Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual
Have a look at the manual Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual online for free. It’s possible to download the document as PDF or print. UserManuals.tech offer 523 Steinberg manuals and user’s guides for free. Share the user manual or guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
![Page 311
CUBASE SX/SLSurround sound (Cubase SX only) 13 – 311
Speakers
The speakers in the panel represent the chosen surround configuration.
•The speakers in the front are aligned, as they would normally be in a
cinema-type situation.
This means that the front speakers are at a varying distance from the center, allowing
you to move sources between speakers without level attenuation.
•You can turn speakers on and off by clicking them with [Alt]/[Option]
pressed. When a speaker is turned off, no audio will...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/103328/w64_Operation_Manual_d-310.png "Page 311
CUBASE SX/SLSurround sound (Cubase SX only) 13 – 311
Speakers
The speakers in the panel represent the chosen surround configuration.
•The speakers in the front are aligned, as they would normally be in a
cinema-type situation.
This means that the front speakers are at a varying distance from the center, allowing
you to move sources between speakers without level attenuation.
•You can turn speakers on and off by clicking them with [Alt]/[Option]
pressed. When a speaker is turned off, no audio will...")
CUBASE SX/SLSurround sound (Cubase SX only) 13 – 311 Speakers The speakers in the panel represent the chosen surround configuration. •The speakers in the front are aligned, as they would normally be in a cinema-type situation. This means that the front speakers are at a varying distance from the center, allowing you to move sources between speakers without level attenuation. •You can turn speakers on and off by clicking them with [Alt]/[Option] pressed. When a speaker is turned off, no audio will be routed to that surround channel. Positioning and levels The text below assumes mono/stereo pop-up is set to “Mono Mix”. For more information on the other modes, see below. A sound source is positioned either by clicking or dragging the grey “ball” around in the panel (or by using key commands, see below). By dragging during playback you can record automation, see page 328. •In Standard Mode, the signal levels from the individual speakers are indicated by colored lines from the speakers to the center of display. •In Position Mode, the concentric circles will help you determine the level of the signal at a certain position. The yellow circle represents -3dB below nominal level, the red circle is at -6dB and the blue is located at -12dB. These are affected by attenuation, see below. •In Angle Mode, a red arc helps you determine the perceived “range” of a source. The sound will be at its loudest in the middle of the arc and will have dropped in level towards the ends. Exactly how levels are handled may require some explanation: •When you move a source around, a number will indicate the loudness in each speaker. This is a value in dB (decibel) and is relative to the nominal level of the source. In other words, 0.0 (dB) represents full level. •If you position the source far enough away from a speaker, its level will drop to zero (indicated by an infinity symbol).
CUBASE SX/SL13 – 312 Surround sound (Cubase SX only) •The signal levels from the individual speakers are indicated by colored lines from the speakers to the center of display. •You can use modifier keys to restrict movement in various ways: In Standard and Position Mode: In Angle Mode: There is also a special set of key commands for working in the SurroundPan window. For a complete list of the available key commands, click on the “SurroundPanner” logo and then click again! Key Movement restriction [Shift] Horizontally only [Ctrl]/[Command] Vertically only [Alt]/[Option] Diagonally (up left, down right) [Ctrl]/[Command]+ [Alt]/[Option]Diagonally (up right, down left) Key Movement restriction [Shift] From center to perimeter only. [Ctrl]/[Command] Along the perimeter only (at current distance from center)
CUBASE SX/SLSurround sound (Cubase SX only) 13 – 313 The LFE dial (All Modes) If the selected surround setup includes an LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channel, a separate LFE level dial will be available in the SurroundPan window. Use this to set the signal amount sent to the LFE channel. You can also set this using the small red strip to the right of the Surround Panner in the mixer channel strip, or by typing in a numerical value in the larger Surround Panner that can be shown in the extended channel strip. The Surround Panner in the channel strip (bottom) and in the extended panel of the mixer channel strip (“SurroundPan” activated). Mono/Stereo pop-up (All Modes) If you have a mono channel the Mono/Stereo pop-up is by default set to Mono Mix. The panner will then behave as described above. If you have a stereo channel, you have the option of using one of the three Mirror modes. Two grey balls will then appear, one for each channel (L/R). This will allow you to move the two channels symmetri- cally, by just dragging one of them. The three modes allow you to se- lect which axis should be used for mirroring. • The default mode for stereo channels is the Y-Mirror mode. • If you run a stereo signal through the panner in Mono Mix mode, the two chan- nels will be mixed together before entering the plug-in. • If you run a mono signal through the plug-in in one of the stereo modes, the signal will be split before entering the plug-in. ...or drag this control to set LFE level.Click here and type in a LFE level value...
CUBASE SX/SL13 – 314 Surround sound (Cubase SX only) Additional Parameters (Standard Mode) •Center Level. This determines how center source signals should be reproduced by the front speak- ers. With a value of 100%, the center speaker will provide the center source. With a value of 0%, the center source will be provided by the ghost image created by the left and right speakers. Other values will produce a mix between these two methods. •Divergence Controls. The three divergence controls determine the attenuation curves used when positioning sound sources, for X-axis front, X-axis back and Y-axis (front/rear), respectively. If all three Divergence values are 0% (default), positioning a sound source on a speaker will set all other speakers to zero level (-∞) (except for the center speaker which depends on the center level). With higher values, the other speakers will receive a percentage of the sound source.
CUBASE SX/SLSurround sound (Cubase SX only) 13 – 315 Additional Parameters (Position and Angle Mode) •Attenuate. Attenuate can be used to amplify or weaken the source. Exactly what effect this has on the level in each speaker can be determined by the level readouts, the concentric cir- cle (Position mode) and the arc (Angle mode). •Normalize. Normalize is a function for controlling the overall loudness from all speakers. When this is set to 1.0 (full normalization), the level from all speakers together is always exactly 0dB. The individual levels will then be boosted or attenuated accordingly. Please note that this is not a dynamic feature, like compression or limit- ing. It is instead just a tool for scaling the nominal output levels from the surround channels. Automation All parameters in the SurroundPan plug-in can be automated, just as with any other plug-in. See page 328. Exporting a Surround mix When you have set up a surround mix you can choose to export it with the Export Audio Mixdown function. This function exports a single se- lected output bus – this means that all channels that you want to be part of the mix must be routed to the surround output bus. You have the following export options when doing surround work: • Export to “split” format, resulting in one mono audio file for each surround channel. • Export to interleaved format, resulting in a single multi-channel audio file (e.g. a 5.1 file, containing all six surround channels). • Under Windows you can also export a 5.1 surround mix to a file in Windows Media Audio Pro format. This is an encoding format tailored for 5.1 surround – see page 672. For more about exporting to files, see the chapter “Export Audio Mix- down”.
CUBASE SX/SL13 – 316 Surround sound (Cubase SX only) Using effects in surround configurations Cubase SX introduces a special surround format for VST plug-ins, that is plug-ins that can process more than two channels. Mix6to2 is an example of such a plug-in. Applying a Surround-aware plug-in This is not different from applying a regular plug-in. The only difference is that the plug-in panel may have controls for more than two channels. Using a stereo plug-in in a surround configuration Normally, when you apply a stereo insert effect to a surround configu- ration, the first two speaker channels (often L and R) are routed through the plug-in and other channels are left unprocessed. However, you may want to use the plug-in on other speaker channels. This is described on page 256.
CUBASE SX/SL14 – 318 Automation Background Cubase SX/SL provides very comprehensive automation features. Virtually every mixer and effect parameter can be automated. There are two main methods you can use to automate parameter settings: •By manually drawing curves on automation subtracks in the Project window. See page 336. •By using the Write/Read buttons and adjusting parameters in the mixer. See page 328. The methods are not different in terms of how the automation data is applied – they only differ in the way the automation events are created; manually drawing them or recording them. Any applied automation data will be reflected in both the mixer (a fader will move for example) and in a corresponding automation track curve (although this may be hidden).
CUBASE SX/SLAutomation 14 – 319 About automation subtracks Audio tracks, group tracks and FX channel tracks all have automation subtracks. These allow you to view and edit the automation of all mixer settings for the track, including settings for the track’s insert effects. There is one automation subtrack for each parameter, and subtracks can be shown or hidden in any combination. Similarly, MIDI tracks have automation subtracks for mixer settings, track parameters as well as send and insert effect settings (if used). VST Instruments have special automation tracks that appear in the Project window when you add a VST Instrument. There is one auto- mation track for the plug-in parameters and one track for each mixer channel used by the instrument. These tracks all have automation subtracks, giving you access to all parameters and mixer settings. Finally, for ReWire channels and input/output channels, automation tracks are automatically added as soon as you activate automation (with the Write button) in the corresponding mixer channel strip or Channel Settings window. These automation tracks have subtracks for all parameters as well. What can be automated? Mixing in Cubase SX/SL can be completely automated. The following parameter settings can be recorded automatically – or manually drawn in – on automation subtracks: For each audio or group track and ReWire channel: • Volume • Mute • Pan left/right • 8 x insert effect program selection and effect parameters (if inserts are used) • 8 x effect send on/off switches • 8 x effect send levels • Surround panner parameters • EQ master bypass • Settings for 4 EQ modules (enable/freq/quality/gain)
CUBASE SX/SL14 – 320 Automation For each FX channel track and input/output bus: • Volume • Mute • Pan left/right • 8 x insert effect program selection and effect parameters (if inserts are used) • Surround panner parameters • EQ master bypass • Settings for 4 EQ modules (enable/freq/quality/gain) For each VST Instrument • VST Instrument plug-in parameters and program selection plus (for each mixer channel/separate output used by the instrument): • Volume • Mute • Pan left/right • 8 x insert effect program selection and effect parameters (if inserts are used) • 8 x effect send on/off switches • 8 x effect send levels • Surround panner parameters • EQ master bypass • Settings for 4 EQ modules (enable/freq/quality/gain) Note that Cubase SL only has 5 insert slots for each audio/group/Re- Wire/FX and output bus channel. For each MIDI track • Volume • Pan • Mute • Track parameters on/off switch • Transpose • Vel. shift • Random 1-2 min/max/target • Range 1-2 min/max/target • 4 x insert effect on/off switches • 4 x send effect on/off switches • 4 x MIDI insert effect parameters (if used) • 4 x MIDI send effect parameters (if used)