I am trying to use my Yamaha XF8 as a Master Device to control Cubase7. I’ve heard rumors that Cubase 7 cannot be configured as such but in the Project Synchronization dialog it seems that this in fact a capability of C7.
But so far I haven’t been able to achieve this. So is it possible and if so, how would one go about setting this up??? 
What do you mean by Master Device? If you mean you want the clock to come from somewhere else, then the answer is yes you can and you were in the right place if you had the synch dialog up.
Not if it´s MIDI clock-
Big Ben says otherwise
EDIT: ah, you mean strictly MIDI clock over MIDI. You are correct there … but it can be externally clocked which will then control the MIDI timing in Cubase + whatever is connected.
Feel free to correct me, but AFAIK, Big Ben provides word clock. And even if it provides MIDI clock, it doesn´t matter what Big Ben says, since Cubase says “No”.
Yeah, I edited … that’s kind of why I asked what he meant by master. But, you can externally clock (as I do), which does work with MIDI devices.
Ok, so now I’m more confused than initially. 
JMCecil says yes, Thinkingcap says no.???
When I say have C7 configured as slave to a master device, what I mean is I want to be able to start and stop C7 using a start and stop command issued from my XF8 on-board sequencer as opposed to C7 issuing the Start and Stop commands to my XF8.
If it is possible, what protocol should I be using. I was thinking using MTC to accomplish this but if not; what is the recommended protocol?
He says no and I say yes because it is not as simple as yes/no. Go to page 650 of the manual, and open Transport-> Project Synchronization Setup from the Cubase menu.
I disagree slightly with Thinkingcap as I’ve used external MTC over MIDI, thru Cubase as the sync/clock source. What thinkingcap means is that Cubase itself isn’t a clock destination (although it will behave correctly under some scenarios). In other words, you can use an external sequencer to start/stop cubase. However, I don’t know how to get it to work with that particular controller.
EDIT: Thinkingcap is not “wrong” by the way. “No” just doesn’t mean what you think it means for what you want to do.
I a saying slving Cubase to MIDI Clock is not possible - nothing more nothing less…
Yes, MTC could accomplish that, if your XF 8 supports MTC. Generic remote could also accomplish this, ( only transport fumctions, no timecode sync though) just as MMC
MTC is not MIDI Clock. I was talking about MIDI clock .
Got it. So combining the responses I get
Cubase can be controlled via MTC of another device acting as the Master and generating the MTC, however with this scenario only Start and Stop Commands would be achievable. Full synchronization with respect to keeping both devices locked in Time is not possible.
Although, as noted by JMCecil, time sync may be achievable under certain circumstances and scenarios (sometimes) but the general agreement is that this probably should not be an expected result.
Is this fairly accurate for the posted responses?
Thanks
No, it is MIDI Time Code … again, we are off on a tangent, that started because I was asking what he meant by Master and I used a generic set of terms.
So the answer is, Cubase can’t be a slave to a MIDI clock, but you can probably use your sequencer as an MTC source and drive things.
Full sync via MTC is possible in respect to absolute time values, as opposed to tempo / bars & beats syncing, which is what MIDI clock does.
You could also comfigure it that way, that your external sequencer sends MMC messages ( as MMC master) to control Cubase transport functions (MMC slave), which in return then acts as MIDI clock master and controls the tempo sync of the external device, which is the MIDI clock slave.
Or you could just as well use generic remote to trigger Cubase transport functions, Depends on what exactly you want to achieve, and what your keyboard supports.
One thing to be aware of is that unless you’re also syncing the slave audio device (via word clock, e.g. SPDIF) then if you play a long audio clip on the slave device then it will drift out of time with the MTC eventually… So, for absolutely correct synchronisation you need to clock your audio device from the master device as well.
Mike.