Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Getting Started Manual

CUBASE SESetting up your system 4 – 51
Optimizing audio performance
This section gives you some hints and tips on how to get the most out 
of your Cubase SE system, performance-wise. Some of this text refers 
to hardware properties and can be used as a guide when upgrading 
your system. This text is very brief. Look for details and current informa-
tion on the Steinberg web site (see page 12)!
Two aspects of performance
There are two distinct aspects of performance in respect to Cubase SE:
Tracks and...

CUBASE SE4 – 52 Setting up your system
System factors that affect performance
CPU and processor cache
It goes without saying that the faster the computer processor, the bet-
ter. But there are a number of factors that affect the apparent speed of 
a computer: the bus speed and type (PCI is strongly recommended), 
the processor cache size and of course, the processor type and brand. 
Cubase SE relies heavily on floating point calculations. When shopping 
for a processor, please make sure you get one that...

CUBASE SESetting up your system 4 – 53
• Under Mac OS X, audio hardware with properly written Mac OS X (Core 
Audio) drivers can be very efficient and produce very low latency times.
However, there are additional features currently only available with ASIO drivers, such 
as the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
Making settings that affect performance
Choosing a driver for your audio hardware
As described on page 39, it is recommended to install and use a stan-
dard ASIO driver if available for your specific...

CUBASE SE4 – 54 Setting up your system
Optimizing processor scheduling (Windows only)
To get the lowest possible latencies when using ASIO under Windows 
XP (on a single CPU system), the “system performance” has to be op-
timized for background tasks:
1.Open the Control Panel from the Start menu and select System.
2.Select the Advanced tab and click the Settings button in the Perfor-
mance section.
The Performance Options dialog appears.
3.Select the Advanced tab.
4.In the Processor Scheduling section,...

5
Basic Cubase SE concepts 

CUBASE SE5 – 56 Basic Cubase SE concepts
About this chapter
This chapter describes the basic “building blocks” and terminology in 
Cubase SE. Please take your time to read this chapter thoroughly be-
fore moving on!
The project
The native document format of Cubase SE is called a project. Before 
you can start recording, playing back or editing you always have to cre-
ate a new project, or open a saved project file from disk. There can be 
several projects open at the same time, but one is always the...

CUBASE SEBasic Cubase SE concepts 5 – 57
About the file and folder structure
A project file (file extension “.cpr” under Windows) is always associated 
with a project folder on your hard disk. Several projects can share the 
same project folder (which is practical if you have several versions of 
your project, for example).
•The Audio folder contains audio files referenced by the project.
It is also possible for the project to refer to audio files elsewhere on your disk(s) – you 
can even specify...

CUBASE SE5 – 58 Basic Cubase SE concepts
Audio terminology
When you record audio in Cubase SE, this is what happens:
• An audio file is created on the hard disk.
• In Cubase SE, an audio clip is created. The audio clip refers to the audio file 
on disk.
• An audio event is also created in Cubase SE. This plays back the audio clip.
There are good reasons for this long chain of references:
• The audio event is the object that you place on a time position in Cubase SE. 
If you make copies of an audio event...

CUBASE SEBasic Cubase SE concepts 5 – 59
Audio tracks, parts and channels
For an audio event to be played back in Cubase SE, it has to be placed 
on an 
audio track. This is similar to a track on a multi-track tape recorder, 
and allows you to view the event and move it along the timeline. You 
can place any number of audio events on an audio track, but only one at 
a time can be played back. You can have a virtually unlimited number of 
audio tracks, although the number of tracks you can play back at...

CUBASE SE5 – 60 Basic Cubase SE concepts
MIDI terminology
When you are recording MIDI (or entering MIDI data manually in an 
editor), 
MIDI events are created. For example, each note you record is a 
separate MIDI event, and if you record the movement of a modulation 
wheel or other controller, a large number of densely spaced events 
are created.
MIDI events are always placed in 
MIDI parts. These are “containers”, al-
lowing you to move or copy a number of MIDI events (e.g. a recorded 
MIDI melody...