12 Useful TIPS To Improve CUBASE Performance when MIXING

#CPU #Cubase #mixing
12 Useful TIPS To Improve CUBASE Performance when MIXING
1:11 Increase audio interface buffer size
4:53 Activate multiprocessing and ASIO Guard
6:56 Print your VST instruments before starting a mix
7:54 Freezing audio channels
10:47 Don’t mix at a high sample rate
11:22 Remove unused plugins (disable tracks)
12:37 Direct offline processing
14:55 Share reverbs for more than one track
16:00 Mix using group channels
17:37 Print some FX channels
19:05 Work with stock plugins
20:32 Activate high performance (Windows 10 only)
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[@mixdownonline]

Thank you for watching! If you have any other tips that I didn't mention in the video, feel free to share them down below :-)

[@angelinagargano3940]

Thanks for all your great videos! I have a question...when I disable vst instruments and then enable they will not play back/no output... and then I have to create a new instance of the vst, then move event to the new instrument, and then move all plug ins, reset all eqs, pre, levels ect. Pretty sure this is some small fix but having this issue takes up a lot of time. I also want to be able to render midi to audio and disable and then re enable the midi instrument for later if needed. PS would love if you ever have the time to do a video on all the project save types...I want to save different phases of my workflow and then recall them ie writing, recording, and programming phase, editing phase, arranging phase, mix phase, and master phase. Any suggestions? Have a great day thanks for everything, Angelina

[@kevinmccarthy4088]

Chris, I've used Direct Offline Processing for mixing at times by setting up the insert chain for a channel in the Mix Console then once I get the sound I'm looking for, I'll save it as a preset, clear the chain then go to open up the preset in the DOP box.

[@atteriihonen1283]

Thanks for the great tips, Chris! If you are using VST3 plugins, you can benefit from "Suspend VST3 plug-in processing when no audio signals are received." option. It can be found in Cubase: Edit > Preferences > VST > Plug-ins Basically if your audio or FX channel doesn't have any sound playing, it will use 0% CPU. This have been really helpful when dealing with bigger Cubase projects.

[@tonimartind]

GREAT! Didn't know this. Made my day with a huge project. Thanks :)

[@iseeu-fp9po]

Thank you! I love how you also show where stuff is in the menus like you did with the performance meter! That stuff can be frustrating sometimes when looking for an answer about something entirely different etc.

[@bennyceca]

Appreciated Chris! Note to anyone out there, looking at your running background tasks on your computer will help massively too. On the Windows Task Manager, you can disable various processes from starting up to begin with and close/disable some services you don't need, you would need to look at what they are and what is safe to disable. Anytime you install a piece of software, the likelyhood is that it's auto configured to run in the background even if you don't launch it. Spotify, OneDrive, Skype etc. Anti Virus software may be scanning constantly in the background too, this will eat up your CPU and slow down the drive, so exclude the location of where your projects live on the drive from being scanned along with where your VST's are on (assuming you don't keep any dodgy files there). Some of the audio drop outs are related to the network card, so if you don't need the Internet or network access, disable it.

[@mixdownonline]

That's a very good tip..Thanks for sharing :-)

[@LeopardBull5trik3]

These tips were incredibly helpful. Some I knew, some I didn't know. Thank you so much Chris. Your videos are always helpful and intuitive

[@mixdownonline]

Happy to help!

[@PatrickSchouten]

You can also disable plugins. On Windows hold the Alt key and click the off switch of the plugin. It will gray out and removed from memory

[@mixdownonline]

Good tip, Patrick! Thanks!

[@weststarr2046]

It's good...but i recommend to removed due to it still just a little bit of memory. I came out with this specially with Acusticas 3rd party plugins and it works. TRY IT..!!

[@weststarr2046]

*still just draining a little..

[@surreal8zero475]

I allways end up watching your uploads dude, you have some of the best info videos for Cubase!!

[@grahamwitcher105]

Chris, so much easier watching your videos as opposed to reading the manual. Great stuff and so informative.

[@victordl9492]

Hi, thanks to share all your tips ! It really helps =) I aslo could add on tips this one: Removing Unused Clips from the "Pool", i think sometimes my project is more heavy and consuming more CPU with more performance , so i feel like it help to have a more clean project deleting some clips in the back, and avoid glitching stuff. That is all

[@alvarozapata485]

Thank you so much for the tips!! was struggling with my computer performance and the last tip it helps me a lot thank you again!!!

[@macronencer]

One of your best videos, I think. Bookmarking this, for sure! Thank you.

[@sunpathviewer]

Always helps. Thanks Chris.

[@hardwickpete]

Going to try these tips out later, having issues with mine a the moment. Great tips! Another helpful vid

[@petrzeman24]

"Disable track" is what i need for my about 60 instrument tracks big projects! Thank you, Chris, you are the best ✌

[@mixdownonline]

Happy to help!

[@kdcyp]

A quick word of warning, there is a continuing bug recognized on Cubase forum (I think even in 11 pro) where when re-enabling instrument tracks, the MIDI output is lost (no sound) and can’t seem to be reconnected to the instrument. It happened to me and even copying the MIDI part to another channel doesn’t seem to work. You have to recreate the MIDI event and it lost me a lot of time 😟 Hopefully freezing doesn’t have this effect so maybe a better option but perhaps test both on your system with a sample before using on live instrument channels with complicated MIDI parts.

[@petrzeman24]

@@kdcyp Thank you. I think i noticed this once maybe twice. 🤔

[@ltchester3409]

OH. MY. GOD. Setting the plugins like gate and other restaurational stuff and then dragging it into the direct processing and turning it of on the inserts, saves SO MUCH time on export. Oh man, so much love for this tip!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it helped! :-)

[@thecart1594]

This video is just what i needed..Thank you Chris..You have saved the day again.

[@MasoudSargon]

Very informative 🤘🏽👌🏼

[@sebastiangadd4250]

Many thanks Chris!

[@jeremyarmstrong8486]

I suscribed after only 2 vids!!! Thanks for all that you do!!! Super helpful!!!

[@mixdownonline]

So happy you did, Jeremy...Thanks!

[@bdc-muzik]

Love your vids Chris.

[@SandraLourencopt]

Thanks, great tips! Saved my life today, as my mix was being impossible. Increasing buffer size was all it took.

[@danizha212]

Very helpful! Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@magemasherlab4993]

it so helpfull dude, thanks a lot

[@haukenebel]

It's like you know exactly when I need what kind of video... Thank you for all your content!

[@mixdownonline]

You are so welcome!

[@joenasgoldie7222]

Chris you’re an absolute master of Cubase love your channel 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks my friend!

[@guzzchannel8969]

Direct Offline Processing: That is exactly what I needed. Thank you!!

[@mixdownonline]

Enjoy!

[@edgarsrakovskis]

Chris, you saved my session and wallet with the direct offline processing!!! CPU is still pretty high, however, I am notgetting these damn spikes and audio cracks any more! Thanks a lot!!!

[@gabehizer111]

One more tip, if the Cubase "cache" meter is maxing out: Delete all portions of your audio that are silent. Even if there is no audio, the computer is still reading the 0's and 1's and that increases the streaming load. I just was mixing a 126-track song and got terrible dropouts to the point that it was impossible to work. The "cache" meter was maxed out. Then I cut out all the silent portions and immediately the meter dropped down to zero on most of the song and maybe 50% on just a few busy sections. What a difference this made! TIP: In Cubase, go to Audio/Advanced/Detect Silence to do this automatically.

[@Strafuzz]

Do you know if this is the same for audio has been muted by the arrange page mute function?

[@AND22]

00:00 Intro 1:11 Increase audio interface buffer size 4:53 Activate multi processing and ASIO Guard 6:56 Print your VST instruments before starting a mix 7:54 Freezing audio channels 10:47 Don’t mix at a high sample rate 11:22 Remove unused plugins (disable tracks) 12:37 Direct offline processing 14:55 Share reverbs for more than one track 16:00 Mix using group channels 17:37 Print some FX channels 19:05 Work with stock plugins 20:32 Activate high performance (Windows 10 only)

[@blakebrothers]

Very helpful as usual, many thanks Chris.

[@mixdownonline]

Happy to help

[@seangregory8177]

Whenever I have a problem that needs to be solved, you have a solution. Thanks, Chris!

[@mixdownonline]

you're welcome!

[@MichelBarbaro]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@mixdownonline]

You are so welcome!

[@dacelestialdub9864]

Muuuuito Bom! Vai Salvar e Muito.

[@Ram-Music]

Really thanks 🙏 all tips useful I really appreciate your help.🌺

[@magnusdevo]

Very useful tips! Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gonzalodominguez229]

agree.. reading the manual has little effect compared to watch good presented Tuts. Thanks again..

[@Christophe_Nouailhaguet]

Concis et efficient! Vous répondez à l'ensemble de cette problématique, j'adore et cela m'aide beaucoup ! Merci Chris.

[@mixdownonline]

Bienvenue mon ami!

[@rastyko6018]

Bro u did my day. Love u.

[@project1265ffo]

Fantastic tips :)

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you like them!

[@phillipbowermusic3842]

I like #7, direct offline processing! Thank you for sharing this knowledge. It will help me.

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@em-kayproductions8980]

Love your videos. Always good info. Keep up with good work. From Australia.

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks, will do!

[@tach2587]

Awesome video so helpful I run an older pc ATM and this has helped massive. Thanks again

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it helped

[@gospelmuvgospelmuv]

Thanks Chris for sharing. Very useful.

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sINGLE_hANDED]

great tips Chris! thanks! Cubase is more and more my favorite DAW!! Also thanks to you!

[@mixdownonline]

My pleasure!

[@praveenrukshan3350]

Thank u so much. Didnt know about the buffer size setting. it worked.problem solved.

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@PihkaIsMyName]

It's really quite impressive how CPU-efficient Steinberg's Stock plug-ins are! Thank you for this video, it is helpful.

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@princewornie8465]

Chris i really appreciate you

[@manuelgasse]

Merci Chris. J'ai passé la journée à apprendre des trucs Cubase sur ton channel. Very cool!

[@mixdownonline]

Merci Manuel :-)

[@resakabrava6325]

Thank you so much Chris!

[@mixdownonline]

My pleasure!

[@Lutekoficial]

Life saver!!! thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

Happy to help!

[@66fitton]

Dude you just helped SO many people out!!! This was one of the most useful topics to touch on!! I'm about to pick up a new pc running 6 core 10th gen i5 with nvme drive system. I honestly don't expect problems, but boy have I experienced them! I'm gonna make sure I share this with all my buddies!! Thanks!!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad I could help!

[@lewisknudsen1]

Very useful, thank you!

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@deliverymanmusic]

Very, very valuable tips, thank you very much Chris. I had noticed myself that the Cubase Multi Tap Delay can massively increase the average audio load, even if it's on a muted track. The only thing that helps is to turn off the track completely. It took me some time to recognize the cause, because I couldn't believe that a muted track could be responsible for this 👍😎

[@asifmallahofficial]

Appreciate it

[@lifeguardlloyd]

Been using most of these tips but I learned a bit too. Print fx would be most useful!

[@rkmediateacher3083]

thanks you.... you are great..

[@mixdownonline]

Welcome 😊

[@GlaredMusic]

Thank you for this tips!

[@mixdownonline]

You're so welcome!

[@tonicba4748]

Thanks you Chris this is so profound 🙏🙏🙏

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@vonotebook]

Thanks Chris !!

[@mixdownonline]

Any time!

[@rachidbendadande9750]

I have never Used "Disable Track" But This Video Got me To Using it.

[@mixdownonline]

Awesome!

[@PatrickObiang]

Dope. It's like what i'm asking for. Thanx so much!

[@realraven2000]

Welcome to the hell that is PC recording! :P Looking forward to his tips!

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@johnmurphy5739]

Great stuff as always Chris. I never thought of printing the FX channels... great tip...

[@robelnegash4382]

Thank you

[@mixdownonline]

Welcome!

[@ariwildemusic]

Another great Cubase tips... I hope Steinberg pay you royalties !!! If not they should ! I did not search a lot for videos about Cubase but so far you are making the most valuable content I ever seen ! Better than what I could see on Steinberg channel. Generally in audio industry, I feel that companies are more concerned about selling their products (actually its obsessional) so they make poor videos content for support, for learning how to use well their products. When they try this kind of content they are just showing off. It's like the product manager of the videos is always the **** marketing guy...

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for the nice comment! No royalties involved with Steinberg, I choose the make these videos to help people out with music production and Cubase, cause I just love Cubase :-) Don't worry, I have a very good relationship with Steinberg, very nice people working there ;-)

[@KB-kc7ou]

Being an old guy, I worked on tape only decades ago. As I progressed to sequencers (the original Cubase!) and on to modern DAWs, I've stuck to an 'traditional' workflow that captures a lot of these tips. Basically, I treat tracking, mixing and mastering as separate tasks for a track and use separate projects for each. So when tracking, the only plugins used are those affecting the 'captured' performance. Commit to the sound as early as you can. When tracking is done, act as if you were sending the tracks off to another mixing engineer using a different DAW. So basically print everything without any effects that are part of the mixing domain. This means a lot of EQ and compression stuff can be minimized in the tracking stage, which helps minimize CPU load when tracking. It also minimizes CPU load when mixing as you are starting with clean audio tracks. Similarly, when mixing is complete, print to stereo and start a new project for mastering the track. This is really helpful when mastering an EP or album, for in those cases part of mastering is trying to get a consistent sound across the entire group of tracks...

[@ivanvenot]

Como siempre tutorial TOP!

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks!

[@AwolProductionsBeats]

Awesome tips! Have you done a video on rendering in place??

[@theobnoxiousweed]

This is awesome advice. I'm doing none of what you suggested so even a few of them should stop Cubase crashing when I have 30 active tracks running and a zillion plug ins etc which is happening on my spanking new super PC. Cheers.

[@loneryouth]

19:59 - was that The Dear Hunter? :O Great Video, thanks for the Tips, will definitely help in future projects

[@mixdownonline]

No, that's my latest "inKontrast" single :-)

[@andreajohnston9009]

Awesome🤤 👌🥇💣

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you Andrea! Cheers!

[@onkarghadi9227]

VERY HELPFUL ! LOVE FROM INDIA 😀😁

[@NereidsMusicBand]

Thank you for these great settings to increase the performance of our DAW. You mention the importance of the sample rate, but what is the best sample rate you recommand for the best quality in music production ?

[@milosmiochadraba5518]

Hi Chris, you doing a great job. I like your videos very much. Can I have a question.. What processor you have in your PC? Thanks for your answer:)

[@EdExploresScotland]

This is really good stuff. I'm certainly having CPU performance issues where nothing happens on pressing play, and I find myself shutting the song down and opening it, a few times, before it 'recognises' all the recorded stuff and allows me to hear everything, so I'm looking forward to trying a few of these tips. One of the irritating things I have just now is that occasionally - say 1 in 10 times - simply plugging in my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 causes Windows 10 to crash and reboot. The Scarlett is showing up as 3 devices in my devices manager, and I think this may be the problem. Windows thinks I'm plugging in 3 things all at the same time, can't handle it, and crashes. Making music's just not as easy as it should be!

[@kennethbiondikharsyntiew4329]

Gold!

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks

[@mbmix9341]

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ............................

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcoooooooooooooooooooome ;)

[@michaelhazdra4923]

Chris, I personally feel that it is critical to understand the difference between CPU performance and the Cubase internal performance as measured by the the Cubase Performance meter. As you do not distinguish between the two, it is extremely important to understand that CPU performance is not the same as Cubase performance. See the explanation in the following link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYbWfX97oNiqsKc

[@princewornie8465]

God bless you

[@roxnroll8050]

Excellent vid, Chris! Quick question... With freezing audio/vst intrument with channel plugins - does this affect audio quality at all when they're kept frozen during Export/Audio Mixdown? Or is it best to unfreeze before the final mixdown? Thanks!

[@daddydanny5588]

very useful tips

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks a lot

[@alainpatry]

Ha! My PC had switched back to Balanced without my knowing it! Thanks for the tip - since it's a desktop computer, I switched it to High Performance.

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome, bro!

[@davidjcooper9301]

Really cool tips thanks mate. I read that Cubase sucks because it cannot split the plugins on one track across CPU cores... so loading up one track with plugins will kill performance. Therefore I changed my workflow to split workload with groups and busses. Seems to help.

[@knutstrkson6157]

Thanks for another great video! Is there a way to freeze / unfreeze multiple tracks at once?

[@mixdownonline]

Not that I know of

[@jessecole6697]

Can't wait .....

[@mixdownonline]

Very very soon :-)

[@thisisdragiivanov]

This is such a great video, thank you Chris! Any chance you could do one for production, where you'd use a lot of vsts and for recording? Something like how pop music would be done today, lots of plugins and recording until the very last minute, before the mix stage. Thank you in advance!

[@mixdownonline]

That will go aroung the same tips to be honest. It is harder to manage when recording since you need as less latency as possible. So freezing VSTi(s) is pretty handy and also the power of your computer plays a huge role when working with VSTi(s).

[@thisisdragiivanov]

@@mixdownonline Makes sense! Thank you for the answer and prompt reply!

[@nomorebushz]

Smart

[@dreamTmiRRor]

that freezing option is gold!!! thank you so much! :) I know I should RTFM but yeah... :) I don't

[@shaudenfreude]

hey Chris, thanks a lot for your channel - really great info! Super channel!! I recently upgraded to 10.5 and noticing an interesting problem - when a Cubase stock multiband compressor is added as an insert to a audio track (guitar or vox), the track becomes affected by a very significant delay in comparison to the rest of the mix. The delay persists even when the multiband compressor is disabled and only disappears when I remove it from the inserts completely. Is this something common and is there a way around it....? Thanks in advance for your response.

[@66fitton]

Excellent video! I loaded my biggest mix and checked out the meter. I was only at one quarter with sample rate at 512. My processor is an i7 10th generation. It works beautifully all the time. The only thing I hadn't done as far as set up goes was try adjusting the buffer size. I had it down to 32 samples before I saw red lights. Seems to works fine at 64. Latency down to 2.83ms on input and 2.50 on out. Any benefits to run it this fast or not run it this fast when mixing? And, I saw you built an i9 awhile ago. What sample rate do you have it set up at? Cheers 🍻

[@soundproof8688]

It's like you just lowered my computer's blood pressure. Thank you!

[@mixdownonline]

Lol! Awesome!

[@samuk9ja798]

😊😮 that's really good

[@Gladicuss]

Can you do A video on what happens when you ' archive ' something. As in " Where does it go? like what folder? " " how to find where to locate them. " " or how to unarchive " when and where to use it and when NOT to use it. Thank you. Got yourself another subscriber! Great video!!

[@SouthpawBawb]

Thank you, this is a pretty timely video, I was just running into those problems had already addressed a few. Question: on the mixer I can load the latency of each channel, I'm assuming the the higher the latency is a direct relationship with the CPU load? So I start replacing the outboard plugins with on board now that I have the settings. And for the last tip, if you don't see high performance, there's a show additional plans drop down that you have to click to see the high performance option.

[@mixdownonline]

1. Yes, exactly...Hungry CPU plugins will add latency. 2. Thanks for the tip :-)

[@caelycate]

Processing precision you have on 64 bit, I am still on 32, do you advise changing up and is it ok mid project? I don't use 32 bit plugs. Great video! I am also maxed out on average audio processing, but except for freezing tracks, I have tried everything on this video. This is a fast i mac too.

[@allante3862]

Hey Chris! I would like to ask you or practitioners here about using disk space as an important resource. When working with Cubase, can you name or describe workflows where it makes sense to use external hard drives, especially NAS drives, on your local network? Or is it excluded in any case?

[@2RStudios]

Hi Chris, congratulations for your channel... this is not my favourite video... (it is really good, I just already knew the tricks...) but in general you do a very nice job... that´s why: subscribed :)

[@mixdownonline]

Awesome, thank you so much :-)

[@MrPMOSullivan]

Hey Chris, After 20 years of using cubase I finally know what the freeze button is for. I dont know if i should feel stupid or lazy I'm still stuck with the concept. It seems that there are just multiple ways to do the same thing (print process) but with freeze it's just a simple button to turn on and off. Is freezing same as printing but less hassle to return to edit? Is freezing the same as offline processing except you can't edit with freezing? Thanks a lot for your video's!

[@audiofrank6747]

Very helpful! I have a quick question I'm struggling with :/ When I go to audio/bounce selection it said that I don't have enough place on my disk. I did check the right disk with enough space in the open gray box when you start cubase, and my pool is set correctly I think haha. Don't know what to do now. Btw, I live in your City, it's nice to have audio guy near by, thanks for all of your content!

[@darrenfox5165]

Hi Chris. Would there be a significant advantage in an 8 core cpu vs a quad core?. Thanks 😊

[@hayknavasardyan248]

Hi. Thanks for your videos. Just a question. My iMac stops recording automaticly, when audio performance clips. How can I resolve this problem. Cubase 11. My old Cubase 8.5 didn't do that.

[@dejasoul1949]

Under studio setup in Cubase, there's a "Steinberg Audio Power Plan" toggle (I think it's in 10 and up). This is basically like activating "High Performance" power plan in windows, and it'll do it every time Cubase launches. I think it's windows only though. That aside, great tips!

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, It seems to be doing the same as "High Performance" on Windows but for Cubase only. Thanks for mention it! I never payed attention to this one since I'm already using "High Performance" on Win that will also affect my video editing software.

[@dejasoul1949]

​@@mixdownonline No problem thought I'd contribute, cheers !

[@johncostigan6160]

Thanks Chris! I wonder about the advantages or dis-advantages of using render in place instead of freezing files?

[@mixdownonline]

Render in Place is like Exporting back in your session, that means that you commit to the fx chain. I use Rendre in Place a lot to bounce MIDI to audio in a project. Freezing is good if you want to keep access to the processing chain of your audio channel. If that's the case, you just unfreeze to get the plugins back.

[@NikolausBrocke]

I allways freeze vst instruments right after selecting the sound I want to use. It lowers cpu processing immediately and I am still flexible adjusting all channel functions. If i want to change the sound, I unfreeze them and immeadiately they're ready to adjust.