Sorry if this question seems noobish. Why does Cubase make those input channels with faders after adding them in Audio Connections
in the Mixer? Other DAWs don’t do that…
To answer my own question it’s probably for routing purposes and whatnot…but why don’t other DAWs do it?
To me it is handy having an input MIC in the mixer, i use a mono → stereo plugin for convertion of mono left to mono on both tracks. So it will record Stereo (left mono and right mono) and that is what you can do. Use effects or route it. (gain).
To my understanding, input channels are there to have the option to record with plugins permanently applied to the recorded tracks.
I use those channels when I record guitar tracks with amplitube to commit to a sound and avoid the endless tweaking that happens when I have a clean guitar track with amplitube as a plugin. I do that rarely now because I normally mic my amp.
You can record with subtle eq and compression like they used to do it in the old days when tracking to tape.
You can control the volume (input gain) there too although it’s better to do that on the audio interface to avoid clipping the converters.
I’m not sure what they had in mind, but I’m glad it’s there. One way I use it is on guitar tracks. Using inserts on the input channel, I can make adjustments to the basic guitar sound, such as adding a low cut filter, noise reduction, or tone pot simulator. It’s also a good place to put a tuner. (I have to replace a tone pot on my guitar, but until I get around to it, I can use an EQ or band compressor to simulate the effect of the broken pot.) I could have done this with an insert on the audio track for the guitar, except that I have 3 such tracks – clean/modest, clean/big, and distorted. If each of these needs the same initial treatment, then I can do it in one place (input track) instead of 3 places (audio tracks). It’s more organized and efficient that way.
I use the feature for a tuner plugin, mostly.
I set the Inputs up on a seperate mixer (on a seperate screen/monitor) to monitor my input levels when tracking large sessions like full band or drum tracking. Often 20+++ tracks/inputs.
I have the faders ALWAYS at zero. And I very rarely use anything inline when tracking, but some zero latency plugins have been used on a few occasions… Great analog front end, and as little as possible from there.
its there to visually see whats happening. you will see in live shows the input/output have similar setup