Hi, when recording I have all channels set to -18, the channels are routed to various aux busses through master bus to stereo out which is set at -6, my question is should the aux busses and the master buss be set at -18 also or should they be set at -6 like the stereo out? also when the vu meter is set to -6 the stereo out fader is banging in the red (this is set to -18 like the recording channels because I am unable to set it separately ) I think 
the master fader of Cubase is set to -6ā¦ any thoughts?
First of all you should maybe start with learning to use decent terminology:
That means what exactly? Input channel fader? Audio track faders, The gains on your interface input channels? Levels of your audio signals
- 18 what? dB FS? dB scale on your interfaceĀ“s gains?
Generally your faders have the best resolution for mixing at around unity gain (0).
The aux busses (which are what exactly? sends? , since Cubase does not have dedicated āauxā busses?) should be set to any level that gives you the desired relation of dry and wet signal. And what in your setup is the difference between the āmaster busā and the stereo out?
- Cubase does not have VU meters
- What do you mean with āThe stereo out fader is banging in the redā my stereo fader keeps its color, no matter, what the output level is.
- Certainly there is no reason why the master fader or any other fader should be set to -18? And why do you think you can not set it separately from what. Everyone can set his stereo out fader separately from everything else, unless they link faders.
the fader channels on the cubase mixer are all set to input at -18dB.
aux busses are groups (sorry for this mistake)
the master bus receives instrument groups ( then goes to stereo out ) except bassā¦vocal and drums, these go through their own group then direct to stereo out,
cubase does not have VUāsā¦but I doā¦if the VU (inserted on the stereo channel ) is set to -6dB the stereo out fader in the mixer bangs into the redā¦
I cannot see a way to set my stereo out fader seperately from all the other faders on the cubase mixerā¦Iām not talking about the fader in the control roomā¦I know this can be set seperatelyā¦
please forgive my lack of correct terminologyā¦
best, Kevin
Hi all
Puzzled by this, Shadowfax is a senior member, doesnāt sound like the questions Iād expect from one. Maybe Iām being dum.
Best Regards, Dave
Daveabottā¦ āsenior memberā only depends on the number of postings as it seems. not on the experience of the poster.
To shadowfax: Well, of course the lacking terminology is not a big thing per se, but it really really makes communication hard.
Let me still try: What is your problem actually? I especially do not understand what you mean by āI cannot set my master fader independent from all the other fadersāā¦
see, it is absolutely simple to set up cubase faders in a way that your output is not clipping. Usually we set the ouput fader to 0dBFS and adjust all the individual tracks and or groups in a way that make musically sense. Of couse the loudness meter that is in the master channel can be great help as well.
Very confusing. Project has a setup where you can have +6 or +12. Are you doing normalize ?
Do not be puzzled my friend, Iām a muso not a techno and most of my posts where in the posting a song sectionā¦Iāve always struggled with Cubase.
Hi all, I apologies for the wrong terminology and suchlike, Iāve managed to produce reasonable sounding music without this knowledge so I respectfully withdraw my questionā¦again, my apologiesā¦
My immediate thought is that this is not good practice.
so what are your channels set to ?
You mean the channel faders? What channels? Input channels, audio tracks? And what is the rationale for thisā¦?
One more reason to not use VU meters just for the sake of it, and because it is trendy nowadays.
We must be talking about two completely different things.
It is just a little difficult to understand what you are asking.
It would be appropriate for a musician who records with software to get some basic understanding about ātechieā-stuff. Actually it is musical stuff. I copare it to someone who buys a guitar and then posts in a guitarist forum āhow do I play now?ā.
So - I am wondering about your intentions. Is it a troll-question? Why do you withdraw your question instead of asking a reasonable one?
If you are staying ITB and not using any analogue outboard then it really doesnāt matter - all youāve got to worry about is getting a healthy recording level.
Building a mix is an infinite variable. Just use sensible gain staging to arrive at a sensible level on the master fader.
Groups, auxes, VCAās, linked faders etc are all there to make this easy.
The term āoutboardā was originally used to describe a piece of audio equipment that existed outside of a studio or venueās primary analog mixing board. Today, analog effects are also considered āoutboardā when used in conjunction with console-free computer-based digital recording systems. a gain stage refers to any point in a production where you can control the volume level of a device or track. Gain staging is the process of managing all of these volume levels within a project for the purpose of achieving the cleanest mix possible.
If you mean the channel faders of the audio channels I personally donāt think it is good practice to set all faders to -18 when recording - but Iām willing to be convinced otherwise. What is your reasoning / criteria for doing this?
Iāve seen various tutās on gain staging which recommended -18dB, I regret asking this question and have apologized for my lack of proper terminology, Iāve received a PM from someone who had not posted here, they explained it clearly and preciselyā¦I thank them for thatā¦
my thanks to allā¦Kevin
If you are measuring peaks with cubaseās meters and the VU measures rms, I think itās very possible that your master could go in the red because of loud transients that the peak meter registers but the vu averages.
The question isā¦ does it distort? I donāt knowā¦
If I didnāt want to see red, Iād slap an aggressive brickwall limiter post-fader on the master.
thank you for your suggestion my friendā¦ 
Iām glad you found your answers. This forum is full of a**holes more concerned with policing than helping people out.
Well said. Problem is the caretakers are more than happy to allow it. If I were king for a dayā¦