Steinberg Cubase AI - 5.0 Plug-in Reference
Plug-in Reference
Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer, Heike Schilling
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of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement
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Release Date: June 04, 2009
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2009.
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
5 The included effect plug-ins
6 Introduction
6 Delay plug-ins
7 Distortion plug-ins
9 Dynamics plug-ins
12 Filter plug-ins
15 Modulation plug-ins
20 Other plug-ins
22 Restoration plug-ins – Grungelizer
22 Reverb plug-ins – RoomWorks SE
23 Spatial plug-ins
24 HALionOne
25 Introduction
25 HALionOne parameters
27 Index
4
Table of Contents
1
The included effect plug-ins
Introduction
Delay plug-ins
This chapter contains descriptions of the included plug-in
effects and their parameters.
In Cubase AI, the plug-in effects are arranged in a number
of different categories. This chapter is arranged in the
same fashion, with the plug-ins listed in separate sections
for each effect category.
Ö Most of the included effects are compatible with
VST3, this is indicated by an icon in front of the name of
the plug-in as displayed in plug-in selection menus (for
further information, see the chapter “Audio Effects” in the
Operation Manual).
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the
“Delay” category.
MonoDelay
This is a mono delay effect that can either be tempo-based
or use freely specified delay time settings.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Delay This is where you specify the base note value for the delay
Tempo sync
on/off
Feedback This sets the number of repeats for the delay.
Filter Lo This filter affects the feedback loop of the effect signal
Filter Hi This filter affects the feedback loop of the effect signal
Mix Sets the level balance between the dry signal and the ef-
if tempo sync is on (1/1–1/32, straight, triplet or dotted). If
tempo sync is off, it sets the delay time in milliseconds.
The button below the Delay Time knob is used to turn
tempo sync on or off. If set to off, the delay time can be set
freely with the Delay Time knob, without sync to tempo.
and allows you to roll off low frequencies from 10Hz up
to 800Hz. The button below the knob activates/deactivates the filter.
and allows you to roll off high frequencies from 20kHz
down to 1.2kHz. The button below the knob activates/
deactivates the filter.
fect. If MonoDelay is used as a send effect, this should be
set to maximum as you can control the dry/effect balance
with the send.
6
The included effect plug-ins
PingPongDelay
This is a stereo delay effect that alternates each delay repeat between the left and right channels. The effect can
either be tempo-based or use freely specified delay time
settings.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Delay This is where you specify the base note value for the delay
Tempo sync
on/off
Feedback This sets the number of repeats for the delay.
Filter Lo This filter affects the feedback loop and allows you to roll
Filter Hi This filter affects the feedback loop and allows you to roll
Spatial This parameter sets the stereo width for the left/right re-
Mix Sets the level balance between the dry signal and the
if tempo sync is on (1/1–1/32, straight, triplet or dotted). If
tempo sync is off, it sets the delay time in milliseconds.
The button below the Delay Time knob is used to turn
tempo sync on or off. If set to off, the delay time can be set
freely with the Delay Time knob, without sync to tempo.
off low frequencies up to 800 Hz. The button below the
knob activates/deactivates the filter.
off high frequencies from 20kHz down to 1.2kHz. The
button below the knob activates/deactivates the filter.
peats. Turn clockwise for a more pronounced stereo
“ping-pong” effect.
effect. If PingPongDelay is used as a send effect, this
should be set to maximum as you can control the dry/
effect balance with the send.
Distortion plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the
“Distortion” category.
AmpSimulator
AmpSimulator is a distortion effect, emulating the sound
of various types of guitar amp and speaker cabinet combinations. A wide selection of amp and cabinet models is
available.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Drive Governs the amount of amp overdrive.
Bass Tone control for the low frequencies.
Middle Tone control for the mid frequencies.
Treble Tone control for the high frequencies.
Presence Use this to boost or damp the higher frequencies.
Volume This controls the overall output level.
Amplifier
pop-up menu
Cabinet
pop-up menu
Damping Lo/Hi Further tone controls for shaping the sound of the selected
This allows you to select between various amplifier models. Click on the currently selected amplifier name to
open a pop-up with all the available amplifier models.
This section can be bypassed by selecting “No Amp”.
Various speaker cabinet models. Click on the currently selected cabinet name to open a pop-up with all the available
amplifier models. This section can be bypassed by selecting “No Speaker”.
speaker cabinet. Click on the values, enter a new value
and press the [Enter] key.
7
The included effect plug-ins
DaTube
This effect emulates the characteristic warm, lush sound
of a tube amplifier.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Drive Regulates the pre-gain of the “amplifier”. Use high values
Balance This controls the balance between the signal processed
Output Adjusts the post-gain, or output level, of the “amplifier”.
if you want an overdriven sound just on the verge of
distortion.
by the Drive parameter and the dry input signal. For maximum drive effect, set this to its highest value.
Distortion
Distortion will add crunch to your tracks.
The parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Boost Increases the distortion amount.
Feedback This parameter feeds part of the output signal back to the
Tone Lets you select a frequency range to which to apply the
Spatial Changes the distortion characteristics of the left and
Output Raises or lowers the signal going out of the effect.
effect input, increasing the distortion effect.
distortion effect.
right channel, thus creating a stereo effect.
Dynamics plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the
“Dynamics” category.
Gate
Gating, or noise gating, silences audio signals below a
certain set threshold level. As soon as the signal level exceeds the set threshold, the gate opens to let the signal
through.
The available parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Threshold
(-60–0dB)
State LED This indicates whether the gate is open (LED lights up in
Filter buttons When the Side-Chain button (see below) is activated,
Side-Chain
on/off
Center
(50Hz–
20000Hz)
Q-Factor
(0.01–10000)
Monitor
(On/Off)
This setting determines the level where Gate is activated.
Signal levels above the set threshold trigger the gate to
open, and signal levels below the set threshold will close
the gate.
green), closed (LED lights up in red) or something in between (LED lights up in yellow).
you can use these buttons to set the filter type to either
Low Pass, Band Pass or High Pass.
This button (below the Center knob) activates the filter.
The input signal can then be shaped according to set
Center and Q-Factor parameters which may be useful in
tailoring how the Gate operates.
Sets the center frequency of the filter.
Sets the Resonance of the filter.
Allows you to monitor the filtered signal.
8
The included effect plug-ins
Parameter Description
Attack
(0.1–1000ms)
Hold
(0–2000ms)
Release
(10–1000ms
or Auto mode)
Analysis
(0–100) (Pure
Peak to Pure
RMS)
Live mode
(On/Off)
This parameter sets the time it takes for the gate to open
after being triggered. If the Live button (see below) is deactivated, it will ensure that the gate will already be open
when a signal above the threshold level is played back.
Gate manages this by “looking ahead” in the audio material, checking for signals loud enough to pass the gate.
This determines how long the gate stays open after the
signal drops below the threshold level.
This parameter sets the amount of time it takes for the
gate to close (after the set hold time). If the Auto button is
activated, Gate will find an optimal release setting, depending on the audio material.
This parameter determines whether the input signal is analyzed according to Peak or RMS values (or a mixture of
both). A value of 0 is pure Peak and 100 pure RMS. RMS
mode operates using the average power of the audio signal as a basis, whereas Peak mode operates more on
peak levels. As a general guideline, RMS mode works
better on material with few transients such as vocals, and
Peak mode better for percussive material, with a lot of
transient peaks.
When activated, Live mode disengages the “look ahead”
feature of the Gate. Look ahead does produce more accurate processing but will add a certain amount of latency as a trade-off. When Live mode is activated, there
is no latency, which might be better for “live” processing.
The available parameters are the following:
Parameter Description
Input
(-24–+24dB)
Output
(-24–+6dB)
Release
(0.1–1000ms
or Auto mode)
Allows you to adjust the input gain.
This setting determines the maximum output level.
This parameter sets the amount of time it takes for the gain
to return to its original level. If the Auto button is activated,
Limiter will automatically find an optimal release setting that
varies depending on the audio material.
MIDI Gate
Limiter
Limiter is designed to ensure that the output level never
exceeds a certain set output level, to avoid clipping in following devices. Limiter can adjust and optimize the Release parameter automatically according to the audio
material, or it can be set manually. Limiter also features
separate meters for the input, output and the amount of
limiting (middle meters).
The included effect plug-ins
Gating, in its fundamental form, silences audio signals below a certain set threshold level. That means, when a signal
rises above the set level, the Gate opens to let the signal
through while signals below the set level are cut off. MIDI
Gate, however, is a Gate effect that is not triggered by
threshold levels, but instead by MIDI notes. Hence it needs
both audio and MIDI data to function.
Setting up
MIDI Gate requires both an audio signal and a MIDI input
to function.
To set it up, proceed as follows:
1. Select the audio to be affected by the MIDI Gate.
This can be audio material from any audio track, or even a live audio input
(provided you have a low latency audio card).
2. Select the MIDI Gate as an insert effect for the audio
track.
The MIDI Gate control panel opens.
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