7.5

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VST Connections
Setting up busses
- Cubase only: You need a surround bus in the format of your speaker configuration
(in this example, 5.1) assigned to the correct outputs (which in turn are connected
to the correct speakers). You may want additional surround busses if you tend to
work in different surround formats.
Preparations
Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs and outputs on your audio
hardware. For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround speaker setup, you should
name the outputs according to which speaker they are connected to (Left, Right,
Center, and so on).
The reason for this is compatibility – it makes it easier to transfer projects between
different computers and setups. For example, if you move your project to another
studio, the audio hardware may be of a different model. But if both you and the other
studio owner have given your inputs and outputs names according to the surround
setup (rather than names based on the audio hardware model), Cubase will
automatically find the correct inputs and outputs for your busses and you will be able
to play and record without having to change the settings.
To assign names to the inputs and outputs of your audio hardware, proceed as
follows:
1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu.
2. On the VST Audio System page, make sure that the correct driver for your audio
hardware is selected.
If this is the case, your audio card is listed in the Devices list on the left of the
Device Setup window.
3. In the Devices list, select your audio card.
The available input and output ports on your audio hardware are listed on the right.
4. To rename a port, click on its name in the Show As column and enter a new name.
• If needed, you can also disable ports by deactivating them in the Visible column.
Disabled ports are not shown in the VST Connections window. If you attempt to
disable a port that is used by a bus, you will be asked whether this is really what
you want – note that this will remove the port from the bus!
5. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.
Ö If you open a project created on another computer and the port names do not match
(or the port configuration is not the same – e.
g. the project is created on a system
with multi-channel i/o and you open it on a stereo in/out system), the Missing Ports
dialog will appear. This allows you to manually re-route ports used in the project to
ports available in your system.
Mac OS X only: Port selection and activation
On the settings page for your audio card (opened via the Device Setup dialog, see
above), you can specify which input and output ports are active. This allows you to
use the Microphone input instead of the Line input or even to deactivate the audio
card input or output completely, if required.
Ö This function is only available for Built-In Audio, standard USB audio devices and a
certain number of other audio cards.
!
Different busses can use the same inputs/outputs on the audio hardware! For
example, you may want a stereo output bus assigned to the same outputs as the front
stereo channels in your surround bus – this enables you to listen to stereo mixes
without having to reconnect your speakers.