Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Getting Started Manual

 
CUBASE SE
 
Introduction 1 – 11 
Please note that when you have started the program once, you can 
open the Cubase SE Help even when the program isn’t running:  
1. 
Select “Mac Help” from the Help menu in the Finder. 
2. 
From the Library menu, select “Cubase SE Help”. 
About the program versions
 
Some features and settings are specific to one of the platforms, 
Windows or Mac OS X. This is clearly stated. 
The screenshots are taken from the Windows version of Cubase SE. 
Key command conventions...

 
CUBASE SE
 
1 – 12 Introduction 
How you can reach us
 
On the Help menu in Cubase SE, you will find items for getting addi-
tional information and help: 
• 
On the “Steinberg on the Web” submenu you can find links to various 
Steinberg websites. Selecting one will automatically launch your 
browser application and open the page. 
You can find support and compatibility information, answers to frequently asked ques-
tions, links for downloading new drivers, etc. This requires that you have a web...

 
2
 
Installation and Requirements
for Windows 

 
CUBASE SE
 
2 – 14 Installation and Requirements for Windows 
About this chapter
 
This chapter describes the system requirements and installation proce-
dures for Cubase SE for Windows. Installing Cubase SE for Mac OS X 
is described on page 26. 
Requirements
 
To use Cubase SE, you need the following: 
• 
A PC with Windows XP installed. 
A USB Port is also required.
 
For more details about the computer requirements, see below. 
• 
Compatible audio hardware. 
By audio hardware we mean a card capable...

 
CUBASE SE
 
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 15 
Computer requirements
 
Hardware – PC
 
The minimum requirements for running Cubase SE on a PC are: 
• A 800 MHz Pentium processor or Athlon processor and Windows XP.
• 384 MB of RAM.
• Monitor and graphics card supporting 1024 x 768 resolution.
• A free USB port for the copy protection key.
• A DVD ROM drive.
 
For optimum performance we recommend the following: 
• Pentium or Athlon processor at 2.8 GHz or faster.
• 512 MB of RAM.
• A...

 
CUBASE SE
 
2 – 16 Installation and Requirements for Windows 
Audio hardware
 
Cubase SE will run with audio hardware that meets the following ba-
sic specifications: 
• Stereo.
• 16 bit.
• Support of at least the 44.1kHz sampling rate.
• Is supplied with a special ASIO driver, or a DirectX or Windows Multimedia 
compatible driver as described below.
 
About drivers
 
A driver is a piece of software that allows a program to communicate 
with a certain piece of hardware. In this case, the driver allows...

 
CUBASE SE
 
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 17 
If the audio card communicates via DirectX
 
DirectX is a Microsoft “package” for handling various types of Multime-
dia under Windows. Cubase SE supports DirectX, or to be more pre-
cise, DirectSound, which is a part of DirectX used for playing back and 
recording audio. This requires two types of drivers: 
• A DirectX driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate with DirectX. If 
the audio card supports DirectX, this driver should...

 
CUBASE SE
 
2 – 18 Installation and Requirements for Windows 
Hardware installation
 
About the copy protection key
 
Please read the following section before installing the program software.
 
New users
 
Included with the Cubase SE package, you will find a hardware key 
(sometimes referred to as a “dongle”) that is part of the Cubase SE 
copy protection scheme. Cubase SE will not run if this key isn’t installed 
properly. 
• 
You should first install the program (and any necessary hardware, see...

 
CUBASE SE
 
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 19 
The Steinberg Key is, in fact, a little computer on which your Steinberg 
software licenses are stored. All hardware-protected Steinberg prod-
ucts use the same type of key, and you can store more than one license 
on one key. Also, licenses can (within certain limits) be transferred be-
tween keys – which is helpful, e.g. if you want to sell a piece of software.  
• 
The installation routine will initiate a restart of Windows after...

CUBASE SE2 – 20 Installation and Requirements for Windows
Windows Multimedia driver
These drivers are normally included with all types of regular PC audio 
cards. Some are even included with Windows itself. Depending on 
whether the audio card is “Plug’n’Play compatible” or not, the installa-
tion of the card is done differently:
•If the card is “Plug’n’Play compatible”, Windows will detect the 
card once it is plugged in, and ask for the necessary driver disks.
•If not, you need to use the “Add New...