Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

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Mixing down to an audio file
1.Set up the left and right locator to encompass the area that 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 settings 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 Ex-
port submenu.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog appears.
The upper...

CUBASE LE23 – 452 Export Audio Mixdown
6.Select a file format with the file type pop-up menu.
7.If you want to automatically import the resulting audio file back into 
Cubase LE, activate the “Import to” checkboxes.
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.
❐The Import options are only available if...

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File Format Specifics
The following pages describe the different export file formats, and 
their options and settings.
AIFF files
AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by 
Apple Computer Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used 
on most computer platforms. When AIFF is selected as export file for-
mat, the following settings are available:
Resolution
Allows you to select 8, 16 or 24 bit files.
• If you are making a mixdown...

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Channels
Sample Rate
Allows you to select a sample rate for the exported audio file. In most 
cases, you should select the sample rate set for the project, since a 
lower sample rate will degrade the audio quality (mainly reducing the 
high frequency content) and selecting a higher sample rate will only in-
crease the file size, without adding to audio quality. However, you 
should also consider the future usage of the file; for example, if you 
plan to import the...

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Sound Designer II files (Mac OS X only)
The SD II format was developed by Digidesign. It is one of the most 
popular audio file formats on the Macintosh, especially for profes-
sional audio work. The following export settings are available:
Channels
Allows you to select mono or stereo files, with the same options as for 
AIFF files (see page 454).
Resolution
The bit resolution of the file, with the same options as for AIFF files 
(see page 453).
Sample Rate
The...

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Resolution
The bit resolution of the file, with the same options as for AIFF files 
(see page 453).
Sample Rate
The options are the same as for AIFF files. See page 454.
Coding (Windows only)
The Coding pop-up menu allows you to select a compression scheme 
for the Wave file, creating smaller files (with a loss of audio quality).
• Which options are available depends on the installed and activated codecs in 
the ACM (Audio Compression Manager) under Windows.
See the...

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MPEG Layer 3 files
You can export to MP3 20 times as a “trial” feature (fully functional), 
after which the function is disabled. 
When the MP3 format is selected, a text at the bottom of the Export 
Audio Mixdown dialog shows you how many remaining encodings you 
have left. 
You can upgrade your Cubase LE copy to include unlimited MP3 en-
coding by clicking the “Order now” link in the lower right corner of the 
dialog (this takes you to Steinberg’s online store on...

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Attributes
This pop-up menu allows you to select a bit rate for the mp3 file. As a 
rule, the higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and the larger 
the file. For stereo audio, 128 kBit/s is often considered to result in 
“good” audio quality.
• Note that the available options on this pop-up menu depend on the 
Channels and Sample Rate settings.
This is because for mono audio and/or low sample rates, there is no point in using the 
highest bit rates –...

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Real Audio G2 files (Windows only)
Real Audio files allow very high compression rates and can therefore 
be made very small. This makes the format especially useful for down-
loading and streaming multimedia from the internet. The files have the 
extension “.rm”.
The following options are available for Real Audio files:
Coding and Content
By selecting an option from the Coding pop-up menu, you specify the 
desired audio quality for the file. This information is...

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Windows Media Audio files (Windows only)
Windows Media Audio is an audio format developed by Microsoft Inc. 
Due to advanced audio compression algorithms, Windows Media Au-
dio files can be made very small, maintaining good audio quality. The 
files have the extension “.wma”. 
The following options are available for Windows Media Audio files:
Attributes
This pop-up menu allows you to select a bit rate for the WMA file. As 
a rule, the higher the bit rate, the better...