User manual

18
Setting up your system
Setting up audio
Setting up the input and output ports
Once you have selected the driver and made the settings as described above, you
need to specify which inputs and outputs will be used and name these:
1. In the Device Setup dialog, select your driver in the Devices list on the left to
display the driver settings for your audio hardware.
All input and output ports on the audio hardware are listed.
2. To hide a port, click in the “Visible” column for the port (deselecting the checkbox).
Ports that are not visible cannot be selected in the VST Connections window
where you set up your input and output busses – see the chapter
“VST
Connections” on page 26.
3. To rename a port, click on its name in the “Show as” column and type in a new
name.
• It is a good idea to give your ports names that are related to the channel
configuration (rather than to the actual hardware model)!
For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround audio setup (Cubase only), you could
name the six ports Left, Right, Center, LFE, Left Surround, and Right Surround.
This makes it easier to transfer your projects between different computers, e.g. in
different studios – if the same port names are used on both computers, Cubase
will automatically handle the bus connections properly when you open the project
on the other computer.
4. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog and apply your changes.
About monitoring
In Cubase, monitoring means listening to the input signal while preparing to record or
while recording. There are three ways to monitor:
External monitoring
External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it goes into Cubase) requires
an external mixer for mixing the audio playback with the input signal. This can be a
classic mixing desk or a mixer application for your audio hardware, if this has a mode
in which the input audio is sent back out again (usually called “Thru”, “Direct Thru” or
similar).
!
If you attempt to hide a port that is already used by a bus you will be asked whether
this is really what you want – note that this will disable the port!