Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual
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173 Control Room (Cubase only) Virtual Control Room – The concept The concept behind the Control Room features in Cubase is to divide the studio environment into the performing area (studio) and the engineer/producer area (control room) common to traditional studios. Previously, an analog con - sole or some method of speaker control and monitor rout- ing was necessary to provide this functionality to the DAW environment. With its Control Room Mixer and Control Room Overview features, Cubase provides all the functionality of the ana - log console’s monitoring section, along with many more features, in a virtual, VST-based audio environment 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 auto- matic 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 decoding among other possibilities. • Monitor Dim function with adjustable level. • User-defined Calibrated Monitor level for postproduction mix- ing in a calibrated environment. • 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. 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. 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 performers. The Cubase Control Room Mixer is designed to fill those needs with a simple yet highly flexible solution. The virtual mixing environment of VST is the ideal solution to the var - ied 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. Configuring the Control Room The Control Room features are configured in several loca- tions within Cubase. • The hardware inputs and outputs for the Control Room chan- nels are defined in the VST Connections window on the Stu- dio tab. Here you can also enable and disable the Control Room. • The Control Room Overview gives you a visual overview of the Control Room channels and signal flow. It is opened via the Devices menu. • The Control Room Mixer allows operation of the Control Room features. It can be opened from the Project window toolbar (Media & Mixer Windows section), the Devices menu, or the Studio tab in the VST Connections window. • Some general Control Room settings can be found in the Preferences dialog (VST–Control Room page).
174 Control Room (Cubase only) 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. You can also enable or disable the Control Room and open the Control Room Mixer. The channel width of the Control Room channel is shown in the Configuration field on the top right of the tab. For more information about the VST Connections window, see the chapter “VST Con- nections” on page 25. The Studio tab of the VST Connections window showing several Con- trol Room channels ÖBy default, one stereo Monitor channel is created after installing Cubase. About the Control Room channels There are different 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. Of all Control Room channels only Monitor channels can share hardware inputs or outputs with another bus or chan - nel, as defined in the VST Connections window (see “Add- ing input and output busses” on page 28). As you create connections for each Monitor channel, those device ports that have already been used for other busses or channels are shown in red on the Device Port pop-up menu. If you select a port marked in red, the previous connection of this port is lost. ÖIn order to avoid confusion due to suddenly missing port connections on other tabs, you may want to set all the outputs to “Not Assigned” while the Control Room is be - ing set up. Monitors Each Monitor channel is a set of outputs that are con- nected to monitor speakers in the Control Room. Up to four Monitor channels can be created for the different sets of speakers in a studio. Monitor channels can be config - ured for a mono, stereo or up to 6.0 surround speaker configuration. The Control Room Mixer allows you to switch speakers easily. Each set of Monitors can have its own custom downmix settings, input gain and input phase adjust - ments. Phones The Phones channel is used by the engineer in the control room for checking cue mixes and as another option for lis - tening to the mix or external inputs on a pair of headphones. Furthermore, the Phones channel can be used for preview - ing, see “Control Room preferences” on page 182. It is not intended for cue mixes that performers use while recording. Studios Studio channels are intended for sending cue mixes to performers in the studio during recording. They have talk - back and click functions and can monitor the main mix, ex- ternal inputs or a dedicated cue mix. Up to four Studios can be created allowing four discrete cue mixes for per - formers. For example, if you have two available headphone amplifi- ers for performers to use, create two Studio channels, one for each headphone mix. External inputs External inputs are used for monitoring external devices such as CD players, multi-channel recorders or any other audio source. Up to six external inputs can be created with various configurations from mono up to 6.0 surround. ÖIf you select external inputs as input source of an audio 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 164). Click here to open the Con- trol Room Mixer.The width of the Control Room channel !The Phones channel is stereo only. !Studio channels can either be mono or stereo.
175 Control Room (Cubase only) Talkback The Talkback is a mono input used for a communications system between the control room and performers in the studio. Only one mono Talkback channel is available. The Talkback channel can be routed to each Studio chan- nel with variable levels in order to optimize communication between the control room and performers. ÖAdditionally, the Talkback is available as a possible in- put source for audio tracks. You can record from the Talk- back just like any other input. Creating a Control Room channel To create a new channel for the Control Room, proceed as follows: 1.Open the Studio tab of the VST Connections window and click the Add Channel button. A pop-up menu lists all available channel types along with how many of each type are available. ÖInstead of clicking the Add Channel button you can also select a channel type on the context menu of the Studio tab. 2.Select the type of channel you wish to create. For most channel types a dialog opens, allowing you to choose the con- figuration of the channel (stereo, 5.1, etc.). The new channel is displayed in the VST Connections win- dow. For each audio path an audio device must be se- lected. You can assign device ports to channels in the same fashion as assigning any VST connection. Exclusive assignment of Monitor channels Even though the port assignment to the Control Room channels is generally exclusive, it might be useful to create Monitor channels that share device ports with each other as well as inputs and outputs. 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 au - dio to stereo if needed. Only one monitor set can be active at a time. If your scenario does not require you to assign ports to several Monitor channels, it is recommended to activate the “Exclusive Device Ports for Monitor Channels” option in the Preferences dialog (VST–Control Room page). This way you can make sure that you do not accidentally assign ports to inputs/outputs and Monitor channels at the same time. ÖThe state of the “Exclusive Device Ports for Monitor Channels” preference is saved together with the Control Room presets. Therefore, if you recall a preset, your current setting in the Preferences dialog might be overwritten. Outputs – Main Mix For the Control Room to function correctly, the Main Mix on 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 choose another bus as 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. Selecting an output bus as Main Mix in the VST Connections window. Outputs other than the Main Mix are not routed through the Control Room Mixer. !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. !Note that the port assignments for all Control Room channels except Monitor channels are exclusive, meaning that you cannot assign the same device port to any bus or channel and a Control Room chan - nel at the same time.
176 Control Room (Cubase only) 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 Outputs tab showing the Main Mix and a second surround output that is click enabled. 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 disable the Control Room using the On/Off button on the Studio tab of the VST Connec - tions window. Any channels you have created are saved, and when you enable the Control Room again, that config - uration is reloaded. You can also create presets for the Control Room config- uration in the same manner as for inputs and outputs, see “Presets” on page 29. !The click will only be heard in outputs that are as- signed to device ports. Note that the click can also be routed to device ports using the Control Room features. !Be aware that some audio interfaces allow very flexi- ble routing within the hardware itself. Certain routing configurations can cause overloads and possible damage to speaker equipment. Consult the hard- ware documentation for further information. Click here to disable the Control Room.
177 Control Room (Cubase only) The Control Room Mixer The Control Room Mixer is where you can access all the features of the Control Room. It is designed to display informa- tion and controls only for the channels you have defined in the VST Connections window. For example, if you have not defined any Studio channels, they will not appear in the Control Room Mixer. If you want to see all possible channels, use the Control Room Overview instead (see “The Control Room Overview” on page 185). 1.2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 6. 11. 10. 12. 13. 14. 15. 6.16. 17.18. 19. 26. 20. 21.6. 22. 23. 24. 25. 27.
178 Control Room (Cubase only) 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. In the following each control is briefly described: 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. 3.Channel inserts Each channel in the Control Room Mixer has inserts available. For de- tailed information about inserts in the Control Room Mixer, see “Config- uring the Control Room Mixer” on page 180. 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 additional panels of the Control Room Mixer. By default, the extended panels are hidden. For more information, see “Configuring the Control Room Mixer” on page 180. 7.Control Room and Headphone input selectors These buttons allow you to select input sources for the Control Room and Headphone channels. The choices are External Input, Monitor 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 reference level set in the Preferences dialog, e. g. a level for calibrated mixing envi- ronments such as film dubbing stages. Press [Alt]/[Option] and click this button to set the Reference Level setting in the Preferences dialog 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 signal of a listen-enabled channel is routed to the Control Room channel after applying the fader and pan set - tings (AFL) or before (PFL) (see “Listen mode (Cubase only)” on page 156). 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 channels in context with the Main Mix. If the Listen DIM level is set to minus infinity, you will only hear the listen-enabled channels. 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. The default value can be changed by adjusting the “Main Dim Volume” setting in the Preferences dialog (VST–Control Room page). 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 reduced. This prevents unwanted feedback. If the Talkback DIM level is set to 0 dB, no change occurs 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 inserts, Input Gain, and Input Phase controls associated with that Monitor set. 18.Listen Enable for Output This activates the Listen bus function for either the Control Room or Headphone 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.Activate channel buttons These buttons turn each channel’s output on or off. When lit, the channel is on.
179 Control Room (Cubase only) 21.Channel labels These labels reflect the names entered in the VST Connections window. 22.Talkback Enable to Studio and talkback amount In order for Talkback signals to be routed to a Studio, the Talkback En- able to Studio 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. The value below the button controls the amount of Talkback signal fed to the output of each Studio. 23.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. 24.Activate Metronome Click This determines whether click signals are sent to each channel. When lit, click signals will be heard in that output. 25.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 mix - downs. 26.Studio input selectors For Studio channels, the input choices are External Input, Aux (from Stu- dio Sends), or Monitor Mix. 27.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. 28.External input selectors Up to six external inputs are available. These buttons determine which ex- ternal input is currently being used. The names for the external inputs are displayed here as they were entered in the VST Connections window. The Monitor controls in the Control Room Mixer 29.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. Use the speaker solos to test your multi-channel speaker system and en- sure that the proper channels are routed to each speaker. 30.LFE Solo The “+” icon solos the LFE channel. 31.Solo Left and Right/Front/Rear Channels These buttons solo the left and right channels, the front channels, or the rear channels (from left to right). 32.Cancel Speaker Solo This button defeats all speaker solos, resetting them to normal playback. 33.Listen to Rear Channels on Front Monitors This button solos the rear channels and routes them to the front speakers. 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.Open MixConvert Settings Clicking on this tab opens the MixConvert plug-in used to downmix multi-channel signals for monitoring. With this plug-in you can modify the settings for each downmix preset. Note that you can also double-click in the center of the speaker solo area to open the MixConvert plug-in. 28. 29. 30. 33. 31. 34. 35. 37. 39. 38. 36. 32.
180 Control Room (Cubase only) 36.Downmix Preset Selection With these buttons you can select the downmix preset for the current Monitor. Automatic configuration of the downmix settings follows a logi -cal path. For example, if you have defined one set of 5.1 monitors and an- other set of stereo monitors, Cubase will create a 5.1 to stereo downmix preset and another downmix to mono. 37.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. 38.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. 39.Monitor labels This area displays up to four Monitors. The names are entered in the VST Connections window when you define a Monitor channel. Configuring the Control Room Mixer In order to display more controls in the Control Room Mixer, the small arrows in the lower left and right corners can be clicked to open or close the extended speaker controls on the right (“Show Right Strip”) and the External Input and Talkback controls on the left (“Show Left Strip”). The arrow in the upper right corner of the Control Room Mixer (“Show Extended View”) extends the Mixer vertically to display meters and inserts. A second arrow appears above the inserts and meter display. Extending the Mixer using this arrow (“Show Routing View”) exposes the Input Gain and Input Phase controls, the channel configuration and the name of each channel. Each panel can be closed by clicking the corresponding down arrow. The different Control Room Mixer panels are handled in the same way as the Project Mixer panels, see “Configur- ing the Mixer” on page 148. Control Room inserts and meters In the extended view of the Control Room Mixer the me- ters are visible. They function the same way as the ones in the Project Mixer. When you click the Show Meters/Inserts button to the right of the meters display, the view changes to show inserts in - stead of meters. Alternatively, these can also be displayed by deactivating the Show Meters option on the Window submenu of the Control Room Mixer context menu. Each Control Room channel has a set of inserts configured as six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts. External input channels only have the six pre-fader inserts and Monitor channels have eight inserts (post Control Room fader). If you do not wish to see full sized meters but still want some indication of signal activity, activate the “Signal Presence Indicators” option in the Preferences dialog (VST–Control Room page). They will be displayed next to the input selection buttons and indicate 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 on the left of the Mixer window, the inserts associated with that channel are displayed in the extended view.!You can also use the Window submenu of the Con- trol Room Mixer context menu to show/hide the dif- ferent panels, just as in the Project Mixer.