No, you will not see your compressor in the list of Insert effects (plug-ins). This is an External FX. And you don’t have Cubase Pro to be able to prepare an External FX this way.
So as I wrote multiple times here already… Send the output of the Audio track to Stereo Out 2 (which is routed to the HW compressor). And then add another Audio track as monitor (then you can also record in to it) of the processed (compressed) signal.
Please, please, study some basics from video tutorials.
None of the Cubase tutorials are helpful. If you read the comments on many of those videos, many other people feel the same way as I do, they are NOT helpful, nor do they actually explain anything properly, and all assume everybody already is an audio engineer so know what they’re talking about. I’m more confused now than before, and I followed through all your instructions and some of it does not match my version of Cubase so there is something totally wrong about this. I’m done and frustrated. If Cubase really care about their users they would be trying their best to be helpful and understanding. Maybe might be eaiser if you just posted step by step pics of the process then I can see what you are doing and mean and see if it matches my Cubase screen.
So finally a Steinberg person has told me that sadly you cannot add an external analog hardware like my compressor to my Cubase LE AI, which is why it does nOT show up inside my list of available devices. So all this time, I have wasted trying to figure out and find out how to connect when all along the truth was it is not possible.
You can use external hardware processor worth Cubase LE, but it’s not as simple as it is with Cubase Pro. As I said, you will not see your Compressor in the just returned if plug-ins (what you would see with Cubase Pro) because you can’t add an External FX in your Cubase LE. But you can still use your external HW.
You just have to route it the logical way and the very same way you would do on hardware console. I.e. out (Send) to the Compressor and in (Return) back to a channel. That’s it.
On Steinberg official YouTube channel, there are great Cubase 7 Quick Start video tutorials for beginners.
It’s hard to make a video exactly for you. Because I definitely don’t own the very same Audio Device you own. So it will always look a bit different on my side.
If that Steinberg person said it that way, the Steinberg Person is wrong: It is possible - in the way Martin tried to explain to you so patiently. re-read all of his posts, and before that learn the basics !!!