Steinberg Nuendo 4 Operation Manual

11
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
About this chapter
Nuendo uses a system of input and output busses to trans-
fer 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...

12
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
Preparations
Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs 
and outputs on your audio hardware. For example, if you 
are using a 5.1 surround speaker setup, you should name 
the outputs according to which speaker they are con-
nected to (Left, Right, Center and so on). 
The reason for this is compatibility – it makes it easier to 
transfer projects between different computers and setups. 
For example, if you move your project to another...

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
Depending on which tab you have selected, Inputs or Out-
puts, the window lists the current input or output busses, 
with the following columns:
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 as well as several 
surround formats. To select another surround format, use the...

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
Setting the Main Mix bus (the default output bus)
The Main Mix is the output bus that each new channel in 
the mixer will be assigned to when it is created.
Any one of the output busses in the VST Connections 
window can be the default output bus. By right-clicking on 
the name of an output bus, you can set this bus as the 
Main Mix bus.
Setting the default output bus in the VST Connections window.
When creating new audio, group or FX channels in the...

15
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
If you press [Alt]/[Option] and select an input or output 
bus in the Mixer Routing View, it will be chosen for all se-
lected channels.
This makes it easy to quickly set several channels to use the same input 
or output. Similarly, if you press [Shift] and select a bus, the following se-
lected channels will be set to use incrementing busses – the second se-
lected channel will use the second bus, the third will use the third bus 
and so on.
ÖIf the...

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
Input channels
The input channels are shown to the left in the mixer. As 
you can see, each input channel resembles a regular mixer 
channel strip. Here you can do the following:
Check and adjust the recording level using the Input 
Gain knobs and/or the level fader.
See “Setting input levels” on page 69.
Change the phase of the input signal.
This is done by clicking the Input Phase button next to the Input Gain 
control.
Add effects or EQ to the...

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
Setting up Groups and FX channels
The Group/FX tab in the VST Connections window shows 
all Group channels and FX channels in your project. You 
can create new Group or FX channels by clicking the cor-
responding Add button. This is the same as creating 
Group channel tracks or FX channel tracks in the Project 
window (see “Using group channels” on page 142 and 
the chapter “Audio effects” on page 168).
However, the VST Connections window also allows...

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
Connecting the external effect/instrument
To set up an external effect or instrument, proceed as fol-
lows:
1.Connect an unused output pair on your audio hard-
ware to the input pair on your external hardware device.
In this example, we assume that the hardware device has stereo inputs 
and outputs.
2.Connect an unused input pair on your audio hardware 
to the output pair on your hardware device.
Once the external device is connected to the audio...

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
8.When you are done, close the VST Connections win-
dow.
ÖNote that external device ports are exclusive, see 
“Connecting the external effect/instrument” on page 18.
How to use the external effect
If you now click an insert effect slot for any channel and 
look at the effect pop-up menu, you will find the new exter-
nal FX bus listed on the “External Plug-ins” submenu.
When you select it, the following happens:
 The external FX bus is loaded into the...

20
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
7.When you are done, close the VST Connections win-
dow.
ÖNote that external device ports are exclusive, see 
“Connecting the external effect/instrument” on page 18.
How to use the external instrument
Once you have set up the external instrument in the VST 
Connections window, you can use it as a VST Instrument. 
Open the VST Instruments window and click on an empty 
instrument slot. In the instrument pop-up menu, your ex-
ternal instrument is listed...