Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Using DSP Factory Manual

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory 
						

							 
Manual by Anders Nordmark
Quality Control: C. Bachmann, H. Bischoff, S. Pfeifer, C. Schomburg
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The
software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not
be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No
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Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. 
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2004. 
All rights reserved. 
						

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 3 
Introduction
 
The Yamaha DSP Factory is an audio hardware system for professional 
digital multitrack recording and mixing on personal computers. The 
core of this system is the DS2416 Digital Mixing Card, a PCI-bus audio 
card with professional specifications, extensive mixing capabilities and 
on-board EQ, dynamics and effects. It is possible to install and digitally 
connect two DS2416 cards in one computer. Each card can also be 
used with one or two optional AX44 Audio Expansion Units, for up to 
eight additional analog inputs and outputs per card. 
This manual assumes that you have at least one DS2416 installed, 
tested and running under Windows XP. 
For information about how to install, test and troubleshoot the DS2416, 
please refer to the documentation supplied with the card. There you will 
also find detailed information about audio hardware specifications and 
 
features. 
						

							 
CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 4 
The DSP Factory in Cubase SX/SL
 
By using the DSP Factory in conjunction with Cubase SX/SL, you get 
a complete graphical interface with full control over the card’s features. 
The DS2416 audio card will behave like an external digital mixer, feed-
ing digital signals into Cubase SX/SL’s inputs and accepting digital 
signals from Cubase SX/SL’s output busses. 
The Cubase SX/SL/DSP Factory combination allows you to:  
•  
Record and play back using multiple inputs and outputs. 
By itself, the DS2416 provides four inputs and outputs (two analog and two digital). 
Each AX44 unit adds four analog inputs and outputs, and there is also support for 
upcoming I/O units.
 
•  
Use the DS2416 EQ, dynamics and effects for separate Cubase SX/
SL audio channels or for combinations of channels.  
•  
Route DSP Factory outputs to external effects, accessible from the VST 
effect sends.  
•  
Synchronize audio playback to external wordclock. 
						

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 5 
Setting up Cubase SX/SL for use with DSP 
Factory
 
Again, this assumes that you have installed the DSP Factory hardware 
according to the instructions in the supplied manual, and tested that it 
runs properly under Windows. Also, please note that the DSP Factory 
windows require a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768 to be fully 
 
viewable.
 
Before you can start working, you need to make a few settings:  
1.  
Pull down the Devices menu and select Device Setup.  
2.  
Select VST Audiobay.  
3.  
Make sure the “ASIO SW+DS32” Driver is selected on the Master 
ASIO Driver pop-up menu. 
See the note below about the two ASIO Devices.
 
About the Two ASIO Devices
 
The ASIO drivers described below may have been included with the 
Yamaha DS2416 package. However, make sure to check Yamaha’s web 
 
site for updated drivers!
 
There are two ASIO Devices for the Yamaha DS2416, “ASIO 
SW+DS32” and “ASIO SW+DS16”. Which one to select depends 
on your computer power and whether you need 24 bit recording:  
•  
If you want to record and play back 24 bit audio, you need to select 
the 32 bit device (“ASIO SW+DS32”). 
It is possible to record in 24 bit mode with the 16 bit device selected, but the created 
audio files will only have 16 bit accuracy.
 
•  
If you experience performance problems with the 32 bit device (and 
don’t use 24 bit audio), you should select the 16 bit device (“ASIO 
SW+DS16”). 
The data transfer between the program and the audio card requires quite a lot of com-
puter power. This load is drastically reduced if you use the 16 bit device.  
						

							 
CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 6 
Routing Audio between Cubase SX/SL and the DSP Factory
 
Audio routing with the DSP Factory is extremely flexible, allowing you 
to connect channels, aux sends and busses to various physical out-
puts and inputs. This is done in the special DSP Factory windows, as 
described on page 13. However, first you need to “connect” Cubase 
SX/SL to the DSP Factory: 
Assigning Inputs
 
1. 
Pull down the Devices menu and select VST Connections. 
The VST Connections window appears. This is where you view, add and set up input 
and output busses.
 
2. 
Open the “Inputs” tab by clicking on it. 
By default, there is a stereo bus called “Stereo In”.
 
3. 
Click the Add bus button. 
The “Add bus” window is opened. Select the Stereo format from the Configuration 
pop-up menu, set the “Count” value to “4” and click OK. Now, four input pairs are 
shown for the installed DS2416 card.
 
4. 
In the VST Connections window click the “+ All” button so that the in-
dividual inputs in the busses are shown.  
The Device Port column shows the physical inputs that are used by the bus.
 
5. 
Click in the Device Port column for the first “Left” channel. 
A pop-up menu appears, listing all inputs on your DS2416.
 
6. 
Select the input you want to use for the left channel in the stereo bus. 
Proceed the same way for the left channels in the other input pairs.
 
7. 
Select the input for the right channels in the same way. 
8. 
Close the VST Connections window and open the Mixer. 
In the Mixer you can now see the assigned input busses and Cubase SX/SL accepts 
the digital signals from the DS2416 card as input sources.  
						

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 7 
Assigning Output Busses
 
1. 
Pull down the Devices menu, select VST Connections and open the 
Outputs tab. 
Repeat the steps described above until eight busses are shown in the Mixer.
 
2. 
Make sure that each bus is assigned to the desired DS2416 PCI Out. 
These “PCI Outs” are not the physical outputs of the audio hardware, 
but rather “output lines” connecting Cubase SX/SL to the DS2416. The 
actual routing to physical outputs is done in the DSP Factory windows, 
 
as described on page 34.
 
3. 
If you like, rename the busses by clicking in their name fields and typ-
ing in new names. 
These names will be shown on the Output pop-up menus in Cubase SX/SL.  
						

							 
CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 8 
Selecting Inputs and Outputs for the Audio Channels
 
This description assumes that you have set the number of mono and 
Stereo audio Tracks so that it corresponds with the number of output 
bus channels (16 if you have one DS2416 card installed). It also as-
sumes that you want each audio channel in Cubase SX/SL assigned 
to a separate mixer channel strip in the DS2416 console. Of course, 
there are other possible routings (you may want to send a combina-
tion of audio channels to a Group or directly to the same DS2416 
channel strip, you may want to reserve some DS2416 channels for 
use as effect sends, etc.). 
1. 
Open the Mixer. 
2. 
Select Inputs for the channels by pulling down the Input pop-up 
menus at the top of the channel strips. 
There should be eight Inputs available for each installed DS2416 card (four stereo 
Input pairs).
 
3. 
Route each stereo audio channel to a separate Output Bus, by using 
the pop-up menus in the Input/Output Settings section of the channel 
strips. 
4. 
For mono channels, select the same Output Bus for two (mono) chan-
nels, and then pan the sides hard left/hard right. 
Now, each audio channel is assigned to a separate channel strip in the DS2416 
Factory Input console.
 
Assigning Group Channels to the DS2416
 
You can assign the outputs of Group channels to the DS2416 busses 
in the same way as with the audio channels, by using the pop-up menus 
in the Input/Output Settings section of the group channel strips. 
Assigning Effect Sends to the DS2416
 
By assigning VST Effect Sends to one of the Output Busses, you route 
the send to a channel strip in the DS2416 console. You can use this 
feature to address the on-board effects in the DS2416, to create sev-
eral different monitor mixes during playback, etc. Note that this assign-
ment is done individually for the effect sends of each audio channel (by 
using the pop-up menus to the right in the Channel Settings window). 
						

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 9 
The Default Signal Routing
 
This section describes how signals are routed by default, when you 
first start using the DS2416 card with Cubase SX/SL. If you wish you 
can change the signal routing, as described on page 32. However, this 
default routing allows you to perform basic playback and recording, 
and to use the built-in effects without having to change the routing. 
For additional info, please refer to the diagrams and list in the DS2416 
 
documentation.
 
About the DS2416 “Channels”, Busses and Sends
 
Before we describe the actual signal routing, here’s some information 
about how the DS2416 is configured: 
• 
Each DS2416 card handles 24 separate mixer channels. 
To separate these from the audio channels in Cubase SX/SL, we will call them “DS 
channels” from now on.
 
• 
There is one main stereo mix out and eight Bus Sends (four stereo 
pairs). 
Each DS channel can be assigned to any combination of the busses and the stereo mix.
 
• 
There are six Aux Sends. 
Each DS channel has send levels and pre/post fader switches for the sends. 
						

							 
CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 10 
The Default Routing of signals from Cubase SX/SL to DS2416
 
There are sixteen separate “lines” from Cubase SX/SL to the DS2416. 
In Cubase SX/SL, these appear as Output Busses (see page 7). In the 
DSP Factory Input Console window, the “lines” from Cubase SX/SL 
are by default connected to DS channel 1 to 16, as follows: 
• 
Please note that the Output assignment (PCI 1/2 etc.) for each Out-
put Bus can be changed, as described on page 34. 
To avoid confusion, we recommend that you keep the default order of the outputs.
 
VST Output (and default Output Bus) DS2416 Channel 
DS2416 #1 PCI 1/2 DS Channel 1
DS2416 #1 PCI 1/2  DS Channel 2
DS2416 #2 PCI 3/4  DS Channel 3
DS2416 #2 PCI 3/4  DS Channel 4
.
.
..
.
.
DS 2416 #8 PCI 15/16  DS Channel 15
DS 2416 #8 PCI 15/16  DS Channel 16