I want to use the control room in Cubase 6.5 as a monitor controller. I found out how to do this and it works great. However for final customizing the control room I like to ad some key commands.
I added these key commands so far:
In the folder Devices: ‘Control Room Mixer’ (Ctrl+F3) for opening the control room mixer
In the folder Control Room: ‘Switch: Speaker Select’ (Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar) to toggle between the speakersets
In the folder Control Room: ‘Switch: Dim Active’ (Ctrl+Alt+D) to switch DIM (dim signal) on/off
What I also try to get is a key command for the mono/stereo button (Cycle Downmix Preset Selection) but I can’t find the right one in the list in the Control room folder. Has anyone tried to do this before? Please let me know what to look for in the list.
This way I am trying to get a good monitor controller ‘in the box’ instead of using a hardware one.
I have mine set…but, that’s what I remember it being (down mix cycle)…you also need to make a change to the default downmix, but that’s a side note…I’ll look next time I’m in the studio.
I have buttons on the MCU set for dim, mono, monitor off, and speaker select. After having issues with an inexpensive analog monitor controller, I opted for a DA (benchmark) with an analog volume knob…and configured Cubase to do all the rest. So, yes, it’s doable.
Be very careful with this.
I would never ever connect my speakers directly to my interface without a mute switch or volume knob between both.
If your PC or interface hangs, it possibly might produce a sound loud enough to at least damage your ears, and without a fysical button or knob in those cases, there is no other way of turning it off than to switch of your computer. And the computer is not always easy to reach.
Been using the control room for a few years now, and that was my worry too, I have a passive monitor switcher and volume control, but in all the time I’ve been using the control room I’ve never experienced a crash that caused any loud signal (other than what I intended) to be sent to the speakers. I still like having a large physical volume control though, don’t know why but it just seems right for some reason ?
Well I tried to get rid of my SMPro MPatch2. Control Rooms seems a good alternative for that. i am not affraid for such a situation, I have a knob for my level on my Yamaha 01X to bring it down in such a case.
However I noticed something else: Today I added a second stereo output to switch between two mnitor sets. Now I have two stereo outputs and two monitor outputs. The stereo outputs are ‘not connected’ and the monitor outputs are connected to my two outputs. When I switch monitor outputs there is no signal on one monitor set. Somehow the monitor function doesn’t switch between the two outputs. I now also see two outputs in my mixer whith the first output getting signal and the second having no signal. What did I do wrong here?
Control room>switch>folddown select…is what I’ve mapped to the MCU button.
Re:loud noises…if you hear it, and it’s gonna do speaker damage, it’s done. I’ve had a few clock sync nasties over the years is it. But, nice thing about the benchmark-it gracefully silences output when anything goes awry with the clock. Now…I can’t be sure it would handle any situation, but it’s analog volume knob would do as well as a kill switch.
After a couple units, I realized that you had to use an active monitor controller to not be lossy…and then…you had to use an expensive one to do that. Benchmark made more sense for my mixing set up–as it was also an ear opening DA upgrade, too. I digress.
Was there anything else? I don’t know what you mean about DIM settings…set them to whatever you like. I set it to where it’s audible…I do a lot of low level references while mixing–setting it there allows me to do the reference with a button and toggle it rather than reaching for the volume knob.
Thanks for the reply. Your setting works great. Nice to have it al ok now. Thank you!
I am thinking about your comment about not having a hardware volume knob. Maybe you are right. I am not sure about taking out my hardware monitor controller now…
I had setup two monitor outputs on the monitor tab and two outputs on the output tab (VST Connections). That was my problem. I deleted one output on the output tab so there is just one stereo out left now. That one is “not connected”. Now everything works great. Thanks for all the help!
I haven’t set my speakers very loud. At maximum volume it’s not above 85 dB. I hope thats safe enough, and I have a powerswitch for the speakers nearby in case things get really nasty.
I just connected my Yamaha 01X and I can patch the monitor outputs on faders. Maybe thats the best solution.
I am thinking about your comment about not having a hardware volume knob. Maybe you are right. I am not sure about taking out my hardware monitor controller now…
I don’t know how you interpreted that…but, I HAVE an analog volume knob. I believe its a MUST. I just bought a converter with it built in. UA’s Apollo has one, too-albeit its digitally controlled, but unless the interface hung…
I just didn’t have any luck with the passive monitor controllers. They were too colored…and for a mix studio…the Benchmark made more sense.
I just wrote a long response but Safari crashed. So, in a nutshell:
I read a long time ago that when you reduce your daw fader, the master, with every 6db drop, you lose 1bit of depth. Wether or not this is true, I don’t know, but whatever I read was convincing. Personally, I would never control my speakers solely from the program. My speakers cost too much to be put into that potential threat. Cubase will crash and depending on what is coming out of the speakers at the time and if the sound gets locked into something, you will see the woofer on your speaker move way past it’s designed range of motion then you will have to replace your woofer or whole speaker.
Now, with monitor controllers, the cheaper you buy the crappier they are. Period. You have to watch out for the impedance, crosstalk and left/right balance. For instance, I used to use a Presonus central station for a monitor controller. When I bought it, I put a scope on it and checked the L/R balance through the range of the pot. It was very uneven. I found the average spot at the top, set my monitor level and fine-tuned the L/R levels to be as close as they could get. Then I used a marker and wrote right on the thing where my reference level was. I then turned the pot down and marked where the balance was close for listening at lower levels. I don’t use it anymore for monitor control. After a while it failed, the mains section of it. I replaced that task with a Kush Audio “Main Gain” but still use the Central Station for the cue feeds to the various rooms.
If I can make a suggestion, if you are going to buy a monitor controller, buy one that you will only have to buy once, like a Kush Audio main gain. There is nothing at its price point that performs as well. Not only does it manage impedance, it is linear in its response throughout its entire range. Beware of the smpro stuff. I have never read anything really good about their monitor controllers. I have read a lot of problems and returns. For a project studio, maybe they will work, but in a critical environment, no way. Your monitor chain should be the strongest chain in your entire setup. You can record with anything, even if the mic or whatever doesn’t perform that well. The fact that you can hear it because you have a good monitoring chain lets you doctor it up so it can be used. It lets you hear what it really is.
Everything is relative though to all the links in your rig. If your in the market for a monitor controller, but the best you can afford so you can avoid having to upgrade again. That to me is important: “Never have to upgrade again.”
Thanks for the info. You are right about the quality of the monitorcontrollers. Best to buy whatever you can affort.
I am using it in a non professional projectstudio and quality does count but not to every price (or I’ll get in trouble with my wife ) I just bought Cubase 6.5 and a Beyerdynamic DT-880 headphone. Now I’ll have to wait untill christmas I think. Lets hope for another nice piece of equipment under the christmas tree. (Looking for some nice Dynaudio’s…)
Shhhh… I didn’t say a thing! Stay away from the BM5s if you go Dynaudio. No low end and mid range far too “pleasing” to listen to which isn’t good for revealing faults in the sound. If you do go for the BM5s get the older version which is supposed to sound better than the new. I demoed the older BM5As FWIW, Warren at Zen Pro replaced his BMa6s with those modded hs80m monitors.
I was looking at the BM6 and the BM15. Good monitors, esp. the older BM6 (mk I). Not easy to get that older BM6.
The HS80 were also on my list but I am not keen on that harsh high sound.
Thanks for the link to Zen Pro Audio. That update for the HS80 looks nice but sadly they don’t ship international.
I think they do actually. If you have questions and are interested in them, send Warren an email. He is aces and has helped me out quite a lot over the years.
No. Radial was the one that got me pissed and doing research, and the SM stuff didn’t look well reviewed. I bought the Radial because it SHOULD be a simple, clean Attentuator circuit, and they’ve always built solid stuff. Never had a problem with their stuff before. Then a friend’s (active but inexpensive) Mackie…the fact is, if I have to pay more for a monitor controller than I did for my monitors, there’s a fundamental issue.
Before running across the Benchmark for $500…it was looking like the options were looking to be $1500…the Kush, being a desktop two box solution with breakouts was just too messy…and $1000. Then there was Coleman at about $800 and passive.
Radial support was not helpful…I showed them the cables…gave them measurements…and they basically said “I guess that’s just what it sounds like”–so I returned it. Which was a pain, because it had been ordered as a gift…anyway, I wasn’t going to mail order a whole bunch of inexpensive units to see which might actually work correctly…and nothing but the ill reviewed Central Station locally.
) I just bought Cubase 6.5 and a Beyerdynamic DT-880 headphone. Now I’ll have to wait untill christmas I think. Lets hope for another nice piece of equipment under the christmas tree. (Looking for some nice Dynaudio’s…)