Hello everyone,
I have a 48 point patch bay that I just bought, however, I have a question. If I have, say, 25 audio tracks into Cubase, and I want to send the HARDWARE reverb unit to a specific channel, how do I get around this?! I use a RME UFX converter. Never used patch bays before. Need help making these connections, please explain as if you were talking to a DUMBASS.
Many thanks!
You wouldn’t need to use a patchbay to do this unless you are maxed of your i/o on the RME and need to use the analog channels for other things when not using the hardware i/o for the reverb or if you use the reverb for other purposes.
If you aren’t using all of the i/o on the RME, you could use 2 inputs and 2 outputs (assuming stereo) on the RME into the hardware reverb and then
if you want to patch in the reverb through the patch bay, typically put the output in the upper channel and the input in the lower.
refer to something like this for how patchbays work
Thanks gmontano, what I still dont understand is, if I need reverb on track 25 in cubase, where do I plug the output in the lower inserts? Into the same corresponding number on the patch bay? Or?
I will have other hardware connected to the UFX so yes, patchbay for freedom to apply compressor and reverb unit. Relation between tracks in cubase and inputs of the bay is what I dont get.
Many thanks!!
First, you will in most cases be better off using reverb as a send rather than an insert on an audio channel.
since it’s hardware we are talking about, you will need to configure an “external effect” (see VST connections in the Device menu) to allow Cubase to send the signal through specified hardware outputs and receive the inputs from the reverb - plural because it’s likely a stereo effect.
Once you’ve configured the external effect it will appear in your plug in list. (Assuming you’ve actually patched the reverb to to specified I/Os, all you have to do is select it and insert it on the channel - again, using an effect channel is recommended so you can send signals from more than one audio channel to it.)
There is a latency calculator you can click on to correct for the round trip time, but reverb confuses it. to get that right you have to send it to and from the reverb with the wet/dry mix on the hardware set to totally dry.
Thanks Steve, that clarifies it. One thing though, I presume the hardware reverb and compressor units will both need their outputs to go to the top back ports of the patchbay, right?
Outputs on top, input on bottom is the convention.