Cubase 13 Pro Audio Mixdown not working without proper channel settings

Cubase
1

Ok, here is the issue, something I have only encountered after upgrading to 13 Pro:

I have recorded multiple tracks and when I try to export the audio mixdown, I am getting a blank track.

I have followed everything I could find in the forums and on Youtube but nothing works. I can hear all tracks as they were recorded but if I select “Single” for the mixdown output, I am getting an empty wave file.

If I select multiple, I can export every single stem but that’s useless if I need a combined output file.

All but one track are recorded mono (multiple chanels/mics) for mixing purposes (e.g. direct mic + room mic) so I need to set the I/O routing accordingly, for example “Mono in 1” / Mono 1 etc.

If I listen to the playback, everything sounds great but I cannot export the Audio Mixdown.

The issue is that I don’t get a stereo out signal in the console with those settings so I need to set the output to Stereo out. This is an important detail that I have not found mentioned in any of the YouTube clips, nor in any of the Forum discussions here, please make a note of this, it is frustrating to spend hours looking in the wrong spot.

The main issue with setting the output to Stereo Out is that it completely trashes the audioquality, everything sounds like I am in a tunnel. So the question is whether there is a way to get the output the way I recorded it instead of some weird 'hall of fame" nasal squeaking?

The good news is that I get the combined mixdown, the bad news is that it sounds like garbage.

There must be a setting somewhere that eliminates this kind of processsing, at least, I hope.
Thank you, I’ll update if I find anything myself.

2

Ok, I found that setting the stereo out to the left/right mitigates the hall effect at least partially.

But I can still export a complete audio mixdown.

So here is a short summary of this issue:

  • In order to mix down to a single combined track, the single tab must be selected
  • For any stereo recording the “stereo out” needs to be selected as “destination”
  • Every individual track needs to set to “stereo out” to route the track accordingly to the mixdown
  • Selecting Stereo Out without left or right results in a “tunnel effect” with nasal timbre
  • -Selecting Stereo Out => left or =>right eliminates part of the tunnel effect but it still does not sound like the original combo of mono outputs.
3

It seems like you are missing some pretty basic audio engineering principles.

A mix is a sum of a bunch of signals. That typically happens in an output bus. So you have to route whatever you want to be in your mix to an output bus of the amount of channels you need. If you need a stereo export then make the output bus stereo. When monitoring your mix you should monitor that mix output bus.

Then just select that stereo output bus for export audio mixdown. What you hear is what is exported if you set it up properly. Nothing strange, and no issues.

4

Hold on, no reason to be condescending.

If I do a playback and hear my recording and then I do the mixdown and I don’t get anything or only one or two channels, then there is a discrepancy between the monitoring and the output.
That needs to be addressed by routing the individual channels to the “stereo output”. Go and visit any of the Youtube tutorials that are way more basic than this and find me the one that talks about this.

And why can I not combine the two mono outputs into one stereo output when that’s what I hear when I listen to my tracks? Similar questions have been asked over and over with no good answer.

And I guess you did not really get the point, which is that you need to set every single track you record as Stereo Out even if they are mono tracks, otherwise they will not be included in the mixdown.

5

I didn’t mean to be condescending, I just meant that there is no problem with Cubase/Nuendo as far as this goes, it all works as it is supposed to. If you have a problem with it then you’re missing some of the fundamentals.

I don’t know what you mean by “set” “as Stereo Out”.

If you record audio onto mono audio tracks then in order to hear them you need to route them to an output. Usually we do this using an output bus. If you create a mono output bus then it can only carry a single channel. If you route that mono output bus to a single physical output then typically you get only left or right.

If you want to create a mix that is stereo you need two channels. The final mix, the sum of all the sources, has to have two channels. You would normally create a stereo output bus for this. Then every single audio track (or other audio source) in your project has to be routed to that stereo output bus. So again, typically a mono audio track that you recorded on would be mono in and by itself, but if your mix is stereo you have to create the stereo output bus and route the mono track to that stereo output bus.

Export audio mixdown would use the stereo output bus as the source.

I don’t really see where the problem is.
What is the problem?

Why would you have two mono outputs in the first place? If you want stereo, use stereo outputs. If you want mono, use mono outputs. That is simply best practice even if there are other ways to go about it.

6

I understand all this but let me try again:
I have my tracks set to mono in mono out (1 or 2)
I have multiple tracks that are mono 1 and mono 2
I play the recording and I hear all channels, left and right even if they are mono
I try to export the mixdown as I hear it and it does not work because the output channel is the stereo out.
I can set either mono channel out as destination for the mixdown.
But when I set the output to stereo out, it adds some nasal “quality” to the tracks, not just the mix output but also when listening to the individual tracks.

So my question is why can’t I mix down what I hear, i.e. why can’t the two mono outputs (which I also see in the mix console) be combined to a stereo mixdown if that’s what I hear.

The second question is whether there is some kind of phase shift going to stereo out that may cause the nasal component.

Maybe those are dumb questions but I’ve seen a bunch of people running into similar issues, along with proposed solutions like individual track renderings and then combining them etc.

Anyway, thanks for replying

7

I still don’t fully understand how your project is routed.

Just post screenshots of;

  • the VST connections window outputs tab
  • the VST connections window Control Room tab
  • the mixer with related tracks, with routing visible
2 Likes
8

I’ll have to get back at this tomorrow, but thanks so far!

9

Why?
Set mono tracks to mono in stereo out, pan them as required, whatever you hear is what you will render.

1 Like
10

Good question, why set the output the same as the input?
Look at it this way, I am recording (mostly guitar and saxophone) using multiple microphones. Using the default setting of stereo in - stereo out gives me a track with two signals that are linked and cannot be adjusted individually. Individual adjustments beyond the dial knob on the UR22 allow to compensate for the idiosyncrasies of the room, the two mics (RE20 + ST51 or SM58) .

If you have ever recorded soprano saxophone, you know how challenging it is to capture the natural sound of the instrument, tenor and alto are way more forgiving. So anyway, two mics, two separate mono tracks and individual adjustment of the tracks for mixing, EQ etc, are really important.

And of course, in my naive way of looking at the world I set the output the same as the input, maybe that’s counterintuitive but I don’t really think so.

Now I know better but I have a feeling I am not the only one because I see a lot of questions and problems getting a combined mixdown. To get back to the original issue, I can hear everything, I can adjust my mix to where it sounds really good including panning by adjusting the volume of both channels but I cannot render the mixdown.

But thanks for helping out.

11

You’re banging your head on the wall! Here’s the easy solution-
Stereo Recording-Type of Track Stereo-Stereo Output
Mono Recording-Type of Track Mono-Stereo Output

Your mono tracks will pan wherever you set them but will be included in the Stereo Mixdown. Stereo is the output of nearly all finished projects…CD, TV, mp3, etc.

You’ve gotten a lot of good advice, use it :slight_smile:

3 Likes
12

If you are getting a hollow nasal sound when you are summing two recorded mono signals to a stereo bus, it is most likely that you have phase problems. this could be based on bad microphone positioning or simply that one of your mics has a different polarity by default.
Try switching the polarity of one of your mono tracks (The “Phase” button in the pre section of the Cubase mixer) and see if that helps.
Else, what @Cookie_Jarvis wrote about the setup is completely correct, it is that simple!

3 Likes
13

Yes, I am looking into the phase issue. I understand what the main issue is, so thanks everybody, the rest is fine tuning, including fiddling with the microphone positioning.