Cubase 8.5 Surround 5.1 Setup

[coacoapuff]

Hello everyone-

I recently converted from using Logic Pro to Cubase Pro 8.5 and so far I like what I see. Although I am having an issue that I hope to find help here with. I have one set of surround speakers that consist of left, right, center, life, rear left and rear right. I am trying to setup my audio interface (2x RME Fireface 800s) to support a stereo setup, mono setup, as well as 5.1 surround setup. At the moment, I have two monitor setups in Control room; one for 5.1 and another for stereo. However, when I setup an audio track (5.1 surround and 5.1 surround) after an inserting audio wav into the track, I can still only hear the audio in stereo. Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong? I didn’t have this issue with Logic Pro 9 but refuse to believe that Cubase can not handle this task. Thank you in advance for all comments and help!!

-CoaCoaPuff

[jpgtr]

@coacoapuff

However, when I setup an audio track (5.1 surround and 5.1 surround) after an inserting audio wav into the track, I can still only hear the audio in stereo.

You need to make sure the audio track route is set to your 5.1 bus. They might be routing to stereo by default.

I do this in the mixer window. Enable the routing strip and select the correct bus for the track from the pop-down menu.

I didn’t have this issue with Logic Pro 9 but refuse to believe that Cubase can not handle this task. Thank you in advance for all comments and help!!

No worries - Cubase is far, far more mature and flexible when it comes to surround projects (child busses being a particularly important feature). The only negative I’ve found is that Cubase is limited to 5.1 surround channels.

Welcome to Cubase!

[coacoapuff]

Thank you so much for the response. I will try routing the audio track to 5.1 in the mixer window.

[coacoapuff]

Thanks agains JPGTR!! Ok so I tried routing the audio track but from what I could see it was routed correctly… However, I still could not get 5.1 working correctly. Is there any tutorial video that you could recommend that I watch that could guide me through each step?

Thanks.

[EmilStudio]

Hi,
First, the mistake is that you insert stereo audio file on surround track. If you want to insert a stereo file in the project just place it on a stereo track (or let it create the track automatically when you insert the file).
It’s the same for mono files

Next
My set up is very simple:

• I use 5.1 buses (for sub mixing all my tracks) and 5.1 master out.
• On the master out I use Mix6to2 plugin (first in the chain), so if i need a stereo reference or mixdown i just activate it.
• I do not use control room.
• For send FX I use 5.1 fx tracks. If I use a stereo plugins I place 2 of them set for left/right and surround left/right (the center and SW are muted).
• All my project tracks (stereo, mono, 5.1, etc) are going to the sub mix buses
• All sub mix buses and fx send are routed to the main 5.1 master out

Hope this is helpful

[marcelogiaccardi]

Hello, I know that this post have an year… but I was trying to solve the same problem and I just found the solution !!! I’ll write it, maybe I’ll serve to someone. In order to use the 5.1 system and the Control Room you have to go to “vst connections/outputs” and press the right button over the 5.1 bus and set it as the “main mix”. Otherwise only the stereo bus will appear as an option in the Control Room.

Kind Regards
mARCelo
http://www.callecinco.com.ar

[avviano]

Based on this thread and my own experience (setting up Cubase for multi-channel - 5.1 - surround mixing), I created image-slides explaining each step along the way.

Like Marcelo, I created a setup with monitoring through the control room. The attached slides will make it a bit easier to set up for anyone new to the topic… and for all those who prefer images over text (;

1.) First hook up your speakers to the output of your asio audio device
2.) Rename the outputs in Cubase (e.g. from MIX 1, MiX 2 aso. to Left, Right, Surround L, Surround R, Front, LFE aso.)
3.) Set up your Busses in “Audio Connection” (see image attached).
4.) Route output of all tracks (stereo, mono & 5.1 to your 5.1 Output Buss (in MixConsole > Routing)
5.) Right-click your new 5.1 set-up “main mix” (Goto “Audio Connections” > “Outputs” > right click on 5.1 setup)
5.) Make sure “5.1” is activated in Control Room (as opposed to “stereo” or “mono”).
6.) Switch between Stereo and 5.1 monitoring in Control Room as to your requirements.
7.) Switch between your 5.1 speaker set-up or any other monitors you have set up (one extra stereo pair in my case). To also listen to your 5.1 mix in mono, you need to switch to stereo monitors. Just switching to Mono in 5.1 setup without switching monitors in the control room will mute output.
8.) To mix down in multi channel wav, just export file. Encode to multi-channel AAC in any capable encoder software thereafter.
9.) You can also mix down from 5.1 to stereo, by adding Cubase’s internal 6to2 plugin (insert on 5.1 or multi-channel master buss).

All images attached.

Cheers.

[avviano]

Here are steps 4-6.

[avviano]

…and last slide!