Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual

							111
The mixer
About the multiple mixer windows
You may have noticed that there are in fact several separate 
mixer items selectable from the Devices menu (in Cubase 
Studio there are two mixer items). These are not separate 
mixers, but rather separate views of the same mixer. 
Each of the mixer windows can be configured to show 
any combination of channels, channel types, narrow and 
wide channel strips, etc. (how to do this is described later 
in this chapter).
You can for example configure one mixer window to show MIDI channel 
strips, another to show input and output channels or another to show all 
audio-related channels.
You can also save channel configurations as View sets 
(see “Channel view sets” on page 115), which are then 
accessible from all mixer windows.
These features are very convenient when working with 
large projects. Considering the number of different chan-
nel types that can be shown in the mixer, they could even 
be described as necessary!
The use of multiple mixer windows combined with the abil-
ity to recall different mixer configurations enables you to fo-
cus on the task at hand and keep window scrolling down to 
a minimum.
ÖAll options for configuring the mixer described in this 
chapter are identical for all mixer windows. 
What channel types can be shown in the mixer?
The following track-based channel types are shown in the 
mixer:


 Effect return channels (referred to as FX channels in the Pro-
ject window)
 Group channels
 Instrument track channels
The order of audio, MIDI, instrument, group and effect re-
turn channel strips (from left to right) in the mixer corre-
sponds to the Project window Track list (from the top 
down). If you reorder tracks of these types in the Track list, 
this will be mirrored in the mixer.
In addition to the above, the following channel types are 
also shown in the mixer:
 Activated ReWire channels (see the chapter “ReWire” on 
page 451).
 VST Instrument channels (see the chapter “VST Instruments 
and Instrument tracks” on page 169).
ReWire channels cannot be reordered and always appear 
to the right of other channels in the main mixer pane (see 
below). VST instrument (VSTi) channels can be reordered 
in the Track list which will in turn be mirrored in the mixer.
The other track types are not shown in the mixer.
Input and output busses in the mixer
Input and output busses are represented by input and out-
put channels in the mixer. They appear in separate “panes” 
separated by movable dividers and with their own horizon-
tal scrollbars, see “The input and output channels” on 
page 117.
ÖIn Cubase Studio, only the output channels are shown 
in the mixer (not input channels). 
						

							112
The mixer
About multi-channel audio (Cubase only)
Cubase has full support for surround sound. Each audio 
channel and bus in the mixer can carry up to 6 speaker 
channels. This means that if you have an audio track con-
figured for 5.1 surround sound, for example, it will have a 
single channel strip in the mixer, just like mono or stereo 
tracks, but its level meter will have six meter bars, one for 
each speaker channel.
Another thing to note is that the look of a channel strip dif-
fers slightly depending on how it is routed – mono or stereo 
tracks routed to a surround output bus will have a surround 
panner control instead of a regular pan control, for example. 
For further information on multi-channel audio, see the 
chapter “Surround sound (Cubase only)” on page 180.
Configuring the mixer
As mentioned earlier, the mixer window can be configured 
in various ways to suit your needs and to save screen 
space. Here follows a run through of the various view op-
tions (the following descriptions assume that you have an 
active project containing some tracks).
Normal vs. Extended channel strips
You can show/hide extended channel strips and the input/
output routing section at the top of the channel strips. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Open any of the mixer windows.
The leftmost strip is called the common panel and is always shown in the 
mixer. It contains various global settings and options relating to the mixer. 
For further information, see “The common panel” on page 113.
2.Click on the arrow button on the common panel 
(“Show Extended Mixer”) or right-click in the Mixer to 
open the Mixer context menu and select “Show Extended 
View” from the Window submenu.
You can also use a key command for this. See the chapter “Key com-
mands” on page 479.
3.You can show or hide the Routing panel of the chan-
nel strips by clicking on the respective arrow button 
(“Show Routing”) or by selecting “Show Routing View” 
from the Window submenu on the Mixer context menu.
The fader panel is always shown.
The fader panel shows the basic controls – faders, pan 
controls and an associated vertical row of buttons. The ex-
tended panel can be set to show EQ, effect sends, insert 
effects, etc. The Routing section contains input and out-
put routing pop-up menus (where applicable), along with 
input phase and input gain controls (Cubase only).
…and via the Mixer context menu.
Opening the Extended Mixer via the Mixer 
Common panel…
A basic channel strip with no 
extended options. A fully extended channel strip 
with the input/output routing 
section at the top. 
						

							113
The mixer
The common panel
The common panel appears to the left in the mixer windows 
and contains settings for changing the look and behavior of 
the mixer, as well as global settings for all channels.
Selecting what to display in the extended 
channel strips
You can select what to display in the extended channel 
strip either globally from the common panel or individually 
from each channel strip. 
The available options vary depending on the channel type.
 For a description of the options for audio-related channels, see 
“Options for the extended audio channel strip” on page 121.  For a description of the options for MIDI channels, see “Se-
lecting what to show in the extended MIDI channel strip” on 
page 128.
Selecting globally from the common panel
1.Open any of the mixer windows.
2.Make sure that the extended panel of the mixer is visible.
In the extended area of the common panel, you can see a 
vertical row of icons. These act as buttons and determine 
globally what is displayed in the extended panel for all 
channel strips in the mixer.
3.Click on the “Show all Inserts” button (second icon 
from the top).
Now all channel strips in the mixer will show Insert effect slots in the ex-
tended panel.
As mentioned above, what can be set globally depends 
on the type of channel. 
Channel types that do not support a selected global option will be unaf-
fected.
If you press [Alt]/[Option] and click one of the global 
view buttons, the input (Cubase only) and output channels 
will be affected as well.
Selecting for individual channels
Each channel strip in the mixer features a View options 
pop-up menu, which is used for two things:
To determine what is shown in the extended panel for 
individual channels in the mixer.
Global automation Read/
Write buttons
Store/Remove View set 
buttons (+/-) and Select 
View set pop-up, see 
“Channel view sets” on 
page 115. With these indicator but-
tons you can select which 
channel types are shown 
in the mixer (see “Selec-
ting what channel types to 
show/hide” on page 114) 
and/or will be affected by 
commands (see “About 
the Command Target” on 
page 115).
The View options buttons 
determine what to display in 
the extended panels of the 
channel strips, see below.
Toggle channel strips in the 
mixer between “All Targets 
Wide” and “All Targets 
Narrow”.
Opens the VST Connec-
tions window, see “The 
VST Connections win-
dow” on page 16. Shows/hides the 
Routing panel
Buttons for showing/hid-
ing the extended panel
Reset Mixer/
Reset Channels
Channel settings copy/
paste, see “Copying set-
tings between audio 
channels” on page 125.
Global Mute, Solo and 
Listen buttons
Clear all views 
(blank panels)
Show all Inserts
Show all Equalizers
Show all Equalizers with curve
Show all Sends
Show Sends 1–4
Show Sends 5–8
Show SurroundPanners 
(where applicable)
Show all Meters
Show Channel Overview Show Studio Sends 
						

							114
The mixer
To set the “Can Hide” status for individual channels in 
the mixer, see below.
The View options pop-up is opened by clicking the down 
arrow located just above the fader panel of a channel strip.
To select what to display in the extended panel from the 
View options pop-up menu, you must first open the ex-
tended mixer.
Selecting what channel types to show/hide
You can specify what channel types to show or hide in the 
mixer. In the lower part of the common panel you find a 
vertical strip with different indicator buttons. Each indica-
tor represents a channel type to show or hide in the mixer:
To hide or show a channel type, click the corresponding 
indicator.
If an indicator is dark, the corresponding channel type will be shown in 
the mixer. If it is orange, the corresponding channel type will be hidden.
Showing/hiding individual channels 
(the “Can Hide” setting)
You can also show/hide individual channels of any type in 
the mixer. For this, you can assign channels a “Can Hide” 
status, which allows you to hide these channels collec-
tively. Proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the View options pop-up menu for the chan-
nel you want to hide and activate the “Can Hide” option or 
[Alt]/[Option]-click in the top middle section of the channel 
strip.
The “/” icon is shown if “Can Hide” is activated for a channel strip.
2.Repeat this for all channels you want to hide.
3.Click the button “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” on 
the common panel.
This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the 
button again or click the “Reveal All Channels” button at the bottom of 
the common panel.
Below the “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” button, there 
are three additional buttons.
These have the following functionality:
Input Channels (Cubase only)
Audio Channels
Group Channels
ReWire Channels
MIDI Channels
VST Instrument Channels
FX Channels
Output Channels “Can Hide” options – 
see below
Reveal all channels “Command Target” options – 
see “About the Command 
Target” on page 115.
Option Description
Set Target Channels 
to ‘Can Hide’This activates “Can Hide” for all Channels you 
specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from Target ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels you 
specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from All ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels in the 
Mixer. 
						

							115
The mixer
About the Command Target
Command targets let you specify which channels should 
be affected by the “commands” (basically all the functions 
that can be assigned key commands) when working with 
the Mixer, e.g. what to display in the extended mixer, the 
width setting of the channel strips, etc. You can set com-
mand targets using the Mixer common panel or the con-
text menu.
The following options are available:
 All Channels – Select this if you want your commands to af-
fect all channels.
 Selected Only – Select this if you want your commands to af-
fect the selected channels only.
 Exclude Inputs (Cubase only) – Select this if you do not want 
your commands to affect the input channels.
 Exclude Outputs – Select this if you do not want your com-
mands to affect the output channels.
Channel view sets
Channel view sets are saved configurations of the mixer 
windows, allowing you to quickly switch between different 
layouts for the mixer. Proceed as follows:
1.Set up the mixer the way you wish to store it as a view 
set.
The following settings will be stored:
 Settings for individual channel strips (e. g. narrow or wide mode 
and whether the channel strip is (or can be) hidden or not).
 The hide/show status for channel types.
 The mixer’s display status (fader panel, extended panel, 
routing panel).
 Settings for what is shown in the extended view of the mixer.
2.Click the “Store View Set” button (the plus sign) at the 
bottom of the (non-extended) common panel.
3.A dialog appears, allowing you to enter a name for the 
view set.
4.Click OK to store the current mixer view set.You can now return to this stored configuration at any 
time, by clicking the “Select Channel View Set” button 
(the down arrow to the left of the “Store View Set” button) 
and selecting it from the pop-up menu.
To remove a stored channel view set, select it and click 
the “Remove View Set” button (the minus sign).
Setting the width of channel strips
Each channel strip can be set to either “Wide” or “Nar-
row” mode by using the Channel Narrow/Wide button on 
the left above the fader strip.
The Channel Narrow/Wide button
Narrow channel strips contain a narrow fader, miniature 
buttons, and the View options pop-up.
If you have selected to show parameters in the extended section, only the 
channel overview or the Meter can be shown in narrow mode. (The pa-
rameters will be shown again when you return to wide mode.)
Wide and narrow channel strips
When selecting “All targets narrow” or “All targets 
wide” on the common panel, all channel strips selected as 
command targets (see “About the Command Target” on 
page 115) are affected.
The Command Target 
Controls on the com-
mon panel
!Some remote control devices (such as Steinberg’s 
Houston) feature this function, which means that you 
can use the remote device to switch between the 
channel view sets. 
						

							116
The mixer
The audio-related channel strips
All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, 
input/output channels, group, effect return, VST Instru-
ment and ReWire) basically have the same channel strip 
layout, with the following differences:
 Only audio track channels have an Input Routing pop-up menu.
 Only audio and instrument track channels have a Monitor and 
Record Enable button.
 Input/output channels do not have sends.
 Instrument track and VST Instrument channels have an addi-
tional button for opening the instrument’s control panel.
 Input channels (Cubase only) and output channels have clip-
ping indicators.
About the Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons
The three indicator buttons in each audio channel strip 
have the following functionality:
If an Insert or Send effect or an EQ module is activated 
for a channel, the corresponding button is lit. 
The effect indicators will be blue, the EQ indicator will be green.
If you click these buttons when lit, the corresponding 
EQ or effects section will be bypassed.
Bypass is indicated by yellow buttons. Clicking the button again deacti-
vates bypass.
The common panel 
(see “The common 
panel” on page 113)
Channel automation controls Record Enable and 
Monitor buttonsChannel Input/
Output Routing
Opens the control panel for the 
VST Instrument. Channel View options 
pop-up
Level fader and meter
Edit button (opens the 
Channel Settings win-
dow)
Insert/EQ/Send indicators and 
bypass buttons (see below)Channel name Input Gain control 
(Cubase only) The speaker configu-
ration for the channel
Input Phase switch 
(Cubase only)
Listen button (see the chapter 
“Control Room (Cubase only)” 
on page 135) The Can Hide State for the 
channel
Narrow/Wide button
Pan control
The mixer in normal mode (faders and Routing View visible), showing (from left to right): the common panel, a stereo audio channel, a 
group channel, an instrument channel, an FX channel and a VST Instrument channel strip. 
						

							117
The mixer
The MIDI channel strips
The MIDI channel strips allow you to control volume and 
pan in your MIDI instrument (provided that they are set up to 
receive the corresponding MIDI messages). The settings 
here are also available in the Inspector for MIDI tracks.
The input and output channels
The busses you set up in the VST Connections window 
are represented by input and output channels in the mixer. 
These are shown in separate “panes” (to the left and right 
of the regular channel strips, respectively), with their own 
dividers and horizontal scrollbars. The i/o channel strips 
are very similar to other audio channels and are identical 
for input and output channels (except that input channels 
do not have Solo buttons).
ÖIf you are using Cubase Studio, only output channels 
are shown in the mixer.
The input channels (busses) you have set up in the VST Connections 
window are available for selection on the Input Routing pop-up menus 
but you cannot view them or make settings for them in the mixer.
For information on how to set up input and output bus-
ses, see the chapter “VST Connections: Setting up input 
and output busses” on page 13.
How to route audio channels to busses is described in 
the section “Routing audio channels to busses” on page 
127.
If the Control Room is disabled (see the chapter “Con-
trol Room (Cubase only)” on page 135), the Main Mix (the 
default output) bus is used for monitoring. For information 
about Monitoring, see “About monitoring” on page 20.
In Cubase Studio, the Main Mix bus is always used for monitoring.
Basic mixing procedures
Setting volume in the mixer
In the mixer, each channel strip has a volume fader. 
For audio channels, the faders control the volume of the 
channels before they are routed (directly or via a group) 
channel to an output bus.
Each channel can in turn handle up to 6 speaker channels – see the 
chapter “Surround sound in Cubase” on page 181.
An output channel fader determines the master output 
level of all audio channels routed to that output bus.
Level fader 
(MIDI volume)Level (velocity) meter
Channel automation 
controlsPan control
Monitor and Record 
Enable buttonsMIDI output pop-up MIDI input pop-up
Edit button Mute and Solo
Insert/Send indicators and 
Bypass buttonsInput Transformer buttonMIDI channel pop-up This opens the control 
panel for a connected 
VST Instrument.
Channel Narrow/Wide 
buttonCan Hide State 
Input gain
(Cubase only)
Bus level meter Read/Write Automation
Clipping indicator, see 
“Setting input levels” 
on page 71. The Speaker configuration 
for the bus
Inserts and EQ indicators 
and Bypass buttonsInput Phase switch
(Cubase only)
Mute, Solo and Listen 
buttons (only the Output 
bus features a Solo but-
ton)Bus volume fader
Edit button
Pan control (no Pan-
ner used for surround 
busses) 
						

							118
The mixer
MIDI channels handle fader volume changes in the mixer 
by sending out MIDI volume messages to the connected in-
strument(s).
Connected instruments must be set to respond to MIDI messages (such 
as MIDI volume in this case) for this to function properly.
The fader settings are displayed numerically below the 
faders, in dB for audio channels and in the MIDI volume 0 
to 127 value range for MIDI channels.
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 be reset to its default value, i.e. 0.0 dB for audio 
channels, or MIDI volume 100 for MIDI channels.
This reset to default values works for most mixer parameters.
You can use the faders to set up a volume balance be-
tween the audio and MIDI channels and perform a manual 
mix by moving the faders and other controls while playing 
back. By using the Write function (see “Enabling and 
disabling the writing of automation data” on page 189), 
you can automate the levels and most mixer actions.
About the level meters for audio channels
When playing back audio in Cubase, the level meters in 
the mixer show the level of each audio channel.
Directly below the level meter is a small level readout – 
this shows the highest registered level in the signal.
Click this to reset the peak levels.
Peak levels can also be shown as static horizontal lines 
in the meter, see “Changing the meter characteristics” on 
page 126.
If the peak level of the audio goes above 0 dB, the numer-
ical level indicator will show a positive value (i.e. a value 
above 0 dB).ÖCubase uses 32 bit floating point processing internally, 
so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals can go way 
beyond 0 dB without clipping. Having higher levels than 
0 dB for individual audio channels is therefore not a problem 
in itself. The audio quality will not be degraded by this. 
However, when many high level signals are mixed in an output bus, this 
may require that you lower the output channel level a lot (see below). 
Therefore it is good practice to keep the maximum levels for individual 
audio channels roughly around 0 dB.
About the level meters for input and output channels
For the input and output channels, things are different. I/O 
channels have clipping indicators (input channels are only 
shown in Cubase).
When you are recording, clipping can occur when the 
analog signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware. 
With Cubase, it is also possible to get clipping in the signal being re-
corded to disk (when 16 or 24 bit record format is used and you have 
adjusted the mixer settings for the input channel). For more information, 
see “Setting input levels” on page 71.
In the output busses, the floating point audio is converted 
to the resolution of the audio hardware. In the integer audio 
domain, the maximum level is 0 dB – higher levels will cause 
the clipping indicator for each bus to light up.
If the clipping indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – 
digital distortion which should always be avoided.
!It is also possible to create volume envelopes for 
separate events in the Project window or Audio Part 
Editor (see “Event Envelopes” on page 95) or to 
make static volume settings for an event on the info 
line or with the volume handle (see “About the vo-
lume handle” on page 90).
!When Direct Monitoring is used and the option “Map 
input bus metering to Audio track (in Direct Monitor-
ing)” is activated in the Preferences (VST–Metering 
page), the level meters in the mixer will show the level 
of the input bus instead. 
!If the clipping indicator lights up for an output chan-
nel, reset the indicator by clicking on it, and lower the 
level until the indicator does not light up. 
						

							119
The mixer
Adjusting Input Gain (Cubase only)
Each audio channel and input/output channel features an 
Input Gain control. This controls the gain for the incoming 
signal, before EQ and effects.
The Input Gain is not meant to be used as a volume con-
trol in the mixer, as it is not suited for continuous level ad-
justments during playback. It can, however, be used to cut 
or boost the gain in various circumstances:
To change the level of a signal before the effects section.
The level going into certain effects can change the way the signal is af-
fected. A compressor, for example, can be “driven” harder by raising the 
Input Gain.
To boost the level of poorly recorded signals.
To change the Input Gain, you need to press [Shift] and 
adjust the control (to avoid accidental gain changes). If 
you press [Alt]/[Option], you can adjust the Input Gain 
with a fader. Alternatively, you can also enter the desired 
number in the value field.
Input Phase switch (Cubase only)
Each audio channel and input/output channel has an Input 
Phase switch, to the left of the Input Gain control. When 
activated, the phase polarity is inverted for the signal. Use 
this to correct for balanced lines and mics that are wired 
backwards, or mics that are “out of phase” due to their po-
sitioning.
Phase polarity is important when mixing together two 
similar signals. 
If the signals are “out of phase” with respect to one another, there will be 
some cancellation in the resulting audio, producing a hollow sound with 
less low frequency content.
Level meters for MIDI channels
The level meters for MIDI channels do not show actual vol-
ume levels. Instead, they indicate the velocity values of the 
notes played back on MIDI tracks.
MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel and output
If you have several MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI chan-
nel (and routed to the same MIDI output), making volume 
and pan settings for one of these MIDI tracks/mixer chan-
nels will also affect all other mixer channels set to the 
same MIDI channel/output combination.
Using Solo and Mute
The Mute 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 unmutes 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 Glo-
bal Solo indicator 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 De-
feat” for that channel.
In this mode the channel will not be muted if you solo another channel. To 
turn off Solo Defeat, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Solo button again. 
A muted channel 
in the mixer.A lit Global Mute indicator on the 
common panel shows that one or 
more channels are muted.
[Alt]/[Option]-click a Solo 
button…
…to activate Solo Defeat for that channel. 
						

							120
The mixer
You can un-mute or un-solo all channels by clicking the 
Mute or Solo indicator on the common panel.
Listen Mode (Cubase only)
The Listen button for a channel strip and the global Listen button on the 
Common panel
Clicking the Listen button for a channel routes that chan-
nel to the Control Room without interrupting the normal 
signal flow. The following applies:
When the channel is set to after-fader (also referred to 
as post-fader), the signal being routed to the Control 
Room channel will come after the fader and pan controls 
of the Listen-enabled channel.
When the Control Room channel is set to pre-fader, the 
signal will be routed from just before the fader.
A Listen-enabled channel is indicated by a lit Listen but-
ton, and also by the lit Global Listen button on the com-
mon panel. Click the Listen button again to turn off Listen 
mode. You can also turn off Listen mode for all Listen-en-
abled tracks at the same time by clicking the Listen button 
on the common panel.
For more information about the Listen functionality, see 
the chapter “Control Room (Cubase only)” on page 135.
Setting pan in the mixer
The pan control
The pan controls in the mixer are used to position a chan-
nel between the left and right side of the stereo spectrum. 
By default for stereo audio channels, pan controls the bal-
ance between the left and right channels. You can change 
this in the Preferences. By selecting one of the other pan 
modes (see below), you can set pan independently for the 
left and right channel.To make fine pan adjustments, hold down [Shift] when 
you move the pan control.
To select the (default) center pan position, hold down 
[Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the pan control.
For MIDI channels, the pan control sends out MIDI pan 
messages.
The result depends on how your MIDI instrument is set to respond to pan 
– check your documentation for details.
ÖThe SurroundPanner is described in the section 
“Using the SurroundPanner” on page 184.
Panning Bypass
You can bypass the panning for all track types except 
MIDI tracks. To do this, keep [Shift] and [Alt]/[Option] 
pressed and click on the pan setting for the respective 
channel in the mixer (on the fader panel or in the extended 
mixer view). The Panning Bypass state is reflected in all 
the different pan setting sections, e.g. if you bypass a 
channel in the mixer, this is automatically reflected in the 
Inspector for the respective track.
When panning is bypassed for a channel, the following 
happens:
 Mono channels will be panned center.
 Stereo channels will be panned left and right.
 Surround channels will be panned center.
ÖTo deactivate Panning Bypass, simply press [Shift]-
[Alt]/[Option] and click again.
About the three pan modes (Cubase only) 
If you right-click in the pan control field for a (stereo) audio 
channel, you can select one of three pan modes:
Stereo Balance Panner controls the balance between 
the left and right channels.
This is the default mode.
…and to pre-fader (PFL). Control Room channel set 
to after-fader (AFL)…