I’m unable to add an audio track via ‘Add Track’ without using either the hardware inputs or group or FX buses as the audio input. Is this by design or do I have some setting misconfigured?
As far as I remember, it has always been like this and it’s rather logical, IMO…
The No bus option actually appears only once the track has been already created : then, you can select it with the Input routing drop-down list, either in the track inspector or in the MixConsole.
IMHO there’s nothing logical about it. Why should an audio track always have an input? If it’s a sample track that is never to be recorded on in the first place, then ‘No bus’ is its logical configuration. I fail to see the logic behind NOT including it as an option since it IS an option after creating the track.
Thinking of it, you are probably right, even if I don’t remember feeling the need to have a No bus option when creating an audio track : probably because I don’t use samples much as a direct audio source…
Good idea for a next update! 
I can’t vote for now, but I suggest other users to do so, I never understood why this choice is never proposed at the creation of a new track.
Plus, it could possibly prevent some interference or noise coming from insufficiently shielded soundcard inputs or cables, just my 0.0002 €… (if you’re like me easily distracted and forget to not switch the input monitoring - the little speaker icon - on…)
It doesn’t matter which input bus you choose
since not using it for recording does nothing to the entire track at all…
Do we have no “real problems” anymore?
Oh there are real problems alright, feel free to check my other reports.
Not having the option of ‘No bus’ is definitely a very minor issue but is has some side effects. If for example you have removed the hardware input bus from your audio connections for any reason, as there’s no other option but to set the hardware input bus as the input bus of the audio track, the hardware input bus will get added back to the audio connections.
Again, not a huge issue, just a minor inconvenience but an inconvenience nonetheless.
Agree a no bus option should be available
Not at DAW to try this out, but…
A workaround would be to use Audio Connections Input Tab to create a bus named “No Input” that has no hardware Inputs assigned to it. This should show up as an Input in the Add Audio Track dialog
1 Like
Haven’t tested but I think would work. I’ve started to notice that with Cubase, workarounds is a rather common thing 
Just did & it works fine.
While we tend to use the word “workaround” it is a bit of a misnomer. Cubase is designed to let us build ‘things’ we need or want - when we do that we aren’t really working around Cubase but rather working with Cubase using the tools it provides. Granted some of those tools could use a refresh, but still.
1 Like
Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of the things in Cubase and decided to give it a go after abandoning it due its problems at around Cubase SX 3. But it’s these kinds of inconveniences, inconsistencies and shortcomings which ruin workflow is what just keeps annoying you. Granted that this particular issue is hardly a big one, mere trifle, but there are far more serious issues and design flaws that would require a serious overhaul, like macros and the LE.
Since there are presets for audio connections , you could create, like mentioned before, a “dummy” no input for your preset and set and forget.
As said before, yes, there are multiple different workarounds. Why these workarounds are necessary in the first place is the main question.
In this case it seems more part of configuring the I/O to suit a user’s preference than a workaround
Personally I don’t think it’s just to cater for a user preference since there is a discrepancy in a setting while creating the track and after its creation. It’s a “feature” that serves no purpose, making it a design flaw. Being a software developer myself, consistency is one of the key elements when designing UIs because the lack of it results in confused and frustrated users.
And this is just one of the inconsistencies in Cubase, when summed up, they create a feeling of an application that has been poorly designed. Granted that the codebase is probably ~30 years in development which makes the infrastructure of the application a monster to handle, but that also means ~30 years of time to make good decisions and learn from previous mistakes.
What is the benefit from having a track not associated with an input bus?
I mean why is it needed… as a functionality…
Not just for “a feeling…”
For having audio tracks which are only for sample playback and not recording audio?
But in this case the input bus doesn’t matter anyway…
This is not a real benefit…
As said before, creating the audio track and forcing an input has side effects.
Which side effects?