User manual

92
Recording
Cycle recording
Cubase can record and play back in a cycle – a loop. You
specify where the cycle starts and ends by setting the left
and right locators. When the cycle is active, the selected
section is seamlessly repeated until you hit Stop or deac
-
tivate cycle mode.
• To activate cycle mode, click the cycle button on the
Transport panel.
Cycle activated
• To record in cycle mode, you can start recording from
the left locator, from before the locators or from within the
cycle, in Stop mode or during playback.
As soon as the project cursor reaches the right locator, it will jump back
to the left locator and continue recording a new lap.
• The results of cycle recording depend on the selected
cycle record mode and are different for audio (see
“Re-
cording audio” on page 97) and MIDI (see “Recording
MIDI” on page 102).
Audio recording specifics
Selecting a recording file format
The format for recorded files is set in the Project Setup di-
alog on the Project menu. There are three settings: Sam-
ple Rate, Bit Resolution, and Record File Type. While the
sample rate is set once and for all when you start working
on a new project, the bit resolution and file type can be
changed at any time.
Record File Type
The Record File Type setting determines which type of
files will be created when you record:
• If you select Broadcast Wave File or AIFF format, you
can specify Author, Description and Reference text strings
that will be embedded in the recorded file.
This is done on the Record–Audio–Broadcast Wave page in the Prefer-
ences dialog.
Bit Resolution
The available options are 16 bit, 24 bit, and 32 bit float.
Use the following guidelines:
• Normally, select the record format according to the bit
resolution delivered by your audio hardware.
For example, if your audio hardware has 20 bit A/D converters (inputs),
you may want to record at 24 bit resolution to capture the full bit resolu
-
tion. On the other hand, if your hardware has 16 bit inputs, it is pointless
to record with a higher bit resolution – this will only make the audio files
larger, with no difference in audio quality. The exception is if you record
with effects – see
“Recording with effects (Cubase only)” on page 98.
• The higher the bit resolution, the larger the files and the
more strain is put on the disk system.
If this is an issue, you may want to lower the record format setting.
RAM requirements for recording
When recording live music performances, you will often
simultaneously record on a large number of tracks at the
same time.
Each track on which you record requires a certain amount
of RAM, and the memory usage increases the longer the
recording lasts.
File type Description
Wave File Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are a common
file format on the PC platform.
Wave 64 File Wave 64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic
Foundry Inc. Audio-wise it is identical to the Wave format,
but the internal file structure makes much larger file sizes
possible. This is useful for long live recordings, where the
audio files can become huge.
Broadcast
Wave File
In terms of audio content, the same as regular Wave files,
but with embedded text strings for supplying additional
information about the file (see below).
AIFF File Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Ap-
ple Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used
on most computer platforms. Like Broadcast Wave files,
AIFF files can contain embedded text strings (see below).
!
For further information on the options in the Project
Setup dialog, see
“The Project Setup dialog” on
page 54.
File type Description