User manual

78
Recording
However, there are two advantages to 32 Bit Float format:
• With 32 Bit Float recording, you don’t risk clipping (dig-
ital distortion) in the recorded files.
This can of course be avoided with 24 or 16 Bit recording as well, but re-
quires more care with the levels.
• Cubase processes audio internally in 32 Bit Float for-
mat – recording in the same format means the audio qual-
ity will be kept absolutely pristine.
The reason is that the effect processing in the input channel (as well as
any level or EQ settings you make there) is done in 32 Bit Float format. If
you record at 16 or 24 Bit, the audio will be converted to this lower reso-
lution when it’s written to file – with possible signal degradation as a result.
Note also that it doesn’t matter at which actual resolution
your audio hardware works. Even if the signal from the au-
dio hardware is in 16 Bit resolution, the signal will be 32
Bit Float after the effects are added in the input channel.
An example
This example shows how to apply the “SoftClipper” effect
while recording. Note that this is only an example. The prin-
ciple is the same for all effects (or combinations of effects).
1. Set up an audio track for recording and select the de-
sired input bus.
For best results, you should also activate monitoring as this allows you to
hear and try out your settings before actually recording. See “Monitoring
via Cubase” on page 72 for a description of monitoring via Cubase.
2. Open the Mixer and make sure the full extended view
is shown.
To show the extended mixer view, either click the arrow icon (“Show Ex-
tended Mixer”) in the Common Panel, select “Show Extended View” from
the Window submenu on the Mixer context menu or use a key command
(this can be set in the Key Commands dialog, see “Setting up key com-
mands” on page 476).
3. Locate the input channel (bus) from which you record.
If the input channels are hidden, click on the Show/Hide Input Channels
button to the left.
4. Check the input level (of the signal coming into the au-
dio hardware) as described in the section “Setting input
levels” on page 70 and adjust the level of the source audio
if necessary.
5. Pull down the View Options pop-up menu for the input
channel and select “Inserts”.
The View Options pop-up menu is opened by clicking the arrow button
between the fader panel and the extended panel.
Now the extended panel for the input channel shows the
insert slots.
6. Click on an insert slot and select an effect from the
pop-up menu that appears.
As you see, the included effects are sorted into submenus – you will find
the SoftClipper effect on the “Distortion” submenu.
The effect is loaded and activated and its control panel is
automatically opened.
7. Adjust the effect parameters to your liking.
For detailed information on the Effect parameters, see the separate man-
ual “Plug-in Reference”.
8. When the effect is set up as desired, you can check
the level of the input channel by setting the Meters to
post-fader (see “Setting input levels” on page 70).
Use the input channel fader to adjust the level if needed.
9. Activate recording.
10. When you’re finished, you can play back the recorded
audio track.
As you can hear, the effect you applied is now a part of the actual audio file.
11. If you don’t want to record more with the same plug-in,
you should deactivate it by clicking in the insert slot and
selecting “No Effect”.