Steinberg Nuendo 4 Operation Manual

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VST Instruments and Instrument tracks
VST plug-ins (with higher delay than the threshold 
value) which are activated for VST Instrument channels, 
audio track channels that are record enabled, group chan-
nels and output channels will be turned off when you acti-
vate Constrain Delay Compensation.
VST plug-ins activated for FX channels are not turned 
off but their delay is disregarded by the program (delay 
compensation is turned off).
After recording or using a VST Instrument with Constrain 
Delay Compensation, you should turn off the function to 
restore full delay compensation.
External instruments
An external instrument bus is an input (return) to your au-
dio hardware, along with a MIDI connection via Nuendo 
and few additional settings. External instrument busses 
are created in the VST Connections window. All external 
instrument busses you have created will appear on the 
VST Instrument pop-up menus and can be selected in the 
same way as any VST Instrument plug-in. If you select an 
external instrument, you play it via MIDI as usual (you have 
to create a MIDI device to play it) and the sound (synth au-
dio output) will come in to the VST environment where you 
can apply processing etc. For more information on exter-
nal instruments, see “Setting up external instruments” on 
page 19.  
						

							15
Surround sound 
						

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Surround sound
Background
What is Surround sound?
Surround is a common name for various techniques for 
positioning audio in reference to the listener. Whereas 
regular stereo is limited to left/right positioning, within a 
relatively narrow field, surround sound opens possibilities 
of positioning an audio source anywhere around the lis-
tener.
Surround sound comes in many flavors, from the ill-fated 
Quadraphonic format for vinyl discs launched in the 70s, 
to today’s more successful incarnations.
The differences between the formats are in two areas:
The number and configuration of speakers.
This varies from two speakers up to 12.
The intended final coding format.
This depends on the media the audio will be “stored” on: film, broadcast 
video or DVD, for example.
Surround sound is a large topic, there are entire books 
and regular publications devoted to the subject. This 
chapter will not provide an in-depth introduction to sur-
round sound as such. Instead it will concentrate on the 
specific implementation in Nuendo.
Surround sound in Nuendo
Nuendo has integrated surround sound features with sup-
port for several formats. This support goes all the way 
through the audio path – all audio channels and busses 
can handle multiple speaker channel configurations (up to 
12 channels). A channel in the mixer can either carry com-
plete surround mixes, or an individual speaker channel 
which is part of a surround setup.
 Audio channels can be routed freely to surround channels.
 The Surround Panner function in the mixer allows you to 
graphically position channels in the surround field.
 The Mixconvert plug-in allows conversion of one surround 
channel into another with a different speaker configuration. 
Nuendo places Mixconvert automatically where needed. Nuendo is ready for surround specific plug-ins, that is plug-ins 
with multi-channel support specifically designed for surround 
sound mixing tasks (the included “Mix8to2” plug-in is an ex-
ample of this). There are also surround aware plug-ins, which 
are not designed specifically for Surround but which due to 
their multi-channel support work well in a Surround configura-
tion. An example is the Surrounddither plug-in.
 You configure Nuendo for surround by defining input and out-
put busses in the desired surround format, and specifying 
which audio inputs and outputs should be used for the differ-
ent channels in the busses. This is done in the VST Connec-
tions window.
Requirements for using Surround
The following additional equipment is required for taking 
advantage of the surround sound implementation in Nu-
endo:
An audio card with more than two outputs.
The card must have as many outputs as the surround format you plan to 
select.
A matching amplifier/speaker configuration.
Encoding
The result of a surround mix in Nuendo is either the multi-
channel audio sent from the surround output bus to your 
surround speaker setup, or (if you use the Export audio 
feature) audio file(s) on your hard disk. Exported surround 
mixes can either be split (one mono file per speaker chan-
nel) or interleaved (a single file containing all the surround 
channels).
Getting from this step to the final product (surround sound 
on DVD disc, DTS, etc.) requires special software and 
possibly hardware. This equipment will encode the signal 
into the desired format, possibly compress the audio and 
store it on the final media.
Exactly what type of software and/or hardware you need 
depends on what kind of format you are mixing for and is 
not dependent on Nuendo in any way.
Steinberg provides Dolby Digital and DTS encoders for 
purchase, tailored for use with Nuendo.
For details, please go to www.steinberg.net. 
						

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Surround sound
About surround plug-ins
Included with the program are some specific surround-
plug-ins. These are:
MatrixEncoder and MatrixDecoder.
These are used for working with LRCS Surround encoded material. In 
LRCS Surround, four audio channels are converted to two channels, for 
distribution via regular video and broadcast formats. These plug-ins per-
form such conversions (in both ways) and are compatible with the LRCS 
Surround format.
Mixconvert
Mixconvert gives you an easy way to take surround mixes and convert 
them to other formats with less channels. For example, Mixconvert can 
be used to downmix a 5.1 surround mix to a normal stereo mix. This plug-
in is unique in that Nuendo will automatically insert it in place of the chan-
nel panner or aux send panner in certain situations. Please refer to the 
manual “Nuendo Expansion Kit – Cubase Music Tools for Nuendo 4” for 
complete information about Mixconvert.
Mix6to2
The Mix6to2 effect allows you to control the levels of up to six surround 
channels, and to mix these down to a stereo output. 
Mix8to2
The Mix6to2 effect allows you to control the levels of up to eight sur-
round channels, and to mix these down to a stereo output.
Mixer Delay
The Mixer Delay effect is useful for time aligning surround speakers if 
your room configuration does not allow for proper ITU-R speaker place-
ment. It is also handy for re-routing surround channels to their proper 
speaker channels in your setup (refer to the separate manual “Nuendo 
Expansion Kit – Cubase Music Tools for Nuendo 4” for more information 
about Mixer Delay.
SurroundDither
This is a dithering plug-in capable of handling six channels at the same 
time – use this for applying dithering to a surround output bus.
SurroundPanner
This is described in the section “Using the Surround Panner” on page 
208.
ÖSurround plug-ins (apart from the SurroundPanner) 
are described in the separate manual “Nuendo Expansion 
Kit – Cubase Music Tools for Nuendo 4”.
The VST Connections window
In this window you can add input and output busses. 
There is a complete selection of common surround con-
figurations available, as well as standard mono or stereo 
busses.
The Bus Name column contains the currently configured 
busses as they will appear in the input and output routing 
pop-ups in the mixer.
VST Connections showing the Outputs page. The “5.1 Out” bus is un-
folded, displaying the individual speaker channels, with their physical 
output ports displayed in the Device Port column to the right.
The outputs selected for the 
channels in the busses.Click here to add a bus.
The currently configured busses. 
						

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Surround sound
Surround in the mixer
Surround sound is supported throughout every stage of 
the signal path in the Nuendo mixer, from input to output 
bus. Each bus or audio channel can carry up to 12 sur-
round speaker channels.
In the output channel section of the mixer you can control 
the master levels for configured busses. The level meter 
for a bus (or channel in the mixer) that carries multiple sur-
round channels will show multiple level bars, one for each 
speaker channel in the surround configuration.
Operations
Setting up the surround configuration
Output bus configuration
Before you can start working with surround sound, you 
have to configure a surround output bus, through which all 
the speaker channels of the chosen surround format are 
routed. How to add and set up busses is described in de-
tail in the section “Setting up busses” on page 11. Here is 
a brief run through:
1.Open the VST Connections window from the Devices 
menu.
2.Click the “Outputs” tab.
3.Click the “Add Bus” button and select one of the pre-
set formats from the Configuration pop-up (see below).
The new bus appears with the ports visible.
4.By clicking in the Device Port column you can now 
route the speaker channels to the desired outputs of your 
audio hardware.
5.If you like, rename the output bus by clicking its name 
and typing in a new one.
This name will appear in the mixer and on routing pop-ups.
The following surround configurations are included:
Here, the SurroundPanner is used for positioning 
the sound “dynamically” in the surround field.
Using the Output Routing pop-up, 
audio channels can be routed di-
rectly to surround channels.
Format Description
LRCS
LRCS refers to Left Right Center Surround, where the 
surround speaker is center-rear positioned. This is the 
original surround format that first appeared as Dolby Ste-
reo in cinema and later as the home cinema format Dolby 
ProLogic.
5.0
This is the same as 5.1 (see below) but without the LFE 
channel. The LFE channel is optional in 5.1 and if you 
don’t plan to use it, you might find this option more con-
venient.
5.1
This format is one of the most popular in cinema and 
DVD. In its various cinema and DVD encoding implemen-
tations (established by different manufacturers) it is re-
ferred to as Dolby Digital, AC-3, DTS and MPEG 2 
Multichannel. 5.1 has one center speaker (mainly used 
for speech), main left and right speakers, and two sur-
round speakers (mostly for sound effects). Additionally a 
subchannel (LFE – Low Frequency Effects) with lower 
bandwidth is used for special low frequency effects.
LC
R
S
LCR
SR
SL
LCR
SR
SL+ 
						

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Surround sound LRC
Same as LRCS, but without the surround speaker chan-
nel.
LRS
Left-Right-Surround, with the surround speaker posi-
tioned at center-rear.
LRC+Lfe
Same as LRC but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
LRS+Lfe
Same as LRS but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
Quadro
The original Quadraphonic format for music, with one 
speaker in each corner. This format was intended for vinyl 
record players.
LRCS+Lfe
Same as LRCS but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
Quadro+Lfe
Same as Quadro but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
6.0 Cine
A Left-Right-Center front speaker arrangement with 3 
(Left-Right-Center) surround channels. Format Description
L
CR
L
R
S
L
CR
+
L
R
S +
LR
SR SL
L
CR
S+
LR
SR
SL+
LC
R
SR SL
S6.0 Music
This uses 2 (Left/Right) front channels with Left and 
Right surround channels and Left and Right Side chan-
nels.
6.1 Cine
Same as 6.0 Cine but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
6.1 Music
Same as 6.1 Cine but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
7.0 Cine
A Left, Mid-left, Center, Mid-right, Right front speaker ar-
rangement with Left and Right surround channels.
7.0 Music
Same as 6.0 Music but with a Center front channel 
added.
7.1 Cine
Same as 7.0 Cine but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
7.1 Music
Same as 7.0 Music but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
8.0 Cine
Same as 7.0 Cine but with the addition of a Center Sur-
round channel. Format Description
L
R
SR SL LSRS
L
CR
SR
SLS+
LR
SR
SL LS
RS
+
LCR
SR
SLLC RC
L
R
SR SL LSRS C
LCR
SR
SLLC RC
+
L
R
SR
SL LS
RS C
+
LCR
SR LC RC
S
SL 
						

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Surround sound
Child busses
Essentially a child bus is a bus within a (bigger) bus. Typi-
cally you may want stereo child busses within your sur-
round bus – this allows you to route stereo tracks directly 
to a stereo speaker pair within the surround bus. You may 
also want to add child busses in other surround formats 
(with fewer channels than the “parent bus”).
Once you have created a surround bus, you can add one or 
several child busses to it by right-clicking the bus and se-
lecting “Add Child Bus”. This is described in detail in the 
section “Adding a child bus” on page 13.
Input bus configuration
To work with surround sound in Nuendo, it is often not 
necessary to configure a surround format input bus. You 
can record audio files via standard inputs, and easily route 
the resulting audio channels to surround outputs at any 
stage. You can also directly import multi-channel files of 
specific surround format onto audio tracks of the same 
format.
You should add a surround input bus in the following cir-
cumstances:You have existing audio material in a specific surround 
format, and you wish to transfer this material into Nuendo 
as a single, multi-channel file.
You wish to record a surround setup “live”.
In both cases, you can add and configure an input bus of 
the format you wish to use in the VST Connections dialog 
so that each input on your audio hardware is routed to the 
corresponding speaker channel.
To add an input bus, use the same general method as de-
scribed for output busses (see “Output bus configuration” 
on page 205), but select the “Inputs” tab instead.
Routing channels directly to surround channels
If you want to place an audio source in one separate 
speaker channel only, you can route it directly to that 
speaker channel. This is useful for pre-mixed material or 
multi-channel recordings that don’t require panning.
1.Open the mixer and locate the channel you wish to 
route.
2.From the output routing pop-up menu, select the cor-
responding surround speaker channel.
If a stereo audio channel is routed directly to a speaker 
channel, the left/right channels will be mixed to mono.
The pan control for the audio channel governs the balance between the 
left and right channel in the resulting mono mix. Center pan will produce 
a mix of equal proportion.
Routing channels using child busses
Child busses provide a way to route stereo (or multi-chan-
nel) audio channels to specific speaker channels in a sur-
round configuration. 
The most obvious application of a child bus is when you 
wish to add a stereo channel to two specific left/right sur-
round speaker channels.
8.0 Music
Same as 7.0 Music but with the addition of a Center Sur-
round channel.
8.1 Cine
Same as 8.0 Cine but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
8.1 Music
Same as 8.0 Music but with an Lfe sub-channel added
10.2
This is an experimental format with ten surrounding 
speakers and two Lfe channels (a combination of two 
5.1, one at the top and one at the bottom of the room). Format Description
LR
SR SL LS
RS C
S
LCR
SR SLLC RC
S +
LR
RS
LS SLC
SSR
+
L
CR
TRR TRLTFCTFR TFL
SLSR ++ 
						

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Surround sound
If you have added a child bus within a surround bus (see 
above), it appears as a submenu item within the surround 
bus on the output routing pop-up menu. Select this to 
route a stereo audio channel directly to that stereo 
speaker pair in the surround bus.
Using the Surround Panner
Nuendo has a special feature for graphically positioning a 
sound source in a surround field. This is actually a special 
plug-in which distributes the audio from the channel in 
various proportions to the surround channels.
1.Open the mixer and locate the channel you wish to 
position.
This could be a mono or stereo channel.
2.From the output routing pop-up menu, select the 
“whole surround bus” option (not a specific speaker 
channel).
A miniature graph of the surround plug-in interface appears above the 
fader in the channel strip.
When the “whole surround bus” is selected, the channel strip shows a 
miniature surround control. 
3.You can click and drag directly in the miniature image 
to move the sound in the surround field.
The horizontal red strip to the right controls the subbass (LFE) level (if 
available in the selected surround format).
You can also view a slightly larger version of this control 
by selecting “Panner” on the View options pop-up menu 
for the extended mixer panel.
This mode offers click and drag-panning as well as numerical values for 
left/right balance, front/rear balance and LFE amount – enter the desired 
number or use the mouse wheel to adjust them.
The SurroundPan can also be displayed in the Inspector 
for all audio channel track types. To display the Surround 
Pan tab in the Inspector, make sure the corresponding op-
tion is enabled in the Inspector context menu.
For total control over surround panning, double-click on 
the miniature image to open the full Surround Panner 
interface in a separate window. 
						

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Surround sound
The SurroundPan controls
The SurroundPan plug-in interface in Standard, Position and Angle 
mode, respectively.
The SurroundPan plug-in allows you to position your au-
dio in the surround field. It consists of an image of the 
speaker arrangement, as defined by the output bus se-
lected on the output routing pop-up menu, with the sound 
source indicated as a gray ball. 
Mode – Standard/Position/Angle
The Standard Mode/Position Mode/Angle Mode switch 
allows you to work in three modes:
 In both Standard and Position mode, the speakers in the front 
are aligned, as they would normally be in a cinema-type situa-
tion. This means that the front speakers are at a varying dis-
tance from the center. Standard mode (default) is the best 
mode for moving sources between speakers without level at-
tenuation.
 Angle Mode is the traditional surround sound mixing definition. 
Note that here the speakers are defined as being at equal dis-
tance from the center. This is not really a true representation of 
for example a cinema, but has still proven to work well in many 
situations.
Speakers
The speakers in the panel represent the chosen surround 
configuration. 
The speakers in the front are aligned, as they would nor-
mally 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
A sound source is positioned either by clicking or by drag-
ging the gray “ball” around in the panel (or by using key 
commands, see below). By dragging during playback you 
can record automation, see “Enabling and disabling the 
writing of automation data” on page 214.
In Standard Mode, the signal levels from the individual 
speakers are indicated by colored lines from the speakers 
to the center of the 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 attenua-
tion, see below.
!The text below assumes that the Mono/Stereo pop-
up is set to “Mono Mix”. For more information on the 
other modes, see below. 
						

							210
Surround sound
In Angle Mode, a red arc helps you determine the per-
ceived “range” of a source. The sound will be at its loud-
est in the middle of the arc and will have dropped in level 
towards the ends.
Exactly how levels are handled may require some explana-
tion:
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).
The signal levels from the individual speakers are indi-
cated by colored lines from the speakers to the center of 
the display.
You can use modifier keys to restrict movement in vari-
ous ways:
In Standard and Position Mode:
In Angle Mode:
There is also a special set of key commands for working in 
the SurroundPan window.
The LFE dial (all modes)
If the selected surround setup includes an LFE (Low Fre-
quency 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 number 
in the LFE value field 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 (“Panner” selected on the View options 
pop-up menu).
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 gray balls will then ap-
pear, one for each channel (L/R). This will allow you to 
move the two channels symmetrically, by dragging one of 
them. The three modes allow you to select 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 channels will be mixed together before entering 
the plug-in.
 If you run a mono signal through the plug-in in one of the ste-
reo modes, the signal will be split before entering the plug-in.
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)
!For a complete list of the available key commands, 
click on the “SurroundPanner” logo and then click 
again!
…or drag this control to set LFE level.Click here and type in a LFE level value…