Steinberg Cubase Essential 4 Operation Manual

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Working with the Tempo track
Using Tap Tempo
The Tap Tempo function allows you to specify a tempo by 
tapping:
1.Open the Beat Calculator.
2.If you want to tap the tempo to some recorded material, 
activate playback.
3.Click the Tap Tempo button.
The Tap Tempo window appears.
4.Tap the tempo on the computer keyboard’s space bar 
or with the mouse button.
The tempo display will update the calculated tempo between each tap.
5.When you stop tapping, the program calculates the 
average timing of the taps and displays it.
6.Click OK to close the Tap Tempo dialog.
The tapped tempo is now shown in the Beat Calculator’s BPM display. If 
you like, you can insert it into the Tempo track as described above. 
						

							26
Export Audio Mixdown 
						

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Export Audio Mixdown
Introduction
The Export Audio Mixdown function in Cubase Essential 
allows you to mix down audio from the program to a file on 
your hard disk. You always mix down an output bus. For 
example, if you have set up a stereo mix with tracks routed 
to a stereo output bus, mixing down that output bus would 
give you a mixdown file containing the whole mix.
Please note the following:
The Export Audio Mixdown function mixes down the 
area between the left and right locators.
When you mix down, you get what you hear – mutes, 
mixer settings and insert effects are taken into account.
Note though that you will only include the sound of the bus you select for 
mixdown.
MIDI tracks are not included in the mixdown!
To make a complete mixdown containing both MIDI and audio, you first 
need to record all your MIDI music to audio tracks (by connecting the 
outputs of your MIDI instruments to your audio inputs and recording, as 
with any other sound source).
A single instrument track can be directly exported as an 
audio mixdown.
Mixing down to an audio file
1.Set up the left and right locators to encompass the 
section you want to mix down.
2.Set up your tracks, so that they play back the way you 
want.
This includes muting unwanted tracks or parts, making manual mixer set-
tings and/or activating the R (Read) automation buttons for some or all 
mixer channels.
3.Pull down the File menu and select “Audio Mixdown…” 
from the Export submenu.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog appears.
The available settings and options differ depending on the 
selected file format (see “The available file formats” on 
page 274).
4.In the File Location section at the top you can specify 
a name and path for the mixdown file.
Note that there are a number of options:
 Click the Options/Functions button to the right of the File 
Name field to open a pop-up menu.
 Select an entry from the Recent Paths sub-menu to reuse a 
path specified for a previous export.
 Select “Set File Name to Project Name” to use the project 
name for the export file.
 Enable the “Auto Update File Name” option (so that a check 
mark is displayed before it) to add a number to the specified 
file name every time you click the Export button.
 Activate the option “Use Project Audio Folder” to specify a 
path. This saves the mixdown file in the Project Audio folder.
5.Select a file format with the File Format pop-up menu.
6.Select the bus you want to mix down with the Outputs 
pop-up menu in the “Audio Engine Output” section.
This lists all output busses in the active project.
7.Activate the Split Channels option if you want to ex-
port all channels as mono files, or “Mono Export” if you 
want to export all channels as a single mono file.  
						

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Export Audio Mixdown
8.Make additional settings for the file to be created.
This includes selecting sample rate, bit depth, etc. The available options 
depend on the selected file format – see “The available file formats” on 
page 274.
9.If you want to automatically import the resulting audio 
file back into Cubase Essential, activate the checkboxes in 
the “Import into project” section.
If you activate the “Pool” checkbox, a clip referring to the file will appear 
in the Pool. Activating the “Audio Track” checkbox as well, will create an 
audio event that plays the clip, and place it on a new audio track, starting 
at the left locator.
ÖThe Import options are only available if you have se-
lected an uncompressed file format.
10.If you activate Update Display, the meters will be up-
dated during the export process.
This allows you to check for clipping, for example.
11.Click Export.
A dialog with a progress bar is displayed while the audio file 
is created. If you change your mind during the file creation, 
you can click the Abort button to abort the operation.
If the option “Close dialog after export” is activated, the 
dialog will be closed, otherwise it will be left open.
If you have activated any of the “Import into project” op-
tions, the file will be imported back into the project.
When playing back the re-imported file in Cubase Essential, remember 
to mute the original tracks so that you really hear the correct file.
About the Import options dialog
If you activate any of the options in the Import section, the 
Import Options dialog will open when the export is com-
plete. For a detailed description of the options in this dia-
log see “Import Medium…” on page 179. 
The available file formats
The following pages describe the different export file for-
mats, as well as their options and settings.
 AIFF files (see “AIFF files” on page 274).
 AIFC files (see “AIFC files” on page 275).
 Wave files (see “Wave files” on page 275).
 Broadcast Wave files (see “Broadcast Wave files” on page 
275).
 Ogg Vorbis files (see “Ogg Vorbis files” on page 275). Windows Media Audio files (Windows only, see “Windows 
Media Audio files (Windows only)” on page 276).
MP3 export is available upon upgrade of Cubase Essen-
tial. Please contact your vendor for details.
AIFF files
AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format, a standard 
defined by Apple Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” 
and are used on most computer platforms.
For AIFF files the following options are available:
Option Description
File Name
(File Location 
section)In this field you can enter a name for the mixdown file.
Path
(File Location 
section)Here you can specify a path where you want the mix-
down to be saved. 
Use Project 
Audio Folder
(File Location 
section)If you activate this option, the mixdown file is saved in 
the Project Audio folder, as opposed to the specified 
path.
File Format pop-
up menu (File 
Format section)From this pop-up menu you can select the file format 
for the export, in this case “AIFF File”.
Insert Broadcast 
Wave Chunk 
(File Format
section)This allows you to include information about the date 
and time of creation, a timecode position (allowing you 
to insert exported audio at the correct position in other 
projects, etc.) along with author, description and refer-
ence text strings in the exported file. 
Some applications may not be able to handle files with 
embedded info – if you get problems using the file in 
another application, turn off the option and re-export.
Edit button (File 
Format section)By clicking this button the “Broadcast Wave Chunk” 
dialog opens where you can enter additional informa-
tion that will be embedded in the exported files. Note 
that in the Preferences (Record–Audio–Broadcast 
Wave page) you can enter default text strings for au-
thor, description and reference that will automatically 
be displayed in the “Broadcast Wave Chunk” dialog.
Outputs pop-up 
menu (Audio 
Engine Output 
section)This menu lists all output busses and channels in the 
active project. Simply select the bus or channel you 
want to mix down.
Mono Export 
(Audio Engine 
Output section)If you activate this option, the exported audio is mixed 
down to mono.
Split Channels 
(Audio Engine 
Output section)Activate this option if you want to export all channels 
as mono files.
Update Display
(Audio Engine 
Output section)If you activate this option, the meters will be updated 
during the export process. This allows you to check for 
clipping, for example.  
						

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Export Audio Mixdown
AIFC files
AIFC stands for Audio Interchange File Format Com-
pressed, a standard defined by Apple Inc. These files sup-
port compression ratios as high as 6:1 and contain tags in 
the header. AIFC files have the extension “.aifc” and are 
used on most computer platforms. 
AIFC files support the same options as AIFF files.
Wave files
Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are the most 
common file format on the PC platform. 
Wave files support the same options as AIFF files.
Broadcast Wave files
Concerning audio, Broadcast Wave files are the same as 
regular Wave files, but without compression. To create a 
Broadcast Wave file, select Wave as the file format and ac-
tivate the Insert Broadcast Wave Chunk option. Click Edit if 
you wish to edit the chunk information, otherwise the de-
faults as specified in the Preferences (Record–Audio–
Broadcast Wave page) will be used. Broadcast Wave files 
have the extension “.wav”.
Broadcast Wave files support the same options as AIFF 
files.
Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is an open source, patent-free audio encoding 
and streaming technology, offering compressed audio files 
(extension “.ogg”) of small size, but with comparatively high 
audio quality.
For Ogg Vorbis files the following options are available:
Sample Rate 
(Audio Engine 
Output section)This setting determines the frequency range of the ex-
ported audio – the lower the sample rate, the lower the 
highest audible frequency in the audio. In most cases, 
you should select the sample rate set for the project, 
since a lower sample rate will degrade the audio qual-
ity (mainly reducing the high frequency content) and a 
higher sample rate will only increase the file size, with-
out adding to audio quality. Also consider the future 
usage of the file – if you e.g. plan to import the file into 
another application, you should select a sample rate 
supported by that application.
If you are making a mixdown for CD burning, you 
should select 44.100 kHz, since this is the sample rate 
used on audio CDs.
Bit Depth 
(Audio Engine 
Output section)Allows you to select 8, 16, 24 bit or 32 bit (float) files.
If the file is an “intermediate mixdown” that you plan to 
re-import and continue working on in Cubase Essen-
tial, we recommend that you select the 32 bit (float) 
option.
32 bit (float) is a very high resolution (the same resolu-
tion as used internally for audio processing in Cubase 
Essential), and the audio files will be twice the size of 16 
bit files.
If you are making a mixdown for CD burning, you should 
use the 16 bit option, as CD audio is always 16 bit.
In this case, we recommend that you activate the UV-
22HR dithering plug-in (see the separate manual 
“Plug-in Reference” for details). This reduces the ef-
fects of quantization noise and artifacts from being in-
troduced when converting the audio down to 16 bit.
8 bit resolution should only be used if required, since it 
will result in limited audio quality. 8 bit audio may be 
suitable in some multimedia applications, etc.
Pool (Import into 
project section)Activate this option if you want to import the resulting 
audio file automatically back into the Pool. A clip refer-
ring to the file will appear in the Pool. 
If this option is activated, the Import Options dialog ap-
pears on export. For a description of the available set-
tings, see “Import Medium…” on page 179.
Audio Track 
(Import into 
project section)If you activate this option, an audio event that plays the 
clip will be created and placed on a new audio track, 
starting at the left locator.
If this option is activated, the Import Options dialog ap-
pears on export. For a description of the available set-
tings, see “Import Medium…” on page 179.
Close dialog 
after exportIf this option is activated, the dialog will be closed after 
the export, otherwise it will be left open. Option Description
Option Description
File Name
(File Location 
section)In this field you can enter a name for the mixdown file.
Path
(File Location 
section)Here you can specify a path where you want the mix-
down to be saved. 
Use Project 
Audio Folder
(File Location 
section)If you activate this option, the mixdown file is saved in 
the Project Audio folder, as opposed to the specified 
path.
File Format pop-
up menu (File 
Format section)From this pop-up menu you can select the file format 
for the export.
Quality fader 
(File Format 
section)The Ogg Vorbis encoder uses variable bit rate encod-
ing, and the Quality setting determines between which 
limits the bit rate will vary. Generally speaking, the 
higher the Quality setting, the higher the sound quality 
but also the larger the files.
Outputs pop-up 
menu (Audio 
Engine Output 
section)This menu lists all output busses and channels in the 
active project. Simply select the bus or channel you 
want to mix down. 
						

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Export Audio Mixdown
Windows Media Audio files (Windows only)
This is a format developed by Microsoft Inc. Due to the ad-
vanced audio codecs and lossless compression used, 
WMA files can be decreased in size with no loss of audio 
quality. The files have the extension “.wma”.
Exporting a WMA mixdown
ÖDepending on the chosen output, not all options may 
be shown.The following options are available:
General tab
In the Input Stream section, you set the sample rate (44.1, 
48 or 96 kHz) and the bit resolution (16 bit or 24 bit) of the 
encoded file. These should be set to match the sample rate 
and bit resolution of the source material. If no value matches 
that of your source material, use the closest available value 
that is higher than the actual value. E.g. if you’re using 20 bit 
source material, set the bit resolution to 24 bit rather than 
16 bit.
ÖThe setting in the Channels field depends on the cho-
sen output and cannot be changed manually. 
The settings in the Encoding Scheme section are used for 
defining the desired output from the encoder. Make set-
tings appropriate for the intended use of the file. If the file 
will be downloaded or streamed on the Internet, you might 
not want too high bit rates, for example. See below for de-
scriptions of the options.
Mode
The WMA encoder can use either a constant bit rate or a 
variable bit rate, or it can use lossless encoding for encod-
ing to stereo. The options on this menu are as follows:
Bit Rate/Quality
This menu allows you to set the desired bit rate. The avail-
able bit rate settings vary depending on the selected 
mode and/or output channels (see above). If the Mode 
“Variable Bitrate” is used (see above), the menu allows 
Mono Export 
(Audio Engine 
Output section)If you activate this option, the exported audio is mixed 
down to mono.
Split Channels 
(Audio Engine 
Output section)Activate this option if you want to export all channels 
as mono files.
Update Display
(Audio Engine 
Output section)If you activate this option, the meters will be updated 
during the export process. This allows you to check for 
clipping, for example. 
Close dialog
after exportIf this option is activated, the dialog will be closed after 
the export, otherwise it will be left open. Option Description
Mode Description
Constant Bitrate This will encode to a file with a constant bit rate (set in 
the Bit Rate/Channels menu, see below). Constant bit 
rate is preferably used if you want to limit the size of the 
final file. The size of a file encoded with a constant bit 
rate is always the bit rate times the duration of the file.
Variable Bitrate Encodes to a file with a variable bit rate, according to a 
quality scale (the desired quality is set in the Bit Rate/
Channels menu, see below). When you encode with 
variable bit rates, the bit rate fluctuates depending on 
the character and intricacy of the material being en-
coded. The more complex passages in the source ma-
terial, the higher the bit rate – and the larger the final 
file.
Lossless Encodes to a file with lossless compression. 
						

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Export Audio Mixdown
you to select from various levels of desired quality, with 10 
being the lowest and 100 the highest. Generally, the 
higher the bitrate or quality you select, the larger the final 
file will be.
Advanced tab
Dynamic Range Control
These controls allow you to define the dynamic range of 
the encoded file. The dynamic range is the difference in 
dB between the average loudness and the peak audio 
level (the loudest sounds) of the audio. These settings af-
fect how the audio is reproduced if the file is played on a 
Windows XP computer with a player from the Windows 
Media series, and the user activates the special “Quiet 
Mode” feature of the player to control the dynamic range.
The dynamic range is automatically calculated during the 
encoding process, but you can specify it manually as well.
If you want to manually specify the dynamic range, first put 
a checkmark in the box to the left by clicking in it, and then 
enter the desired dB values in the Peak and Average 
fields. You can enter any value between 0 and -90 dB. 
Note, however, that it is usually not recommended to 
change the Average value, since it affects the overall vol-
ume level of the audio and therefore can affect the audio 
quality adversely.
The Quiet Mode in a Windows Media player can be set to 
one of three settings. Below, these settings are listed to-
gether with an explanation of how the Dynamic Range set-
tings affect them:
 Off: If Quiet Mode is off, the dynamic range settings that were 
automatically calculated during the encoding will be used.
 Little Difference: If this is selected and you have not manually 
changed the dynamic range settings, the peak level will be 
limited to 6 dB above the average level during playback. If you 
have manually specified the dynamic range, the peak level will 
be limited to the mean value between the peak and average 
values you specified.
 Medium Difference: If this is selected and you have not manu-
ally changed the dynamic range settings, the peak level will be 
limited to 12 dB above the average level. If you have changed 
the dynamic range, the peak level will be limited to the peak 
value you specified.
Media tab
In these fields you can enter a number of text strings with 
information about the file – title, author, copyright informa-
tion and a description of its contents. This information will 
then be embedded in the file header and can be displayed 
by some Windows Media Audio playback applications. 
						

							27
Synchronization 
						

							279
Synchronization
Background
What is synchronization?
Synchronization is said to exist when you make two pieces 
of equipment agree on time or tempo and position info. 
You can establish synchronization between Cubase Es-
sential and a number of other types of devices, including 
tape recorders and video decks, but also MIDI devices 
that “play back”, such as other sequencers, drum ma-
chines, “workstation sequencers” etc.
When you set up a synchronization system, you must de-
cide which unit is the master. All other devices are then 
slaved to this unit, which means they will adjust their play-
back speed to the master’s.
Cubase Essential as slave
When a synchronization signal is coming in to Cubase Es-
sential, from another device, this device is the master and 
Cubase Essential is the slave. Cubase Essential will adjust 
its playback to the other device.
Cubase Essential as master
When you set up Cubase Essential to transmit synchroni-
zation information to other devices, Cubase Essential is 
the master and the other devices are the slaves; they will 
adjust their playback to Cubase Essential.
Cubase Essential – both master and slave
Cubase Essential is a very capable synchronization device. 
It can operate as both a master and a slave at the same 
time. For example, Cubase Essential might be slaved to a 
tape recorder transmitting timecode, while at the same 
time transmitting MIDI Clock to a drum machine, acting as 
a master for that.
Synchronization signals
Basically there are three types of synchronization signals 
for audio: timecode, MIDI clock and word clock.
Timecode (SMPTE, EBU, MTC, VITC etc.)
Timecode appears in a number of guises. No matter which 
“format” it has, it always supplies a “clock on the wall” 
type of synchronization, that is, a synchronization related 
to hours, minutes, seconds and two smaller units called 
“frames” and “subframes”.
 LTC (SMPTE, EBU) is the audio version of timecode. This 
means that it can be recorded on the audio track of an audio 
or video recorder.
 VITC is the video format timecode, i.e. it is stored in the actual 
video image.
 MTC is the MIDI version of timecode, transmitted via MIDI ca-
bles.
 ADAT sync (Alesis) is only used with the ASIO Positioning 
Protocol, see “About the ASIO Positioning Protocol (APP)” on 
page 284.
For the ASIO Positioning Protocol, other high precision 
timecode formats may also be supported.
Format recommendations for timecode – without ASIO 
Positioning Protocol
 When synchronizing your system to external timecode, via a 
synchronizer, the most common timecode format is MTC. 
Contrary to some reports you might have heard, MTC delivers 
good precision for external sync. This is due to the fact that 
the operating system can “time stamp” incoming MIDI mes-
sages, which increases precision.
Format recommendations for timecode – with ASIO 
Positioning Protocol
 LTC and VITC are the formats with the highest precision and 
are recommended when available.
 MTC is the next best option and probably the most common 
choice, since few audio hardware solutions have built-in LTC 
or VITC readers. However, LTC and VITC offer even higher 
precision when available.
!For a description of the VST System Link feature 
(with which you can synchronize separate computers 
running Cubase Essential or Nuendo for example), 
see “Working with VST System Link” on page 286. 
						

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Synchronization
MIDI Clock
MIDI Clock is a tempo-based type of synchronization sig-
nals, i.e. it is related to the number of “beats per minute”. 
MIDI Clock signals are suitable for synchronizing two de-
vices that agree on tempo, such as for example Cubase 
Essential and a drum machine.
Word Clock
Word clock is basically a replacement for the sample rate 
clock in for example an audio card. Word clock hence 
runs at the same rate as the sample rate in the audio, 
44.1kHz, 48kHz etc.
Word clock does not contain any position information, it is 
only a “simple” signal for clocking the audio at its sample 
rate.
Word clock comes in many formats, analog on coaxial ca-
ble, digital as part of an S/PDIF, AES/EBU or ADAT audio 
signal, etc.
Synchronizing the transport vs. 
synchronizing audio
How timing is handled in a non-synchronized 
system
Let’s first look at the situation where Cubase Essential is 
not synchronized to any external source:
Any digital playback system has an internal clock that ulti-
mately affects the playback speed and stability, and PC au-
dio hardware is no exception. This clock is extremely stable.
When Cubase Essential is playing back with no external 
synchronization, all playback is internally synchronized to 
the internal digital audio clock.
Synchronizing Cubase Essential’s playback
Let’s assume now that we use external timecode synchro-
nization with Cubase Essential. For example, we might 
synchronize playback to a tape recorder.Timecode coming from an analog tape recorder will al-
ways vary slightly in speed. Different timecode generators 
and different tape recorders will also supply timecode with 
slight differences in speed. In addition, the shuttling of 
tape mechanisms due to overdubs and re-recordings can 
cause the physical tape to wear and stretch, which affects 
the speed of the timecode.
If you use a synchronizer that generates word clock and set 
up Cubase Essential to sync to incoming timecode, it will 
vary its overall playback speed to compensate for such fluc-
tuations in the speed of the timecode – that’s the whole 
purpose of synchronization.
What happens with the digital audio?
The fact that Cubase Essential’s playback is synchronized 
to the timecode does not affect the playback of the digital 
audio. It still relies on the perfectly stable, built-in clock in 
the audio hardware.
As might be expected, problems will appear when the per-
fectly stable digital audio gets related to the slightly vary-
ing speed of a system synchronized to timecode.
The playback timing of each event will not be in total ac-
cordance with the tape or the MIDI playback, since the 
playback speed of the audio is determined by the digital 
audio hardware’s built-in clock.
Resolving to word clock
The solution to this problem is to use one external clock for 
all components in the system. One master clock is used to 
derive whatever type of clock signal each component in 
the system needs. For example, something called a house 
clock can be used to generate sample rate clocks for the 
digital audio hardware and timecode for Cubase Essential. 
This ensures that all components in the system use the 
same reference source for their timing.
Synchronizing digital audio to external clocks running at 
sample rate is often called “resolving” or “synchronizing to 
word clock”. 
If you aim to perform synchronization to external signals, 
we strongly recommend that you obtain proper synchroni-
zation equipment. This encompasses:
 An audio card that can be slaved to external word clock.
!MIDI Clock is not suitable as a master sync source 
for an application like Cubase Essential. Therefore 
Cubase Essential will transmit MIDI Clock signals to 
other devices, but it will not receive MIDI Clock.