Steinberg V-Stack Operation Manual

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 91
3.Use the pop-up menus at the bottom of the window to route each ac-
tive bus to an output pair on your audio hardware.
4.To rename a bus, click on its label and type in a new name.
5.Set the output levels for each active bus.
Dragging one of the faders for a bus will automatically move the other fader as well. To 
move the left or right fader for a bus independently, hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag, 
or deactivate the stereo link switch for the fader pair.
Routing channels to buses
To route the output of a group or VST Instrument channel to one of 
the active buses, you proceed as when routing to groups: Pull down 
the output routing pop-up menu at the bottom of the channel strip and 
select one of the buses. 
						

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Routing an effect send to a bus or group
All group channels and active buses will also appear on the effect 
send pop-up menus. This allows you to route a send directly to a 
group (for stereo send effects – see page 116) or to an output, for 
use with external effects, etc. The routing is done by selecting a group 
or bus on the send pop-up menu in the send section (extended mixer 
panel or Channel Settings window). 
						

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Utility functions
Link/Unlink channels
This function is used to “link” selected channels in the Mixer so that 
any change applied to one channel will be mirrored by all channels in 
that link group. You can link as many channels as you like, and you can 
also create as many groups of linked channels as you like. To link 
channels in the Mixer, proceed as follows:
1.Press [Shift] and click on the channel name field for all the channels 
that you want to Link.
Selected channels are indicated by highlighted name fields.
2.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) somewhere on the grey Mixer 
panel.
The Mixer context menu appears.
3.Select “Link Channels” from the context menu. 
						

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What will be linked?
The following rules apply for linked channels:
• Fader levels will be “ganged”.
The relative level offset between channels will be kept if you move a linked channel fader.
The three channels shown are linked. Pulling down one fader changes the levels for 
all three channels, but keeps the relative level mix.
• Any individual channel settings you have made before linking will remain until 
you alter the same setting for any of the linked channels.
For example, if you link three channels, and one of them was muted at the time you ap-
plied the Link Channel function, this channel will remain muted after linking. However, 
if you mute another channel then all linked channels will be muted. Thus, the individual 
setting for one channel is lost as soon as you change the same parameter setting for 
any of the linked channels.
• Channel settings you make after linking the channels will affect all linked chan-
nels of the same channel type.
• By holding down [Alt]/[Option], you can change parameter settings sepa-
rately for channels that are linked.
The following settings are not affected by the Link Channel function 
(i.e. they remain individual for each channel):
• Insert effect settings
• Pan
• Output routing
Unlinking channels
To unlink channels, simply select any of the linked channels, and se-
lect “Unlink Channels” from the Mixer context menu.
❐It is not possible to remove individual channels from Link status. If you 
want to make individual settings to a linked channel, press [Alt]/[Option] 
when changing the setting. 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 95
Copying settings between channels
It is possible to copy all channel settings for a channel and paste them 
into another channel. This applies to both channel types (you can e.g. 
copy EQ settings from an instrument channel and apply these to a 
group channel or vice versa). Proceed as follows:
1.Select the channel from which you want to copy settings by clicking its 
channel name field (a highlighted name indicates a selected channel).
You can also select channels with the Channel Select pop-up menu – see page 75.
Selecting a channel in the channel strip (left), and in the common panel (right).
2.Click the “Copy” button in the common panel.
3.Select the channel you want to copy the settings to and click the 
Paste button.
The settings are applied to the selected channel.
4.To copy the same settings to several channels, repeat step 3.
The copied settings are retained in memory until you copy new channel settings, or 
close the project. 
						

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Initialize Channel
The Initialize Channel button can be found at the bottom of the Chan-
nel Settings common panel. It resets the selected channel to the de-
fault setting. Default settings are:
• All EQ, Insert and Send effect settings are deactivated and reset.
• Solo/Mute is deactivated.
• The fader is set to 0dB.
• Pan is set to center position.
Changing the meter characteristics
You can change the Mixer’s level meters characteristics for audio 
channels: right-click anywhere on the Mixer panel to bring up the 
Mixer context menu. On the menu there are two options for Meter 
characteristics: “VU-Meter Fast” and “VU-Meter Hold”.
•If “Fast” is activated (ticked), the meters respond very quickly to level 
peaks.
If “Fast” is deactivated, the meters respond more like standard VU meters.
•If “Hold” is activated (ticked), the highest registered peak levels are 
“held” and are shown as static horizontal lines in the meter.
Hold activated 
						

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Saving Mixer settings
It is possible to save complete Mixer settings for selected or all audio 
channels in the Mixer. These can then later be loaded into any project. 
Channel settings are saved as Mixer settings files. These have the 
Windows file extension “.vmx”. 
Right-clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) somewhere on the Mixer 
panel or in the Channel Settings window brings up the Mixer context 
menu where four Save/Load items can be found. The following op-
tions are available:
• “Save Selected Channels” will save all channel settings and the output bus 
routing for the selected channels.
Effects loaded in the VST Send Effects panel will not be saved. Thus, the send routing 
assigned for the selected channel(s) will not be saved, although the send levels, pre/
post and on/off settings are. Insert effects settings are saved.
• Save Master, Sends and VSTi will save the Master setup, VST output bus 
levels and active status, Master mix level, and all assignments and settings in 
the VST send effects, VST Instruments and Master effects panels.
You do not have to select channels for this operation.
• “Save Master Fx” will save current Master effects configuration and settings.
• “Save All Mixer Settings” saves everything.
This is the same as using “Save Selected Channels” with all channels selected, and 
using “Save Master, Sends and VSTi” and “Save Master Fx”, all in one go.
When selecting any of these items, a standard file dialog opens where 
you can select a name and storage location on your disk for the file. 
						

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Loading Mixer settings 
Load Selected Channels
To load Mixer settings saved for selected channels, proceed as follows:
1.Select the same number of channels in the new project to match the 
number of channels you saved settings for in the previous project.
For example, if you saved settings for six channels, then select six channels in the Mixer.
•Mixer settings will be applied in the same order as they appear in the 
Mixer, when saved. 
Thus, if you save settings from channels 4, 6 and 8 and apply these settings to chan-
nels 1, 2 and 3, the settings saved for channel 4 would be applied to channel 1, the 
settings saved for channel 6 to channel 2 and so on.
2.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the mixer panel to open the con-
text menu, and select “Load Selected Channels”.
A standard file dialog appears, where you can locate the saved file.
3.Select the file and click “Open”.
The channel settings and their corresponding output bus routing is applied to the se-
lected channels.
❐If you select to apply Mixer settings to fewer channels than you saved, the 
order of the saved channels in the Mixer applies – i.e. the saved channels 
that are “left over” and not applied will be the channels with the highest 
channel numbers (or furthest to the right in the Mixer).
Load Master, Sends and Synths
As these settings are global for the whole Mixer, no channels need to 
be selected.
1.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the mixer panel to open the con-
text menu and select Load Master, Sends and Synths.
A standard file dialog appears, where you can locate the saved file.
2.Select the file and click “Open”.
The Master setup, Master mix level, VST output levels, VST instruments and all send 
and Master effect assignments and settings are applied to the project. 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 99
Load Master Fx
This item allows you to load Master effect combinations and settings.
1.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the mixer panel to pull down the 
context menu, and select “Load Master Fx”.
A standard file dialog appears, where you can locate the saved file.
2.Click “Open” to recall the saved Master Effects.
Load All Mixer Settings
Selecting “Load All Mixer Settings” from the context menu allows you 
to open a saved Mixer Settings file, and have the stored settings ap-
plied to all channels for which there is information included in the file. 
All channels, master settings, VST Instruments, sends and master ef-
fects will be affected. 
						

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