Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Using DSP Factory Manual

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
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The Default Routing of signals from DS2416 into Cubase SX/SL
 
There are eight separate “lines” from the DS2416 card into Cubase 
SX/SL. In Cubase SX/SL, these correspond to the four Audio Input 
pairs (see page 6). In the DSP Factory Input Console window, the de-
fault configuration uses the eight bus sends to route signals from the 
audio card into Cubase SX/SL (for recording). The following default 
routing scheme is used:
This means that to record something through the DSP Factory into 
Cubase SX/SL, you only need to activate the appropriate Bus Sends 
for the desired DS Channels. From that point, the recording procedure 
is the same as when you run Cubase SX/SL with “standard” audio 
hardware. 
DS 2416 Bus Send VST Input 
Bus 1 PCI Rec 1/2 1
Bus 2 PCI Rec 1/2 2
Bus 3 PCI Rec 3/4 1
Bus 4 PCI Rec 3/4 2
Bus 5 PCI Rec 5/6 1
Bus 6 PCI Rec 5/6 2
Bus 7 PCI Rec 7/8 1
Bus 8 PCI Rec 7/8 2 
						

							 
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Physical Inputs and Outputs
 
By default, the physical inputs and outputs of the DSP Factory system 
are connected to the DS channels in the following way: 
Inputs
Outputs
 
“IOA” and “IOB” are the connections to additional input/output units 
such as the AX44. For each DS2416 card, you can add two extra in-
put/output units (IOA and IOB). Each unit may have 4 or 8 inputs and 
outputs. 
As you see, the default routing only provides access to four extra out-
puts (for use with external effects, etc.). To be able to use all additional 
inputs and outputs, you will need to re-configure the input and output 
 
routing. This is described on page 32.
 
Physical Input DS Channel 
DS2416 Analog In Left 17
DS2416 Analog In Right 18
DS2416 Digital In Left 19
DS2416 Digital In Right 20 
Bus/Send in the DSP Factory 
Input ConsolePhysical Output 
Master Stereo Out Left/Right DS2416 Analog Out Left/Right
and
DS2416 Digital Out Left/Right
Aux Send 1 IOA/IOB Output 1
Aux Send 2 IOA/IOB Output 2
Aux Send 3 IOA/IOB Output 3
Aux Send 4 IOA/IOB Output 4 
						

							 
Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
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The On-Board Effects
 
The DS2416 card carries two powerful effect processors, which can 
easily be accessed with the default routing: 
• 
Signals are routed to the effects using Aux Send 5 (FX Unit 1) and 
Aux Send 6 (FX Unit 2). 
The effect inputs are in mono.
 
• 
The stereo output signals from the effects are routed to the “FX Return 
channels” (DS Channels 21/22 for FX Unit 1 and 23/24 for FX Unit 2). 
To avoid feedback, Aux Sends 5 and 6 are disabled for these DS channels.
 
Opening the DSP Factory Windows
 
When Cubase SX/SL detects one or more DS2416 cards, special 
“DSP Factory” menu items are added to the Devices menu. These are 
the DSP Factory windows.
Below follows a brief description of each window. For detailed infor-
mation, click on the page number links. 
• 
DSP Factory Input Console. 
This is the main mixer window for the DSP Factory system. Here is where you set levels, 
panning, eq and dynamics, activate busses and aux sends and select input sources for 
the DS channels. See page 14.
 
• 
DSP Factory Channel Overview. 
This window shows all settings (some of which are not available in the Input Console 
window) for one DS channel at a time. See page 27.
 
• 
DSP Factory Bus/Aux Console. 
This window contains master send levels for the busses and aux sends. See page 26.
 
• 
DSP Factory FX Editor. 
This window is used to select effect types and make settings for the two FX Units. It 
can also be opened directly from the Input Console. See page 28.
 
• 
DSP Factory Output Patchbay. 
This window provides an overview of the current output routing, and allows you to re-
route busses and sends to other physical outputs. It also contains wordclock synchro-
nization settings, for when you use the DSP Factory in conjunction with external digital 
recorders or other audio hardware. See page 29. 
						

							 
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The Input Console window
 
The Input Console window is the main DSP Factory window. If you view 
the DSP Factory as an external digital mixer, feeding and receiving au-
dio signals to and from Cubase SX/SL, this window is the mixer panel. 
Static initial settings in the DSP Factory windows are saved with the 
 
project.
 
About the Upper and Lower displays
 
For each DS channel, there is a large number of controls and settings. 
Showing them all at the same time would require an impossibly large 
window. Therefore, each channel strip in the Input Console is divided 
into two “halves”, the Upper and Lower display. You can select what 
should be shown on these two displays, independently for each chan-
nel: 
The Lower Display
 
1. 
Locate the dividing line between the Upper and Lower display for the 
channel strip. 
You may have to scroll the window to see all of the Input Console.
 
2. 
Point at the small triangle pointing downward, and press the mouse 
button. 
A pop-up menu appears with the three modes for the Lower display. 
						

							 
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3. 
Select one of the display modes. 
If you select the “Narrow” mode, the channel strip will be as narrow as possible to con-
serve screen space, showing only the basic level and pan controls (see below). The 
controls in the other modes are described on page 16.
 
The Upper Display
 
1. 
Locate the dividing line between the Upper and Lower display for the 
channel strip. 
2. 
Point at the small triangle pointing upward, and press the mouse but-
ton. 
A pop-up menu appears with the five modes for the Upper display.
 
3. 
Select one of the display modes. 
If you select the “Narrow” mode, the channel strip will be as narrow as possible to con-
serve screen space, with no controls in the Upper display (see below). The controls in 
the other modes are described on page 19.
 
About the “Narrow” mode
 
The selection of display modes is independent for the Upper and 
Lower displays, with one exception: 
• 
Selecting the “Narrow” mode for the Upper or Lower display will auto-
matically select the “Narrow” mode for the other display as well. 
Since the width of the whole channel strip is minimized, there is then no room for any 
additional controls in either display. 
						

							 
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Channel Controls in the Lower Display
 
The Lower Display in “Bus Assign”, “Aux Assign” and “Narrow” modes. 
Control Explanation 
Pan Control Sets the stereo position of the channel. This is used when you are 
assigning channels to the busses (when the Bus Sends are in “Post 
Pan” mode - see below).
Stereo link 
switchWhen this is activated (when the green arrow is lit), the two channels 
in an odd-even pair are linked. This means that if you move a control 
for one of the channels, the other channel will be affected in the same 
way. Pan is not affected by the Stereo link.
• You can also momentarily “stereo-link” unlinked faders and other 
controls by holding down [Alt] while moving the controls. 
Conversely, for channel pairs with Stereo link activated, holding down 
[Alt] allows you to adjust settings for each channel in the pair.
Level Fader Determines the level of the channel, both when playing back and 
when recording signals into Cubase SX/SL.
Pan Control
Fader Setting Level Fader
Level MeterStereo link 
switch
Channel Solo
Channel MuteBus On/Off buttons Aux Send On/Off buttons
Level Display
Input Selector
Stereo Mix on/off switch 
						

							 
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Level Meter Indicates the signal level of the channel. You can select globally how 
fast the meters should respond (see page 25).
Level Display Indicates the signal level numerically, in Peak Hold or continuous 
mode (see page 25).
Fader Setting Indicates the current fader setting in dB.
Channel Solo Mutes all other channels.
Channel Mute Turns off the sound of the channel.
Input Selector This display indicates the currently selected input source for the 
channel. Clicking on it brings down a pop-up menu, from which you 
can select another input source.
Bus On/Off 
buttonsUse these to turn the Bus sends on or off for the channel. These but-
tons are “mirrored” in the Bus Send panel in the Upper display.
Stereo Mix 
on/off switchThis switch determines whether the channel is connected to the Ste-
reo Mix (the master fader to the right on the Input Console panel) or 
not. You may want to deactivate this for channels which you have 
routed to separate outputs, using the Bus or Aux Sends. The switch 
is duplicated in the Bus Send panel in the Upper display.
Aux Send On/Off 
buttonsUse these to turn the Aux sends on or off for the channel. These but-
tons are “mirrored” in the Aux Send panel in the Upper display. 
Control Explanation 
						

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About the FX Return Channels
The channels labeled “1” - “4” to the right in the Input Console win-
dow, are by default used as stereo effect returns for the on-board ef-
fect units. FX Return channels 1 and 2 control the return level from FX 
Unit 1, and FX Return channels 3 and 4 control the return level from 
FX Unit 2. The FX Return channels differ from the regular channels in 
the following ways:
•There are no Solo buttons for the FX Return channels.
•The two channel pairs (1-2 and 3-4) are stereo linked by default.
•Aux Sends 5 and 6 (the sends to the on-board effects) are disabled 
for the FX Return channels, to prevent feedback. 
						

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Channel Controls in the Upper Display
The Upper display in “Aux Send”, “Dynamics”, “Bus Send” and “EQ” modes.
EQ Mode
When EQ Mode is selected for the Upper Display a four band para-
metric equalizer is available. Each band has the following parameters:
Note that all four EQ bands have the same frequency range! The labels 
“Low”, “L-Mid”, “H-Mid” and “Hi” are only there for convenience.
Bypass Bypass-switch for the band. If the indicator is lit, the EQ band is disabled.
QThe Q value for the EQ band, ranging from 10 (narrow) to 0.1 (wide) in 41 
steps. Also used to select LPF/HPF or Shelving modes for the Low and 
High EQ bands (see below).
FThe center frequency of the EQ band, from 21 Hz to 20 kHz in 120 steps.
GThe boost or cut (± 18 dB in steps of 0.5 dB). 
						

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Selecting High/Low Pass or Shelving EQ types
Normally, all four EQ bands are of the regular full parametric type, but 
you can switch the High and Low bands to Shelving or High/Low 
Pass Filter mode:
•To select High/Low Shelving mode for the High or Low EQ band, turn 
the Q knob fully to the right.
•To select High/Low Pass Filter mode for the High or Low EQ band, 
turn the Q knob fully to the left.
This converts the High EQ band to a Low Pass Filter and the Low EQ band to a High 
Pass Filter. In this mode, the Gain (G) setting is disabled.
Dynamics Mode
When Dynamics Mode is selected for the Upper Display, you have ac-
cess to a complete multi-mode Dynamics processor for the channel. 
You use the Type pop-up menu (right above the “Parameters” label) 
to select which type of dynamics processing to use:
Type Description
Comp A compressor, attenuating signals above a specified threshold level.
Gate Mutes signals below a specified threshold level.
Ducking Attenuates the signal when the level exceeds a specified threshold. Nor-
mally, the signal used for level detection (the Key In signal - see below) is 
another than the processed signal. For example, a common use for duck-
ing would be voice-overs, when the background music level should be 
reduced each time the announcer speaks.