dmbaer
 
The control room is not for everybody, so it makes little sense to force that option on users who don't need it (if you use IKM's ARC, you *do* need it, however).
 
I suggest that you take a look at project templates.  Set up a project that way you like to start all (or most) new efforts, save that as a template, and use that template as the starting point of any new project.  It works nicely once you get used to the flow of things and I suspect it will address your issues regarding the active state of inputs and outputs.

Thanks - I don't use ARC but I do use Sonarworks' Headphone Reference, maybe it's a similar setup on an output.
I will definitely have a look at the templates, so far I've been concentrating on transferring OMFs from Sonar to different DAWs and comparing the mixing capabilities, no new recording yet. 
 

stevethompson
I went through the Audio setup menus and added/renamed all of the available ins and outs and saved the config with a new name.  Next time I opened it, back to only 2 in / 2 out, and the saved config is not in the list.

A lot of things that would be "Preferences" in other DAWs are project-specific settings in Cubase.  The advantage is that you can quickly reconfigure Cubase for different workflows, depending on the project (or Template) you load.  The disadvantage?  It's not congruent with Sonar (or other DAWs).  It's another one of those implementations that's perhaps better in the long run, but jarring at first - at least, to anyone that's used another DAW.


As was already suggested, once you have Cubase configured the way you want it, save to a Project Template.
 

joegab
If you record a track (maybe a guitar) for some bars, then you need to record a second section on the same track starting on the following bar (so you need to start recording a couples of bars before) you can't hear what it was recorded before because cubase mutes the track while recording it and this is not so nice.
 
And - similar scenario - using the lanes you cannot hear overlapping clips (if the clips are overlapping a bit, you can only hear one lane at a time and the other lanes are muted)...

This was touched on earlier.  For overlapping clips, at least, the solution is to create a crossfade ("X") and draw a crossfade that isn't actually a fade at all - that is, add a node to the predefined fade and drag it to the upper corner so that the clip comes on (or stays on) 100% from the start (or to the end).  Once you've drawn the fades, save it in the presets as "No Fade," for example, so you can easily apply it in the future.
 
Some find it preferable.  I find it a nuisance.  Ideally, the option to support either mode would be available in Preferences.

Note that if you save all your connectivity options as a preset named "Default" they wiill not be project dependent. 

valsolim

JohanSebatianGremlin
Next issues is monitor insert plugins on live inputs. What's the work-around? I can't be the first Cubase user who wanted to hear amp sim plugins while recording guitar.

You really don't need any workaround. Cubase monitoring works very intuitively. Most probably, you are not hearing the insert effects due to one of the following two reasons:
 
1. Either you have engaged the "Constrain Delay Compensation" button.
2. Or, you have activated the Direct Monitoring option (Studio Setup -> VST Audio System).
 
Disable both those functions and you will hear the audio track insert effects during recording.
--
Miloslav

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check both. You've said where to find the Direct Monitoring option. But what is Constrain Delay Compensation and where is the button?

Also while we're on the subject, what does the direct monitoring option do (besides make the inserts not work)?

dmbaer
The control room is not for everybody, so it makes little sense to force that option on users who don't need it

... especially considering it appears to be rather involved.  I spent 3 hours today doing a fairly simple mix of holiday program I tracked on 4 channels over the weekend.  That is the best way to learn for me -- just dive into a project where the stakes aren't too high.
 
One thing I discovered is that if you have an effects bus (such as reverb), it is impossible to hear only the effect.  If you solo the effect track, it will in turn solo any tracks that send to the effects track.  One user (I am not kidding) said the best solution was to temporarily make all the sends pre-fader and then cut the faders on the raw tracks.  Yeah, I guess that would work, but come on ...
 
There is one other way, which is to use the "listen" function.  But that is only available with the control room enabled, and I just wasn't ready to tackle all the routing required to set up the control room.
 
I thought that was all pretty stupid -- and can't believe it works this way.  But there you go.  I'll eventually do the control room thing.
 
On the other hand, Cubase has a concept called "Cycle markers" which essentially are markers that have a range (start time to end time).  In my case, the program had 12 tunes. It is simple to add 12 cycle markers to delineate exactly where I want the exports to start and end for each song.  This is very similar to the way Audacity works.  This was always a hassle for me in SONAR.  Exporting in general I thought was SONAR's most absurd area, but the old-timers really liked it and didn't want any changes.  With Cubase cycle markers I can set the bounds for each song and never have to change them.  I can set the end a few seconds long to catch effects tails.  During export, I can export all the cycle markers or select them individually.  It works great -- much better than SONAR.
 
=========
 
Here's another head scratcher, as in "WTF was Steinberg thinking?"
They don't do cross-fades automatically.  In every DAW I have used, if clips overlap, the DAW automatically sets up a cross-fade -- because that's what a person would want to do 99% of the time.
 
With Cubase, the first clip overlays and silences the second clip!?  I guess there are some non-default settings where you can get an automatic cross-fade, but only for a very short fade duration, not for the general case.  If you want to do a normal crossfade, you must select all the clips involved, then type "X".  That adds crossfades at all the overlay points.
 
Not the end of the world, but it really makes you wonder how they could be so insular and oblivious to something so obvious.

Thanks David - I already seen the solution you mentioned....
 
Not so handy in my opinion but I will try it.
 
Greetings to all (and ..... let's keep the fingers crossed for the ... "future" of Cakewalk...).
Giorgio
 

JohanSebatianGremlin

valsolim

JohanSebatianGremlin
Next issues is monitor insert plugins on live inputs. What's the work-around? I can't be the first Cubase user who wanted to hear amp sim plugins while recording guitar.

You really don't need any workaround. Cubase monitoring works very intuitively. Most probably, you are not hearing the insert effects due to one of the following two reasons:
 
1. Either you have engaged the "Constrain Delay Compensation" button.
2. Or, you have activated the Direct Monitoring option (Studio Setup -> VST Audio System).
 
Disable both those functions and you will hear the audio track insert effects during recording.
--
Miloslav

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check both. You've said where to find the Direct Monitoring option. But what is Constrain Delay Compensation and where is the button?

Also while we're on the subject, what does the direct monitoring option do (besides make the inserts not work)?

Constrain Delay Compensation disables some plugins in order to keep the latency low when monitoring via DAW (i.e. Non-Direct Monitoring). The corresponding button is available on the Project window toolbar and in the Transport zone.
 
https://steinberg.help/cubase_pro_artist/v9.5/en/cubase_nuendo/topics/vst_instruments/vst_instruments_constrain_delay_compensation_c.html?hl=constrain%2Cdelay%2Ccompensation
 
On the other hand, Direct Monitoring is actually done just through the hardware - despite the fact that Cubase can control it. Therefore, in Direct Monitoring, you can switch the monitoring on/off from within Cubase, however, the monitored signal does not pass through the computer at all. This way, you will obtain the lowest latency possible but obviously you cannot hear the software insert effects.
 
https://steinberg.help/cubase_pro_artist/v9.5/en/cubase_nuendo/topics/recording/recording_asio_direct_monitoring_t.html?hl=direct%2Cmonitoring
 
--
Miloslav
 

joegab
I must say that everything seems fine but I miss some features that I always loved using Sonar.

The feature I miss most may sound trivial but ...
 
In SONAR, when you freeze a track, the audio waveform shows up in the track view window.  Most of the time you don't care if you see it or you don't.  But if you actually want to look at the audio (or grab the image for demonstration purposes), it's just not there.  In Cubase, you must export the track and then import it into the project to see the audio in the DAW.  And then you've got to clean up after yourself.  All in all, a total PITA.

dmbaer
The feature I miss most may sound trivial but ...
 
In SONAR, when you freeze a track, the audio waveform shows up in the track view window.  Most of the time you don't care if you see it or you don't.  But if you actually want to look at the audio (or grab the image for demonstration purposes), it's just not there.  In Cubase, you must export the track and then import it into the project to see the audio in the DAW.  And then you've got to clean up after yourself.  All in all, a total PITA.

Have you tried Cubase > Edit > Render in Place?  It's still no replacement for Sonar's Freeze function but will save you the import/export steps and provides options for rendering with/without effects, etc.  You'll then have to manually Disable the original track(s) to recover any CPU or disk resources.  Fortunately, that's just a right-click and click.
 
Why Render in Place is located in the Edit menu rather than the Audio menu, MIDI menu, or the right-click (Track) menu is beyond me.  I mean, it's absolutely the last place anyone would expect to find it.
 
It just occurs to me that there might be a way to "macro-ize" these two steps (but probably not the converse, being that it would require deleting a track of uncertain nomenclature), but haven't investigated it yet.  Just a thought.
 
I hope this is helpful.

Resort Records
Have you tried Cubase > Edit > Render in Place? 

And there is also a new 9.5 feature called "Direct Offline Processing" which seems similar to freezing, except that it also allows you to save an effects chain at the clip level -- but renders it offline to save CPU (like freezing).  I haven't used this, but it looks like that would continue to display the waveform, so this might be better than freezing.
 
I can think of a lot of cases where it would make good musical sense to apply effects at the clip level rather than the track level, and if it saves CPU processing at the same time ...