Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual

CUBASE SE
Audio effects 10 – 191
•For stereo audio channels, you need to use an effect with at least two 
inputs (stereo).
It is possible to use a mono-input effect with a stereo channel pair, but then only the 
one channel in the pair will be processed, which is probably not what you want. It is 
also possible to use an effect with more than two inputs of course, since both chan-
nels in the stereo pair will be processed even though the effect actually accommo-
dates more.
•For mono audio channels, you...

CUBASE SE
10 – 192 Audio effects
•If the effect has a Dry/Wet Mix parameter you can use this to adjust 
the balance between the dry signal and the effect signal.
See page 204 for details about editing effects.
•When one or several insert effects are activated for a channel, the in-
sert effects buttons light up in blue in the mixer and Track list. Click 
the button for a channel to bypass (disable) all its inserts.
When the inserts are bypassed, the buttons are yellow. Click the button again to en-
able...

CUBASE SE
Audio effects 10 – 193
Insert effects in the channel overview
If the “Channel” section is selected in the Inspector, you will get an 
overview of which EQ modules, insert effects and effect sends are 
activated for the channel.
You can activate or deactivate individual insert effect slots by clicking 
the corresponding number (in the upper half of the overview).
The channel overview in the Inspector.
About adding insert effects to busses
As already stated, all output busses have five insert...

CUBASE SE
10 – 194 Audio effects
Using group channels for insert effects
Like all other channels, group channels can have up to five insert ef-
fects. This is useful if you have several audio tracks that you want to 
process through the same effect (e.g. different vocal tracks that all 
should be processed by the same compressor). Another special use 
for group channels and effects is the following:
If you have a mono audio track and want to process this through a ste-
reo insert effect (e.g. a stereo...

CUBASE SE
Audio effects 10 – 195
Send effects
Background
Send effects are handled through FX channel tracks. These are spe-
cial tracks that each can contain up to five insert effects. The signal 
path is as follows:
•By routing an effect send from an audio track to an FX channel track, 
the audio is sent to the FX channel and through its insert effect(s).
Each audio channel has eight sends, which can be routed to different FX channels. You 
control the amount of signal sent to the FX channel by...

CUBASE SE
10 – 196 Audio effects
Setting up send effects
Adding an FX channel track
1.Pull down the Project menu and select “FX Channel” from the “Add 
Track” submenu.
A dialog appears.
2.Select a channel configuration for the FX channel track.
Normally, stereo is a good choice since most effect plug-ins have stereo outputs.
3.Select an effect for the FX channel track.
This is not strictly necessary at this point – you can leave the Plug-in pop-up menu set 
to “No Effect” and add effects to the FX...

CUBASE SE
Audio effects 10 – 197
Adding and setting up effects
As mentioned above, you can add a single insert effect when you cre-
ate the FX channel track if you like. To add and set up effects after the 
FX channel track is created, you can either use the Inspector for the 
track (click the Inserts tab) or the FX Settings window:
1.Make sure the FX channel is routed to the correct output bus.
This is done with the output routing pop-up menu in the Inspector.
2.Click the Edit (“e”) button for the FX...

CUBASE SE
10 – 198 Audio effects
•If you like, you can add up to five effects for the FX channel.
Note that the signal will pass through all the effects in series. It is not possible to adjust 
the effect send- and return levels separately for each effect – this is done for the FX 
channel as a whole. If what you want is several separate send effects (where you can 
control their send and return levels independently) you should instead add more FX 
channel tracks – one for each effect.
•To remove an...

CUBASE SE
Audio effects 10 – 199
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 any-
where.
• Items called “FX 1”, “FX 2” etc. correspond to existing FX tracks. If you have 
renamed an FX track (see page 196) that name will appear on this menu in-
stead of the default.
• The menu also allows for routing a send directly to output busses, separate 
output...

CUBASE SE
10 – 200 Audio effects
5.Click and drag the send level slider to a moderate value.
The send level determines how much of the signal from the audio channel 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 before 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 volume (post fader 
send). The...