User manual

Table Of Contents
680
ReWire
Introduction
ReWire and ReWire2 are special protocols for streaming audio between two
computer applications. Developed by Propellerhead Software and Steinberg, ReWire
provides the following possibilities and features:
Realtime streaming of up to 64 separate audio channels (256 with ReWire2), at
full bandwidth, from the “synthesizer application” into the “mixer application”.
In this case, the “mixer application” is of course Cubase. An example of a
“synthesizer application” is Propellerhead Software’s Reason.
Automatic, sample accurate synchronization between the audio in the two
programs.
The possibility to have the two programs share one audio card and take advantage
of multiple outputs on that card.
Linked transport controls that allow you to play, rewind, etc., either from Cubase or
from the synthesizer application (provided it has some kind of transport
functionality).
Automatic audio mixing functions of separate channels as required.
In the case of Reason, for example, this allows you to have separate channels for
the different devices.
Additionally, ReWire2 offers the possibility to route MIDI tracks in Cubase to the
other application, for full MIDI control.
For each ReWire2 compatible device, a number of extra MIDI outputs will be made
available in Cubase. In the case of Reason, this allows you to route different MIDI
tracks in Cubase to different devices in Reason, with Cubase serving as the main
MIDI sequencer.
The overall load on your system is much reduced, compared to when using the
programs together in the conventional way.
Launching and quitting
When using ReWire, the order in which you launch and quit the two programs is very
important:
Launching for normal use with ReWire
1. First launch Cubase.
2. Enable one or several ReWire channels in the ReWire Device dialog for the other
application.
This is described in detail in the section “Activating ReWire channels” on page
681.
3. Launch the other application.
It may take slightly longer for the application to start when you are using ReWire.