancel 
returns all Send levels to their previous settings. 
						

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Control Room (Cubase only)
2.In the Studio Channel mixer strip right-click to open 
the context menu. In the Studio submenu, select the “Re-
set Studio Sends” command.
If you open the context menu in other areas of the Control Room Mixer 
besides the Studio mixer strips, the context menu commands will affect 
all Studios at the same time.
3.Selecting the “Reset Studio Sends” option changes 
the Send level of all selected channels to -6 dB and sets 
the signal source to post-fader.
The -6 dB level is designed to allow for headroom for “more me” signals 
in the Studio outputs.
Once all Studio Sends have been set to -6 dB, post-fader, 
any changes to the main mix will also change the Studio 
mix. For “more me” channels, simply turn up the level on 
that channel or even set the signal to pre-fader for abso-
lute control.
Studio Send cue mix summary
Using various combinations of the above techniques 
should allow you to create complex discrete cue mixes for 
performers in very little time. Modifications to these mixes 
can occur in the Project Mixer or the Inspector, giving you 
the most accessibility for quick changes.
To familiarize yourself with how the Studio Sends work, 
open the extended Project Mixer and set the view to the 
Studio Sends. Follow the above examples and watch how 
the Studio Sends react to various commands. This should 
help you get a feel for how they function and increase the 
workflow productivity of recording sessions.
Direct Monitoring and latency
The Control Room and Studio Sends functions use the in-
ternal processing power of the host computer system for 
all routing and processing, which means they are subject 
to the computer’s latency.
When recording with several performers at once, a system 
capable of running at very low ASIO buffer settings will be 
necessary to take full advantage of all the Studio Send 
features. 
Studio Sends are not capable of controlling the Direct 
Monitoring features of various audio hardware interfaces. 
This means that unless the internal latency of the system is 
very low (128 samples or less), monitoring of record-en-
abled tracks through the Studio Sends will have some de-
lay that could affect performers during recording.
In the situation where internal latency is too much for 
record monitoring, it is advisable to use the Studio Sends 
for monitoring of tracks that have already been recorded 
and use normal Direct Monitoring for tracks currently be-
ing recorded. 
						

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Audio effects