Steinberg Cubase Le 8 Manual

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Export Audio Mixdown
Introduction
The Export Audio Mixdown function in Cubase allows you to mix down audio from 
the program to a file on your hard disk.
You always mix down an output channel. For example, if you have set up a stereo 
mix with tracks routed to a stereo output bus, mixing down that output bus would 
give you a mixdown file containing the whole mix.
Please note the following:
• The Export Audio Mixdown function mixes down the area between the left and 
right locators.
• When you mix down, you get what you hear – mutes, MixConsole settings, 
record enable, and insert effects are taken into account.
Note though that you will only include the sound of the channel you select for 
mixdown.
• MIDI tracks are not included in the mixdown!
To make a complete mixdown containing both MIDI and audio, you first need 
to record all your MIDI music onto audio tracks (by connecting the outputs of 
your MIDI instruments to your audio inputs and recording, as with any other 
sound source).
Mixing down to audio files
PROCEDURE
1. Set up the left and right locators to encompass the section you want to mix 
down.
2. Set up your tracks so that they play back the way you want.
This includes muting unwanted tracks or parts, making manual MixConsole settings 
and/or activating the R (Read) automation buttons for some or all MixConsole 
channels. 
						

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3. Open the File menu and select “Audio Mixdown…” from the Export submenu.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog opens.
4. In the Channel Selection section to the left, select the channel you want to mix 
down. The list contains all output channels available in the project.
5. In the File Location section at the top you can specify a name and path for the 
mixdown file.
6. Select an entry from the File Format pop-up menu and make additional 
settings for the file to be created.
This includes codec settings, meta data, sample rate, bit depth, etc. The available 
options depend on the selected file format.
7. In the Audio Engine Output section, activate the Split Channels option if you 
want to export the two channels of a stereo bus as separate mono files.
8. Activate Real-Time Export if you want the export to happen in realtime.
9. If you want to automatically import the resulting audio file back into Cubase, 
activate any of the checkboxes in the “Import into Project” section.
10. If you activate Update Display, the meters will be updated during the export 
process.
This allows you to check for clipping, for example.
11. Click Export.
A dialog with a progress bar is displayed while the audio file is created.
To cancel the operation, you can click the Abort button.
• If the “Close Window after Export” option is activated, the dialog will be closed 
automatically. 
						

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• If the “Deactivate External MIDI Inputs” option is activated, any MIDI inputs that 
are performed on external devices during the export process are ignored.
• If you have activated any of the options in the “Import into Project” section, the 
file will be imported back into the same project.
When playing back the reimported file, mute the original tracks so that you only 
hear the mixdown.
IMPORTANT
If you set the export range in such a way that the effects applied to a preceding event 
(e.
 g. reverb) reach into the next, these will be heard in the mixdown (even though the 
event itself is not included). If you do not want this, you need to mute the first event 
before exporting.
RELATED LINKS
About the Channel Selection section on page 553
About the File Location section on page 553
The available file formats on page 556
About the Audio Engine Output section on page 554
About the Import into Project section on page 555
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog
Below you will find detailed descriptions of the different sections of the dialog and 
the corresponding functions.
About the Channel Selection section
The Channel Selection section shows all output channels available in the project.
• You can activate/deactivate channels by clicking on the checkboxes in front 
of the channel names.
About the File Location section
In the File Location section you can specify a name and a path for the exported files.
At the right of the Name and the Path fields there are two pop-up menus with a 
number of options:
Naming Options
• Select “Set to Project Name” to set the Name field to the project name.
• Activate the “Auto Update Name” option to add a number to the specified file 
name every time you click the Export button. 
						

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Path Options
• Select “Choose…” to open a dialog in which you can browse for a path and 
enter a file name.
The file name will automatically be shown in the Name field.
• Select an entry from the Recent Paths section to reuse a path specified for a 
previous export.
This section is only shown after an export has been completed. With the 
“Clear Recent Paths” option you can delete all entries from the Recent Paths 
section.
• Activate the “Use Project Audio Folder” option to save the mixdown file in the 
project’s Audio folder.
About the File Format section
In the File Format section, you can select the file format for your mixdown files and 
make additional settings that are different for each file type.
RELATED LINKS
The available file formats on page 556
About the Audio Engine Output section
The Audio Engine Output section contains all the settings related to the output of 
the Cubase audio engine. The following options are available:
Sample Rate (uncompressed file formats only)
This setting determines the frequency range of the exported audio – the lower 
the sample rate, the lower the highest audible frequency in the audio. In most 
cases, you should select the sample rate set for the project, since a lower 
sample rate will degrade the audio quality (mainly reducing the high frequency 
content) and a higher sample rate will only increase the file size, without 
adding to audio quality. Also consider the future usage of the file: If you plan 
to import the file into another application, for example, you should select a 
sample rate supported by that application.
If you are making a mixdown for CD burning, you should select 44.100 kHz, 
since this is the sample rate used on audio CDs.
Bit Depth (uncompressed file formats only)
Allows you to select 8, 16, 24 bit or 32 bit (float) files. If the file is an 
“intermediate mixdown” that you plan to re-import and continue working on in 
Cubase, we recommend that you select the 32
 bit (float) option.
32 bit (float) is a very high resolution (the same resolution as used internally 
for audio processing in Cubase), and the audio files will be twice the size of 
16
 bit files. 
						

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If you are making a mixdown for CD burning, use the 16 bit option, as CD 
audio is always 16
 bit.
In this case, we recommend dithering.
Cubase Elements only: Activate the UV-22HR dithering plug-in (see the 
separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference” for details). This reduces the 
effects of quantization noise and artifacts from being introduced when 
converting the audio down to 16
 bit. 8 bit resolution should only be used if 
required, since it results in limited audio quality. 8
 bit audio may be suitable in 
some multimedia applications, etc.
Mono Downmix
Activate this if you want to downmix the two channels of a stereo bus to a 
single mono file.
Split Channels
Activate this if you want to export the two channels of a stereo bus as separate 
mono files.
Real-Time Export
Activate this if you want the export to happen in realtime, in which case the 
process will take at least the same time as regular playback.
Some VST plug-ins, external instruments and effects require this in order to 
have enough time to update correctly during the mixdown – consult the 
plug-in manufacturers if uncertain.
Depending on the CPU and disk speed of your computer, it may not be 
possible to export all channels simultaneously if Real-Time Export is activated. 
If an error occurs during the realtime export, the program will automatically 
stop the process, reduce the number of channels and start again. Afterwards 
the next batch of files is exported. This is repeated as often as needed to 
export all selected channels. Due to this splitting of the export process in 
“runs”, the realtime export might take longer than the actual playback would.
RELATED LINKS
Dithering (Cubase Elements only) on page 245
About the Import into Project section
In this section you will find several options for importing the resulting mixdown files 
back into the existing or into a new project:
• If you activate the Pool checkbox, the resulting audio file will automatically be 
imported back into the Pool as a clip.
Use the Pool Folder option to specify in which Pool folder the clip will reside.
• If you activate the Audio Track option as well, an audio event that plays the 
clip will be created and placed on a new audio track, starting at the left 
locator. 
						

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If you activate the Audio Track option, the Pool option will automatically be 
activated as well, and deactivating the Pool option also deactivates the Audio 
Track option.
RELATED LINKS
Importing Media on page 327
About the Import Options dialog
If you activate any of the options in the “Import into Project” section, the Import 
Options dialog will open when the export is complete.
RELATED LINKS
Importing Media on page 327
About the Post Process section
In the Post Process section, you can select a process that you want to execute after 
mixing down your audio file.
• You can select “Upload to SoundCloud” to launch SoundCloud, connect to 
your user account, and upload your mixdown.
The available file formats
• AIFF files
•AIFC files
•Wave files
• Wave 64 files
•Broadcast Wave files
•FLAC files
•MP3 files
• Ogg Vorbis files
• Windows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only)
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
Note that the Wave 64 file format is the only format that allows you to export files 
with a resulting size of more than 2 GB. 
						

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NOTE
Most of the settings described below for AIFF files are available for all file types. 
Where this is not the case, you will find additional information in the corresponding 
section.
RELATED LINKS
AIFF files on page 557
AIFC files on page 558
Wave files on page 558
Wave 64 files on page 559
Broadcast Wave files on page 559
FLAC files on page 559
MPEG 1 Layer 3 files on page 560
Ogg Vorbis files on page 560
Windows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only) on page 560
MP3 Export
This version of Cubase provides a function for exporting your audio mixdown as 
MP3 files. This function is limited to 20 trial encodings or a trial period of 30 days 
from the installation date (whichever ends first). After this period, the function will 
be disabled until you purchase the MP3 encoder for Cubase.
• When the MP3 format is selected and you click the Export button, a window 
opens showing you how many trial encodings you have left. You can upgrade 
to an unlimited MP3 export function by clicking the “Go to Online Shop” 
button in the dialog.
This will take you to Steinberg’s online shop where you can purchase the 
upgrade. Note that a working internet connection is required.
AIFF files
AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Apple Inc. 
AIFF files have the extension .aif and are used on most computer platforms. For AIFF 
files the following options are available:
Insert Broadcast Wave Chunk
This allows you to include information about the date and time of creation, a 
timecode position (allowing you to insert exported audio at the correct 
position in other projects, etc.) along with author, description, and reference 
text strings in the exported file. Some applications may not be able to handle 
files with embedded info – if you get problems using the file in another 
application, deactivate the option and re-export. 
						

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Edit button
By clicking this button, the Broadcast Wave Chunk dialog opens, where you 
can enter additional information that will be embedded in the exported files. If 
you activate the Use this Timecode checkbox in this dialog, the timecode 
position that is specified in the Timecode field will be used instead of the 
timecode position that is automatically derived from the left locator.
NOTE
In the Preferences dialog (Record–Audio–Broadcast Wave page) you can 
enter default text strings for author, description, and reference that will 
automatically be displayed in the Broadcast Wave Chunk dialog.
Insert iXML Chunk
This allows you to include additional project-related metadata, for example, 
project name, author, and project frame rate in the exported file. Some 
applications may not be able to handle files with embedded info. If you get 
problems using the file in another application, deactivate the option and 
re-export.
NOTE
In the Project Setup dialog you can find the Author and Company fields that 
you can use to include the corresponding data in the iXML chunk. These fields 
are also available in the Preferences dialog (General–Personalization 
page).
Insert Tempo Definition
This option is only available if Insert iXML Chunk is activated. When Insert 
Tempo Definition is activated, tempo information from the tempo track or the 
Definition tab of the Sample Editor is included in the iXML chunk of exported 
files. This is useful if you want to use the files in other projects where they 
need to adapt to the project tempo.
AIFC files
AIFC stands for Audio Interchange File Format Compressed, a standard defined by 
Apple Inc. These files support compression ratios as high as 6:1 and contain tags 
in the header. AIFC files have the extension “.aifc” and are used on most computer 
platforms.
AIFC files support the same options as AIFF files.
Wave files
Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are the most common file format on the 
PC platform. 
						

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Wave files support the same options as AIFF files and have one additional option:
• Don’t Use Wave Extensible Format
The Wave Extensible format contains additional metadata, such as the 
speaker configuration. It is an extension to the normal Wave format that some 
applications may not be able to handle.
If you get problems using the Wave file in another application, activate this 
option and re-export.
Wave 64 files
Wave 64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic Foundry Inc. In terms of audio 
quality, Wave 64 files are identical to standard Wave files, but in the file headers 
Wave 64
 files use 64- bit values for addressing where Wave files use 32-bit values. 
The consequence of this is that Wave 64
 files can be considerably larger than 
standard Wave files. Wave 64 is therefore a good file format choice for really long 
recordings (file sizes over 2
 GB). Wave 64 files have the extension “.w64”.
Wave 64 files support the same options as AIFF files.
Broadcast Wave files
Broadcast Wave files are Wave files with additional meta data. To create a 
Broadcast Wave file, select either Wave or Wave 64 as the file format and activate 
the Insert Broadcast Wave Chunk option. Click Edit if you wish to edit the chunk 
information, otherwise the defaults as specified in the Preferences dialog 
(Record–Audio–Broadcast Wave page) will be used.
Broadcast Wave files have the extension “.wav”.
Broadcast Wave files support the same options as Wave files.
FLAC files
Free Lossless Audio Codec files are audio files that are typically 50 to 60 % smaller 
than regular Wave files, for example. FLAC is an open source format.
Use the Compression Level fader to select the compression level for the FLAC file. 
Since FLAC is a lossless format, the level has more influence on the encoding 
speed than on the file size. 
						

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MPEG 1 Layer 3 files
MPEG 1 Layer 3 files have the extension “.mp3”. By use of advanced audio 
compression algorithms, MP3 files can be made very small, yet maintaining good 
audio quality. In the File Format section, the following options are available for 
MPEG
 1 Layer 3 files:
Bit Rate fader
By moving this fader, you can select a bit rate for the MP3 file. As a rule, the 
higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and the larger the file. For stereo 
audio, 128
 kBit/s is often considered to result in “good” audio quality.
Sample Rate pop-up menu
On this pop-up menu you can select a Sample Rate for the MP3 file.
High Quality Mode option
When this is activated, the encoder will use a different resampling mode, 
which can give better results depending on your settings. In this mode, you 
cannot specify the Sample Rate, but only the Bit Rate for the MP3 file.
Insert ID3 Tag option
This allows you to include ID3 Tag information in the exported file.
Edit ID3 Tag button
When you click this, the ID3 Tag dialog opens, in which you can enter 
information about the file. This additional information will be embedded as text 
strings in the file, and can be displayed by most mp3 playback applications.
Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is an open source, patent-free audio encoding and streaming 
technology, offering compressed audio files (extension “.ogg”) of small size, but 
with comparatively high audio quality.
In the File Format section you will find only one setting: the Quality fader. The Ogg 
Vorbis encoder uses variable bit rate encoding, and the Quality setting determines 
between which limits the bit rate will vary. Generally speaking, the higher the Quality 
setting, the higher the sound quality but also the larger the files.
Windows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only)
This is a continuation of the Windows Media Audio format developed by Microsoft 
Inc. Due to the advanced audio codecs and lossless compression used, WMA Pro 
files can be decreased in size with no loss of audio quality. Furthermore, WMA Pro 
features the possibility of mixing down to 5.1 surround sound. The files have the 
extension “.wma”.