Steinberg Cubase Le 8 Manual

							Audio Effects
Overview
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VST 3 Standard
The VST 3 plug-in standard offers many improvements over the previous VST 2 
standard and yet retains full backwards compatibility.
Smart Plug-In Processing
The VST 3 standard features smart plug-in processing, i. e., processing by a plug-in 
can be disengaged if there is no signal present. This can greatly reduce the CPU 
load, thus allowing for more effects to be used.
This is achieved by activating the “Suspend VST3 plug-in processing when no 
audio signals are received” option in the Preferences dialog (VST–Plug-ins page).
When this is activated, VST 3 plug-ins will not consume CPU power on silent 
passages, i.
 e. when no audio data runs through them.
However, be aware that this can lead to a situation where you added more plug-ins 
on “transport stop” than the system can handle on playback. Therefore, you should 
always find the passage with the largest number of events playing simultaneously 
to make sure that your system offers the required performance.
NOTE
Activating this option can increase your system performance a lot in certain 
projects, but it also makes it more unpredictable whether the project can play back 
fine on any timecode position of the project.
Plug-In Delay Compensation
A plug-in effect may have some inherent delay or latency. This means that it takes a 
brief time for the plug-in to process the audio fed into it – as a result, the output 
audio will be slightly delayed. This especially applies to dynamics processors 
featuring look-ahead functionality.
Cubase provides full plug-in delay compensation throughout the entire audio path. 
All plug-in delays are compensated for, maintaining the sync and timing of all audio 
channels.
Normally, you do not have to make any settings for this. However, VST 3 dynamics 
plug-ins with look-ahead functionality have a “Live” button, allowing you to 
disengage the look-ahead to minimize latency, if they are to be used during realtime 
recording (see the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”).
You can also constrain the delay compensation, which is useful to avoid latency 
when recording audio or playing a VST instrument in real time.
RELATED LINKS
Constrain Delay Compensation on page 378 
						

							Audio Effects
Insert Effects
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Tempo Sync
Plug-ins can receive timing and tempo information from the host application (in this 
case, Cubase). Typically, this is used to synchronize certain plug-in parameters 
(such as modulation rates or delay times) to the project tempo.
• This information is automatically provided to any VST plug-in (2.0 or later) that 
requests it.
You do not have to make any special settings for this.
• You set up tempo sync by specifying a base note value.
You can use straight, triplet or dotted note values (1/1 to 1/32).
Please refer to the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference” for details about 
the included effects.
Insert Effects
As the name implies, insert effects are inserted into the audio signal path – this 
means that the audio channel data will be routed through the effect.
In Cubase Elements, you can add up to eight different insert effects independently 
for each audio-related channel (audio track, group channel track, FX channel track, 
VST instrument channel, or ReWire channel) or output bus. In Cubase AI and 
Cubase LE, four insert slots are available for audio-related tracks. Also, ReWire 
channels are not available in Cubase LE.
The signal passes through the effects in series from the top downwards, with the 
signal path shown below: 
						

							Audio Effects
Insert Effects
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In Cubase Elements, slots 7 and 8 are post-EQ and post-fader. Post-fader slots are 
best suited for insert effects where you do not want the level to be changed after 
the effect, such as dithering and maximizers – both typically used as insert effects 
for output busses.
NOTE
Applying several effects on several channels may be too much for your CPU to 
handle! If you want to use the same effect with the same settings on several 
channels, it may be more efficient to set up a group channel and to apply your effect 
only once, as a single insert for this group. You can use the VST Performance 
window to keep an eye on the CPU load.
RELATED LINKS
Dithering (Cubase Elements only) on page 245
Routing Through Insert Effects
Insert effect settings are available in the Channel Settings window and the 
Inspector.
The examples below show the Channel Settings window, but the procedures are 
the same for all the inserts sections.
PROCEDURE
1. Bring up the Channel Settings window.
The insert slots are found on the Inserts tab.
2. Move the mouse over the first insert slot, click on the arrow symbol that is 
displayed, and select an effect from the selector.
RESULT 
The effect is loaded and automatically activated and its control panel opens. You 
can open the control panel for a loaded effect by double-clicking in the middle of 
the insert slot.
• If the effect has a dry/wet Mix parameter, you can use this to adjust the 
balance between the dry signal and the effect signal.
• To remove an effect, open the pop-up selector and select “No Effect”. 
						

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Insert Effects
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• In Cubase Elements, you can add up to 8 insert effects per channel this way. 
In Cubase AI and Cubase LE, 4 insert effects can be added.
• You can reorder the effects by clicking and dragging.
• You can copy an effect into another effect slot (for the same channel or 
between channels) by holding down [Alt]/[Option] and dragging it onto 
another effect slot.
• You can open all plug-ins inserted for a particular track at once by holding 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-[Shift]-[Alt]/[Option] and clicking the edit button for that 
track in the Inspector or in the MixConsole. [Shift]-click the edit button to 
close any insert plug-ins for the track.
Deactivating vs. Bypassing
If you want to listen to the track without having it processed by a particular effect, 
but do not want to remove this effect completely from the insert slot, you can either 
deactivate or bypass it.
Deactivating means to terminate all processing, whereas bypassing means to play 
back only the unprocessed original signal – a bypassed effect is still processing in 
the background. Bypassing allows for crackle-free comparison of the original (“dry”) 
and the processed (“wet”) signal.
• To bypass an effect, click the button on the left in the insert slot.
When an effect is bypassed, the slot turns gray.
• To deactivate an effect, hold [Alt]/[Option] and click its Bypass button.
1) This effect is deactivated.
2) This effect is bypassed.
3) This effect is activated.
• To bypass all inserts for a track, click the “Bypass Inserts” button.
This button can be found on the right of the header of the Inserts section in 
the Inspector. It lights up in yellow to indicate that one or more inserts of this 
track are bypassed.
In the Channel Settings window, you can find the button on the left of the 
Inserts tab. 
						

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Insert Effects
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Adding Insert Effects to Busses
You can add insert effects to busses. The easiest way to add insert effects is the 
Channel settings window.
If you add insert effects to an output bus, all audio routed to that bus is affected.
Dithering (Cubase Elements only)
Dithering is a method for controlling the noise produced by quantization errors in 
digital recordings. The theory behind this is that during low level passages, only a 
few bits are used to represent the signal, which leads to quantization errors and 
hence distortion.
For example, when “truncating bits”, as a result of moving from 24 to 16 bit 
resolution, quantization errors are added to an otherwise immaculate recording. By 
adding a special kind of noise at an extremely low level, the effect of these errors is 
minimized. The added noise could be perceived as a very low-level hiss under 
exacting listening conditions. However, this is hardly noticeable and much preferred 
to the distortion that otherwise occurs.
When should I use dithering?
• Consider dithering when you mix down to a lower resolution, either in realtime 
(during playback) or with the Export Audio Mixdown function.
A typical example is when you mix down a project to a 16-bit stereo audio file 
for audio CD burning.
What is a “lower resolution” then? Well, Cubase uses 32-bit float resolution 
internally, which means that all integer resolutions (16
 bit, 24 bit, etc.) are lower. 
The negative effects of truncation (no dithering) are most noticeable when mixing 
down to 8
 bit, 16 bit and 20 bit format; whether to dither when mixing down to 
24
 bits is a matter of taste.
Applying Dithering
PROCEDURE
1. Open the Channel Settings window for the output channel by clicking its Edit 
button in the MixConsole.
2. Open the effect selector for slot 7 or 8.
The two last Insert effect slots (for all channels) are post-fader, which is crucial for a 
dithering plug-in. The reason is that any master gain change applied after dithering 
would bring the signal back to the internal 32
 bit float domain, rendering the dithering 
settings useless.
3. Select the included UV22HR plug-in from the selector. 
						

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4. Make sure that the plug-in is set to dither to the correct resolution.
This would be the resolution of your audio hardware (on playback) or the desired 
resolution for the mixdown file you want to create (as set in the Export Audio Mixdown 
dialog).
5. Use the other parameters in the control panel to set up the dithering to your 
liking.
RELATED LINKS
Export Audio Mixdown on page 551
Adding Insert Effects to Group Channels
You can add insert effects to group channels. This is useful if you have several audio 
tracks that you want to process through the same effect (e.
 g. different vocal tracks 
that you want to be processed by the same compressor).
PROCEDURE
1. Create a group channel track and route it to the desired output bus.
2. Add the desired effect to the group channel as an insert effect.
3. Route the audio track to the group channel.
RESULT 
The signal from the audio track is sent directly to the group, where it passes through 
the insert effect.
NOTE
You can also process mono audio tracks through stereo insert effects.
Freezing Insert Effects for a Track
Freezing insert effects for a track allows you to reduce processor power.
• To freeze a track, click its Freeze button in the Inspector.
• The Freeze Channel Options dialog opens, allowing you to set a “Tail Size” 
time in seconds.
This adds time at the end of the rendered file to allow reverb and delay tails to 
fully fade out. 
						

							Audio Effects
Send Effects
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• The program now renders the output of the track, including all pre-fader insert 
effects, to an audio file.
This file is placed in the “Freeze” folder within the Project folder.
• The frozen audio track is locked for editing in the Project window.
The frozen insert effects cannot be edited or removed and you cannot add 
new insert effects for the track (except post-fader effects).
• On playback, the rendered audio file is played back. You can still adjust the 
level and panning in the MixConsole, make EQ settings and adjust the effect 
sends.
In the MixConsole, the channel for a frozen track is indicated by a “snow flake” 
symbol above the channel name.
After freezing the Inserts for a track, you hear the track play back as before but the 
insert effects do not have to be calculated in real time, easing the load on the 
computer processor. Typically, you would freeze a track when it is finished and you 
do not need to edit it anymore.
NOTE
You can only freeze audio tracks this way, not group channel tracks or FX channel 
tracks.
NOTE
Cubase Elements only: Post-fader inserts can not be frozen.
• To unfreeze a frozen track, click its Freeze button again.
Send Effects
Send effects are outside of an audio channel’s signal path, i. e. the audio data to be 
processed must be sent to the effect.
To this end, Cubase provides FX channel tracks. When you have created such a 
track, it is added to the track list and can be selected as a routing target in the Send 
slots of audio channels.
• When selecting an FX channel track in one of the send slots of an audio 
channel, the audio is sent to the FX channel and through any insert effects set 
up for it. 
The sends can be routed to different FX channels, and thus different FX 
channel insert effect configurations. You control the amount of signal sent to 
the FX channel by adjusting the effect send level.
• If you have added several effects to the FX channel, the signal passes through 
the effects in series, from the top (the first slot) downward.
This allows for “custom” send effect configurations – e. g. a chorus followed 
by a reverb followed by an EQ and so on. 
						

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Send Effects
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• The FX channel track has its own channel in the MixConsole.
Here you can adjust the effect return level and balance, add EQ and route the 
effect return to any output bus.
• Each FX channel track can have any number of automation tracks, for 
automating various effect parameters.
RELATED LINKS
Automation on page 359
Adding an FX Channel Track
PROCEDURE
1. Select Project > Add Track > FX Channel.
A dialog opens.
2. Select a channel configuration for the FX channel track.
Normally, stereo is a good choice since most effect plug-ins have stereo outputs.
3. Select an effect for the FX channel track.
4. Click Add Track.
An FX channel track is added to the track list, and the selected effect, if any, is loaded 
into the first insert effect slot for the FX channel (in that case, the lit Inserts tab for the 
FX channel track in the Inspector indicates that an effect has been assigned and 
automatically activated).
RESULT 
All FX channel tracks you create will appear in a dedicated “folder” track in the track 
list. This makes it easy to manage and keep track of all your FX channel tracks, and 
also allows you to save screen space by folding in the FX Channel folder.
FX channel tracks are automatically named “FX 1”, “FX 2” etc., but you can rename 
them if you wish. Just double-click the name of an FX channel track in either the 
track list or the Inspector and type in a new name. 
						

							Audio Effects
Send Effects
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Adding and Setting Up Effects
You can add a single insert effect when you create the FX channel track. To add 
and set up effects after the FX channel track is created, you can either use the 
Channel Settings window or the Inspector for the track.
PROCEDURE
1. In the track list, the MixConsole, or the Inspector, click the Edit button for the 
FX channel track to open the Channel Settings window.
On the left in the window you can find the Inserts section.
2. On the toolbar, open the Output pop-up menu and make sure that the FX 
channel is routed to the correct output bus.
3. To add an insert effect in an empty slot (or to replace the current effect in a 
slot), click the slot and select an effect from the selector.
4. In the control panel of the effect, set the wet/dry Mix control to all wet.
This is because you control the balance between the wet and the dry signal with the 
effect sends.
RESULT 
The handling and operation of insert plug-ins for FX channels is the same as for 
audio channels. You can adjust level, pan and EQ for the send in the Channel 
Settings window, the MixConsole or in the Inspector.
RELATED LINKS
Routing Through Insert Effects on page 243 
						

							Audio Effects
Send Effects
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Routing an Audio Channel to the FX Channel
The next step is to set up a send for an audio channel and route it to the FX channel.
This can be done in the Channel Settings window or in the Inspector for the audio 
track. The example below shows the Channel Settings window, but the procedure 
is similar for all the sections:
PROCEDURE
1. Click the “e” button for an audio channel to bring up its Channel Settings 
window.
Each of the sends has the following controls:
• An On/Off button for activating/deactivating the effect
• A send level slider
2. Click the arrow icon in an empty send slot to open the selector, and select an 
FX channel track as routing destination.
• If the first item on this menu (“No Bus”) is selected, the send is not routed 
anywhere.
• Items called “FX 1”, “FX 2” etc. correspond to existing FX tracks. If you 
renamed an FX track, that name will appear on this menu instead of the default.
• The menu also allows for routing a send directly to output busses, separate 
output bus channels or Group channels.
3. Activate the On/Off button for the send.
4. Click and drag the send level slider to determine how much of the signal from 
the audio channel is routed to the FX channel.
Setting the Send level
You can also double-click and enter a value numerically. If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] 
when double-clicking, the send destination is shown in the Channel Settings window. 
If you have routed the send to an FX channel, the plug-in panel opens.
NOTE
To determine how much of the signal from the FX channel is sent to the output bus, 
open the Channel Settings window for the FX track and adjust the effect return level.