Steinberg Cubase LE 4 Plug In Reference Manual

							11
Audio effects
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 
isn’t routed anywhere.
 Items called “FX 1”, “FX 2” etc. correspond to existing FX 
tracks. If you have renamed an FX track (see “Adding an FX 
channel track” on page 9) that name will appear on this menu 
instead of the default.
 The menu also allows for routing a send directly to output bus-
ses, separate output bus channels or Group channels.
3.In this case, select an FX channel track from the pop-
up menu.
Now the send is routed to the FX channel.
4.Click the power button for the effect send so that it 
lights up in blue.
This activates the send.
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.
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.
Normally you want the effect send to be proportional to the channel vol-
ume (post fader send). The picture below shows where the sends are 
“tapped” from the signal in pre and post fader mode:
A send set to pre fader mode.
ÖYou can choose whether a send in pre fader mode 
should be affected by the channel’s Mute button or not.
This is done with the option “Mute Pre-Send when Mute” in the Prefer-
ences (VST page).
When one or several sends are activated for a channel, 
the Send Effects buttons light up in blue in the mixer and 
the Track list. Click the button for a channel to bypass 
(disable) all its effect sends.
When the sends are bypassed, the button is yellow. Click the button 
again to enable the sends. Note that this button is also available in the In-
spector and the Channel settings window.
Click this button to bypass the sends.
Input gain
Insert effects 1-6
EQ
Volume (fader)
Insert effects 7-8
Pre-fader sends
Post-fader sends 
						

							12
Audio effects
You can also bypass individual sends in the channel 
overview.
See “Insert effects in the channel overview” on page 8.
Alternatively, in the same manner you can bypass the 
send effects by clicking the “Bypass Inserts” button for 
the FX channel.
The difference is that this bypasses the actual send effects which may be 
used by several different channels. Bypassing a send affects that send 
and that channel only. If you bypass the insert effect 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 effect levels
After you have set up the sends as described in the previ-
ous sections, the following is now possible:
You can use the send level slider in the Channel Set-
tings or the Inspector to set the send level.
By adjusting the send level you control the amount of signal sent from the 
audio channel to the FX channel.
Setting the effect send level.
In the mixer, you can use the level fader for the FX chan-
nel to set the 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.
FX channels and the Solo Defeat function
When mixing, you might sometimes want to solo specific 
audio channels, and listen only to these while other chan-
nels are muted. However, this will mute all FX channels as 
well. If the soloed audio channels have sends routed to FX 
channels, this means you won’t hear the send effects for 
the channels.
To remedy this, you can use the Solo Defeat function for 
the FX channel:
1.First press [Alt]/[Option] and click on the Solo button 
for the FX channel.
This activates the Solo Defeat function for the FX channel. In this mode, 
the FX channel will not be muted if you solo another channel in the mixer.
2.You can now solo any of the audio channels without 
having the effect return (the FX channel) muted.
3.To turn off Solo Defeat for the FX channel, [Alt]/[Op-
tion]-click the Solo button for the FX channel again.
Making settings for the effects
Editing effects
All inserts and sends have an Edit (“e”) button. Clicking 
this opens the selected effect’s control panel 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 a power button, a Bypass button, Read/Write 
automation buttons (for automating effect parameter 
changes (see the chapter “Automation” in the Operation 
Manual), a Preset selection pop-up menu and a Preset 
Management pop-up menu for saving or loading programs.
The Rotary effect control panel. 
						

							13
Audio effects
Please note that all effects can be edited using a simpli-
fied control panel (horizontal sliders only, no graphics). To 
edit effects using this “basic” control panel instead, press 
[Ctrl]/[Command]+[Alt]/[Option]+[Shift] and click on the 
Edit button for the effect send or slot.
Making settings
Effect control panels may have any combination of knobs, 
sliders, buttons and graphic curves. 
ÖFor specifics about the included effects and their pa-
rameters, please refer to the chapter “The included effect 
plug-ins” on page 18. 
If you edit the parameters for an effect, these settings are 
saved automatically in the project. If you want to save the 
current settings, the following points apply:
 The basis for the current settings may have been a preset ef-
fect program, in which case there is a name in the preset field.
 The basis for the current settings may have been a default set-
ting program location in which case “Default” is displayed in 
the preset field.
In both cases, if you have changed any effect parameter 
settings, these are automatically saved when you save the 
program. How to select and save effect presets is de-
scribed below.
Automating effect parameters
Effects parameters can be automated – see the chapter 
“Automation” in the Operation Manual.
Effect presets
Cubase LE comes with a number of categorized VST pre-
sets that you can use straight out of the box. VST presets 
are stored parameter settings for a specific effect.
Selecting effect presets
Most VST effect plug-ins come with a number of useful 
presets for instant selection. The Preset browser can ei-
ther be accessed from the control panel for the effect, 
from the Channel Settings window, or from the Inspector. 
To select an effect preset, proceed as follows:
1.Load an effect, either as a channel Insert or into a FX 
channel, it doesn’t matter.
The effect’s control panel is automatically shown when loaded.
2.Click in the name field at the top of the effect’s control 
panel.
This opens the Preset browser.
The right half of the browser shows the available pre-
sets for the selected effect.
Selecting a preset loads it directly, replacing the previous preset. 
The lower left half of the Preset browser contains a sec-
tion where all assigned attributes (to any preset) for the 
selected effect are shown in the respective column. 
If no attributes have been specified for the effect presets, the various col-
umns will be empty. If attributes have been assigned to a preset for this 
effect, you can click on the assigned attribute in the respective column 
(Category, Style etc.), to filter out all presets that do not match the se-
lected attribute(s).
The preset handling for VST 2 plug-ins is slightly differ-
ent, see “About earlier VST effect presets” on page 15. 
						

							14
Audio effects
You can also open the Preset browser from the Inspec-
tor. Click the Inserts tab for the channel with the effect and 
click in the Preset name field. 
Click the SoundFrame button (the cube symbol) to 
open the Preset Management pop-up menu and select 
“Load Preset…” from the pop-up menu that appears.
The “Load Preset” dialog opens.
This dialog is very similar to the Preset browser, but there 
is a difference in how the effect presets are loaded:
If you use the “Load Preset” dialog, this allows you to se-
lect different presets and to audition them without actually 
loading them. If you choose to cancel the operation and exit 
the dialog, the preset that was selected before opening the 
dialog will be reloaded exactly as it was, including any un-
saved changes. See “Auditioning presets” on page 14.
When you use the Preset browser, selecting another 
preset will load it directly, replacing the previous preset.
3.When you have selected an effect preset in the list to 
the left, click OK to confirm the selection in case you used 
the Load Preset dialog, or simply click outside the browser 
window.
Auditioning presets 
A new VST 3 feature is the option to audition effects be-
fore you load them. This works as follows:
1.Load an effect as usual for the track you wish to pro-
cess.
2.Start playback.
It may be helpful to set up cycle playback of a section to make compari-
sons between different preset settings easier.
Open the Load Preset dialog by clicking the Sound-
Frame button in the effect slot and select “Load Preset” 
from the pop-up.
3.Activate “Auto Preview” below the Viewer display. 
4.With playback still running, you now can step through 
different presets in the list and hear the results instantly!If you activate “Preview” in step 3 it works similarly, but 
you have to activate Preview for each selected preset to 
audition the settings.
To confirm a preset selection and to load it, click OK.
If you click Cancel, the previously loaded preset will re-
main, including any unsaved settings.
Saving effect presets
You can save your edited effects for further use (e.g. in 
other projects):
1.Click SoundFrame button to open the Load/Save Pre-
set pop-up.
2.Select “Save Preset…” from the pop-up.
This opens a dialog where you can save the current settings as a preset.
Presets are saved into a default folder named VST3 Pre-
sets. Within this folder, there is a folder named “Steinberg 
Media Technologies” where the included presets are ar-
ranged in subfolders named after each effect.
!In the Inspector there is a dual functionality. When an 
effect is loaded into a slot you can click on the Preset 
name (or in the bottom half of the effect slot) to open 
the Preset browser. Clicking in the upper half of the 
slot will instead open the Effect selection pop-up. 
						

							
15
Audio effects
You cannot change the default folder, but you can add fur-
ther subfolders inside the individual effect preset folder.
Under Windows, the default preset folder is located in the 
following location:
Boot drive/Documents and Settings/User name/Application data/VST3 
Presets.
 Under Mac OS, the default preset folder is located in 
the following location:
Users/Username/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Presets/
3. In the File name field in the lower part of the dialog you 
can enter a name for the new preset.
4. Click OK to store the preset and exit the dialog.
About earlier VST effect presets
As stated previously, you can use any VST 2.x plug-ins in 
Cubase LE. For a description of how to add VST plug-ins 
see  “Installing and managing effect plug-ins”  on page 16 .
When you add a VST 2 plug-in, any previously stored pre-
sets for it will be of the  old FX program/bank (.fxp/.fxb) 
standard. You can import such files, but the preset han-
dling will be slightly different. You will not immediately be 
able to use the new features like the Preview function until 
you have converted the old “.fxp/.fxb” presets to VST 3 
presets. If you save new presets for the included VST 2 
plug-ins these will automatically be saved in the new “.vst-
preset” format.
 For all the plug-ins in the “Earlier VST Plug-ins” cate-
gory (or any other VST 2 plug-ins you may have installed), 
you can import presets of the  previous “.fxp/.fxb” standard 
to ensure backwards compatibility.
Importing and converting FXB/FXP files
To import .fxp/.fxb files, proceed as follows:
1. Load an effect from the “Earlier VST Plug-ins” folder 
(or any VST 2 effect you may have installed), and click on 
the SoundFrame button to op en the Preset Management 
pop-up menu.
2. Select “Import FXB/FXP…” from the pop-up.
This menu item is only av ailable for VST 2 plug-ins.
3.In the file dialog that opens, locate the file and click 
Open.
If you loaded a Bank, it will replace the current set of all effect programs. 
If you loaded a single effect, it will  replace the currently selected effect 
program only.
4. After importing, you can co nvert the current program 
list to VST Presets by selecting “Convert Program List to 
VST Presets” from the Pr eset Management pop-up.
After converting, the presets will be av ailable in the Preset browser. The 
new converted presets will be stor ed in the VST3 Preset folder. 
						

							16
Audio effects
Installing and managing effect plug-
ins
Cubase LE supports two plug-in formats; the VST 2 for-
mat (extension “.dll”) and the VST 3 format (extension 
“.vst3”). The formats are handled differently when it comes 
to installation and organizing.
Installing additional VST plug-ins
Installing VST 3 plug-ins under Mac OS X
To install a VST 3.x plug-in under Mac OS X, quit Cubase 
LE and drag the plug-in file to one of the following folders:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins in-
stalled in this folder will be available to all users, for all programs that 
support them.
Users/Username/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
“Username” above is the name you use to log on to the computer (the 
easiest way to open this folder is to go to your “Home” folder and use the 
path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ from there). Plug-ins installed in this 
folder are only available to you.
When you launch Cubase LE again, the new effects will ap-
pear on the effect pop-up menus. In the VST 3 protocol, the 
effect category, sub-folder structure etc. is built-in and can-
not be changed. The effect(s) will show up in the assigned 
category folder(s) on the Effect pop-up menu.
Installing VST 2.x plug-ins under Mac OS X
To install a VST 2.x plug-in under Mac OS X, quit Cubase 
LE and drag the plug-in file to one of the following folders:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins in-
stalled in this folder will be available to all users, for all programs that 
support them.
Username/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
“Username” above is the name you use to log on to the computer (the 
easiest way to open this folder is to go to your “Home” folder and use the 
path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ from there). Plug-ins installed in this 
folder are only available to you.
When you launch Cubase LE again, the new effects will 
appear on the effect pop-up menus.ÖAn effect plug-in may also come with its own installa-
tion application, in which case you should use this.
Generally, always read the documentation or readme files before install-
ing new plug-ins.
Installing VST 3 plug-ins under Windows
Under Windows, VST 3 plug-ins are installed simply by 
dragging the files (extension “.vst3”) into the vst3 folder in 
the Cubase LE application folder. When you launch Cu-
base LE again, the new effects will appear on the Effect 
pop-up menus. In the VST 3 protocol, the effect category, 
sub-folder structure etc. is built-in and cannot be changed. 
The installed new effect(s) will show up in the assigned 
category folder(s) on the Effect pop-up menu.
Installing VST 2 plug-ins under Windows
Under Windows, VST 2.x plug-ins are usually installed 
simply by dragging the files (with the extension “.dll”) into 
the Vstplugins folder in the Cubase LE application folder, 
or into the Shared VST Plug-in folder – see below. When 
you launch Cubase LE again, the new effects will appear 
on the Effect pop-up menus.
ÖIf the effect plug-in comes with its own installation ap-
plication, you should use this.
Generally, always read the documentation before installing new plug-ins.
Organizing VST 2 plug-ins
If you have a large number of VST 2 plug-ins, having them 
all on a single pop-up menu in the program may become 
unmanageable. For this reason, the VST 2 plug-ins in-
stalled with Cubase LE are placed in appropriate subfold-
ers according to the effect type.
Under Windows, you can rearrange this by moving, 
adding or renaming subfolders within the Vstplugins folder 
if you like. 
When you launch the program and pull down an Effects pop-up menu, 
the subfolders will be represented by hierarchical submenus, each listing 
the plug-ins in the corresponding subfolder.
Under Mac OS X, you cannot change the hierarchic ar-
rangement of the “built-in” VST plug-ins.
You can however arrange any additional plug-ins you have installed (in the 
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ folders, see above) by placing them in sub-
folders. In the program, the subfolders will be represented by hierarchical 
submenus, each listing the plug-ins in the corresponding subfolder.
!Plug-ins in Mac OS 9.X format cannot be used. 
						

							17
Audio effects
The Plug-in Information window
On the Devices menu, you will find an item called “Plug-in 
Information”. Selecting this opens a dialog listing all the 
available VST compatible plug-ins in your system (includ-
ing VST Instruments).
Managing and selecting VST plug-ins
To see which VST plug-ins are available in your system, 
click the “VST PlugIns” tab at the top of the window. 
To enable a plug-in (make it available for selection), 
click in the left column.
Only the enabled plug-ins (shown with a check mark in the left column) 
will appear on the effect menus.
The second column indicates how many instances of 
the plug-in are currently used in Cubase LE.
Clicking in this column for a plug-in which is already in use produces a 
pop-up showing exactly where each use occurs – select an instance to 
open the control panel for the plug-in. 
ÖA plug-in may be in use even if it isn’t enabled in the 
left column. 
You might for example have opened a project containing effects that cur-
rently are disabled on the menu. The left column purely determines 
whether or not the plug-in will be visible on the effect menus.
All columns can be resized by using the divider in the 
column header.The other columns show the following information about 
each plug-in:
Update button
Pressing this button will make Cubase LE re-scan the 
designated VST folders for updated information about the 
plug-ins.
VST 2.x Plug-in Paths button
This opens a dialog where you can see the current paths 
to where VST 2.x plug-ins are located. You can freely 
Add/Remove folder locations by using the corresponding 
buttons. If you click Add a file dialog is opened, where you 
can select a folder location.
About the Shared Plug-ins Folder (Windows and VST 2.x 
only)
You can designate a “shared” VST 2.x plugins folder. This 
will allow VST 2.x plug-in to be used by other programs 
that support this standard.
You designate a shared folder by selecting a folder in the 
list and clicking the “Set As Shared Folder” button in the 
VST 2.x Plug-in Paths dialog.
Column Description
Name The name of the plug-in.
Vendor The manufacturer of the plug-in.
File This shows the complete name of the plug-in (with exten-
sion).
Path The path and name of the folder in which the plug-in file 
is located.
Category This indicates the category of each plug-in (such as VST 
Instruments etc.).
Version Shows the current version of the plug-in.
SDK Shows with which version of the VST protocol a plug-in 
is compatible.
Latency This shows the delay (in samples) that will be introduced 
if the effect is used as an Insert. This is automatically 
compensated for by Cubase LE.
I/O This column shows the number of inputs and outputs for 
each plug-in. 
						

							2
The included effect plug-ins 
						

							19
The included effect plug-ins
Introduction
This chapter contains descriptions of the included plug-in 
effects and their parameters.
Delay plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the 
“Delay” category.
PingPongDelay
This is a stereo delay effect that alternates each delay re-
peat between the left and right channels. The effect can 
either be tempo-based or use freely specified delay time 
settings.
The parameters are as follows:
Distortion plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the 
“Distortion” category.
Distortion
Distortion is great for adding crunch to your tracks. This ef-
fect is easy to use with only two parameters, but it is ex-
tremely effective. 
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Delay This is where you specify the base note value for the de-
lay if tempo sync is on (1/1–1/32, straight, triplet or dot-
ted). If tempo sync is off, it sets the delay time in 
milliseconds.
Tempo sync
on/offThe button below the Delay Time knob is used to turn 
tempo sync on or off. If set to off the delay time can be 
set freely with the Delay Time knob, without sync to 
tempo.
Feedback This sets the number of repeats for the delay.
Spatial This parameter sets the stereo width for the left/right re-
peats. Turn clockwise for a more pronounced stereo 
“ping-pong” effect.
Mix Sets the level balance between the dry signal and the ef-
fect. If PingPongDelay is used as a send effect, this 
should be set to maximum as you can control the dry/ef-
fect balance with the send. 
Parameter Description
Drive This is where you turn up the distortion amount. 
Output This parameter raises or lowers the signal going out of the 
effect. 
						

							20
The included effect plug-ins
Dynamics plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the 
“Dynamics” category.
VSTDynamics
VSTDynamics is an advanced dynamics processor. It 
combines three separate processors: Gate, Compressor 
and Limiter, covering a variety of dynamic processing 
functions. The window is divided into three sections, con-
taining controls and meters for each processor.
Activating the individual processors
You activate the individual processors using the buttons 
at the bottom of the plug-in panel.
The Gate section
Gating, or noise gating, is a method of dynamic process-
ing that silences audio signals below a certain set thresh-
old level. As soon as the signal level exceeds the set 
threshold, the gate opens to let the signal through. The 
Gate trigger input can also be filtered using an internal 
side-chain.
The available parameters are as follows:
The Compressor section
Compressor reduces the dynamic range of the audio, 
making softer sounds louder or louder sounds softer, or 
both. Compressor functions like a standard compressor 
with separate controls for threshold, ratio, attack, release 
and make-up gain parameters. Compressor features a 
separate display that graphically illustrates the compres-
sor curve shaped according to the Threshold, Ratio and 
MakeUp Gain parameter settings. Compressor also fea-
tures a Gain Reduction meter that shows the amount of 
gain reduction in dB, and a program dependent Auto fea-
ture for the Release parameter.
The available parameters work as follows:
Parameter Description
Threshold
(-60 – 0dB)This setting determines the level where Gate is activated. 
Signal levels above the set threshold trigger the gate to 
open, and signal levels below the set threshold will close 
the gate.
Side Chain 
(On/Off)This button activates the internal side-chain filter. This 
lets you filter out parts of the signal that might otherwise 
trigger the gate in places you don’t want it to, or to boost 
frequencies you wish to accentuate, allowing for more 
control over the gate function. 
LP (Lowpass), 
BP (Bandpass), 
HP (Highpass)These buttons set the basic filter mode.
LimiterRouting selectorGateCompressor
Center 
(50 – 22000Hz)This sets the center frequency of the filter.
Q-Factor
(0.001 – 10000)This sets the resonance or width of the filter.
Monitor 
(Off/On)Allows you to monitor the filtered signal.
Attack
(0,1 – 100 ms)This parameter sets the time it takes for the gate to open 
after being triggered.
Hold
(0 – 2000 ms)This determines how long the gate stays open after the 
signal drops below the threshold level.
Release
(10 – 1000 ms 
or “Auto”)This parameter sets the amount of time it takes for the 
gate to close (after the set hold time). If the “Auto” button 
is activated, Gate will find an optimal release setting, de-
pending on the audio program material.
Parameter Description
Threshold
(-60 – 0dB)This setting determines the level where Compressor “kicks 
in”. Signal levels above the set threshold are affected, but 
signal levels below are not processed.
Ratio 
(1:1 – 8:1)Ratio determines the amount of gain reduction applied to 
signals over the set threshold. A ratio of 3:1 means that for 
every 3 dB the input level increases, the output level will in-
crease by only 1 dB.
Make-Up
(0 – 24dB)This parameter is used to compensate for output gain loss, 
caused by compression. When Auto is on, gain loss will be 
compensated automatically.
Attack
(0.1 – 100 ms)This determines how fast Compressor will respond to sig-
nals above the set threshold. If the attack time is long, more 
of the early part of the signal (attack) will pass through un-
processed.
Release 
(10 – 1000ms 
or “Auto”)Sets the amount of time it takes for the gain to return to its 
original level when the signal drops below the Threshold 
level. If the “Auto” button is activated, Compressor will au-
tomatically find an optimal release setting that varies de-
pending on the audio material. Parameter Description