Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Using DSP Factory Manual

							Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 21
Depending on which Dynamics Type you have selected, there are dif-
ferent parameters available. However, some general controls are 
available in all modes:
Expand An expander, attenuating signals below a specified threshold level, thus 
reducing low-level noise and effectively increasing the dynamic range.
Compand 
(H or S)A combination of compressor, expander and limiter: The compressor 
compresses signals that exceed a specified threshold level, while the ex-
pander attenuates signals below a level determined by the threshold 
level and the Width setting. The limiter prevents the signal from exceed-
ing 0 dB. 
The two compander types (H and S, for Hard and Soft) have different ex-
pansion ratios; CompandH will attenuate low level signals more drasti-
cally than CompandS.
ON button Click this to activate the Dynamics processor for the channel.
LINK button When this is activated, the dynamics processing is linked for the 
two channels in an odd-even pair. This means that a mix of the two 
channels is used to “trigger” the dynamics processor. Use this 
mode for stereo channel pairs, to maintain the stereo balance.
Key-In pop-up 
menuDetermines which signal should be used to “trigger” the dynamics 
processing:
Self Post-EQ: The channel signal, post-EQ
Self Pre-EQ: The channel signal, pre-EQ
Aux 1: The total signal on the Aux 1 bus
Aux 2: The total signal on the Aux 2 bus
Left Post-EQ: The signal of the left channel in a pair, post-EQ
Left Pre-EQ: The signal of the left channel in a pair, pre-EQ
(“Left” options are only available for even-numbered channels.)
In pop-up menuThis pop-up menu is only available when Link mode is activated. Use 
this to determine which signal(s) the dynamics processor should af-
fect; L (left channel in the pair), R (right channel in the pair) or Both. Type Description
Key-In pop-up menu
In pop-up menu 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 22
In the lower half of the Dynamics panel, you will find the actual controls:
Parameter Description
Threshold Determines the threshold level at which the dynamics processor is “trig-
gered”. Whether signal levels above or below this level will trigger the 
processing, depends on the selected dynamics type.
Ratio  (Comp, Expander and Compander types only). Determines the amount 
of compression/expansion. For the Compander types, this determines 
the compression, while the expansion ratio is fixed.
Attack This determines how soon the signal is affected (compressed, gated, 
expanded, etc.) once the dynamics processor has been triggered.
Release (Comp, Expander and Compander types only). Determines how soon 
the dynamics processor returns to normal gain once the signal level 
goes back below/above the threshold level.
Gain / MGain (Comp, Expander and Compander types only). Sets the output signal 
level. Use this to compensate for overall level changes caused by the 
dynamics processing.
Knee (Comp and Expander types only). Determines how compression/ex-
pansion is applied at the threshold point. “Hard knee” means that the 
specified compression/expansion ratio is applied as soon as the 
threshold level is reached, while the five “Soft knee” settings apply the 
compression/expansion gradually for a more natural sound.
Range  (Gate and Ducking types only). Determines the amount of attenuation 
when the processing is triggered, with lower values resulting in more 
attenuation. If you want the Gate/Ducker to mute the signal completely 
when triggered, set this parameter to its lowest value (-70 dB).
Hold  (Gate and Ducking types only). Determines how long the gate stays 
open (or how long the ducking effect remains active) once the trigger 
signal has fallen below the threshold level. 
Decay(Gate and Ducking types only). Determines how fast the gate is closed 
(or, with Ducking, how fast the gain returns to normal) after the Hold time.
Width (Compander types only). This determines how far below the threshold 
level expansion is applied to the signal. If the Threshold level is -10 dB 
and the Width is set to 20 dB, expansion will be applied to signals with 
levels below -30 dB (20 dB below threshold).
Reduction
MeterThis meter indicates the dynamic gain reduction. 
						

							Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 23
Bus Send Mode
The Bus Sends are always post-fader. This means that in many cases 
(e.g. when using the busses for recording into Cubase SX/SL) there is 
no need to adjust the individual bus send levels - you only need to acti-
vate the desired busses in the Lower display (Bus Assign mode) and set 
the recording level using the faders. This assumes that you keep all bus 
send level knobs at their maximum setting.
In this mode you can view and control the eight Bus Sends for the 
channel. For each bus there is an on/off button (mirrored in the Lower 
display in Bus Assign mode) and a level control. For each pair of Bus 
Sends (1-2, 3-4, etc.), there is also a Post Pan switch:
•When the Post Pan switch is activated for a Bus Send pair, the Pan 
control for a channel is used to pan the signal between the two bus-
ses in the pair.
Panning a signal fully left will send it to the odd-numbered bus only and vice versa. 
When Post Pan is activated, the Bus on/off buttons are linked for each pair, so that ac-
tivating or deactivating a Bus Send (in this panel or in the Lower display) automatically 
activates/deactivates the other Bus Send in the pair. 
This is useful when you are recording in stereo, or when you have assigned the busses 
to separate outputs for stereo monitoring, etc.
•When the Post Pan switch is deactivated for a Bus Send pair, the chan-
nel signal is sent to each activated bus regardless of the Pan setting.
This may be preferable when you are recording in mono, since it allows you to route a 
DS channel to a VST input without having to take the Pan setting into account.
Below the Bus Sends you will find a Stereo Mix on/off button, which 
determines whether the channel should be sent to the main Stereo 
Mix or not. This button is duplicated in the Bus Assign panel in the 
Lower display.
Aux Send Mode
In this mode you can view and control the six Aux Sends for the chan-
nel. For each send there is a level control with a numeric display show-
ing the current setting, an on/off switch (mirrored in the Lower display 
in Aux Assign mode) and a Post-fader switch. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 24
Aux Sends 5 and 6 are “hard-wired” to the on-board effect units (FX Unit 
1 and FX Unit 2, respectively). To avoid feedback, Aux Sends 5 and 6 are 
disabled for the FX Return channels.
If you have two DS2416 cards installed, you can address all four effect 
units by using Aux Sends 3-6.
The Stereo Mix Section
To the right in the Input Console window you will find the Stereo Mix 
section. This differs slightly from the regular channel strips:
Lower Display
In the Stereo Mix section, there are no different modes for the Lower 
display. It always contains a stereo master fader with a numerical dis-
play, stereo level meters and numeric level indicators, a balance con-
trol and a Mute button, for silencing the Stereo Mix output totally. The 
Mute button does not affect the busses or Aux sends.
Upper Display
There are two modes for the Stereo Mix Section Upper display: EQ 
and Dynamics. These both feature the same controls as in the regular 
channel strips. 
						

							Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 25
The Common Panel
To the left of the channel strips you will find a section with common 
controls:
Control Description
Meter Post
buttonDetermines which signal the level meters should show: When 
the button is activated, the meters will show the levels post-
fader. When it isn’t activated the meters will show the input 
levels, regardless of fader positions (which is useful when 
checking input levels from external sound sources).
Meter Slow 
buttonWhen this is activated, the level meters will drop more slowly, 
making it easier to discern quick level changes. This switch will 
also affect the meters in the Bus/Aux Console (see page 26).
Meter Peak 
HoldWhen this is activated, the numeric level indicator will keep the 
highest value displayed, making it easy to spot maximum levels. 
To reset the indicator in Peak Hold mode, click twice on the 
Peak Hold button. This switch will also affect the numerical 
level indicators in the Bus/Aux Console (see page 26).
FX Show  Click this button to open the FX Editor window.
File pop-up 
menuThis pop-up menu allows you to save/load the “Selected 
Channel” or “All DS2416 Mixer Settings“.
- When you select “Save Selected Channel“, a file is created 
which includes all channel settings (Volume, Pan, EQ, Dynam-
ics, Bus/Aux and Routing) of the selected channel. The file gets 
the extension “.dschn“. You can import these files into the pro-
gram by selecting “Load Selected Channel“.
- When you select “Save All DS2416 Mixer Settings“, a file is 
created which includes all channel settings of the Input Con-
sole, the Bus/Aux Console, the Output Patchbay and the effect 
settings. The file gets the extension “.dsmix“. You can import 
these files into the program by selecting “Load All DS2416 
Mixer Settings“. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 26
The Bus/Aux Console
This window contains master level controls for the eight busses and 
six Aux sends, together with level meters and numerical level indica-
tors. There are also Mute buttons for each bus/send.
•The options for slow/fast metering and Peak Hold in the Input Con-
sole window affects the meters and indicators in the Bus/Aux Con-
sole as well. 
						

							Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 27
The Channel Overview
This window allows you to view and access all controls at the same 
time for a single channel. You select which channel to view by using 
the Channel Selection pop-up menu in the upper left corner.
The controls in the Channel Overview are the same as in the Input 
Console window, with the addition of the following parameters:
Attenuator Allows you to adjust the input signal gain, with a range of -96 to +12 dB.
Delay Time Allows you to delay a channel by up to 2600 samples. The Delay On but-
ton turns the channel delay on or off.
Phase-Invert Inverts the phase of the signal. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 28
The FX Editor
This window allows you to select effect types and make settings for 
the two on-board effect units (labelled “FX Unit 1” and “FX Unit 2”). 
The window can be opened either from the Devices menu, or by click-
ing the FX Show button in the Input Console window.
You use the FX Unit pop-up menu to select which unit to make set-
tings for, and then choose an effect type for the selected unit using 
the FX Type pop-up menu (at the upper right corner).
The File pop-up menu allows you to save/load the settings for the cur-
rently selected effect unit.
There are 40 different effect types, all of which are available for both 
FX Units (with the exception of the “HQ. Pitch” effect, which can only 
be selected for FX Unit 2).
FX Unit pop-up menu
FX Type pop-up menu 
						

							Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory CUBASE SX/SL
 29
Depending on the selected effect type, various parameters are dis-
played in the window. You can edit these freely but your changes are 
lost when you select another effect type. For detailed descriptions of 
the effect types and parameters, see the DSP Factory documentation.
•If you click the “Load Default” button in the top left corner, all parame-
ters for the current effect type are reset to their default values.
The DSP Factory Routing Window
This window allows you to view and change the output routing, i.e. 
which busses and sends are routed to which outputs, and also con-
tains wordclock synchronization settings, for when you use the DSP 
Factory in conjunction with external digital recorders or other audio 
hardware.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL Using Cubase SX/SL with DSP Factory
 30
Output Routing section
Each bus or send can be routed to any output or any combination of 
outputs. However, it is not possible to route several different busses 
to the same output. 
In the Routing window, the output pairs are listed to the left:
•To select another bus or send for an output pair, pull down the pop-up 
menu to the right of the output and select another source from the list.
Output Description
DS2416 
#1 - #4These are the recording outputs. In Cubase SX/SL, these are connected 
to the Audio Inputs, so that Rec 1/2 corresponds to Input 1 L/R, etc.
IOA 1-4 Outputs 1-4 on the first additional input/output unit (e.g. an AX44).
IOB 1-4 Outputs 1-4 on the second additional input/output unit.
Analog The analog outputs on the DS2416.
S/P DIF The digital outputs on the DS2416.
IOA 5-8 If you have an input/output unit with eight outputs, IOA 5-8 are used to 
address outputs 5-8 on this unit.
IOB 5-8 As above, but for a second 8-i/o unit (connected as “unit B”).