Cubase Mixer issues

[fallward]

Originally Posted by MBTC

Glad you're liking Cubase. I think you're definitely better off with it if your primary interest is synths and moving toward hardware. FLS does some things really well, but is weird and non-standard in other ways.

I'm not quite sure what you mean "Problem is I don't have any options to input the MIDI data on an audio track". MIDI data and audio are two very different things. Coming from a soft synth background you might think of them as one in the same and therefore be expecting them to live in the same space in the DAW. Maybe I have an advantage because I'm old enough to remember when the MIDI standard was actually created (and was into hardware synths BEFORE then! . Learn to separate them in your mind and you'll be in better shape. Part of your perspective might be as is because of how FLS decided to separate patterns and arrangements from the mixer. In Cubase, the mixer is more like an actual hardware mixer than it is in FLS.

You are sending MIDI data to the Virus, but you're receiving the audio output into your Cubase track. Sorry if that's too basic and I mis-understood your question, but it helps in creating your templates to think of it like that, and it is not the same as the Virus plug-in behaves by default.

Yes, I think FL Studio sent me into a very very narrow way of thinking that I noticed was not a standard.

Let me rephrase my question:
Although I'm beginning to understand the mixer a lot more now, I still can't figure out how to send different parts of the Virus' multi-timbral feature to different channels in the mixer of Cubase. If I create a new Stereo input channel in the mixer how do I let it receive data from the 2nd part of the virus? Basically how do I output different parts of the virus to different inputs of the Cubase mixer?

[MBTC]

I've covered that here -- busses are the key. Did you watch the tutorial on busses I posted a link to and have a good grasp of that? The bus is what is taking it from the out on the Virus to the in of the mixer.

[fallward]

Originally Posted by MBTC

I've covered that here -- busses are the key. Did you watch the tutorial on busses I posted a link to and have a good grasp of that? The bus is what is taking it from the out on the Virus to the in of the mixer.

It's still not clicking with me I don't know why it doesn't seem that difficult. I've watched the video and read through this thread about 4 times. Maybe it's because when I open the Cubase Tutorial track and look at the setup there's only one Stereo In + one Stereo Out. One of the tracks also says "Dub Pad on Out 3+4", but I see neither.

Also, in the tutorial track it doesn't make sense to me how there is a VTI 1, VTI 2 on the sequencer and mixer. When I go to add a third Virus output a mixer track and sequencer track is created but when I do this on a new project only mixer tracks are created. I can't seem to get any audio to come out of the third mixer track in the tutorial song either..

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by fallward

It's still not clicking with me I don't know why it doesn't seem that difficult. I've watched the video and read through this thread about 4 times. Maybe it's because when I open the Cubase Tutorial track and look at the setup there's only one Stereo In + one Stereo Out. One of the tracks also says "Dub Pad on Out 3+4", but I see neither.

Also, in the tutorial track it doesn't make sense to me how there is a VTI 1, VTI 2 on the sequencer and mixer. When I go to add a third Virus output a mixer track and sequencer track is created but when I do this on a new project only mixer tracks are created. I can't seem to get any audio to come out of the third mixer track in the tutorial song either..

It's important to learn by doing, not just reading. Try actually creating a bus. I don't know where the Dub Pad entry is coming from (maybe Traktor or something else you have).

One possible approach, if you have a microphone (the type that plug into your audio interface, not a USB one that connects to your computer) might be to take the Virus out of the equation for a moment, the make it your goal to just create a simple bus that represents the input the mic is connected to and route that to an audio track so that you can hear the mic in the mixer.
The process is the same for any hardware (assuming you're discarding the USB aspect of the Virus).

[fallward]

Oh shoot! I think I was mixing up the common tab with the patch utility tab which is why the last step wasn't working.

Okay thanks for all the help again! I'll probably back soon with more trouble haha

[MBTC]

I'm still not sure where you are with busses, so let's be sure to take one issue at a time and get conclusion to this first.

[mitchiemasha]

So, So far you can make multiple midi tracks and have them play multiple virus parts?

I'm not sure about that version of cubase (i use 5) but when you load the virus as a vst instrument, in the VST instrument rack NOT the create VST track where you have the ability to make midi, audio, group tracks etc. (it looks like you're doing this bit right so far)... In the VST instrument rack there is a lil box with an arrow pointing outwards, next to an e. You need to click this lil box and activate the other 2 outputs. This will create the other 2 busses for your Virus automatically. Then in VC you can just select which USB output you want the midi part to go out. I forget off the top of my head which pull down menu it is but I will have a look. I know where it is when I use it.

I remember the first bit as a few years back I totally forget how to do it and asked the same question.

You can have a total of three stereo busses that will have the ability to run different sounds from the Virus through, adding different effects to each, with out the need to bounce. Some may say "why only 3" but 3 is enough as you never really get more than 3 sounds out the virus anyways.

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by mitchiemasha

So, So far you can make multiple midi tracks and have them play multiple virus parts?

I'm not sure about that version of cubase (i use 5) but when you load the virus as a vst instrument, in the VST instrument rack NOT the create VST track where you have the ability to make midi, audio, group tracks etc. (it looks like you're doing this bit right so far)... In the VST instrument rack there is a lil box with an arrow pointing outwards, next to an e. You need to click this lil box and activate the other 2 outputs. This will create the other 2 busses for your Virus automatically. Then in VC you can just select which USB output you want the midi part to go out. I forget off the top of my head which pull down menu it is but I will have a look. I know where it is when I use it.

I remember the first bit as a few years back I totally forget how to do it and asked the same question.

You can have a total of three stereo busses that will have the ability to run different sounds from the Virus through, adding different effects to each, with out the need to bounce. Some may say "why only 3" but 3 is enough as you never really get more than 3 sounds out the virus anyways.

I may be wrong but I think he got off of USB entirely for audio streaming and went to analog outs. At least that's where I steered him in another thread (to get around the latency issues he was having). Not sure if that's where he is now, but I've been assuming no USB throughout all this. lol.. Underscores the importance of feedback I guess.

If USB works for you then great -- it seems to work for some. Switching to analog outs solved most of my woes.

The automatic enabling of outs I think will only work with USB -- in that case I'm not sure you need busses but I recommend learning them anyway for future hardware connectivity.

[fallward]

I'm able to view only the USB outs in the mixer. Audio does come out of "output1" but not "output2" or "output3".

So far I'm able to work with it pretty freely with USB but analog just sounds better to me and I'd like to be able to use on the main parts of my tracks (bass, lead, strings, etc)

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by fallward

I'm able to view only the USB outs in the mixer. Audio does come out of "output1" but not "output2" or "output3".

So far I'm able to work with it pretty freely with USB but analog just sounds better to me and I'd like to be able to use on the main parts of my tracks (bass, lead, strings, etc)

So you have audio cables running from all the analog outs of Virus to inputs of the audio interface, and have mapped the busses?

You may need to enable outputs 1 and 2 using the method mitchiemasha described (its the same in Cubase 8 as it is in 5), I'm not sure because the Snow doesn't have that many outs so I cannot confirm. You definitely need to be sure each part is going to the respective out on the VC plugin.

Yes everyone says analog sounds better, and also mm is probably right that you'll never get more than 3 sounds over USB streaming, that's because Virus USB is limited to 1.1 speeds. Once you're using analog outs your limit is the audio interface to the PC, which for yours may be USB 2.0 and for me is Firewire 800 so you tend to get better results across the board (with regard to latency, stuttering, etc.). It probably will never get you close to all 16 parts with any reasonable polyphony but results should be better overall.