User manual

22
VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
8. When you are done, close the VST Connections win-
dow.
Ö Note that external device ports are exclusive, see
“Connecting the external effect/instrument” on page 21.
How to use the external effect
If you now click an insert effect slot for any channel and
look at the effect pop-up menu, you will find the new exter-
nal FX bus listed on the “External Plug-ins” submenu.
When you select it, the following happens:
• The external FX bus is loaded into the effect slot just like a
regular effect plug-in.
• The audio signal from the channel will be sent to the outputs
on the audio hardware, through your external effect device and
back to the program via the inputs on the audio hardware.
• A parameter window appears, showing the Delay, Send Gain
and Return Gain settings for the external FX bus. You can ad-
just these as necessary while playing back. The parameter
window also provides the “Measure Effect’s Loop Delay for
Delay Compensation” button. This is the same function as the
“Check User Delay” option in the VST Connections window. It
provides Cubase with a Delay value to be used for delay com-
pensation. When you have defined a MIDI device for the ef-
fect, the corresponding Device window will be opened. When
Studio Manager 2 is installed, and you have set up a corre-
sponding OPT editor, this OPT editor will be displayed.
The default parameter window for an external effect
Like any effect, you can use the external FX bus as an in-
sert effect or as a send effect (an insert effect on an FX
channel track). You can deactivate or bypass the external
effect with the usual controls.
Setting up external instruments
1. Open the VST Connections window from the Devices
menu.
2. Open the External Instrument tab and click “Add Ex-
ternal Instrument”.
3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the exter-
nal instrument and specify the number of required mono
and/or stereo returns. If you want to set up a MIDI device
corresponding to the external instrument, click the Associ-
ate MIDI Device button.
Depending on the type of instrument, a specific number of mono and/or
stereo return channels is required. When clicking “Associate MIDI De-
vice”, you can use the MIDI Device Manager functions to create a new
MIDI device. For information about the MIDI Device Manager and user
device panels see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
4. Click OK. This adds a new external instrument bus.
5. Click in the Device Port column for the Return Bus
“Left” and “Right” ports and select the inputs on your audio
hardware to which you connected the external instrument.
6. If you like, make additional settings for the bus.
These are found in the columns to the right. Note however that you can
adjust these while actually using the external instrument – which may be
easier as you can hear the result. You have the following options:
Setting Description
Delay If your hardware device has an inherent delay (latency),
you should enter this value here. This allows Cubase to
compensate for that delay during playback. Note that you
don’t have to take the latency of the audio hardware into
account – this is handled automatically by the program.
Return Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal coming in from
the external instrument.
Note however that excessive output levels from an exter-
nal device may cause clipping in the audio hardware. The
Return gain setting cannot be used to compensate for
this – you have to lower the output level on the device in-
stead.