Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual

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Audio effects
•To bypass all inserts for a track, click the “Bypass In-
serts” button. 
This button can be found on the right of the title bar of the Inserts section 
in the Inspector or the Channel Settings window. It lights up in yellow to 
indicate that the inserts of this track are bypassed. In the track list and 
the channel strip in the Mixer, the Inserts State button will also light up in 
yellow.
Insert effects in the channel overview
If the “Channel” section is selected in the Inspector or the 
“Channel Overview” view mode is selected in the extended 
Mixer, you will get an overview of which insert effects, EQ 
modules and effect sends are activated for the channel.
You can activate or deactivate individual insert effect slots 
by clicking the corresponding number (in the top part of 
the overview).
The channel overview in the Inspector
Using effects in multi-channel configurations 
(Cubase only)
Whether an effect plug-in supports mono, stereo, or multi-
channel processing depends on the capabilities of the cor
-
responding plug-in. Regardless of this, all VST2 and VST3 
plug-ins can be inserted on tracks with a multi-channel 
configuration. Surround-capable plug-ins are applied to all 
speaker channels (or a subset of these), while mono or ste
-
reo effects can only process one or two channels.
For example, if you insert a plug-in on a 5.1 track, Cubase 
tries to apply a 5.1 configuration to this plug-in. If the plug-
in is surround capable, this is accepted. However, if you in
-
sert a stereo insert effect, the first speaker channels of the 
track (L and R) are routed through the effect’s available 
channels, and the other channels of the track are left un
-
processed. To apply the effect to other speaker channels, 
you can use the Routing Editor, which can be opened via 
the Channel Settings window.
Using the Routing Editor
To open the Routing Editor, proceed as follows:
1.Open the Channel Settings window for the track on 
which the effect is inserted.
2.On the Channel Settings context menu, open the 
“Customize View” submenu and select the “Insert Rout
-
ing” option.
The “Insert Routing” section is displayed. It contains a signal diagram.
3.Double-click on the diagram.
The Routing Editor opens.
The blue color of inserts 1 and 2 and the 
blue Inserts State button in the channel strip 
indicate that this track has active inserts. 
						

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Audio effects
The columns in the diagram represent the channels in the 
current configuration, with signals passing from top to 
bottom. The gray field in the middle represents the actual 
effect plug-in.
• The squares above the effect represent inputs to the effect 
plug-in.
• The squares below the effect represent outputs from the ef-
fect plug-in.
• A line that passes through the effect (with no square input/
output indicators) represent a bypass connection – the audio 
on that speaker channel passes the effect without being pro
-
cessed.
• A “broken” line indicates a broken connection – the audio on 
that speaker channel will not be sent to the output at all.
Here, the effect will process the L and R channels. The Ls, Rs, and C 
channels are not processed, while the Lfe connection is broken.
Operations
You can change the input/output assignment of the chan-
nels by moving connections to the left or right. To do this, 
use the arrow buttons to the right.
•The upper arrow buttons move the input connections, 
and the lower arrow buttons move the output connections.
If the Link checkbox is activated, the input and output connections are al-ways moved together. This is the mode to use when you simply want to 
process other channels than the default.
•If you move inputs or outputs independently, you create 
a “cross-connection”.
The audio on the Ls-Rs channels is processed in the plug-in and output 
on the L-R channels. Since the L-R channels are bypassed, this means 
the final L-R output will contain both the original L-R signals and the 
processed Ls-Rs signals.
•If a channel is bypassed (a straight line is shown through 
the plug-in), you can click on the line to break the connec
-
tion.
Click again to replace the broken connection with a bypass.
•Clicking Reset takes you back to the original setup.
ÖChanges you make in this editor are audible immedi-
ately.
Adding insert effects to busses
All input and output busses have eight insert slots, just like 
regular audio channels. The procedures for adding insert 
effects are the same.
•Adding insert effects to an input bus allows you to re-
cord with effects.
The effects will become a permanent part of the recorded audio file (see 
the chapter “Recording” on page 89).
•Insert effects added to an output bus will affect all audio 
routed to that bus, like a “master insert effect”.
Typically you would add compressors, limiters, EQ or other plug-ins to 
tailor the dynamics and sound of the final mix. Dithering is a special case, 
as described below.
Input and output busses only appear as tracks in the track 
list after their automation Write buttons have been activated 
at least once. Only then will you be able to make Inserts set
-
tings for the corresponding busses in the Inspector section. 
However, you can always make Inserts settings in the 
Channel Settings window and the extended Mixer panel.  
						

							193
Audio effects
Dithering
Dithering is a method for controlling the noise produced 
by quantization errors in digital recordings. The theory be
-
hind this is that during low level passages, only a few bits 
are used to represent the signal, which leads to quantiza
-
tion errors and hence distortion. 
For example, when “truncating bits”, as a result of moving 
from 24 to 16 bit resolution, quantization errors are added 
to an otherwise immaculate recording. By adding a spe
-
cial kind of noise at an extremely low level, the effect of 
these errors is minimized. The added noise could be per
-
ceived as a very low-level hiss under exacting listening 
conditions. However, this is hardly noticeable and much 
preferred to the distortion that otherwise occurs.
When should I use dithering?
•Consider dithering when you mix down to a lower reso-
lution, either in realtime (during playback) or with the Ex-
port Audio Mixdown function. 
A typical example is when you mix down a project to a 16-bit stereo au-
dio file for audio CD burning.
What is a “lower resolution” then? Well, Cubase uses 32-
bit float resolution internally, which means that all integer 
resolutions (16 bit, 24 bit, etc.) are lower. The negative ef
-
fects of truncation (no dithering) are most noticeable when 
mixing down to 8 bit, 16 bit and 20 bit format; whether to 
dither when mixing down to 24 bits is a matter of taste.
Applying dithering
1.Open the VST Output Channel Settings window by 
clicking the “e” button for the Output channel in the Mixer.
You can also display the Inserts section in the extended Mixer pane.
2.Open the Inserts pop-up menu for slot 7 or 8.
The two last Insert effect slots (for all channels) are post-fader, which is 
crucial for a dithering plug-in. The reason is that any master gain change 
applied after dithering would bring the signal back to the internal 32 bit 
float domain, rendering the dithering settings useless.
3.Select the included UV22HR plug-in from the pop-up 
menu.
The included dithering plug-ins and their parameters are described in the 
separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”. If you have installed an-
other dithering plug-in that you prefer, you can of course select this in-
stead.
4.Make sure that the plug-in is set to dither to the cor-
rect resolution.
This would be the resolution of your audio hardware (on playback) or the 
desired resolution for the mixdown file you want to create (as set in the 
Export Audio Mixdown dialog, see the chapter 
“Export Audio Mixdown” on page 484).
5.Use the other parameters in the control panel to set up 
the dithering to your liking.
Using group channels for insert effects
Like all other channels, group channels can have up to 
eight insert effects. This is useful if you have several audio 
tracks that you want to process through the same effect 
(e.
 g. different vocal tracks that you want to be processed 
by the same compressor). 
Another special use for group channels and effects is the 
following:
If you have a mono audio track and want to process this 
through a stereo insert effect (e.
 g. a stereo chorus or an 
auto panner device), you cannot just insert the effect as 
usual. This is because the audio track is in mono – the 
output of the insert effect will be in mono as well, and the 
stereo information from the effect will be lost.
One solution is to route a send from the mono track to a 
stereo FX channel track, set the send to pre-fader mode 
and lower the fader completely for the mono audio track. 
However, this makes mixing the track cumbersome, since 
you cannot use the fader.
Here is another solution:
1.Create a group channel track in stereo and route it to 
the desired output bus.
2.Add the desired effect to the group channel as an in-
sert effect.
3.Route the mono audio track to the group channel.
Now the signal from the mono audio track is sent directly 
to the group, where it passes through the insert effect, in 
stereo. 
						

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Audio effects
Freezing (rendering) insert effects for a track
Effect plug-ins can sometimes require a lot of processor 
power. If you are using a large number of insert effects for 
a track, you may reach a point where the computer cannot 
play back the track properly (the CPU overload indicator 
in the VST Performance window lights up, you get crack
-
ling sounds, etc.).
To remedy this, you can freeze the track, by clicking the 
Freeze button in the Inspector.
•The Freeze Channel Options dialog opens, allowing you 
to set a “Tail Size” time in seconds.
This adds time at the end of the rendered file to allow reverb and delay 
tails to fully fade out.
•The program now renders the output of the track, in-
cluding all pre-fader insert effects, to an audio file.
This file is placed in the “Freeze” folder within the Project folder (Win-
dows). On the Mac, the Freeze folder is stored under “User/Documents”.
•The frozen audio track is locked for editing in the Project 
window.
The frozen insert effects cannot be edited or removed and you cannot 
add new insert effects for the track (except post-fader effects).
•On playback, the rendered audio file is played back. 
You can still adjust the level and panning in the Mixer, 
make EQ settings and adjust the effect sends.
In the Mixer, the channel strip for a frozen track is indicated by a “snow 
flake” symbol on the volume fader handle.
After freezing the Inserts for a track, you hear the track 
play back as before but the insert effects do not have to 
be calculated in real time, easing the load on the computer 
processor. Typically, you would freeze a track when it is 
finished and you do not need to edit it anymore.
•You can only freeze audio tracks this way, not group 
channel tracks or FX channel tracks.
•The last two insert effects will not be frozen. This is 
because these are post-fader insert slots.
•You can also freeze VST instruments and their insert 
effects – see the chapter 
“VST instruments and instru-
ment tracks” on page 206.
Unfreezing
If you need to edit the events on a frozen track or make 
settings for the insert effects, you can unfreeze the track:
1.Click the Freeze button in the Inspector for the track.
You will be asked whether you really want to unfreeze the channel and if 
you wish to keep or delete the freeze files.
2.Click “Unfreeze” or “Keep Freeze files”.
This reactivates the frozen insert effects. Clicking “Keep Freeze Files” 
will unfreeze the channel but not delete the freeze files. After editing, you 
can freeze the track again.
Send effects
Background
As their name implies, send effects are outside of an audio 
channel’s signal path, i.
 e. the audio data to be processed 
must be sent to the effect (as opposed to insert effects, 
which are inserted into the channel’s signal path).
To this end, Cubase provides FX channel tracks. When 
you have created such a track, it is added to the track list 
and can be selected as a routing target in the Send slots 
of audio channels.
•When selecting an FX channel track in one of the send 
slots of an audio channel, the audio is sent to the FX chan
-
nel and through any insert effects set up for it.
The sends can be routed to different FX channels, and thus different FX 
channel insert effect configurations. You control the amount of signal 
sent to the FX channel by adjusting the effect send level.
•If you have added several effects to the FX channel, the 
signal passes through the effects in series, from the top 
(the first slot) downward.
This allows for “custom” send effect configurations – e. g. a chorus fol-
lowed by a reverb followed by an EQ and so on.
•The FX channel track has its own channel strip in the 
Mixer, the effect return channel.
Here you can adjust the effect return level and balance, add EQ and 
route the effect return to any output bus.
•Each FX channel track can have any number of automa-
tion tracks, for automating various effect parameters. 
See the chapter “Automation” on page 227 for more information. 
						

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Audio effects
Setting up send effects
Adding an FX channel track
1.Pull down the Project menu, open the “Add Track” 
submenu and select “FX Channel”.
A dialog opens.
2.Select a channel configuration for the FX channel 
track.
Normally, stereo is a good choice since most effect plug-ins have stereo 
outputs.
3.Select an effect for the FX channel track.
This is not strictly necessary at this point – you can also leave the plug-in 
pop-up menu set to “No Effect” and add effects to the FX channel later.
4.Click the Add Track button.
An FX channel track is added to the track list, and the selected effect, if 
any, is loaded into the first insert effect slot for the FX channel (in that 
case, the lit Inserts tab for the FX channel track in the Inspector indicates 
that an effect has been assigned and automatically activated).
•All FX channel tracks you create will appear in a dedi-
cated “folder” track in the track list.
This makes it easy to manage and keep track of all your FX channel 
tracks, and also allows you to save screen space by folding in the FX 
Channel folder.
FX channel tracks are automatically named “FX 1”, “FX 2” etc., but you 
can rename them if you wish. Just double-click the name of an FX chan-
nel track in either the track list or the Inspector and type in a new name.
Adding and setting up effects
As mentioned above, you can add a single insert effect 
when you create the FX channel track. To add and set up 
effects after the FX channel track is created, you can ei
-
ther use the Inspector for the track (click the Inserts tab) 
or the VST FX Channel Settings window:
1.Click the Edit (“e”) button for the FX channel track (in 
the track list, Mixer or Inspector).
The VST FX Channel Settings window appears, similar to a regular 
Channel Settings window.
On the left in the window you can find the Inserts section.
2.Make sure that the FX channel is routed to the correct 
output bus.
This is done with the Output Routing pop-up menu at the top of the fader 
section (also available in the Mixer and Inspector).
3.To add an insert effect in an empty slot (or to replace 
the current effect in a slot), click in the slot and select an 
effect from the pop-up menu.
This works just like when selecting insert effects for a regular audio 
channel.
4.When you add an effect, its control panel will automat-
ically appear. When you set up send effects, you normally 
set the wet/dry Mix control to all “wet”.
This is because you control the balance between the wet and the dry sig-
nal with the effect sends. For more information, see “Editing effects” on 
page 200.
•You can add up to eight effects for an FX channel.
The signal will pass through all the effects in series. It is not possible to 
adjust the send and return levels separately for the effects – this is done 
for the FX channel as a whole. If you want several separate send effects 
(where you can control the send and return levels independently), add 
more FX channel tracks instead – one for each effect.
•You can reorder the effects by clicking in the area above 
the name field and dragging the effect onto another slot. 
						

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Audio effects
•You can copy an effect into another effect slot (for the 
same channel or between channels) by holding down [Ctrl]/
[Command] and dragging it onto another effect slot.
•To remove an insert effect from a slot, click in the slot 
and select “No Effect” from the pop-up menu.
To reduce the CPU load, do this for all effects that you do not intend to 
use.
•You can bypass individual effects (or all effects) by 
clicking the corresponding Bypass button(s) for the FX 
channel track.
See “Routing an audio channel or bus through insert effects” on page 190.
•You can also adjust level, pan and EQ for the effect re-
turn in the FX Channel Settings window.
This can also be done in the Mixer or in the Inspector.
ÖRemember that the more effect units you use, the 
higher the CPU load.
Making settings for the sends
The next step is to set up a send for an audio channel and 
route it to the FX channel. This can be done in the Mixer (in 
the extended panel), in the Channel Settings window, or in 
the Inspector for the audio track. The example below 
shows the Channel Settings window, but the procedure is 
similar for all the sections:
1.Click the “e” button for an audio channel to bring up 
its Channel Settings window.
The send section is located to the left of the channel strip. 
Each of the sends has the following controls:
• An On/Off button for activating/deactivating the effect
• A send level slider
• A pre/post-fader switch
•An “e” (edit) button
Note that the last three items are not shown until the send 
is activated and an effect has been loaded.
2.Pull down the Routing pop-up menu for a send by 
clicking in the empty slot, and select the desired routing 
destination.
• If the first item on this menu (“No Bus”) is selected, the send is 
not routed anywhere.
• Items called “FX 1”, “FX 2” etc. correspond to existing FX 
tracks. If you renamed an FX track (see 
“Adding an FX channel 
track” on page 195), that name will appear on this menu in-
stead of the default.
• The menu also allows for routing a send directly to output bus-
ses, separate output bus channels or Group channels.
•Cubase only: You can apply or remove a send to or from 
all the selected channels at once by holding down [Shift]-
[Alt]/[Option] and selecting the desired effect from any of 
the effect slots.
3.Select an FX channel track from the pop-up menu.
Now the send is routed to the FX channel.
4.Activate the On/Off button for the effect send.
Cubase only: If you hold down [Shift]-[Alt]/[Option] when clicking the but-ton, you activate or deactivate this effect slot for all selected channels.
5.Click and drag the send level slider to a moderate 
value.
The send level determines how much of the signal from the audio chan-
nel is routed to the FX channel via the send.
Setting the Send level. 
						

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Audio effects
•In the Fader section of the Channel Settings window, 
select the FX channel from the pop-up menu and adjust 
its effect return level.
By adjusting the return level, you control the amount of the signal sent 
from the FX channel to the output bus.
Setting the effect return level.
6.If you want the signal to be sent to the FX channel be-
fore the audio channel’s volume fader in the Mixer, click on 
the Pre-Fader button for the send so that it lights up.
A send set to pre-fader mode.
Normally you want the effect send to be proportional to 
the channel volume (post-fader send). The picture below 
shows where the sends are “tapped” from the signal in 
pre and post-fader mode:
ÖUse the channel’s Mute button to determine whether a 
send in pre-fader mode is affected. This is done with the 
“Mute Pre-Send when Mute” option in the Preferences di
-
alog (VST page).
•When one or several sends are activated for a channel, 
the Send Effects buttons light up in blue.
ÖCubase only: The FX channels themselves have 
sends, too.
Bypassing the sends
•In the Mixer, you can click on the lit (blue) Sends State 
button for a channel to bypass (disable) all its sends.
When the sends are bypassed, the button is yellow. Click the button 
again to enable the sends.
•To bypass all sends for a track, click the “Bypass 
Sends” button. 
This button can be found on the right of the title bar of the Sends section 
in the Inspector or the Channel Settings window. It lights up in yellow to 
indicate that the inserts of this track are bypassed. In the track list and 
the channel strip in the Mixer, the Sends State button will also light up in 
yellow.
•You can also bypass individual sends in the channel 
overview.
See “Insert effects in the channel overview” on page 191.
•You can also bypass the send effects by clicking the 
“Bypass Inserts” button for the FX channel.
This bypasses the actual effects which may be used by several different 
channels. Bypassing a send affects that send and that channel only. If 
you bypass the insert effects, the original sound will be passed through. 
This may lead to unwanted side effects (higher volume). To deactivate all 
effects, use the mute button in the FX channel.
Setting pan for the sends (Cubase only)
There are several possibilities to set up pan for the sends:
•To position the send signal at center pan in the stereo 
FX channel (or anywhere you like), route a send from a 
mono channel to a stereo FX channel track.
Insert effects 1–6
EQ
Volume (fader)
Pre-fader sends
Post-fader sends
Insert effects 7–8Input gain 
						

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Audio effects
•To use the pan control as a crossfader, determining the 
balance between the stereo sides when the stereo send 
signal is mixed to mono, route a send from a stereo chan
-
nel to a mono FX channel track.
•To use the surround panner to position the send signal 
in the surround image, route a send from a mono or stereo 
channel to an FX channel track in surround format.
You set up send panning in the following way:
1.Open the Channel Settings window for the audio 
channel.
2.Right-click somewhere in the Channel Settings win-
dow (not the EQ display), to open the context menu and 
open the Customize View submenu.
3.From the submenu, select “Send Routing” and “Con-
trol Strip”.
In the Send Routing section of the Channel Settings window, each send 
is shown as a small routing diagram showing a pre/post selector to the 
right and a pan fader (where applicable). In the Control Strip section, you 
can activate the “Send Routing Panners follow Channel Panner” option. 
The send panners will then follow the pan for the channel, making the 
stereo imaging as clear and true as possible. This behavior can also be 
set as default for all channels. The corresponding setting is available in 
the Preferences dialog (VST page). 
The Sends, Send Routing, and Control Strip sections in the Channel Set-
tings window
4.Click and drag the pan control for the desired send(s) 
in the display.
You can reset the pan control to the center position by [Ctrl]/[Com-mand]-clicking on the pan control.
•If the FX channel is configured in a surround format, the 
pan control will be a miniature surround panner, similar to 
the one found in the Mixer.
You can click and drag the “ball” in the miniature panner display to posi-tion the send in the surround field, or double-click in the display to bring 
up the surround panner. See the chapter 
“Surround sound (Cubase 
only)” on page 217 for details.
ÖIf both the send (the audio channel) and the FX chan-
nel are in mono, the pan control is not available.
Using the side-chain input
Many VST 3.0 effects feature a side-chain input. Side-
chaining allows you, for example, to lower the music vol
-
ume when someone is speaking (“ducking”) or to use 
compression (e.
 g. on a bass sound) when the drums are 
hit, thereby “harmonizing” the intensity of the two instru
-
ments. Another possibility is to use the side-chain signal 
as a source for modulation.
The effect types which feature side-chain functionality are 
Delay, Dynamics, Modulation, and Filter.
ÖCertain combinations of tracks and side-chain inputs 
may lead to feedback loops and added latency. If this is 
the case, the side-chain options will not be available.
Creating a Ducking delay
The delay repeats can be silenced by side-chain signals 
exceeding a certain threshold.
You can use this feature to create a so-called “ducking 
delay” for your vocals. Let’s say you want to add a delay 
effect that is audible only when no signal is present on the 
vocal track. For this, you need to set up a delay effect 
which is deactivated every time the vocals start again.
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the vocal track. 
2.On the Project menu, select “Duplicate Tracks”.
Now you can use the vocal events on the second track to silence the de-
lay effect.
Send Routing Panners 
follow Channel Panner
!For detailed descriptions of the plug-ins that feature 
side-chaining, see the separate PDF document 
“Plug-in Reference”. 
						

							199
Audio effects
3.Open the Inserts tab for the first Vocal track in the In-
spector and select “PingPongDelay” from the Effects 
pop-up menu.
The control panel for the effect opens.
4.On the control panel for the effect, make the desired 
effect settings and activate the Side-Chain button.
Try out the effect settings to find out which settings will work best with 
your project. For detailed descriptions of the parameters, see the sepa
-
rate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”.
5.In the track list, select the second vocal track.
6.Pull down the Output Routing pop-up menu and on 
the Side-Chain submenu, select the PingPongDelay ef
-
fect you set up for the vocal track.
This way, the signals from the second (duplicate) track are routed to the 
effect (and do not end up in the mix).
Now every time the signals on the vocal track exceed the 
threshold, the delay will be deactivated. Since the thres
-
hold for the delay effect is fixed, you may have to adjust 
the volume of track 2, in this example, to ensure that vocal 
parts of low or middle volume will also silence the delay 
effect.
Triggering a compressor using side-chain 
signals
Compression, expansion or gating can be triggered by 
side-chain signals exceeding a specified threshold.
You may run into a situation where you want to lower the 
volume of one instrument every time another instrument is 
played. For example, you may want to lower the volume of 
the bass guitar during the bass drum hits. This can be 
achieved by applying compression to the bass guitar sig
-
nal every time the drum signals are present on the respec-
tive track.
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the bass guitar track.
2.Open the Inserts tab in the Inspector, click in an insert 
slot to open the effect selection pop-up menu and, on the 
Dynamics submenu, select “Compressor”.
The effect is loaded into the effect slot and the effect control panel opens. 
3.Make the desired effect settings (you will most likely 
have to adjust them later to get the right compression 
level) and activate the Side-Chain button.
4.Select the bass drum track. 
5.Open the Sends Inspector section, click in a send slot 
and from the Side-Chain submenu, select the Compres
-
sor effect you created for the bass guitar track. Adjust the 
Send level.
This way, the bass drum signal triggers the compressor on the bass gui-
tar track.
When you now play back the project, the bass guitar will 
be compressed whenever the signals on the bass drum 
track exceed the threshold.
Side-chain and Modulation
Side-chain signals bypass the built-in LFO modulation 
and instead apply modulation according to the envelope 
of the side-chain signal. Since each channel will be ana
-
lyzed and modulated separately, this allows for creating 
astonishing spatial modulation effects. Feel free to experi
-
ment with the functions to see what they have to offer! 
						

							200
Audio effects
About drag & drop
When you drag effects from one insert slot to another (on 
the same channel or between different channels), the fol
-
lowing applies:
• When you move an effect within a channel (e. g. from slot 4 to 
slot 6), the side-chain connections will be kept.
• When you drag and drop an effect between two channels, the 
side-chain connections will not be kept.
• When copying an effect into another effect slot (for the same 
or a different channel), the side-chain connections will not be 
copied, i.
 e. they will be lost.
Using external effects (Cubase only)
Although this program comes with a top selection of VST 
effect plug-ins, and although there is a huge range of ad
-
ditional plug-ins available on the market, you may still have 
some hardware effect units that you want to use – valve 
compressors, reverb units, vintage tape echo machines, 
etc. By setting up external FX busses you can make your 
outboard equipment part of the Cubase virtual studio!
An external FX bus is a combination of outputs (sends) 
and inputs (returns) on your audio hardware, along with a 
few additional settings. All external FX busses you have 
created will appear on the effect pop-up menus and can 
be selected like the internal effect plug-ins. The difference 
is that if you select an external effect as an insert effect for 
an audio track, the audio will be sent to the corresponding 
audio output, processed in your hardware effect (provided 
that you have connected it properly) and returned via the 
specified audio input.
ÖCreating and handling of external effects is described 
in detail in the chapter 
“VST Connections” on page 25.
Editing effects
All inserts and sends have an Edit (“e”) button. Clicking 
this opens the control panel for the effect, in which you 
can make parameter settings.
The contents, design and layout of the control panel de-
pends on the selected effect. However, all effect control 
panels have an On/Off button, a Bypass button, Read/
Write automation buttons (for automating effect parame
-
ter changes, see the chapter “Automation” on page 227), 
a preset pop-up menu and a Preset Management pop-up 
menu for saving and loading effect presets. Some plug-ins 
also feature a side-chain button, see 
“Using the side-
chain input” on page 198.
The Rotary effect control panel
•All effects can be edited using a simplified control panel 
(horizontal sliders only, no graphics). This generic editor is 
opened using the pop-up menu in the top right corner of 
the plug-in panel.
Effect control panels may have any combination of knobs, 
sliders, buttons and graphic curves. 
ÖThe included effects and their parameters are de-
scribed in detail in the separate PDF document “Plug-in 
Reference”.
•If you edit the parameters for an effect, these settings 
are saved automatically with the project.
•You can also save the current settings as a preset, see 
below.
•Effects parameters can be automated – see the chapter 
“Automation” on page 227.
Effect presets
Effect preset management in Cubase is very versatile. In 
the MediaBay – or with certain limits in the Save Preset di
-
alog – you can assign attributes to presets which allow 
you to organize and browse them according to various cri
-
teria. Cubase comes with a huge array of categorized 
track and VST presets that you can use straight out of the 
box. You can also preview effect presets before loading 
them which considerably speeds up the process of find
-
ing the right effect preset.
Effect presets can be divided into the following main 
categories:
•VST presets for a plug-in
These are stored parameter settings for a specific effect.