Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

							CUBASE LEThe Mixer 7 – 151
EQ bypass
By clicking the EQ button for a channel in the Mixer or in the Track list 
you can momentarily turn the EQ for a channel on and off, to compare 
the sound with and without EQ.
When the EQ is in Bypass mode, the EQ button is yellow.
EQ reset
The Reset button in the lower left corner of the EQ section will reset 
all EQ parameters to their default values.
Using EQ presets
Some useful basic presets are included with the program. You can use 
them as they are, or as a starting point for further “tweaking”. To call up 
a preset, pull down the presets pop-up menu, and select one of the 
available presets.
Storing and removing EQ presets
If you have made EQ settings you wish to store for use elsewhere in a 
project, you can store them in a preset. Proceed as follows:
1.After making settings, click on the store button (plus sign) to the right 
of the presets field.
The settings are stored with the default name “Preset” and a number. 
2.Double click in the preset pop-up field and type in a new name if you 
wish.
• To remove a preset, simply select it and click the remove (minus sign) 
button. 
						

							CUBASE LE7 – 152 The Mixer
Copying settings between audio channels
It is possible to copy all channel settings for an audio channel and 
paste them onto another channel. This applies to all audio channel 
types. For example, you can copy EQ settings from an audio channel 
and apply these to a group or VST Instrument channel, if you want 
them to have the same sound. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the channel you want to copy settings from by clicking its 
channel name field (a highlighted name indicates a selected channel).
You can also select channels with the Channel Select pop-up menu – see page 148.
Selecting a channel in the channel strip (left), and in the Common panel (right).
2.Click the “Copy” button in the Common panel.
3.Select the channel you want to copy the settings to and click the 
Paste button.
The settings are applied to the selected channel.
4.To copy the same settings to several channels, repeat step 3.
The copied settings are retained in memory until you copy new channel settings, or 
close the project.
❐Channel settings can be copied from stereo channels and pasted to 
mono channels and vice versa. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Mixer 7 – 153
Initialize Channel
The Initialize Channel button can be found at the bottom of the Chan-
nel Settings Common panel. It resets the selected channel to the de-
fault setting. Default settings are:
• All EQ, Insert and Send effect settings are deactivated and reset.
• Solo/Mute is deactivated.
• The fader is set to 0dB.
• Pan is set to center position.
Changing the meter characteristics
You can change the Mixer’s level meters characteristics for audio 
channels: right-click anywhere on the Mixer panel to bring up the 
Mixer context menu. On the menu there are two options for Meter 
characteristics: “VU-Meter Fast” and “VU-Meter Hold”.
•If “Fast” is activated (ticked), the meters respond very quickly to level 
peaks.
If “Fast” is deactivated, the meters respond more like standard VU meters.
•If “Hold” is activated (ticked), the highest registered peak levels are 
“held” and are shown as static horizontal lines in the meter.
You can specify for how long the peak levels will be held. This is done with the param-
eter “VU-Meter Peak’s Hold Time” in the Preferences dialog (VST page). The peak 
hold time can be between 500 and 30000ms.
Hold activated 
						

							CUBASE LE7 – 154 The Mixer
Using group channels
You can route the outputs from multiple audio channels to a group. 
This enables you to control the channel levels using one fader, apply 
the same effects and equalization to all of them etc. To create a group 
channel, proceed as follows:
1.Select Add Track from the Project menu and select “Group Channel” 
from the submenu that appears.
A group channel track is added to the Track list and a corresponding group channel 
strip is added to the Mixer, identical to an audio channel strip except for the lack of an In-
put pop-up, Record Enable and Monitor buttons. By default the first group channel strip 
is labeled “Group 01”, but you can rename it just like any channel in the Mixer.
2.Pull down the Output routing pop-up for a channel you want to route 
to a group channel, and select the group channel option.
The output of the audio channel is now redirected to the selected group.
3.Repeat the previous step for the other channels you wish to route to a 
group.
Settings for group channels
The group channel strips are (almost) identical to audio channel strips 
in the Mixer. The descriptions of the mixer features earlier in this chap-
ter apply to group channels as well. Some things to note:
•Group channels are always stereo.
•You can route the output of a group to an output bus or to another 
group with a higher number.
You cannot route a group to itself or to groups to the left of it in the Mixer. Routing is 
done with the pop-up menu at the bottom of each channel strip.
•There are no Monitoring or Record Enable buttons for group channels.
This is because inputs are never connected directly to a group.
•Solo and Mute functionality is automatically linked for a channel 
routed to a group and the group channel itself, in the following way:
If you mute or solo a group channel, all channels routed to the group are automatically 
muted or soloed as well. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Mixer 7 – 155
Activating and routing buses
The number of buses shown in the VST Outputs window depends on 
the number of physical outputs you have on your audio hardware (up 
to 4). As with inputs, you need to activate the buses you want to use, 
and assign each bus to an output pair on your audio hardware. This is 
done in the VST Outputs window:
1.Pull down the Devices Menu and select VST Outputs.
The window will contain a number of stereo “channel strips”, one for each bus:
2.Activate the buses you need by clicking on their “On” buttons.
The indicator in the button lights up to show that the bus is active.
To conserve processor power, you should avoid activating buses that 
you don’t need to use. 
❐The Master bus (Bus 1) is always available and activated. This is why it 
doesn’t have an “On” button. By default, all audio channels are assigned 
to the Master bus.
❐The bus settings are saved with the project. However, if you select an-
other ASIO Device and then open the project, you will be alerted that the 
bus settings saved will be ignored. 
						

							CUBASE LE7 – 156 The Mixer
3.Use the pop-up menus at the bottom of the window to route each ac-
tive bus to an output pair on your audio hardware.
4.To rename a bus, click on its label and type in a new name.
5.Set the output levels for each active bus.
Dragging one of the faders for a bus will automatically move the other fader as well. To 
move the left or right fader for a bus independently, hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag, 
or deactivate the stereo link switch for the fader pair.
Routing audio channels to buses
To route the output of an audio (or group/VST Instrument/ReWire) 
channel to one of the active buses, proceed as follows:
1.Open the Mixer.
2.Pull down the output routing pop-up menu, at the bottom of the chan-
nel strip and select one of the buses.
This pop-up menu contains the activated output buses, as well as the available group 
channels.
❐A group channel cannot be routed to itself. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Mixer 7 – 157
Routing an effect send to a bus or group
The four effect sends for each audio channel or group can be routed 
directly to one of the buses, for use with external effects, etc. This is 
determined by the send routing pop-up menus in the Channel Set-
tings window:
1.Open the Channel Settings window.
2.Activate a send.
3.Click in the name field to pull down the send routing pop-up menu.
4.Select the bus or group to which you want to route the send.
❐If you route a send from a stereo channel to a bus or group, the send will 
be stereo. See page 179 for a practical example covering how this func-
tion can be used for setting up a flexible effect routing system.
Using the Master Gain fader
The Master Gain fader in the Master Section (to the right in the Mixer) 
controls the output level of the Master bus. It is connected to the cor-
responding number of VST Output buses.
• You can hide or show the Master Section with the Show Master button on the 
Common panel.
• Two Master insert effects can be applied to the Master bus.
See page 175. 
						

							CUBASE LE7 – 158 The Mixer
MIDI specific procedures
This section describes basic procedures for MIDI channels in the 
Mixer.
Using Channel Settings
For each MIDI channel strip in the Mixer (and MIDI track in the Track 
list or the Inspector) there is an Edit (“e”) button. 
Clicking this opens the MIDI Channel Settings window. This window 
contains a Common panel and a duplicate of the Mixer channel strip. 
Every MIDI channel has its own channel settings window.
The MIDI Channel Settings window. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Mixer 7 – 159
Utilities
Link/Unlink channels
This function is used to “link” selected channels in the Mixer so that 
any change applied to one channel will be mirrored by all channels in 
that link group. You can link as many channels as you like, and you can 
also create as many groups of linked channels as you like. To link 
channels in the Mixer, proceed as follows:
1.Press [Shift] and click on the channel name field for all the channels 
that you want to Link.
Selected channels are indicated by highlighted name fields.
2.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) somewhere on the grey Mixer 
panel.
The Mixer context menu appears.
3.Select “Link Channels” from the context menu. 
						

							CUBASE LE7 – 160 The Mixer
What will be linked?
The following rules apply for linked channels:
•Fader levels will be “ganged”.
The relative level offset between channels will be kept if you move a linked channel fader.
The three channels shown are linked. Pulling down one fader changes the levels for 
all three channels, but keeps the relative level mix.
•Any individual channel settings you have made before linking will re-
main until you alter the same setting for any of the linked channels.
For example, if you link three channels, and one of them was muted at the time you ap-
plied the Link Channel function, this channel will remain muted after linking. However, 
if you mute another channel then all linked channels will be muted. Thus, the individual 
setting for one channel is lost as soon as you change the same parameter setting for 
any of the linked channels.
•Channel settings you make after linking the channels will affect all 
linked channels of the same channel type.
This does not apply to settings between linked MIDI and audio channels.
•Only Level, Mute, Solo, Select, Monitor and Record Enable will be 
linked between MIDI channels or MIDI and audio channels.
•By holding down [Alt]/[Option], you can change parameter settings 
separately for channels that are linked.
The above applies to all “linkable” functions. The following settings are 
not affected by the Link Channel function (i.e. they remain individual 
for each channel):
• Insert effect settings
• Pan
• Input and output routing for audio and MIDI channels
❐Linked channels can also have individual Automation subtracks. These 
are completely independent, and are not affected by the Link function.