The ins and outs of cubase direct routing explained!!
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
- In this video I explain how direct routing in Cubase works, and why I don't get it :).
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Table of Contents:
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00:00 Intro
00:14 The Cubase project
00:34 Cubase (normal) routing
01:25 Direct routing
03:37 Direct routing to multiple targets
04:20 Why not just use sends?
05:40 Outro
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Relevant Links:
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* Cubase drum layering - • How to layer drums in ...
* Direct routing vs sends - forums.steinberg.net/t/direct...
* Direct routing: why do you use it - forums.steinberg.net/t/direct...
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Did you hear about direct routing before? What do you use it for?
Direct routing is vital to my Cubase Steinberg URC816 set up. It enables me to use direct monitoring in the URC together with control room with cue sends at the same time. All controlled within Cubase. Drop in and outs included.
@@steveallen4979 ah Some Nice Steinberg hardware related functionality. Didn’t know about that.
Very nice video which let me learn about summing mode on. I never really knew about it until today. To answer the other question, Sends aren't really the same as Direct Routing. It depends on how we use it with Audio Interface such as Focusrite Clarett+ or Apollo. Instead of setting Cue Sends from Cubase, I'd rather great Group Tracks for each instrument type and send the signal level accordingly through Direct routing. From Focusrite Control, I can adjust the mix level on different headphone jacks. With Cue Sends there are extra steps involved which may alter your project mix levels accidentally. With Sends you really cannot do the toggling on and off as you'd do on Direct Routing. I can audition it real quick.
@@vindsoft Thanks! And also thanks for your ideas about using sends versus direct routing, clever!
Allows me to set up before stereo mix alongside a 5.1 mix
I use direct routing when I know I want a copy of the channel sent elsewhere - and to avoid using up my send slots. As an example, and similar to Michael Brauer - I like to send my dry vocal to multiple channels that have different coloured compressors inserts on each channel - and then I blend together for a thick vocal sound. I don’t want to have to use sends for this. Another example - If you have seen how Andrews Scheps sets up a ‘rearm bus in his template - u can utilise direct routing for this - this would mean sending a copy of each of your instrument and vocal busses (except drums) to the rear bus (that contains an 1176 compressor) and blending with the mix bus. This can be easily achieved using direct routing - and in fact I have both options setup in my template so save time. I agree it’s not obvious of the use cases at first - but it does come in useful since 8 sends is a bit limiting when you have large templates that are intending to cover multiple possibilities.
Thanks for that explanation. Yes I can see that they’re handy when you run out of send slots and for some routing tasks they may just be more convenient than sends 👍.
Hi! i use direct routing for audiobooks and film - i can automate the direct routing to go to groups with different rooms in it - so it safes a lot of time insted of sending each channel into the groups - but in the end it is a matter of taste ;)
Good idea. Thanks for sharing!
thank you. I'm about to use this to send my guitar track out a seprate output, but still leave it going to the main music master. Really helpful for using outboard gear and reamping etc
Sounds great!
I essentially use them as way to get around the limit of 8 sends for a track. For example for a vocal group track, I might have sends to several different reverbs and delays and also sidechain compressors to reduce the reverb and delay levels when a vocal is present. Although Direct routing is post fader and post panner, using it as a source for the sidechain compressors has been helpful.
Ah yes, that's a good idea and not something you can do with sends if they are all used already.
DIRECT OUTS are absolutely great!
I use it a lot for easy sidechain "parallel processing!"... or switched on/off automation for sound effects and sounddesign... and create easy room change (voice overs)... e.g.
Ok so technically this can all be done with sends as well but using direct routing for some things is just easier and more clear for organizational purposes?
@@LanewoodStudios absolutely, yes.
I use Direct routing for analogue summing, so 16 channels going to a mixer>master chain>AD Conversion>DAW print track. I then have an in the box mix and an analogue mix to compare.
I guess technically you can do that with sends too, but this way you separate the paralleling for effects from the paralleling for summing. Nice one!
@@LanewoodStudios all the FX sends are routed to 8 groups along with all the tracks. So I have 8 outputs for analogue summing and I have my in the box mix for comparison.
i always thought the same as you, and i´m still not sure how to use them properly in my workflow, well, i sometimes end up using them on channels where i have already uaed all my sends and want to have more sends
i didnt know about to be able to automate direct routing, thanks for the tip, i can see myself using this.
Yes when you run out of sends, you can start using direct routings. I saw more people mention that use in the comments. But there are some other smart used of direct routing, compare to send FX. I might make an update video on it 😉.
Interesting!!
🙏
Honestly, as the least experienced person who follows your channel, it just seems easier to navigate to with the eyes, and I like having a big faded as compared to those mini send faders that are on all the DAWs that I've used (and have never liked) So this is just awesome for just a simple work flow improvement for my sake
Good to hear 👍
I use it for sending a proper image in stereo, example:
I have guitars panned left and right and use kornref srs wow plugin, if I send these guitars left and right on sends it sums them up on FX channel and it is not a true stereo image for some reason it adds in parallel on top of the original guitars and adds to the middle even when adding a stereo fx channel.
If I direct route them the the fx channel with the srs it is added and not on top of the signal in direct send.
Also I prefer to send vocals and other instruments this way as is allows me to control the level on the effects directly.
This in turn allows me to use the FX fader as an overall group of those instrument bit like a group.
Essentially sends are parallel and add on top of the original signal and can increase in distortion but is effectively adding 1 + 1 + effect = 2 and effect
Direct is adding in a serial way 1 + effect = signal + effect
You can still make a group and add effects also, I think and is the same ad direct routing. Need to try and further confirm.
Great video!👍
Thanks for your ideas. I actually made a follow-up to this video in which I explain some other uses of direct routing as well. Check it out!
Great Video. I find Direct Out useful for distributing Side-Chain Triggers to Compressors.
Interesting!
I almost always use direct routing for parallel drum processing of certain tracks. I'll send all of my drums ro a group and (usually) all shells also go via direct routing to a crushed bus. The main difference between this and using a send is that a send may route post fader, but direct routing is also post panner. Sure, you can pan your sends, but that is a bit of a pain (especially if you are automating your panning). Direct routing ensures that I get a perfect stereo copy to all of my groups.
That’s an interesting difference. I didn’t realize that 👍.
Just tested it and you're absolutely right. When sending to a group via an FX send the panning on the originating channel does not matter, so the routing is pre-panning.
When 'sending' to a group via the direct out, the panning of the originating channel is taken into account, so the routing is post-panning.
That's really the first significant difference in how both of these options work and whethet to use one over the other (for me)!!
Yes, I can that can be a real time-saver, preserving all the pan positions.
cubase can sometimes be a pain when it comes to routing.
in my case, several voxal channels routed to a vocal bus group and for this vocal group i automated 2x fx channels with a delay and a reverb.
other busses where drums,bass,sounds, and a pre-master bus which goes into the master out.
problem was, i wasnt able to route the 2x fx channels for the vox into the vocal buss.
the simple solution after 2 days of being confused was just to add another group and name it vocals test and voila. i was able to route it like i want to.
seems the original vocal bus is goin into the matrix. anyway. good video
Actually if you want to render in place stereo to mono you can do it if you create mono out and the use direct routing to point how render works, to MONO or Stereo out....
To good brother
Well thank you 😀😎!
...in cubase i hate the fact that i can't use 2 soundcards at once, one for input another for output like logic x..its very useful....i hope steinberg will make this happen soon.and yes also TRACK STACKS..now pro tools have them too...regards and thank you for your honest amazing videos!
Yes those options would be great! Thanks for watching.
I have the same thought. I have multiple Interfaces but only can use one. I searched the forums and mostly found that this is limitation of Windows. I hope Steinberg will develop something in future.
@@colorcaoz Yes I think it is a limitation in Windows together with ASIO perhaps. I believe you can connect multiple interfaces that are supported by the same driver and use them in Cubase. There's a old SOS article about this: www.soundonsound.com/techniques/using-multiple-audio-interfaces-together
@@LanewoodStudios thanks I m gonna check this.
In Mac OS, just create an aggregate device. You can use any number of sound cards at once that way. It's not perfect, there can be glitches, but if you're only using 2 soundcards and you have a powerful enough computer, and not too small of a buffer size, you're good.
If I remember correctly direct routing was the only way to do proper parallel mix of a group in Cubase back in the day? when the cubase routing and mixer wasn't so flexible as now. I use it when I want to send drums or vocals to several groups
I believe sends existed long before direct routing was added to Cubase, and you can do parallel processing fine with that. So there must be another reason 😉.
it´s from Nuendo - a post pro feature!
Can you use Direct routing with midi to an audio track for recording to audio Without a group track.
Interesting idea but I would be very surprised if hat worked.😎
Another suggestion for this use-case, can you not just use render in place which would give you an audio track?
@Lanewood Studios yes but I hate midi so I use Scalar from plugin boutique to record my sound.
I'll also be saving up money to buy Behringer wing in the future with Dante for recording / Monitoring from Nuendo into the mixing / Atmos and might also get Captain plugins Down-the-line.
One reason for direct routing would be if you were going through a summing box or console, you could send a track to multiple hardware outputs, to do analog parallel processing.
Thanks for the suggestion. I think you can also do the same with a send, but maybe it is easier to organize it in this way?
It would be cool if they made a routing option without adding additional channels. For example, the chain for input: in-01 > out-02 > in-6 > out-5; and the output as it is now.
Probably you could use direct routing for sending your signal to more than one physical output at the same time (when using Sum/Split)
Yes, and you can also do that with a send 😁. But it’s definitely an option.
Very nice. Didn't know about this. Will have to try the drums trick. Although for crush, my go to is Soundtoys Devil Loc Deluxe (don't own Pulsar!)
Yes many ways to crush drums I’m sure! I don’t own Devil Loc myself but heard good things about it.
All reasons stated hear sound very usable, and, although, many of them can be taken care of with SENDs, as You suggested, I will quickly give you a reason why I really need it!
Simply, my Machine (i7, quadro card, 32 GB Ram, SSDs etc), and 16 ch Alesis USB Audio "card", soundS like a Beast - and the Beast it was when I put it together - and it was, belive it or not in the year 2010... And I still can't get enough money together to send that one to retirement, but it is getting limited, as You can assume...
ThereFore, I really need to FREEZE all freeazable Tracks in my Cubase 10.5, and, as you know, SEND channals can't get frozen. And I simply prefear it much more then bouncing or exporting them, since I tend to work on them over and over and just de-freeze, upgrade and freeze again....
I guess that is one of the "poor man's wayarounds" - And I am glad it exists....
Or we can get into Brauerizing, or what was the name of "N-Y" ing all BUSes, but Drums but still keep the original ones utouched...
That is philosofical reason :)
Thanx for the video, though!
Thanks for another use-case. Good hanging in there with your ‘old’ PC. That shows that you’re a patient man 😉.
I always thought the same as you about this, I guess the only difference is that with DR you may have the signal sent all wet while with sends you always have a mix between dry and wet (signal sent directly to stereo out + signal processed through sends)? am I wrong?
I don't think the direct routing is including the signal that is going via the sends. It is the same as having a single routing to stereo out. That routing is also the 'dry' signal only, the wet part ends up at the Stereo Out via the sends, sending to an FX or group channel that is then routed to Stereo Out.
@@LanewoodStudios I mean, using DR without summing mode you have all the signal of that track passing through the FX channel selected in DR, instead, using a send you have part of the track signal going directly to stereo out (without effect) and some sent to the FX send, unless you explicitly change the track to no bus.
In DR mode you can go back and forth with just one click.
@@diegoalejo15 Ah yes I believe that is true, and you can also do that with regular routing. No direct routing required. Instead of routing a channel to stereo out, just route it to a group channel which contains all you effects e.g., and THAT channel is then routed to stereo out. But using direct routing (not in summing mode) you can easily switch that routing from going direct to stereo out or via your group/fx channel. Do you use it like that?
@@LanewoodStudios I don´t usually need Direct routing but I guess that is the only advantage.
Maybe for multiple headphone mixes ?
I would typically use the cue sends in the control room for that so that you make a different mix for each pair of headphones. But sure, if you want to route the same mix to multiple headphones you could use direct routing for that. Thanks for the suggestion!
maybe good for parallel sending e.g. a vocal to a vocoder
Yes, but so can you with a send. I'm mostly wondering what does it add to using a send.
Is it Cubase 12 mixer?
Because in 13 Pro it looks very different
I believe this one is still C12 yes.
I CAN TELL YOU: i can use it direct to make in an inline console like neve the playback so i can have a digital mix in the pc routed to my external in, in the console and at same time i can have my analogue mix from playback coming from the split in the DAW, and also i can hear the tracking or monitor mix . just in a press of a button.... i can do a Video if you want guys in my channel. Thanks ALL BYE BYE
Thanks. I did a follow up video in which I DO get it 😉.
Why don't you ask Greg Ondo/Steinberg.
I did watch what Greg Ondo has said about direct routing in one of his Cubase live sessions. 😋
@@LanewoodStudios oh well.
Direct routing can be used for many things. Sends can be used to get the sounds to groups but if you have a lot of sends and groups in a large project you can quickly run out of sends. Direct Routing is also great in getting audio distributed to external hardware headphone monitoring systems.
@@gregondo376 ah yes, if you run out of sends then you have some extra ones via direct routing. And for other purposes that you want to separate out from the use of sends (like routing to specific hardware outputs), yes I get that. Thanks for explaining!