Steinberg V-Stack Operation Manual

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 81
•You can return to this saved configuration at any time, by clicking the 
Channel View Sets button and selecting it from the pop-up menu.
•To remove a stored Channel View Set, select it from pop-up so that 
the View Set is active, pull down the pop-up again and select 
Remove.
❐Some remote control devices (such as Steinberg’s Houston) feature this 
function, which means that you can use the remote device to switch be-
tween the Channel View Sets. 
						

							V-STACK7 – 82 The Mixer
Basic mixing procedures
Setting volume in the Mixer
In the Mixer, each channel strip has a fader for volume control. 
•The fader settings are displayed numerically below the faders, in dB.
You can click in the fader value fields and enter a volume setting by typing.
•To make fine volume adjustments, hold down [Shift] when you move 
the faders.
•If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on a fader, it will auto-
matically be set to position 0.0 dB.
About the level meters for audio channels
When playing VST instruments in V-STACK, the level meters in the 
Mixer show the level of each instrument channel. If the peak level of 
the audio goes above 0dB, the numerical level indicator will then 
show a positive value (i.e. a value above 0dB). 
V-STACK uses 32 bit floating point processing internally, so there is 
virtually limitless headroom – signals can go way beyond 0dB without 
introducing distortion. Therefore:
❐Having higher levels than 0 dB for individual channels and groups is not 
a problem in itself. The audio quality will not be degraded by this.
This is however not the case for the buses in the VST Outputs window 
(including the Master bus, which can be shown in the Mixer as well)! In 
the output buses, the floating point audio is converted to the resolution 
of the audio hardware. In the audio domain, the maximum level is 0dB. 
Levels higher than 0 dB will cause the clip indicators above the meters 
for each bus to light up. If the clip indicators light up for a bus, this in-
dicates actual clipping – digital distortion which should be avoided.
❐If the Clip indicator lights up for the Master bus or any other output bus, 
reset the clip indicator by clicking on it, and lower the level until the indi-
cator no longer lights up. 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 83
Using Solo and Mute
The Mute (top) and Solo buttons.
You can use the Mute and Solo buttons to silence one or several 
channels. The following applies:
• The Mute button silences the selected channel.
Clicking the Mute button again un-mutes the channel. Several channels can be muted 
simultaneously. A muted channel is indicated by a lit Mute button, and also by the lit 
Global Mute indicator on the common panel. 
• Clicking the Solo button for a channel mutes all other channels.
A soloed channel is indicated by a lit Solo button, and also by the lit Global Solo indi-
cator on the common panel. Click the Solo button again to turn off Solo.
• Several channels can be soloed at the same time.
However, if you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click the Solo button for a channel, any 
other soloed channels will automatically be un-soloed (i.e. this Solo mode is exclusive).
• [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo Group” for that channel.
In this mode (indicated by a red solo button without any other channels being muted) 
the channel will not be muted if you solo another channel (see page 116 for a practical 
use of this). To turn off Solo Group, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Solo button again. 
• You can un-mute or un-solo all channels by clicking the Mute or Solo indicator 
on the common panel.
A Muted Channel 
in the Mixer.A lit Global Mute indicator on the 
common panel shows that one or 
more channels are muted. 
						

							V-STACK7 – 84 The Mixer
Setting pan in the Mixer
The pan control
The Pan controls in the Mixer are used to position a channel between 
the left and right side of the stereo spectrum. For stereo channels they 
control the balance between the left and right channels.
•To make fine pan adjustments, hold down [Shift] when you move the 
pan control.
•To select center pan position, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click 
on the pan control.
Note also that the faders in the VST Outputs window determine the 
levels of each “side” in the stereo output. There are no pan controls 
for VST output buses or the Master bus.
Using the Master Gain fader
The Master Gain fader in the Master Section (to the right in the Mixer) 
controls the output level of the Master bus (this is where all channels 
are routed by default – see page 90).
• You can hide or show the Master Section with the Show Master button on the 
common panel.
• Up to four Master insert effects can be applied to the Master bus.
See page 112. 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 85
Making EQ settings
Each channel has a built-in parametric equalizer with four bands or 
“modules”. You make settings for this in the upper area of the channel 
strips (extended mode) or in the Channel Settings window. The pa-
rameters are the same in both cases, but only the Channel Settings 
window gives you access to EQ presets and the Reset function.
To make equalizer settings, activate as many EQ modules you need 
(up to four) by clicking their power buttons and adjust the gain, fre-
quency and Q parameters. The parameters work as follows:
• EQ module 1 and 4 can also work as high/low shelving or high/low-pass 
filters, in the following way:
If the Q-value for EQ module 1 is set to minimum, it will act as a low shelving filter; if it 
is set to maximum, it will act as a high-pass filter.
If the Q-value for EQ module 4 is set to minimum, it will act as a high shelving filter; if it 
is set to maximum, it will act as a low-pass filter.
Parameter Description
Gain Governs the amount of boost or attenuation around the set frequency. 
The range is ± 24dB. 
Frequency The center frequency for the equalization. Around this frequency, the 
sound will be boosted or attenuated according to the Gain setting. The 
range is 20Hz to 20kHz.
Q Determines the width of the frequency band around the center fre-
quency to be affected. The narrower the frequency band, the more 
drastic the effect of the boost or attenuation.  
						

							V-STACK7 – 86 The Mixer
Here’s an overview of how the EQ parameters are laid out in the differ-
ent panels:
The EQ in the extended mixer panel, “EQ+” mode (left) and “EQs” mode (right).
The EQ in the Channel Settings window.
You can also click in the value fields and type exact parameter values.
The outer ring of 
the dial controls 
the frequency, 
while the inner 
controls gain.
The small dial sets 
the Q parameter.
The top value slider 
controls the gain, 
the middle controls 
frequency and the 
lower sets the Q 
parameter for each 
EQ band.EQ on/off (individual for each EQ band). 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 87
Using the EQ curve display
In the Channel Settings window you can also make EQ settings in the 
graphic EQ curve display above the parameter section.
•Double-click (or click and drag) in the display to add a new “EQ point” 
(activate an EQ module).
Each point in the curve corresponds to an EQ module, as indicated by the number next 
to the point. Up to four points can be added, one for each module.
•Click a point and drag it to change the EQ curve.
This allows you to change the Gain and Frequency parameters at the same time. The 
knobs turn accordingly when you drag points.
•If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging, only the Gain parame-
ter will be set.
•If you press [Alt]/[Option] while dragging, only the Frequency para-
meter will be set.
•If you press [Shift] while dragging, only the “Q” parameter will be set.
•To deactivate an EQ module double click its point in the display or 
drag its point outside the display.
EQ bypass
As soon as one or more EQ modules are activated, the EQ indicator 
next to the fader in the channel strip will light up in green. 
•Clicking this lets you momentarily turn the whole EQ section off (by-
pass) for the channel, useful for comparing the sound with and with-
out EQ.
When the EQ is in Bypass mode, the EQ button is yellow. 
						

							V-STACK7 – 88 The Mixer
EQ reset
The Reset button in the lower left corner of the EQ section in the 
Channel Settings window will reset all EQ parameters to their default 
values and turn off all EQ modules.
Using EQ presets
Some useful basic presets are included with the program. You can use 
them as they are, or as a starting point for further “tweaking”. To call up 
a preset, pull down the presets pop-up menu at the bottom of the EQ 
section in the Channel Settings window, and select one of the avail-
able presets.
Storing and removing EQ presets
If you have made EQ settings you wish to store for use elsewhere in a 
project, you can store them in a preset. Proceed as follows:
1.After making settings, click on the store button (plus sign) to the right 
of the presets pop-up menu.
The settings are stored with the default name “Preset” and a number. 
2.Double click in the preset pop-up field and type in a new name if you 
wish.
• To remove a preset, simply select it and click the remove (minus sign) 
button. 
						

							V-STACKThe Mixer 7 – 89
Routing
Using group channels
You can route the outputs from multiple VST Instrument channels to a 
group channel. This enables you to control the channel levels using 
one fader, apply the same effects and equalization to all of them etc. 
There are four group channels in V-STACK. Proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the Output routing pop-up menu for the VST Instrument 
channel you want to route to a group.
This is the pop-up menu at the very bottom of the channel strip.
2.Select one of the four group channels from the pop-up menu.
By default, these are titled “Group Channel 01-04” but you can rename them by click-
ing and typing in the name fields below the faders.
•You can route the output of a group to an output bus or to another 
group with a higher number.
You cannot route a group to itself or to groups to the left of it in the Mixer. Routing is 
done with the pop-up menu at the bottom of each channel strip.
•Solo and Mute functionality is automatically linked for a channel 
routed to a group and the group channel itself, in the following way:
If you mute or solo a group channel, all channels routed to the group are automatically 
muted or soloed as well. 
						

							V-STACK7 – 90 The Mixer
Activating and routing buses
The number of buses shown in the VST Outputs window depends on 
the number of physical outputs you have on your audio hardware. As 
with inputs, you need to activate the buses you want to use, and as-
sign each bus to an output pair on your audio hardware. This is done 
in the VST Outputs window:
1.Pull down the Devices Menu and select VST Outputs.
The window will contain a number of stereo “channel strips”, one for each bus:
2.Activate the buses you need by clicking on their “On” buttons.
The indicator in the button lights up to show that the bus is active.
To conserve processor power, you should avoid activating buses that 
you don’t need to use. 
❐The Master bus (Bus 1) is always available and activated. This is why it 
doesn’t have an “On” button. By default, all channels are assigned to the 
Master bus.
❐The bus settings are saved with the project. However, if you select an-
other ASIO Device and then open the project, you will be alerted that the 
saved bus settings will be ignored.