Recording QU16 channels with FX into Cubase

[anthony1974Participant]

Hi all,

I’ve been working on a few songs and have my MIDI ready in Cubase so I want to start recording those tracks as audio with the FX on them into Cubase.

I actually started with the vocal track but realised that my external and internal effects are not being captured when I record. How can I record tracks to ensure that Cubase captures all the FX on them?

I’m connected via USB to a Mac if this makes any difference.

Thanks in advance,
Anthony.

[SteffenRParticipant]

what you mean with FX?
EQ and compression?

[anthony1974Participant]

Hi Steffen,

I mean by FX I mean QU16 internal reverbs, delays, modulators etc and any other external FX I have patched in.

Thanks.

[SteffenRParticipant]

how did you patched them in? Separate channels?

You can record every channel in the QU to a different track in Cubase
and the main mix as well…

[anthony1974Participant]

When I record a channel in Cubase no internal or external FX are picked up, nothing, not even at a really low level. I tested using a heavy delay, nothing.

The externakl FX are patched out from the stereo mix channels and in on ST1 & ST2.

[volounteerParticipant]

@anthony1974

we need a far better description of your set up and exactly what you are doing.
please describe every handoff of signal from starting wherever it comes from to the Qu and back to cubase along with any side detours and loops around the Qu or anywhere else it goes on its total path

are you recording midi or recording actual sound?

just how is the Qu exactly configured ??

Do you realize that there is 18dB headroom and if you are leaving more headroom then you need to use the DAW to normalize the sound level to that which you need on the PC when you remove the DC offset

just how do you have both external and internal effects ?
why do you need external fx at all when you have the internal ones in line already?

How many channels are you trying to record at once ?

why do you need midi at all to record?
have you tried just recording a mike into the Qu adding just Qu fx and then checking cubase for what you got?

[anthony1974Participant]

Hi volounteer,

My setup is quite simple I think.

I’m only recording 1 channel at a time. I’m recording the vocal initially and then will do convert each MIDI track to audio afterwards.

Internal FX are FX1 Reverb, FX2 Delay, they are routed to L/R mix.

I’m trying to peak at 0db on the master fader.

I have a couple of outboard FX fed from stereo outputs 5&6, 7&8, and the feed back into the desk into ST1 & ST2, apart from that everything else is quite regular. All inputs go directly into the QU, no handoffs before that. No Handoffs after the master stero out’s either.

The first issue is that even when trying to record a mic and just capture the internal FX of the QU16 to record an effected signal into Cubase, all I get is a dry signal. I thought that Cubase would pick up the internal FX, or do I have to record the L/R mix not the specific channel the vocal is on?

In case you missed it, I am using a Mac, Cubase 10, connection via USB. I have finsihed the song as MIDI, but now want to record the audio on separate channels.

Thanks

[volounteerParticipant]

@anthony1974

the block diagram should answer all those questions

IF you applied the fx they should be on the signal the rest of the way as you cannot remove them

are you sure you have the fx actually applied to the signal?
if you peak at 0dBFS on the LR output meters you still have 18 dB headroom plus whatever cubase is adding too.

have you adjusted the levels in cubase before you listen to the playback?

delay is in the channel already but you have to insert the fx into input channel or else
the mix matrix group or LR if you want it there on everything

[SteffenRParticipant]

to be honest… inform yourself how mixing desks normally work

Of course you record the dry signals
this is the common method to do studio work…

the recording point is in every channel or at the master out
but you can configure it a bit to your need

if you want to record the signal with all the effects on it
you have to record your main mix
normally this is on port 17/18 of the USB interface
but since you still have to mix it together afterwards it is not a good idea to record with FX in the first place…

your Cubase will operate as a tape recorder replacement
and you can send all your recorded channels back to the QU for mixdown

https://www.allen-heath.com/media/Qu-Mixer-Reference-Guide-AP9372_10.pdf
on page 75

[volounteerParticipant]

@SteffenR

agreed. I would never record wet. I always add any fx, which is rarely more than compression, although once I did 9 versions of compression until the MD was happy with the CD I was making for him to give out to old people at xmas.

I doubt the old people would notice:) But I did give him a CD he was happy with too.

As to @anthony1974 the original question was why he could not hear the fx.
I agree that he should not be doing that recording with fx on it but that was not what he asked about.

[anthony1974Participant]

@volounteer – thanks for your response, the levels are all ok. From reading the other posts here it seems I have a more fundamental issue. I will check out the block diagram though.

@steffen R – yes I am new to this my previous set up was many years ago and involved a Makie 1402 VLZ with outputs straight into a DAT. I’ve also used Cubase with just an audio card and no mixing desk. Is there a good book I can read that discusses the correct techniques for recording using a digital desk?

I have to admit I had absoloutly no idea that people record tracks dry? How do you get the FX on them if you want to record the finished recording for a CD/Streaming?

Thanks.

[SteffenRParticipant]

I have to admit I had absoloutly no idea that people record tracks dry? How do you get the FX on them if you want to record the finished recording for a CD/Streaming?

by mixing your dry tracks again with your effects and processing…

since reverb and delay are some effects where the signals interact and change the sound
it is helpful to have them on a fader in the mix

there should be some books out there, but I don’t know much about the English part…
I have Tom Misner’s “Practical Studio Techniques” and a “The FutureMusic Guide to Mixing”

both are very basically but a bit outdated…

I tried to find a video or a article about a mixing desk,
but obviously I didn’t find one to recommend

[volounteerParticipant]

@anthony1974

You record dry so you can adjust the fx if you dont like them when you do them later.
If you record wet the fx are baked in with whatever quality you got.

Dont know cubase but the DAWs that I have used let me put the fx on after the fact.
Many are standard built in some you may add as extras that work with the DAW.

I recorded the choir at church to make a CD to give out to old folkes in their gift basket at xmas.
I applied 9 separate samples of reverb to give the MD a choice when he asked me to add some.
That covered a range of room sizes, delays, amount added, yada yada.
If I had recorded with one of those reverbs on the original ‘tape’
he would never have been happy with the end result as I could not change it.

Suggest you read up on cubase and what it can do.
Read about some others if cubase does not do it.
There are a big boatload of DAWs to choose from.
Several of the free ones are excellent.
The ones you pay for are often more powerful but you do not seem to need more simultaneous tracks.

Even audacity has reverb and delay for free.

[garyhParticipant]

I use Cakewalk by Bandlab. Free and excellent.

[volounteerParticipant]

@garyh

+1

used to be sonar in the old days and you paid for it
till they went belly up after getting bought out by gibson?(senior moment) then the DAW got abandoned
and was picked up by Bandlab and made free

excellent DAW and FREE

@anthony1974 should look at it

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