Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual

							MixConsole
Keyboard Navigation
351
Navigating in a Section
Once you have activated a section, you can use the computer keyboard as 
described below. In the channel racks section and in the fader section, controls that 
are selected for keyboard control are indicated by a red frame.
• To navigate through the controls, use the arrow keys.
• To activate or deactivate a switch, press [Return].
• To expand or collapse an active rack, to open or close a value field in a slot, 
or to open the plug-in panel for a loaded plug-in, press [Return].
• To access the controls in the left zone, press [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Return].
• To access the controls in the middle zone, press [Return].
• To access the controls in the right zone, press [Alt]/[Option]-[Return].
• To close a pop-up menu or a plug-in panel, press [Esc].
• To enable or disable the loaded plug-in, press 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-[Alt]/[Option]-[Return]. 
						

							352
Control Room (Cubase Pro 
only)
The Control Room allows you to divide the studio environment into the performing 
area (studio) and the engineer/producer area (control room).
To open the Control Room Mixer you have the following options:
• To open the Control Room in a separate window, select Devices > Control 
Room Mixer.
• To open Control Room section in the MixConsole, select Devices > 
MixConsole > Set up Window Layout > Control Room/Meter and activate 
the Control Room View button.
The Control Room Mixer is divided into 2 sections.
• To open a section, click the tab at the bottom of the mixer.
The Mixer tab contains all controls that you use regularly during recording, mixing, 
and mastering, for example.
The Setup tab contains settings that you most probably use only once for a project.
Adding Channels to the Control Room
To be able to use the Control Room, you must add the channels that you need first.
PROCEDURE
1. Select Devices > VST Connections.
2. Click Studio.
3. Click Add Channel.
A pop-up menu lists all available channel types and shows how many instances of 
each type are available.
4. Select a channel type.
For most channel types, a dialog opens, that allows you to choose the channel 
configuration. 
						

							Control Room (Cubase Pro only)
Output Routing
353
5. Click the Audio Device column to set an audio device for the channel type.
6. Click the Device Port column to assign a port for the channel.
IMPORTANT
You cannot assign the same device port to a bus or channel and a Control Room 
channel at the same time.
RESULT 
The Control Room functions are available for use. If you disable the Control Room, the 
configuration is saved and will be restored when you reenable the Control Room.
Output Routing
For the Control Room to function correctly, you must assign the Main Mix bus to the 
set of outputs that contains the mix that you want to hear.
If you only have one output bus, it automatically becomes the Main Mix. All other 
outputs are not routed through the Control Room Mixer.
Exclusive Assignment of Monitor Channels
Generally, the port assignment to the Control Room channels is exclusive. However, it 
can be useful to create monitor channels that share device ports with each other as well 
as inputs and outputs. This can be helpful if you use the same speakers as a stereo pair 
and also as the left and right channels of a surround speaker configuration, for example.
Switching between monitors that share device ports is seamless, multi-channel audio 
is mixed down to stereo as needed. Only one monitor set can be active at a time.
If your scenario does not require you to assign ports to several monitor channels, it 
is recommended to activate the Exclusive Device Ports for Monitor Channels 
option (File > Preferences > VST > Control Room). This way, you make sure that 
you do not accidentally assign ports to inputs/outputs and monitor channels at the 
same time.
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
The state of the Exclusive Device Ports for Monitor Channels preference is saved 
together with the Control Room presets. Therefore, if you recall a preset, your 
current setting in the Preferences dialog might be overwritten.
Control Room Channels
Each Control Room channel type that you create defines an input or output of the 
Control Room Mixer. 
						

							Control Room (Cubase Pro only)
Control Room Channels
354
Monitor Channels
A monitor channel represents a set of outputs that are connected to monitor 
speakers in the Control Room.
You can create up to 4 monitor channels for a mono, stereo, or surround speaker 
configuration. Each monitor can have its own custom downmix settings, input gain, 
and input phase settings.
NOTE
Monitor channels can share hardware inputs or outputs with another bus or 
channel. When you create the connections for the monitor channels, device ports 
that are already used for other busses or channels are shown in red on the Device 
Port pop-up menu. If you select a used port, its previous connection is lost.
Phones Channel
You can use the phones channel in the Control Room to listen to cue mixes.
You can create 1 phones channel for a stereo configuration. It allows you to listen 
to the main mix or cue mixes or to external inputs on a pair of headphones. You can 
also use it for previewing.
Cue Channels
You can use cue channels for sending cue mixes, also known as headphone mixes, 
to performers in the studio during recording.
You can create up to 4 cue channels in mono or stereo for 4 discrete cue mixes. 
Cue channels have talkback and click functions. They allow you to monitor the main 
mix, external inputs, or a dedicated cue mix.
EXAMPLE
If you have 2 available headphone amplifiers for performers, you can create 1 cue 
channel for each cue mix and name them according to their function: vocalist mix, 
bass player mix, etc.
Cue Channels and Cue Sends
For every cue channel that you define in the VST Connections window, each 
channel in the MixConsole has a cue send with level, pan, and pre/post-fader 
selection. These cue sends can be used to create discrete cue mixes that 
performers can listen to.
• To show the cue sends, open the MixConsole, and activate Racks > Cue Sends. 
						

							Control Room (Cubase Pro only)
Control Room Channels
355
External Inputs
You can use external inputs for monitoring external devices, such as CD players, 
multi-channel recorders, or any other audio source.
You can create up to 6 external inputs for a mono, stereo, or surround speaker 
configuration.
NOTE
If you select external inputs as input source of an audio channel, you can record 
them. In this case, you do not need to assign the device ports to the input channel.
Talkback Channels
You can use talkback channels for communication between the Control Room and 
performers in the studio.
You can create 1 talkback channel and assign a mono input channel to each one of 
them.
You can also use talkback channels as input source for audio tracks and record 
them. You can route them to each cue channel and use different levels.
You can insert effects like a compressor or limiter on talkback channels. This 
ensures that erratic levels do not disturb performers and that clear communication 
with everyone is possible.
NOTE
The Auto Disable Talkback Mode option (File > Preferences > VST > Control 
Room) allows you to specify how talkback works during playback and recording.
Metering Channel
You can use a metering channel for connecting a hardware metering device.
The metering channel allows you to meter monitoring sources without having the 
listening volume affect the meter. This channel is a physical ASIO output which 
feeds the same signal that goes through the meter channel.
NOTE
The metering channel does not appear in the project. 
						

							Control Room (Cubase Pro only)
Control Room Mixer
356
Control Room Mixer
The Control Room Mixer displays information and controls for the channels that 
you define on the Studio tab in the VST Connections window.
The Control Room Mixer is divided into a number of sections that you open by 
clicking their header. To open several sections simultaneously, use 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-click.
External
The External section allows you to use external inputs for monitoring external 
devices. It is only shown if you have added more than one external input in the VST 
Connections window. 
						

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Control Room Mixer
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To switch to another external input, click the input name and select a new external 
input from the pop-up menu.
Cue Channel
The Cue Channel section allows you to set up cue channels for sending cue mixes.
1)Activate Cue Channel
Allows you to activate/deactivate the cue channel.
2)Source Selectors
Allow you to select the source for the cue channel: monitor mix (Mix), external 
inputs (Ext), or the cue sends (Cues). The signal presence indicators in the 
upper left corner light up when the source channel is sending data to the cue 
channel.
3)Enable Talkback to Cue Channel
Allows you to activate talkback for communication between the Control Room 
and the performers in the studio. You can set the level of the talkback signal 
with the slider.
4)Activate Metronome Click
Activates the metronome click. Use the Click Level and Click Pan controls to 
set the volume and the pan position of the metronome click.
5)Signal Level
Allows you to set the signal level.
Channels
The Channels section shows the speaker arrangement of the Main Mix bus.
You can use the solo functions to listen to individual channels of the Main Mix. You 
can also use this to test your multi-channel speaker system and make sure that the 
correct channels are routed to the speakers. 
						

							Control Room (Cubase Pro only)
Control Room Mixer
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1)Solo Left and Right Channels
Allows you to solo the left and right channels.
2)Solo Front Channels
Allows you to solo the front channels.
3)Solo Surround Channels
Allows you to solo the surround channels.
4)Listen to Solo Channels on Center Channel
Allows you to listen to all soloed speakers in the center channel. If the center 
channel is not available, the channels are distributed equally to the left and 
right.
5)Listen to Surround Channels on Front Channels
Allows you to solo the surround channels and route them to the front 
speakers.
6)Solo LFE Channel
Allows you to solo the LFE channel.
Monitors
The Monitors section allows you to select and configure the monitor sets. 
						

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Control Room Mixer
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Downmix Presets
The Downmix Presets section allows you to configure downmix presets.
1)Assign Downmix Preset
Allows you to configure a downmix preset for the monitor that is selected in 
the Monitors section.
2)Select Output Configuration
Allows you to select an output channel configuration.
Phones
The Phones section allows you to use the phones channel in the Control Room to 
listen to cue mixes.
1)Activate Phones Channel
Allows you to activate/deactivate the phones channel.
2)Activate Metronome Click
Activates the metronome click.
3)Source Selectors
Allow you to select the source for the phones channel: monitor mix (Mix), 
external inputs (Ext), or the cue sends (Cues). The signal presence indicators 
in the upper left corner light up when the source channel is sending data to 
the Phones channel.
4)Signal Level
Allows you to set the signal level. [Ctrl]/[Command]-click to set the level to the 
reference level specified in the Preferences dialog (VST–Control Room 
page). 
						

							Control Room (Cubase Pro only)
Control Room Mixer
360
5)Click Level and Click Pan
Use the Click Level and Click Pan controls to set the volume and the pan 
position of the metronome click.
6)Enable Listen for Output
Enables the listen bus function.
7)Listen Level
Allows you to set the listen level.
Control Room Channel
The Control Room channel is the representation of the bus that is set up as the Main 
Mix bus on the Outputs tab in the VST Connections window.
The following section contains a description of the individual controls.
1)Activate Control Room Channel
Allows you to activate/deactivate the Control Room channel.
2)Signal Level
Allows you to set the volume for the Control Room output. This does not affect 
the recording input level or the Main Mix level for exporting mixdowns. 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-click to set the level to the reference level specified in the 
Preferences dialog (VST–Control Room page).
3)Signal Meter
Shows the volume for the Control Room output.