Understanding the CUBASE Channel SIGNAL FLOW - Basic Overvue
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- Опубліковано 1 тра 2024
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Understanding the Cubase Channel Signal Flow - Basic Overvue
Signal flow in Cubase can get confusing. From pre gain to channel strips to sends, it’s important to understand what’s happening so you can get your audio sounding the way you want it to!
In today’s video, I’ll walk you step-by-step through the signal flow in Cubase so you know exactly what’s happening with your audio as it travels through the software.
Still have questions? Leave me a comment below and I’ll do my best to help you out!
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:45 Signal flow starting point
1:00 Clip gain
1:45 Pre section
3:10 Inserts section
4:30 Signal flow within the channel strip
5:50 Sends section
6:15 Main channel fader
7:15 Gain change effect on plugins
8:00 Group channels and Stereo Output
8:40 Recap of signal flow
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I received some comments and questions on Pre/Post Inserts and Sends with the signal flow. Here are 2 videos about both
ua-cam.com/video/ENK02gp4j4A/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/66Hz2IC4XgA/v-deo.html
Let me know if you want me to make another video on Pre/Post Inserts and Sends if you have more questions :-)
Hi Chris, I bought your Cubase course a while ago and, like your YT videos, it's been so helpful. Thanks for keeping everything updated, interesting and understandable. A fantastic teacher - much appreciated!
You're so welcome, Adrian!
Wrote it down as I watched. Learned a couple of things I didn't know. Now I have a reference chart👍 Thanks again Chris!🤘
You're welcome
So important and Thanks so much for this Teaching
You rock, Chris! Thank you very much for this mini-lesson! I'm starting to love Cubase and your videos more and more!
Excellent!! Be blessed!!!
Great video! Been watching your channel for years and your tips have come in handy on many occasions!
Thanks, Chris, for this fundamentally important education, and for all the other good stuff you post as well.
Its perfect but the strip needs a clipper and a utility tool to add/subtract gain and mono a signal.
Perfect Cubase strip would be:
Eq
Compressor
Saturation
De'esser
Gate
Clipper
Limiter
Utility
Steinberg need to stay hot on the ground to whats happening in the audio community across all DAWS and music genres, past 2 years Clippers have been the most talked about aspect's of Audio.
Clipping before a limiter is a technique a lot of people now use regularly in Trap, Drill, Hip-Hop etc.
The strip needs a clipper.
Good job, I also tend to think there is Pre fader inserts and Post fader inserts.
Hello Chris, always enjoy your videos. One thing you overlooked however was the post-fader inserts. As I understand it the channel strip is always pre-fader and altering the channel strip to be pre Insert will not affect inserts placed in post-fader.
Glad you enjoy my videos :-)
Yes, you're correct, and a Post-Fader Plugin will also not be affected by the CS whether the CS is Pre-Insert or Post. I didn't go there cause I wanted to keep the video simple, since 99% of the time, people use Pre-Fader Inserts. I also linked in the description a video showing a mastering situation where Post-Fader Insert can be useful. Thanks for your comment!
Very, very helpful. Thanks Chris!
Very welcome!
Chris, thanks so much for all your hard work making these important videos.
My pleasure!
Thanks Chris !!!
Thank you Chris. This was very helpful.
You're welcome
I liked the final recaputulation at the end. It helps consolidating what we learnt.
Awesome!
Hi Chris, what a great summary video about signal flow, man you are awesome!
Awsome, thanks
Was looking for this one for so long. Thank you so much for another great video...
My pleasure!
I moved to Cubase from Ableton, at least for recording my guitars and doing the final mix at my stems.
I think also that provides more capabilities for orchestral music if I want to do something at this style in the future.
Thanks for your videos! Very helpful and free!
Very interesting, Chris, and well explained. Thanks a lot.
My pleasure!
it is so helpful you have these review-type videos of our Cubase DAWs. you know sometimes we can't really be with our music sessions as long as we'd like. and so getting back into the program and working in developing facility is kind of a long training arc. Thank you!!
You're more than welcome
Great explanation, as a new Cubase user I've noticed that you haven't mentioned the Inserts Pre/Post Fader green line. Correct me if I'm wrong but the inserts that are bellow the green line (Post Fader) will get the signal after the fader of the track, before the group and fx tracks.
Thanks for sharing this video 🙏😁 It‘s realy helpfull 👏👍 greetings Robert 👋🏻🇨🇭
Glad it was helpful!
Thank You
8:53 ---> there is a l i t t l e g r e e n l i n e just above the 2 last plugin slots.
That means that you can put a limiter or/and maximizer u n d e r n e a t h that green line.
.
Those 2 slots exist, because you need a way to boost your Cubase eq. and n o t clip the output level.
So the signal flow is : ---> 14** plugin slots, then the eq, then the 2 last plugin-slots and then the master fader of that specific
audio channel.
If you use those 2 slots with the right plugins, you will never see the red clip light of that channel.
:-)
//
(** it is even there in the old Cubase versions... say cubase 5;
you have 6 plugin-slots and then the 2 'master' slots that are used for a limiter/maximizer.
Even in thát older cubase version those 2 slots go a f t e r the cubase-channel-equalizer.)
Hi Chris, thank you so much for this video! Please, can you explain something about the true peak "handling"?
A very good clip, Chris - great to have as reference :-) thank you!
Very welcome
Comme dirait l’autre, voilà qui remet les pentures à l’heure quant au parcours du signal! Merci Chris!
Lol... Bienvenue
Would be easier if there was just a graph of the singal flow of the daw
OR..you could read the manual and then tweak knobs yourself..which equates the time spent watching Chris (who is an awesome educator btw) do it..because he read the manual..like you had to before UA-cam (which I also use daily for info) the point being..we all learn in different ways and Chris earns income from these videos which he deserves..but there is a great satisfaction in finding information that you have in the Steinberg Folder (manual) and learning it YOUR way..because there are no set rules..tweak a knob or parameter and see what it does! in the end it’s all about creativity
Very helpful indeed! I'll keep this one bookmarked until it's memorized. I had always thought the inserts would come after the channel strip ...
Glad it helped!
ahh yes for a top down mixer those pre gain levels on the strip can be a great tool to drive the full channel by ear into the 2 bus esp drums, not for the fainthearted this method but artistic i guess, great vid chris any chance of a part 2 showing the external plugin and outboard with the id44 maybe also exporting a dry stem from a channel vs an outboard mixed stem for difference
Re. Gain Staging, in my view one of the most important aspects of setting up a mix. In my experience there is a world of difference between the CLIP GAIN and CHANNEL GAIN controls. Is it the first that is critical & I generally back this off if necessary to -18; the latter (Channel Gain) does not prevent any overload at the track level, rather, sis only used to balance a little for downstream buses & plugs etc. Clip Gain is the important one.
Great video as always........
I appreciate that
@@mixdownonline we're here at Namm 🙂
Hi Chris! Thanks for your videos, I learned a lot from you about Cubase. One question. Is the Stereo out or Master Bus fader pre or post the inserts on the 2 bus?
Hi Chris, thanks for the great video, just have one question, is Panning pre-fader or post-fader? Thanks.
When is a audio printed on an audio channel during tracking?
Before or after the Pre Section?
Hi Chris. One question I've never seen answered is: How do you determine which plugins are using the most resources? How can I go through my plugins and see which ones are CPU hogs? Once I start maxing out my system, I'd like to know if a certain reverb or other effect plugin may be replaceable with a more resource friendly version. Also, I've already maxed out my buffer (2048) and have multi processing on and ASIO Guard set to max.
Hi Chris, thank you for your explanation. But I think it is a bit inaccurate concerning fader position and post-fader insert, respectively. I have seen your comment mentioning this point, but I think it's worth explaining in detail here. In my opinion signal chain looks like this:
clip gain - pre section - pre insert strip - pre fader inserts - post insert strip - pre fader send - fader - post fader inserts - post fader send
Note: strip can be either pre-insert or post-insert but not both at the same time.
I appreciate your comment and concern about this. It was intentional not to talk about Pre/Post Fader Inserts/Sends in this video to keep it simple. Whether an Insert is Pre or Post it will affect the signal going in the SENDS, that's the flow I'm referring to, and not the level control of a Post Fader Insert which is more advanced for a lot. 98% of people don't use Post Fader Inserts when Mixing.
The CS is Post Inserts by default, and you cannot make it Post Fader from what I know, only an Insert Plugin can be made Post Fader. The CS will stay Pre-Fader even if it's set to Post Inserts, so a Post Insert Plugin will always come after the CS no matter what. This is the way it works the way Cubase is setup by default, try it out yourself. Now, I don't know everything so I can be wrong and I'm missing something. My wife would agree with that Lol!
For the Sends, they are parallel signals so even if the Fader affects the level of the Post Fader Sends, the Fader still takes care of the main audio channel level that is what I focus on in this video. I think I will make a follow up video on this to clear things up :-)
@@mixdownonline You are right- CS can only be post insert, not post fader. I've corrected that in my post. And maybe lots of people won't use post fader inserts and pre fader sends on the same channel (I can't remember I ever used that configuration). But I'm a bit fussy ;-) that's why I tried it out and wanted to share my experience.
@@geniusinpanic Sharing your experience is always welcome on my YT Channel! :-) Thanks again!
Dude!!!!!! 12 years working in cubase thinking my channel strip was before the inserts no wonder i been struggling soooo much lately mixing drums i had it all wrong thank you so much i had never seen that little botton holy shit i feel relieved but sort of retarded hahahaha thanks brutha
Hi Chris,
Just a question: how do you edit the send effects (for instance Revelation reverb in Cubase 12 pro for me)?
Many thanks for the reply!
I am very much enjoying watching a tutorial in which I knew almost everything already but could you tell me in your opinion, the difference between adjusting the Pre-gain with the small square on the track and the Gain control in the channel strip, please? I rarely touch the Gain control and do a quick Pre-gain adjustment (to between -12 to -18) with no inserts using the small square on the track and then don't touch it after that. Thanks anyway for another useful video, always a pleasure.
Glad you enjoy my videos :-) Clip gain is nice to work with when adjusting the gain of a audio clip and not the full channel. Pre Gain takes care of the full channel gain. Both are usefull
Sir.. are you running online classes for cubase?? Im much interested for that if you do by any chance :)
Hey Bro cool video, thanks for all you do. This one is at 480 so on a 4k monitor it looks blurred out
Thanks man! Just set the UA-cam player to 4k, and you'll be good :)
Another great video! Question... I've noticed that sometimes my mix I have some holes in certain frequency ranges. I follow a lot of your bussing techniques. And I'm wondering if when you create multiple group channels, and then bus again, if Cubase might be introducing some phasing issues. And I don't just mean parallel processing or the Scheps rear bus. I wonder if you have any thoughts on that.
On its own, Cubase doesn't introduce phasing issues with bussing.
hi sir i want tobuy cubase 12 pls giv me advice am new from mumbai india and always following your video thnx
Hi Chris, great video! One question: PRE is inside EQ which is inside channel strip, and inserts come before channel strip...then inserts are before PRE?
Same question here!
I recently started really getting into some of this stuff and am curious about what one might set their pre-gain to if say they were gonna record a loud distorted guitar...
It's rare these days that you'd alter the pre gain during tracking cause most modern audio interfaces have their own gain/trim pot for their inputs as well as some form of output control. In this case you'd leave the cubase pre gain at unity and get your desired levels from the audio interface.
Hi Chris...I'm a huge fan of yours & really adore your teachings... Just a small clarification regards to the send section...
By default the audio signal routes to the sends after the channel fader right ?
(Unless you make the sends pre-fader...)
Thanks a ton for all your efforts.. You & Dom Sigalas are Cubase Heros for eternity... 🤓🥇🥇👍
Yes, but in parallel to the main channel signal...I listed videos on Pre/Post Sends and Inserts in the video description. The perspective I took on this video was the Signal Flow of one channel, like shown in the Channel Settings window. I should've clarified this in my video. You're not the first one commenting on this ;-)
Maybe a second video will follow!
@@mixdownonline Thanks a lot for taking to reply Chris.. All your hard earned knowledge sharing is massively valued & respected.. God bless & Cheers... Much Love from Sri Lanka... 👍🥇🤓
What about inserts on the Master Buss Channel?
Hi Chris, Thanks for the great videos. This is a loosely connected question (I think). In the Mix Rack, what is the relationship with the Routing (audio) rack and "Direct Routing", also, what effect does "Direct routing: summing mode" have on this relationship? I quite often use the "rear buss" technique for parallel saturation but end up doing this through sends. On the rack when routing is enabled thee are two slots under the routing tab, but only the second of these shows a "drop-down" to the busses and side chains. Can you shed any light on this for me please? G
Ah ha!!! Should have done my homework, just found your video on "5 routing tricks" where you cover this. Top man, thanks!! :)
Hi Chris, does anyone know of an fx studiorack like the waves studiorack plugin, that will work with 3rd party plugins? I scanned the internet and i can't find one. Why on eart doesn't wave make theirs compatable with 3rd party vst's. I know the obvious answer but if they made one for universal plugins it would a money maker and a little game changer. They have the tech!
So, basic question: for the pre-gain in the EQ section to precede anything in the Insert section the Channel Strip must be set to process first? Otherwise, gain should be adjusted with either a plugin in the inserts, or by adjusting the level of the clip itself?
Typically, do you adjust the gains of all your audio clips so, with the fader at Unity, they peak somewhere around 0dB VU? Further, do you adjust the gain of your audio clips so they are hitting any plugin in the Insert rack at around 0dB VU?
For years, I've basically ignored proper gain staging with respect to plugins, and I've always quickly run out of headroom on the Master. For example, I've noticed that with the Waves API EQ plugins, even a nominal signal is hitting the VU meters on those EQs very hard; reducing the pre-gain, so they peak around 0 dB VU, sounds (and feels) so much better.
Thank you for yet another clear and informative tutorial!
Thanks dear Chris, i use the channel strip always before the inserits, do you think this could be a good way to keep in mind my entire mixing process without looking every time if i put it pre inserts or post?
It doesn't matter Pre or Post in this case. If that layout works well for you, keep it this way.
@@mixdownonline respect ❤️
Thanks for the video Chris. I am still confused about the "Send" section in the signal flow. You said that it sends a copy of the signal to another channel for proccesing but at which point is the signal sent to the fX channel? Does the signal get sent with your inserts and channel strip settings or does the unprocessed signal get sent to the FX channel. Please let us know. Thanks
Excellent question!
👍👍👍
You missed out the pre-post fader option for inserts. Very important part of signal flow.
Thanks for your comment.
I did this on purpose, so I can focus on the Channel itself more than the parallel signals to keep this video simple and on the basic side. I linked other videos I made on Pre/Fader Sends and Inserts in the video description.
Since you're not the only one commenting on this, I also made an Advanced video on this topic that will come out next week. Trust me when I say that this one will be confusing for a lot... Lol
@@mixdownonline I don't believe you - this information is too important to leave out when it comes to talking about signal flow. You forgot.
@@LondonSteveLee That's your problem if you don,t believe me. Post Fader Insert is not used 98% of the time by most mixers when mixing, including myself. Like I mentioned, I already linked a video on Post Fader Insert. When you teach stuff, you start with the basis stuff before jumping in the advanced loophole.
Does messing with the clip gain or pre-gain levels affect the quality of the recording, or is it as good as if the mic level was turned up during recording?
Clip gain and Pre gain only affects the Gain level and not the recording quality
@@mixdownonline Thanks for the quick response Chris! Love your channel since I learn a lot from it! The reason I asked is that in the past when I "normalized" an event it didn't quite sound the same.
What is the green line on the insert section function?
It's the seperation of Pre-Fader and Post-Fader Inserts ua-cam.com/video/ENK02gp4j4A/v-deo.html
Correct me if I’m wrong, Chris, but I think that, by default, the sends are post-fader.
Yes
Yes, they are. I didn't mention the Pre/Post Sends or Pre/Post Inserts in this video. Linked other videos for those
wait, the signal goes in the fader > then to the sends... only in pfl mode the sends are before the fader
Yes, and I have linked 2 videos I made in the video description on Pre/Post Inserts and Sends. The perspective I'm taking here is to simply show the flow from clip Gain to fader, and make as simple as possible
I miss the hat