Hi all
I haven’t really been able to find an answer in the forums to an issue I’ve been having in Cubase 8.5 with using FX channels.
When I set up an FX channel, for example to set up parallel compression, without any plugins on the FX channel I get phasing probably caused by a latency in routing. Does anyone else have this issue?
It’s obviously not too much of an issue with delay effects, but if I’m doing other parallel processing, it’s annoying.
Thanks
Hi and welcome,
There is automatic plug-ins/routing compensation in Cubase. This cannot be the issue.
Could you describe your routing, panning…, please?
I’m not sure I understand your issue 100%… But I had this phasing issue. The basic rule in Cubase is 1 track per FX Channel. 2 or more tracks routed to 1 FX channel will create phasing.
It isn’t out of the question that a plugin is reporting latency incorrectly. I know you said this occurs even with no plugin on the FX track, but do you have insert plugs on the track you are sending?
Such an issue does not exist in my version of Cubase 
Seriously, doing parallel things a lot the routing itself is latency free (or compensated) everytime. Clean as clean can be with no plugins inserted. There must be something else going on. Accidentially any strip processor loaded?
I can’t believe that that’s true. It doesn’t work that way in any other DAW that I’ve tried. If that’s the case, the problem is obviously Cubase. In the alternative, I’d have to guess that some plugin must be reporting its latency incorrectly.
Sending audio via FX Send to an empty FX track without anything in the FX track just doubles the total output volume. nothing more nothing less. Clean or otherwise as it gets.
Never have phasing issues with parallel processing, but hard to guess what the issue could be without knowing what OS, audio device and routing is going on.
Direct monitoring would be the first thing I would check (turn on) in Cubase to eliminate any driver/mixer interfering.
Awesome, thanks for the replies. I’m going to test the various scenarios in detail and report back.
I think it’s possible that any of the suggestions could be the issue, so I’ll have a good look at isolating the cause.
Cheers!
Did you solve this?
Your problem with phasing from the send channnel (even though no plugins is added) happens because your send returns to a wrong channel and not the Stereo output channel (or whatever else is your master channel).
Well, I have the exact same problem.
I have a drum sub group, a drum group and a send track (of course I have way more things going on in the mix but those are the ones which are of interest here).
The audio from the drum sub group is routed to my drum group and my drum group is routed to the stereo output.
I send the sub group to the fx track (so that I get a parallel compression) and the fx track is routed to my stereo output.
With or without any plugin in the fx track, as soon as I send my sub group to the fx track, the drum sound is radically different. The two parallel drum sounds are clearly out of phase. So there has to be some latency involved.
As far as drums are concerned, the tiniest delay is enough to mess with the final sound big time.
The basic sending and routing are not rocket science here. There aren’t many ways to screw up.
If this is not latency it sure sounds a lot like it.
Any filter applied or the phase button pressed in pre???
Constrain delay compensation activated?
Don’t send to your parallel drum bus off your main drum bus. For some reason Dan Korneff and I have both found that Cubase doesnt calculate delay compensation for routing to groups.
So let’s say you have K, SN, Toms, Cymbals, Rooms all going to your DRUM GROUP. Now to do parallel compression, send to your DRUMPARA GROUP directly from the K,SN, Toms, Cym, Rooms audio tracks themselves. Don’t send to the DRUM PARA GROUP off of the DRUM GROUP. Just remember to pan on the sends too, otherwise your L/R imaging will be effected.