Expert: Jerry Yoder - 6/22/2008

Question
QUESTION: yes i'm having trouble trying to record in cubase sx3 its like when i record the first vocal track or any track it plays on next audio track as well or when i import instrumental track to record vocals on, it plays on every track ive set up input outputs on vst connections im using a hp a305w pc the sound card only has 2 inputs 2 outputs this shows in the vst connections panel im using a stereo in and out bus and one mono input that im trying to use as the mic input ok when i add my first audio track the mono mic input i hit record and it records voice just fine then i add another audio track and the first track records into the next audio track could you please help me get this setup correctly so i can finally record all these songs that ive wrote from my insides that have built up from true life events all i want to do is record and continue learning music production and engineering from guys like you who keep me searching for knowledge in the realm of music and life any help you could share i would be most grateful also i forgot to add im using a eurorack ubb1002 mixer as well im running mic thru it and also running pc output to it  but its working fine with pc audio and with cubase i can hear everything from pc thru mixer headphones thanks again for any help you can give me i just want to fix this and begin to work on some songs.  Sincerely, Kenneth johnson

ANSWER: Hey Kenneth,
It's not likely that Cubase is actually routing to the second track and recording on it. In fact the capability to do that is something I've wanted in Cubase/Nuendo.

So it has to be the Sound Card or Mixer...

I'm assuming that if you have Cubase coming up on other channels of the mixer, it's getting routed back to the input of the sound card. Strangely though, this usually causes a horrible feedback loop. Which is just a big awful screech.


Try this for your setup.

1. Plug the output of your Sound Card into the "Tape Input" on your mixer. You'll have to adapt it to the little RCA connection.

2. Main Out goes into your Sound Card (you probably already have it that way)

3. Control Room Output goes to speakers.

4. Push down "tape to Control Room" button so that you can listen to the computer.

5. *****Push up the "tape to mix" button, so that Cubase isn't routed to the overall mix***

Make sure that the routing is correct and you can play back and hear something from your computer......... Using the Control Room/Headphone volume.

The "Main Mix" volume shouldn't matter and can be turned off for the purposes of listening to the computer.

After that's working finish the setup for recording.

6. Put channel 1 fader at "Unity"... which is the little indented position in the middle (this shouldn't have to move). I'd probably just pan it up the middle.

7. Put the "main mix" fader at "Unity"... again this shouldn't ever have to move.

8. Plug your mic into 1, and use the black "gain" knob to set your level going into the computer.

Let me know if this setup works...

All the best.

Jerry




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for the info still cant record right when u say tape control room what do you mean my eurorack ubb1002 has a tape in and tape out but no control buttons to push, it just has the black slider knob that slides up and down like volume and the basic gain hi mid low mono fx control knobs on each channel, also the channel that says main,the one to the far right it has the headphone plugin the main output left and right plugins a mono and fx plugin then a phantom button mono send knob fx knob and headphone knob plus the black slider that moves up and down the whole mixer has 2 mono channels 3 stereo channels the tape in and out channel and the main out channel do i also run plug from fx send on mixer to mic input on pc also when i run my main output jack to pc input it makes a loud squelching noise when i try to turn up song track that is coming into mixer. im sorry to be so much trouble im just learning all this please be patient with me this is just so important to me also could this have anything to do with my problem when i set up my vst connection i create one bus in stereo for the instrumental track im trying to listen to then i create a mono bus and label it mic for the mic input then where it says ports i see realtek audio 1 and 2 which has L and R which both have to be used for the sound to come out both speakers then the mono port says realtek audio 1 and 2 so i set it to come thru 1 as i said before the stereo input with the instrumental track on audio 01 is routed thru 1 and 2 for left and right speaker im trying to use audio 02 track to record vocals along with instrumental on track 01 and hopefully be able to keep recording vocal tracks on the song also if i hit the monitor button on a track it sounds like an earthquake or something is beginning to where i have to hurry and turn monitor off because of the noise i hope this gives you a better ideal of the trouble im having trying to set things up so i can record also when u said set knob at unity did you mean the black slider knobs on eurorack mixer also you said plug mic into channel one thats a mono channel which is where my mic has been plugged into there are two plugins under mic plugin one says line in and the other says ins. do i plug anything into these im sorry im just trying to cover as much as i can so you have a better ideal of whats going on thank you so much for your time and patience. Kenneth


ANSWER: Sorry... there are 2 ubb1002's that came up when I did a search.

Yours is fine for straight mixing or to amplify your microphones for recording... but not good for both together.

Don't connect the output of the soundcard to the mixer. Maybe you already figured that out.

You didn't mention if you have a pair of studio monitors, or if you're using the PC speakers... PC speakers with a volume control would be the easiest.


You will get a "feedback loop" if you have an open mic (track that's record enabled and set to monitor)  with the speakers on.... the mic picks up the speakers, the speakers output the mic signal, the mic picks up that, etc....

When you're recording with a mic, you'll need to make sure you use headphones off the PC speakers (if that's what you're using).


You need to assign the correct soundcard in the Device Settings menu.... After that you shouldn't have to mess with the VST connections. You might want to restore some defaults there.

It should automatically come up with "soundcard name" Stereo In and Stereo Out. Then you just use Left or Right for your mono tracks depending on which side of the soundcard you're coming in. You assign that on the individual track.


To get the cleanest signal, put the microphone channel fader at 0... put the "Main" fader at 0.

Connect the MAIN OUTPUTS to the input of your soundcard.

Use the white "gain" on the mic channel for level to the PC... don't record too hot!!! keep the levels conservative.


All this may not fix it for you, but connect everything this way and then let me know what it's doing. Also let me know what you're using for speakers.


Jerry




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ok this setup works the only problem is headphones have to be plugged into the pc to record and you cant hear bass this way, i have cyber acuostics speakers there are two desktop speakers that have to plug into the back of the sub speaker that came with package the back of the sub speaker has a input that runs to pc thats how you hear speakers and the right desktop speaker has the volume and bass knob on it plus a on and off button. is there anyway i can plug headphones into anything besides the back of the pc im not getting the low bass sound or control in headphones the way i could when they were plugged into the mixer. also i would need headphones with an extra long chord to go from pc to where mic stand is. since my mic is plugged into the mono channel on mixer do i use a mono input for mic in cubase or just leave it as stereo input output you have been a great help i couldnt have made it this far without you i am so close to recording thanks to you  one more ? should i use my asio multimedia driver or the asio direct full duplex driver i dont know which one is my master thank you so much...Kenneth

Answer
Almost all speaker/sub woofer systems have a headphone jack on them somewhere. When you plug them in, it will cut the sound to the speakers and just come out the headphones, allowing you to use the volume control on the speaker.

You only need to switch to headphones when you're recording microphones. If it's something that plugs in directly, like a bass guitar, or pickup guitar, keyboard, etc... no headphones are needed.


You can get headphone extenders out there, so you don't need to buy headphones with particularly long cords. I don't know if you're in the US or not.... if so, go to radio shack or even walmart.

Record to a mono track if it's a mono source (like 1 mic). Just pick a side. A stereo track from a single source won't benefit you. It will just take up more disk space.

You can record to a stereo track if you use two mics on the same instrument or are recording a keyboard or something.

Use whichever asio driver is working. If they both work, then just pick one. I don't have any details about your particular system.