Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual

							 
CUBASE SE
About this manual 1 – 11 
Other documents
 
Apart from the Operation Manual and the help, the following documents 
are included with Cubase SE: 
Getting Started
 
In this book (also available in Adobe Acrobat pdf format) you will find: 
• Requirements, installation and setting up your system.
• Basic concepts and terminology.
• Basic methods – e.g. how to set values, use tools and menus.
• A list of all default key commands.
• A number of tutorials, helping you get started with working in Cubase SE.
 
Audio Effects and VST Instruments
 
In this pdf document you will find: 
• Descriptions of the included VST audio effect plug-ins.
• Descriptions of the included VST Instruments.
 
These descriptions can also be found in the help. 
MIDI Devices and Features
 
In this pdf document you will find: 
• Information on how to set up and manage MIDI devices in Cubase SE.
• Descriptions of the included MIDI effect plug-ins.
• Information on how to edit MIDI System Exclusive messages.
• Information on how to use the Logical Presets, the Input Transformer and the 
Transformer effect.
 
All pdf documents can be opened from the Help menu in the program, 
from the folder /Contents/Documentation/ within the program folder or 
 
the folder /Library/Documentation/Cubase SE 3 under Mac OS X. 
						

							 
CUBASE SE
1 – 12 About this manual 
						

							 
2
 
VST Connections: Setting up
input and output busses 
						

							 
CUBASE SE
2 – 14 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 
About this chapter
 
As described in the Getting Started book, Cubase SE uses a system 
of input and output busses to transfer audio between the program and 
the audio hardware. 
• Input busses let you route audio from the inputs on your audio hardware into 
the program. This means that when you record audio, you will always do this 
through one or several input busses.
• Output busses let you route audio from the program to the outputs on your 
audio hardware. When you play back audio, you will always do this through 
one or several output busses.
 
As you can see, the input and output busses are vital when you work 
with Cubase SE. That’s the reason why you find this chapter in the be-
ginning of the Operation Manual – once you understand the bus system 
and set up the busses properly, it will be easy to go on with recording, 
playing back and mixing. 
Setting up busses
 
Strategies
 
You can create any number of busses in Cubase SE in mono or stereo.  
• The bus configuration is saved with the projects – therefore it’s a good 
idea to add and set up the busses you need and save these in a template 
project (see page 541).
 
When you start working on new projects, you start from this template. That way you 
get your standard bus configuration without having to make new bus settings for each 
new project. If you need to work with different bus configurations in different projects, 
you could either create several different templates or store your configurations as pre-
sets (see page 17). The templates can of course also contain other settings that you 
regularly use – sample rate, record format, a basic track layout, etc. 
						

							 
CUBASE SE
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 15 
You can add the following busses: 
Input busses
 
• Most likely you need at least one stereo input bus assigned to an analog input 
pair. This would let you record stereo material. If you want to be able to record 
in stereo from other analog input pairs as well, you could add stereo input 
busses for these too.
• Although you can record mono tracks from one side of a stereo input, it may be 
a good idea to add a dedicated mono input bus. This could be assigned to an 
analog input to which you have connected a dedicated microphone pre-amp 
for example. Again, you could have several different mono busses.
• You probably want a dedicated stereo input bus assigned to the digital stereo 
input, for digital transfers.
 
Output busses
 
• You probably want one or several stereo output busses for monitoring and 
listening to stereo mixes.
• For digital transfers, you need a stereo bus assigned to the digital stereo 
output as well. 
						

							 
CUBASE SE
2 – 16 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 
The VST Connections window
 
You add and set up busses in the VST Connections window, opened 
from the Devices menu.
There are two tabs in the window: the Input and Output tab for viewing 
input busses or output busses, respectively. 
For the time being we shall focus on how to set up input and output 
busses.
Depending on which tab you have selected, Input or Output, the win-
dow lists the current input or output busses, with the following columns: 
Column Description 
Bus Name Lists the busses. You can select busses and rename them by clicking 
on them in this column.
Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo) of each bus.
Audio Device This shows the currently selected Master ASIO driver.
Device Port When you have “opened” a bus (by clicking its + button in the Bus 
Name column) this column shows which physical input/output on your 
audio hardware is used by the bus.  
						

							 
CUBASE SE
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 17 
Adding a bus
 
1. 
Click the Inputs or Outputs tab depending on which you want to add. 
2. 
Click the Add Bus button. 
A dialog appears.
 
3. 
Select the desired (channel) configuration. 
The pop-up menu contains Mono and Stereo options.
 
• 
Alternatively you can right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) in the VST 
Connections window and add a bus in the desired format directly 
from the context menu that appears. 
The new bus appears with the ports visible.
 
4. 
Click in the Device Port column to select an input/output port for a 
channel in the bus. 
The pop-up menu that appears lists the ports with the names you have given them in 
the Device Setup dialog. Repeat this for all channels in the bus.
 
Other bus operations
 
• 
To change the port assignment for a bus you proceed as when you 
added it – make sure the channels are visible (by clicking the + button 
next to the bus, or by clicking the “+ All” button at the top of the win-
dow) and click in the Device Port column to select ports. 
• 
To remove a bus you don’t need, select it in the list, right-click (Win) 
or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) and select “Remove Bus” from the pop-up menu. 
• 
You can store and recall bus presets with the pop-up menu at the top 
of the window. 
To store the current configuration as a preset, click the store (+) button and enter a name 
for the preset. You can then select the stored configuration directly from the Presets 
pop-up menu at any time. To remove a stored preset, select it and click the (-) button.  
						

							 
CUBASE SE
2 – 18 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 
Using the busses
 
This section describes briefly how to use the input and output busses 
you have created. This is described in more detail in the chapters “Re-
cording” and “The mixer”. 
Routing
 
When you play back an audio track (or any other audio channel in the 
mixer – VST Instrument channels, ReWire channels, etc.), you route it 
to an output bus. In the same way, when you record on an audio track 
you select from which input bus the audio should be sent. 
• 
You can select input and output busses in the Inspector, using the 
“In” and “Out” pop-up menus.
For channel types other than audio tracks (VST Instrument channels, 
FX channels, etc.), only the “Out” pop-up menu is available. To access 
the “Out” pop-up menu for such a channel in the Inspector, select one 
of its automation subtracks in the Track list.
When selecting an input bus for a track you can only select busses that 
correspond to the track’s channel configuration. Here are the details: 
• Mono tracks can be routed to mono busses or individual channels within a 
stereo bus (input or output). 
• Stereo tracks can be routed to stereo busses.   
						

							 
CUBASE SE
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 19 
Viewing the busses in the mixer
 
Only the output busses are visible in the mixer! You cannot make any 
specific mixer settings for the input busses. 
Output channels
 
The output channels are shown to the right in the mixer. Here you can 
do the following: 
• Adjust the total output level for the busses with the faders.
• Add effects or EQ.
 
These will affect the whole bus. Examples of effects you may want to add here include 
compressors or limiters. See page 193.  
						

							 
CUBASE SE
2 – 20 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses