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Cubase 5 playback issue.


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I bought my Mackie 820i mixer and set it up via firewire. I set it up in Cubase's Device Setup. I can record through my SM57 mic and I can see that i recorded sound but i can't hear it on playback. I read the manual but it's not helping much.

I also previously tried to set up the mixer in Adobe audtion but i had this ANNOYING problem of having to switch hardware devices when i record/playback. Like, if i wanted to record i'd have to set it the device up then record. but i wouldnt be able to hear what i was recording from the speakers until after i was done recording and switched the hardware device back to my sound card (SB Audigy 2).

I know I hooked my mixer up properly cause i can get sound through it. so now it's a matter of getting it to be heard once it's recorded.

HELP! lol

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This may be dumb but did you make sure to route it all correctly using the "VST connections" menu? Setting up the device only lets Cubase know that it can use that device for audio, the in/out configuration is up to you to specify. Once you select the correct channels you also have to make sure you set them to your tracks because if you created an audio track before changing the output channel, that audio track will default to NO BUS after the change of channels/drivers.

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This may be dumb but did you make sure to route it all correctly using the "VST connections" menu? Setting up the device only lets Cubase know that it can use that device for audio, the in/out configuration is up to you to specify. Once you select the correct channels you also have to make sure you set them to your tracks because if you created an audio track before changing the output channel, that audio track will default to NO BUS after the change of channels/drivers.

Under "Devices Setup", I set the VST Audio System to the Mackie ASIO Driver. But in the VST Connections menu the outputs are set to the Mackie AISO which obvioulsy won't work cause i need to outs to be my sound card! But it won't let me do so! The only chouces it gives me are "Mackie AISO" or "Not Connected". So that has to be the problem. but how do I fix this?

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Cubase can only output audio through the default VST device. If your Mackie doesn't have audio outs, you can't use it as your VST device. But the fact that it DOES come up as a VST device means that it does have audio outs, and you must use those. You can't use a different soundcard for outputs when you've set that as the default device.

So unless I'm reading you wrong, you're trying to to use one device as a VST driver and another device for audio output, this can't be done under any DAW that I know of.

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Cubase can only output audio through the default VST device. If your Mackie doesn't have audio outs, you can't use it as your VST device. But the fact that it DOES come up as a VST device means that it does have audio outs, and you must use those. You can't use a different soundcard for outputs when you've set that as the default device.

So unless I'm reading you wrong, you're trying to to use one device as a VST driver and another device for audio output, this can't be done under any DAW that I know of.

ok so i need to hook my mackie's as output as well? I'll have to read its manual again. i'll do it when i get off of work.

EDIT: Ok so apparently there were two pages stuck together in the manual and I missed this LOVELY diagram where it shows the speaker outputs. HA! So I need speakers. Got it! Thanks.

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So far I'm lovin' it! That is when I got it to work finally.

The Mackie 820i seems phenomenal so far. I managed to hear what I record through the headphone jack on the board. So I know for sure it's working properly. I just need speakers for it and to not let my manuals get so sticky. :) Damned soda. (I think it wise not to eat and drink next to a 500 dollar mixer.)

It hooks up through firewire and there was someone who posted on musicansfriend.com about having latency issues with it. But I don't have those problems. It works great! It comes with phantom power built in so I can use condenser mics. I miked up my Line 6 Spider IV to it with an SM57 and wailed on my guitar and it sounds better than my Gearbox. Not to mention that having this setup seems to give you more control over EQ and such than with software. I can't speak for everyone else but I myself find my sound at a much better quality level with more hardware than soft. Before I was just using my Gearbox plugged into my SB Audigy 2 (piece of donky shit) sound card and used it for guitar and bass. With this my setup now it sounds more authentic. Well...that because it IS authentic.

It also has M-Powered capability so if you have Pro Tools (and 50 bucks for a firmware update) you can add more to your punch. But I can't afford Pro Tools yet so I haven't tried it. For now I'm just using Cubase 5 and Adobe Audtion as a backup. I also set it as an out for FL Studio so I guess no matter what the DAW it's compatible.

It even comes with Talkback! I have no use for it now but who knows.

Can't wait to get things goin with this.

EDIT: One thing though. I can hear little clips and pops even when not clipping. but they dont appear in the final mixdown. i think it might be my hard drive spinning. still a little annoying though.

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So far I'm lovin' it! That is when I got it to work finally.

The Mackie 820i seems phenomenal so far. I managed to hear what I record through the headphone jack on the board. So I know for sure it's working properly. I just need speakers for it and to not let my manuals get so sticky. :) Damned soda. (I think it wise not to eat and drink next to a 500 dollar mixer.)

It hooks up through firewire and there was someone who posted on musicansfriend.com about having latency issues with it. But I don't have those problems. It works great! It comes with phantom power built in so I can use condenser mics. I miked up my Line 6 Spider IV to it with an SM57 and wailed on my guitar and it sounds better than my Gearbox. Not to mention that having this setup seems to give you more control over EQ and such than with software. I can't speak for everyone else but I myself find my sound at a much better quality level with more hardware than soft. Before I was just using my Gearbox plugged into my SB Audigy 2 (piece of donky shit) sound card and used it for guitar and bass. With this my setup now it sounds more authentic. Well...that because it IS authentic.

It also has M-Powered capability so if you have Pro Tools (and 50 bucks for a firmware update) you can add more to your punch. But I can't afford Pro Tools yet so I haven't tried it. For now I'm just using Cubase 5 and Adobe Audtion as a backup. I also set it as an out for FL Studio so I guess no matter what the DAW it's compatible.

It even comes with Talkback! I have no use for it now but who knows.

Can't wait to get things goin with this.

EDIT: One thing though. I can hear little clips and pops even when not clipping. but they dont appear in the final mixdown. i think it might be my hard drive spinning. still a little annoying though.

Make sure you're not running wifi while working in Cubase. Firewire and WiFi do NOT get along together. Most clicks, pops, clipping, dropouts when using firewire are because of wifi.

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i have wifi capability but im not using it. i'm connected through cable. could it be a problem even so?

I use my laptop for live performance and found this to be an issue. Even though I'm obviously not connected to anything via ethernet while performing, I still need to go into control panel and disable the network connection entirely in order to get sound without any other noises.

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I doubt it's a hard drive issue, at least as far as the drive making noise.

One possibility is that you've got a lot of other drivers for other devices loaded and running in the background and/or a lot of other programs running: a web browser, iPod drivers, antivirus, etc. Unload everything you can, and if possible, set things to not load when you boot up. You may want to make a second account on your machine (I'm assuming Windows, yes?) that only loads the drivers you need for your music and nothing else.

Another possibility is that you're just asking too much of your CPU. Cubase is stuffing small portions of audio into your sound card's audio buffer and as the buffer fills, it can begin to 'empty out' to your speakers. A really large buffer will make it easy for your computer to keep the buffer full, but you'll have bad latency, which is a problem when you're recording MIDI or audio against the audio you've already recorded. Make the buffer too small relative to your CPU speed, the number of VSTs you're trying to use, and the number of audio clips you're playing back, and your computer just won't keep up and you'll start to hear crackles.

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You may be right, Kanthos It does take a while for everything to boot. I just realized that I don't got wifi on this machine so I don't think that could be the case. I'll try adjusting the buffer. It's too late for me right now to be blasting my guitar so i'll try tomorrow. I'm SO close to getting the sound that I want.

Another issue I'm having is loudness. All this cool shit I'm buying and I still can't get as loud as other peeps on here. That's REALLY frustrating! I tried recording everything at a low volume but still can't get any louder. Even with a limiter. I was hoping to gear would help solve this issue. I even tried lowering the master fader down by 6db and mixing with that way then boosting the limiter's thresh but I still can't seem to master this issue.

I noticed that when I recorded some acoustic stuff I could get it a lot louder than with my rock stuff with drums and everything. I wanna say it's in the mix and not just the gear i've got. And I read up on the "percieved loudness" article in that mixing guide and I still really think that My stuff is quieter than everyone else. People on here have tried to help me with this and for a while I thought I was doing better. But i can still notice the difference compared to other people and their home studios. Primarily other peoples rock/metal tracks.

There's gotta be something I'm missing.

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