For leveling I did this a couple of times in the past. Then I made sure to deactivate the plug-in during recording (no added latency, no messing with resolution etc.). Now I use the interface's meters for leveling.
I always do at least some light compression and Hi and low pass filters. And I only use either cubase of Slate plugings because they have no latency added. Pro tip to see how much latency a plugin has go to the real full screen mixer on cubase and in the upper right corner there is a pull down with visibility settings... the last one is channel latency(check it) now you will see on each channel an arrow that you can click that will open up to show you how much latency each plugin is adding. super important for putting anything on your inputs is to choose only plugins wiht low to no latency!
@@3rty6ixRaps yeah a bit to much for recording. Some artist are more sensitive to latency i noticed. Like a total RTL of 7ms to me doesn't bug me. But some artist will complain there is a delay.
Its great for me too. I was just asking so i know because i thought it prints the verse itself late as per the indicated ms. So it only affects the playback and not the printing itself?
Cubase 12 for me is a nightmare, after 30 years of cubase (i started with Atari 1040 stf) and 6 months of continuous crashes without any solution i have to change daw and i am sad about it but i have no choices. I will follow your videos anyway because u are a good guy and i like the way u explain. A hug from Italy.
Sorry to hear that. I haven't had any issues with crashes in Cubase for a long time. Before that, quite regularly. I could never really pin-point the exact reason, but I assume it had to do with the Firewire card driver in my system (either that or a fault in the motherboard). Ever since using USB interfaces: no crashes! Long story short: it may not always be the software at fault when it comes to crashes. C12 so far works fine on my system (which is a cheap Acer laptop, but still...) - even when recording live concerts on 16 tracks for several hours.
Same here. Very disappointed with version 12. My Cubase 11 Pro on the same system works like a charm, without single crash. Cubase 12 is unstable and crashes a lot.
@@Starnaf For what it's worth, my experience is the opposite. I've found it to be stable and performant. People use such a wide variety of hardware and plugins though that it doesn't surprise me that some people could have such a poor experience with it.
I recall a conversation with an engineer who worked at Sigma Studios, where a lot of the great "Philly Soul" records were made. He was pretty militant about recording with compression and/or EQ, to committing to a sound. Of course, the new guys pushed back, for the same reasons you cite, that you're stuck (more or less) once you do that. But then, who can argue with the beautiful recordings they made there?
No one can argue with this, I'm all for recording with compression/EQ if someone knows his gear and knows what he's doing. It can make the recording easier. I do record with compression sometimes, but not with plugins, only with analog gear. Thanks for your comment :-)
And of course, if you use a Steinberg interface that has DSP effects you don’t need to commit or worry about latency, and can control it all directly in Cubase with the ‘hardware’ section in the mixer 😀
I only use a gate on my input channels. Something like Boz Big Beautiful Door. I compress on the way in with a choice of optical, FET or vari mu for character and just shaving down the extreme peaks to be able to keep the converter in it's sweet spot .
Hello, Thanks for this good video (as usal). I use Vocal Rider from Waves when recording vocal. I use the live version with less latency and tune it quite soft. Recording that way, I have less automoation to do when mixing. I also sometime use the Tuner to be sure the instruments are in tune before recording them. I've tried with analog channels but I'm less convinced.
When I used to work in studios back in the 90s we used to record with effects on certain tracks because we onlyhad 24 and didn’t want to bounce But today with unlimited tracks I would not bother Because as you say, it can’t be undone 😩 Unless you have a very beautiful compressor or EQ or something you want to use of course, go for it 🖐 The rules are, there are no rules only good practice
have a motu 828 Es and use the Dsp on that for the artist if needed , but yeah sometimes i use a comp on the input bus set to catch radical spikes that get throufg the GS and aslo a gate if the singer uses one ear in his/her cans this is also set at the quetes part of the song so not to cut off "s" or low volume stuff.. as we are spoilt for choice these days mixing takes longer but the end product is most of the time better, if you commit to recording with inserts then the mix is quicker... one of my mentors always said .. concentrate on getting the room sound (mics, amps etc) right then there will be less to do later on in the production.. great video Chris... Cheers T
If a guitar or bass player doesn't have a clip-on tuner I usually add a tuner plugin on that channel. And with an upcoming recording where I plan on using a lot analog processing when tracking I probably use the input channel EQ to remove those nasty frequencies on kick drum and snare.
Maybe a high or low pass on different drum mics, but since I went to an i7 computer I just add everything else post. If the cpu can handle the work, it's better to leave it until you're working with tracks. You can't hit undo or back off on anything you do on the way in. You're stuck with it.
I tried to add denoiser and a compressor to the Input channel and boooom vocals sounding like I recorded with expensive gear.... thanks Mr Chris you solve my problem
Hi chris, nice explanation. On my side, I never use it like you because there's no undo. I meter in the souncard mixer and tune my guitar with a pedal.
After a multitrack recording in cubase , I realise the pitch is the sound recorded has been pitched up comparing to the originalperformance,I didn't do that tho . Pls what happened and how can I solve such problem.
What is the difference/advantage to record with input plugin? Why to record with input plugin? AFAIK, in the first place signal hit AD converter and then it is processed by input plugin and recorded on hdd, so I don't understand why to record with input plugin?
It's a personal choice if someone wants to save on CPU later or if someone wants to commit right away to a sound when recording, like with analog gear (Guitar amp, guitar pedals, colored preamp, console emulation). Or the use of a metering plug-in while recording. Like I said in the video, I don't use the inserts of an input channel much, but it can be useful for some
I was waiting to hear about latency, and you raise this at around the 8:00 minute mark. Yeah, unless you have a fairly powerful system or you offload audio input insert channel plugins to an external DSP processor, you can basically forget about recording with inserts on your audio input chain, especially plugins like tape emulators.
Now the big question: What about a quality preamp plugin (I'm thinking of the REDDI from Kush, for instance) on the input bus? Could it help improving my raw bass guitar signal before mixing it?
I recently recorded a guitar with an amp sim and effects plugins on the input. I also recorded the direct signal separately, but the guitarist really liked the sound and if I was not going to mix this I wanted the person that did to have that sound to use if they wanted. If I had rendered the direct signal with the effect after the fact, does it maintain the lanes/takes? I wanted to make sure they had all that info that is why I recorded it with the effect on the input, I wasn't sure if all the takes would be maintained.
If you're not clipping, rendering the DI signal using the same plugin/settings will have the same effect. I do this all the time as I don't have the space to mic a cabinet. If there's multiple takes on different lanes on the same track, you'd need to put them on new tracks and render them all out - unless there's a way to render all lanes on a track separately? Cubase masters feel free to add wisdom!
You could also add that guit amp plugin on each audio event using "Direct Offline Processing" and render each event separately. Either way is fine and will keep the same sound
I'm very careful with the processing I use when I record. I go for character and tone more than correcting. So I never record with a de-esser or pitch correction, I keep that for when I mix.
I started putting ch strip(Neve) plugins on my inputs a few years ago. This is specifically for drums. It makes all the difference in the world 😉👍
Good stuff!
Hey once again another great video. I nevet thought of putting an VU meter on the input channel. Going to try this today. Thanks
For leveling I did this a couple of times in the past. Then I made sure to deactivate the plug-in during recording (no added latency, no messing with resolution etc.).
Now I use the interface's meters for leveling.
I always do at least some light compression and Hi and low pass filters. And I only use either cubase of Slate plugings because they have no latency added. Pro tip to see how much latency a plugin has go to the real full screen mixer on cubase and in the upper right corner there is a pull down with visibility settings... the last one is channel latency(check it) now you will see on each channel an arrow that you can click that will open up to show you how much latency each plugin is adding. super important for putting anything on your inputs is to choose only plugins wiht low to no latency!
Thanks for sharing!
@@mixdownonline Hey there? do you think 2.9ms latency is a lot for recording plugins on the input channel?
Hey there? do you think 2.9ms latency is a lot for recording plugins on the input channel?
@@3rty6ixRaps yeah a bit to much for recording. Some artist are more sensitive to latency i noticed. Like a total RTL of 7ms to me doesn't bug me. But some artist will complain there is a delay.
Its great for me too. I was just asking so i know because i thought it prints the verse itself late as per the indicated ms. So it only affects the playback and not the printing itself?
Cubase 12 for me is a nightmare, after 30 years of cubase (i started with Atari 1040 stf) and 6 months of continuous crashes without any solution i have to change daw and i am sad about it but i have no choices. I will follow your videos anyway because u are a good guy and i like the way u explain. A hug from Italy.
Sorry to hear that. I haven't had any issues with crashes in Cubase for a long time. Before that, quite regularly. I could never really pin-point the exact reason, but I assume it had to do with the Firewire card driver in my system (either that or a fault in the motherboard). Ever since using USB interfaces: no crashes!
Long story short: it may not always be the software at fault when it comes to crashes. C12 so far works fine on my system (which is a cheap Acer laptop, but still...) - even when recording live concerts on 16 tracks for several hours.
Marco, that sucks man…
But why change DAW?
Can’t you keep using Cubase 11 instead? If only for a while, until a solution for your problem is there?
Same here. Very disappointed with version 12. My Cubase 11 Pro on the same system works like a charm, without single crash. Cubase 12 is unstable and crashes a lot.
I moved to C12 last week and all my projects work very smoothly. What kind of issues do you experience?
@@Starnaf For what it's worth, my experience is the opposite. I've found it to be stable and performant. People use such a wide variety of hardware and plugins though that it doesn't surprise me that some people could have such a poor experience with it.
I recall a conversation with an engineer who worked at Sigma Studios, where a lot of the great "Philly Soul" records were made. He was pretty militant about recording with compression and/or EQ, to committing to a sound. Of course, the new guys pushed back, for the same reasons you cite, that you're stuck (more or less) once you do that. But then, who can argue with the beautiful recordings they made there?
No one can argue with this, I'm all for recording with compression/EQ if someone knows his gear and knows what he's doing. It can make the recording easier. I do record with compression sometimes, but not with plugins, only with analog gear. Thanks for your comment :-)
And of course, if you use a Steinberg interface that has DSP effects you don’t need to commit or worry about latency, and can control it all directly in Cubase with the ‘hardware’ section in the mixer 😀
That is such a good option to have. That's what I like about my AXR4 Interface
Or it is like my RMX UCX Interface. It has DSP effects on board too. 😊
This is good solution when making hybrid mastering, to combine the gears you have the plugin versions versus to your analog gear. Thank you.
I only use a gate on my input channels. Something like Boz Big Beautiful Door. I compress on the way in with a choice of optical, FET or vari mu for character and just shaving down the extreme peaks to be able to keep the converter in it's sweet spot .
Nice recording chain!
The new Waves BB is a dream on the input
Hello, Thanks for this good video (as usal). I use Vocal Rider from Waves when recording vocal. I use the live version with less latency and tune it quite soft. Recording that way, I have less automoation to do when mixing. I also sometime use the Tuner to be sure the instruments are in tune before recording them. I've tried with analog channels but I'm less convinced.
Interesting, Thanks for sharing!
Just what I was looking for. Thank you
You are welcome!
When I used to work in studios back in the 90s we used to record with effects on certain tracks because we
onlyhad 24 and didn’t want to bounce
But today with unlimited tracks I would not bother
Because as you say, it can’t be undone 😩
Unless you have a very beautiful compressor or EQ or something you want to use of course, go for it 🖐
The rules are, there are no rules only good practice
Basically I used a high pass eq when recording vocals just to get rid of that rumbling at the low end
have a motu 828 Es and use the Dsp on that for the artist if needed , but yeah sometimes i use a comp on the input bus set to catch radical spikes that get throufg the GS and aslo a gate if the singer uses one ear in his/her cans this is also set at the quetes part of the song so not to cut off "s" or low volume stuff..
as we are spoilt for choice these days mixing takes longer but the end product is most of the time better, if you commit to recording with inserts then the mix is quicker...
one of my mentors always said .. concentrate on getting the room sound (mics, amps etc) right then there will be less to do later on in the production..
great video Chris...
Cheers
T
Thanks Tony!
Yes. A tuner for guitars. Other than that no, digital compression is for the mixing stage.
A guitar tuner, that's a good idea!
If a guitar or bass player doesn't have a clip-on tuner I usually add a tuner plugin on that channel. And with an upcoming recording where I plan on using a lot analog processing when tracking I probably use the input channel EQ to remove those nasty frequencies on kick drum and snare.
That's a good place to add a Tuner for sure :-) Thanks for watching, Christian!
Perfect as usual !!!!
Thanks for watching, glad you enkoyed the video!
Maybe a high or low pass on different drum mics, but since I went to an i7 computer I just add everything else post. If the cpu can handle the work, it's better to leave it until you're working with tracks. You can't hit undo or back off on anything you do on the way in. You're stuck with it.
That's also what I do unless I'm recording with analog gear
Which DC power filter do you use? How to get rid of the noise coming from the windows computer? Do you use galvanic isolation?
I don't even know what that is Lol! My computer is a "Quiet" build th-cam.com/video/d813T4zzpqk/w-d-xo.html
I tried to add denoiser and a compressor to the Input channel and boooom vocals sounding like I recorded with expensive gear.... thanks Mr Chris you solve my problem
Good stuff!
Hi chris, nice explanation.
On my side, I never use it like you because there's no undo. I meter in the souncard mixer and tune my guitar with a pedal.
Very interesting Does this pre plugin insert and normal post plugin insert make a difference in quilty or is it just to save time
After a multitrack recording in cubase , I realise the pitch is the sound recorded has been pitched up comparing to the originalperformance,I didn't do that tho .
Pls what happened and how can I solve such problem.
What is the difference/advantage to record with input plugin? Why to record with input plugin?
AFAIK, in the first place signal hit AD converter and then it is processed by input plugin and recorded on hdd, so I don't understand why to record with input plugin?
It's a personal choice if someone wants to save on CPU later or if someone wants to commit right away to a sound when recording, like with analog gear (Guitar amp, guitar pedals, colored preamp, console emulation). Or the use of a metering plug-in while recording. Like I said in the video, I don't use the inserts of an input channel much, but it can be useful for some
I was waiting to hear about latency, and you raise this at around the 8:00 minute mark. Yeah, unless you have a fairly powerful system or you offload audio input insert channel plugins to an external DSP processor, you can basically forget about recording with inserts on your audio input chain, especially plugins like tape emulators.
Unless you monitor yourself outside Cubase, from the interface's software. The you will get no latency.
th-cam.com/video/UJcpLXKI-HU/w-d-xo.html
@@mixdownonline but if you monitor yourself outside Cubase, the artist won't hear the effcts on the input plugins, right?
The VU meter was a great idea. Btw, how do you like the Supervision, Chris?
For a stock plugin, it's great!
Now the big question: What about a quality preamp plugin (I'm thinking of the REDDI from Kush, for instance) on the input bus? Could it help improving my raw bass guitar signal before mixing it?
Improving the sound? that can be subjective. So Yes, If you like the sound that the Kush preamp gives to your Bass sound.
Excellent explanations. Thank you!
You are welcome!
I have at times used the input channel to record amp sims, since they can eat up CPU when you are layering lots of guitars.
Good idea if you know you want that particular sim. 👍
I always do that.
Good idea!
What about latency? Wouldn’t it print the plug-ins latency? Thanks a lot ❤
Cubase has already plugin latency compensation so you will only get latency on monitoring while recording and not recorded
I recently recorded a guitar with an amp sim and effects plugins on the input. I also recorded the direct signal separately, but the guitarist really liked the sound and if I was not going to mix this I wanted the person that did to have that sound to use if they wanted.
If I had rendered the direct signal with the effect after the fact, does it maintain the lanes/takes?
I wanted to make sure they had all that info that is why I recorded it with the effect on the input, I wasn't sure if all the takes would be maintained.
If you're not clipping, rendering the DI signal using the same plugin/settings will have the same effect. I do this all the time as I don't have the space to mic a cabinet. If there's multiple takes on different lanes on the same track, you'd need to put them on new tracks and render them all out - unless there's a way to render all lanes on a track separately? Cubase masters feel free to add wisdom!
You could also add that guit amp plugin on each audio event using "Direct Offline Processing" and render each event separately. Either way is fine and will keep the same sound
I used a dynamic EQ on the input channel to d’ess the vocals
Is that in anyway meaningful?
I'm very careful with the processing I use when I record. I go for character and tone more than correcting. So I never record with a de-esser or pitch correction, I keep that for when I mix.
@@mixdownonline oh great, you mentioned that in the video, thanks so much for all you do Chris🙏
Which shotgun mic are you using on your voice?
It's not a shotgun, but the Austrian Audio OC8 Mic
Wow...no room sound...I guess that's your room and/or a very directional mic...anyhow, sounds great!
I would at least add a VU Meter and a tuner to all inputs
Guitar tuner inline
Good idea!