Cubase Gain Staging Hacks - Simple and Fast

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Cubase Gain Staging Hacks - Simple and Fast
Gain staging doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process… I’ve gotten to the point where I can take care of it in just a few minutes, so I can get on to the rest of my mix.
In this video, I’ll share some of my favorite gain staging hacks to help you speed up your mixing process, so you can crank out more tunes in less time!
If you need to back up a step or two, check out the links to some of my earlier videos on gain staging:
Gain Staging Playlist :
• Gain Staging
Do you have any questions or useful gain staging hacks of your own? Let me know in the comments!
Instagram: / mixdownonline
Facebook: / mixdownonline
TIK TOK / mixdownonline
Website: mixdown.online
Timestamps
2:00 Why just lowering faders isn’t the answer
3:05 The importance of the sweet spot for analog modeled plugins
3:30 How to color your meters
3:55 Why -18dBFS
4:25 Meter settings in Cubase
5:40 Using Clip Gain to lower levels
7:35 Using PreGain in Cubase
9:45 Manually lowering part of a selection
10:50 More advice on gain staging
Compare CUBASE Versions: new.steinberg.net/cubase/comp...
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Some of the gear and plugins I use in the studio:
CUBASE 12 sweetwater.sjv.io/XxQVe5
STEINBERG LICENCE KEY sweetwater.sjv.io/6bBJNN
DAW CONTROLLER Presonus Faderport 16: sweetwater.sjv.io/5bXnGn
STREAM DECK amzn.to/3OFVHaO
MONOGRAM CC monogramcc.com/shop/
SPEAKER CONTROLLER sweetwater.sjv.io/gbvG75
MICROPHONE sweetwater.sjv.io/b3WVKB
STUDIO MONITORS:
KALI Audio IN-8 sweetwater.sjv.io/XxQVBM
HEADPHONES:
Audeze MM-500 www.audeze.com/products/mm-500
Austrian Audio Hi-X65 sweetwater.sjv.io/vno7MN
Beyer Dynamics DT770 sweetwater.sjv.io/LPzQ6O
STUDIO MONITOR CONTROLLER sweetwater.sjv.io/gbvG75
VIDEO FILMING GEAR
Video gear shared in this video
CAMERA geni.us/My8h
CAMERA PRIME LENS geni.us/Pu7i
CAMERA MIC geni.us/zBCdmg
LAVALIER MIC geni.us/DdQTq
CAMERA LIGHT geni.us/2fruo
VIDEO LED LIGHTS geni.us/259YYN
LIGHT STANDS geni.us/ARrDmz3
SOFT BOXED geni.us/L2XAmoq
RGB FLOOR LIGHTS geni.us/KwL7

[@musicinsession]

I've been following this guy since he had 100 subs!! Hands down my favourite music producer on youtube! Super charismatic, straight to the point, no ego! Thanks for inspiring us Chris!

[@CokePaul]

One of the best explanations about gain staging I’ve ever found on KZbin, that unswears all the questions, nice👍🏻 Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you! Glad you found it helpful!

[@ramseysounds2086]

skip to 5.41 for the content

[@YesRelax]

😂😂

[@user-on3mv9mm4d]

the first thing everyone must know before mixing!! thank you very much, Chris!!

[@michaelgarding516]

I did NOT know about the clip gain pencil!!! Thank you so much Chris!

[@magdielrodriguez6437]

Hello Chris, After so many year I can understand that I have been trying to overthink the Gain Staging process, you have explained this so simple and with Impressive results. This is Master class in twelve minutes. Thank you.

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@DavidDavis-FA-photog]

Chris, I love this high view of gain staging. Seems a lot of people make it a much bigger thing than what it is. Even though it's important, it doesn't have to be difficult. Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

Totally agree! Glad you like it!

[@duanetribune4441]

Awesome info as usual Chris. iBook forward to your videos and refer to your channel often. Thanks for all you share with us.

[@mixdownonline]

Awesome, thank you, and you're welcome!

[@LeonThomasian]

That little tip at 9:40, how did I not know this??!!!!! You saved my life. A lot of times, I don't like playing with my volume automation because then it makes it harder to adjust the overall volume with the fader in the mix window while it's on READ, so this will come in real handy. Thank you so much.

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome! After working with Cubase for 20 years, you get to discover little gems like this one ;-)

[@originunknown3209]

Incredibly useful this!!! Brilliant!!!!

[@Tom40Rocks]

Thanks for showing the drawing tool trick Chris!

[@lorenz3152]

Nicely put.

[@thomasJcollison]

Truly excellent - as ever. Thank you Chris! I know these features haven't been around for the whole 25 years that I've used Cubase, but the clip gain pencil l was news to me, and I've never been near the fader editor. 2 valuable and Instant workflow boosts that will help me out everyday. 😊🙏

[@mixdownonline]

Very welcome, Thomas!

[@grahamwitcher105]

Hi Chris. Gain staging really well explained. Excellent.

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@yams900]

Good work my friend, information I can apply straight away !

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks!

[@project1265ffo]

Very nice Chris, thanks for sharing 👍

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@ssrdesigns]

Thank you! Loved the clip gain trick!

[@mixdownonline]

Of course! Glad it was helpful!

[@Haldolbong]

Excellent tip! Very nice approach and time saviour.

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@vaclav397]

As always, the best explanation.👍👍👍

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you think so!

[@Gipeamusic]

Great and precise ! ...As usual : ) merci !

[@mixdownonline]

Ça me fait plaisir! I'm glad you enjoyed!

[@sushiside]

You are great , that trick with the meters is so useful. Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad I could help!

[@petetk]

Thanks Chris!!!

[@sound-engineer]

I remember you telling me to get rid of the pink noise leveling technique to set channels' level. When I became a pro at gain stating and leveling, I understood how you were right : )

[@juliasdemta2976]

Superb sir...grt

[@bennyceca]

I also do this, by setting the pre-gain from anywhere -3 and up to -15 depending on the source material for all the tracks. I created my template like that too, of course, I change it as needed during production/mixing. At the end of the mixdown, I usually have around 6db of headroom for mastering.

[@mixdownonline]

Good habits, my friend!

[@AnuragDixitMuzic]

Thank you for this useful information

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@hertzouttahell]

allready owned that knowledge but always a pleasure to watch your vids mate. keep up the good work 👍

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks 👍

[@bennyceca]

Chris, one request, thanks for all the tips so far, always appreciated. Please do a video for mp3 exporting once a track is mastered, I have found Cubase to truly suck the life out of a track, the sparkle and brightness is gone, the 24bit wav file sounds pretty good, but high quality mp3 is poor, not sure if this is a Cubase problem (if using Cubase to master) only or just me? Listening to other mixes online, they sound good, are there any tricks for getting the mp3 to sound better? I know you cannot compare a 24bit wav file to an mp3, but the difference can be radical. Do you master differently for mp3's? thanks.

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

This was a nice video. I had already implemented some of it, but linking the channels together at once for gain staging is something I had not done before. Although obvious, I had not thought of it outside of volume control. Hence is why it is good to get exposure to different people's work methods so you can pick and choose. Thank you for that tip and for sharing this.

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@sound-engineer]

It is a manual compression: )

[@soundengineeringstudy]

Always usefull tips

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you!

[@LDEPOV]

Hello Chris. Great video! Question: Cubase has 32 bit Float workflow. Will it change the way we gain stage?

[@RogerBadgerDSFlyer]

Awesome, thank you.

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@necroticpoison]

Great vid. I work only digital and digital type plugins, and a pad on the 2b works well for me, and just put some gain at the start or end of the chains so I can have the faders not far from 0

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for watching!

[@madmuso5]

I use the pencil clip gain tool all the time. On vocals I set my compressor but there may be a few spots where a word or two need to be driven harder into the compressor. Works a treat.

[@mixdownonline]

It's a cool feature!

[@TheBarOst]

I'm genuinely surprised that such an important feature was not covered in the videe

[@nabeshin7741]

I think it's also important to note that another situation in which gain staging is highly recommended is when we use VST instruments, however, we can do it directly from them by adjusting the output before even tweaking the pre-gain knob on the mixer 'cause some of these VST instruments are sometimes way too loud by default. Anyway, another useful video here on this channel, keep the good work, mr. Selim. 🤝

[@franciskwekuosei9510]

Hi Chris thank you for your videos. Please is there a way i can connect my Bluetooth headphones to Cubase for mix reference? Can you make a video showing how to connect AirPod or any wireless headphones to my Cubase .

[@sixstring3639]

Thanx Chris

[@xinnor2790]

I’m having trouble with a mix on a song. This was an excellent and timely refresher.

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for watching!

[@3dogrecordingstudio628]

Holy hell! I just use this very very valuable information and man what a difference with my outboard gear! Everything sounds completely different! So much better! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you ❤. No more clipping into the outboard gear and the headroom is impressive.

[@mixdownonline]

There you go go bro! Glad this was helpful! :-)

[@xXValomatXx]

Andrew Schepps: "I never gainstage" I guess he has an intern, who does it for him... :D

[@mixdownonline]

I'm pretty sure he will bring down a recording that is too loud, it's just very intuitive at this point that he don't even think of it much. Or like you said, it's the intern's job Lol!

[@TheRealATema]

Lol.. True

[@lnkd70]

Very complementary of the Chris’s mixing course in Cubase 😉

[@kajammusicent.-djwhiteknig2931]

great tutorial

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@roncoleman5007]

Excellent. The key was the moment you changed meters to the input level vs the fader output level.

[@LuvHrtZ]

Cheers for that Chris. I set up my meter the same way but my test audio doesn't line up the blue region at -10 like your demo. It's someone else's file, which is clipped to the max, so I had to combine the clip gain with the pre volume to get it to look right. I'll remix some of my old material and see what a difference it makes.

[@LaurentYvanFrancis]

I love your beard and your videos! Thanks a lot for the help! One Love!

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you! I appreciate it!

[@perfasting4342]

King of tutorials!

[@mixdownonline]

Lol, thanks!

[@athonygraham8353]

This is a really great tutorial, you really have a knack of doing this sort of thing superbly Chris. One thing I really think should be in every modern DAW as absolute standard (I've seen lots of other people saying the same thing) and that is the option to have the DAW Auto Gain Stage on every aspect, from raw files, through plugins internal and external, sends, inserts, automation, all the way through to the stereo bus final out. It really should have been standard many years ago, it's a no brainer and would absolutely savage the time and workflow that doing it all manually takes and it would remove another needless pain.

[@mixdownonline]

Cool idea, but I do like to have control over my levels though :-)

[@athonygraham8353]

@@mixdownonline yeah, the options would need to be more than on and off. It's a simple thing and they could easily implement it and leverage existing code. It's all about the workflow and speed.

[@johntwigg7650]

I agree, auto gain staging should be in every DAW as standard at every stage. It should’ve been done years ago. You can always tinker manually if you want. It would save hours in every week. And that, is what it’s all about. DAWs are all a little bit 15 years ago though, the evolution is glacial and frankly a little embarrassing.

[@gnt132]

Este canal debería tener 1 millón de suscriptores!

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks :-)

[@kMaxRx]

I didn't realize it might be better to keep the main track meter at zero when possible, but it's good to hear because it just 'feels' better to see the faders at that even mark, and gain staging shows us a way to get the right levels without losing the final resolution of the track fader levels.

[@jasonalexander5253]

Awesome simple explanation. On another topic, I know you have done a lot on coloring of tracks, but can you share your track/mixer brightness schemes please? Yours are clean & clear without being garish & overly bright. I cannot get mine to look as nice as yours. cheers

[@mixdownonline]

I will make a video on this soon!

[@JanEkbom]

I just had to watch this again, even if I saw it in your course on Mixdown Academy.

[@mixdownonline]

Awesome, thanks!

[@westIab]

Thank you 🎉

[@mixdownonline]

You’re welcome 😊

[@rolandgerard6064]

Great!

[@ontrackrecstudioavk3881]

😊very nicely explaine you are great

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you!

[@Ryan.Anderson80]

Do you have a video on your cubase colour scheme/skin. It’s really nice.

[@JohnJeevasingham]

Hi, Chris! Thank you for the great video! What colour pallete are you using in Cubase? Is it custom?

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, it is! I will make a video soon on this!

[@musicandartmakers8785]

Hello Chris, thanks for your video. Like you, I am careful about the levels of individual channels and their sum to the stereo master bus, however, Iin the case whereby my stereo master bus is too hot, I just use pregain to drop it a few db. If all other channels are not clipping, then what is your thoughts on this approach? Thanks

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, if nothing is wrong with the other channels, as far as the gain structure goes, that will work for sure :-)

[@jaymehta7756]

Please make video on phasing issue in stereo tracks.....how to get rid of it...

[@fwr00t]

Excellent video Chris. I'm a first time Cubase user here, how do you clip gain multiple tracks at the same time in Windows? Thanks!

[@peterdnayak]

So useful, thank you sir ❤ love from India 🥰

[@mixdownonline]

Most welcome!

[@kevinanderson7243]

Chris can you tell me can you chop up the think break by Lyn collins a drum and base song. Is this possible in Cubase 12 Artist

[@ma3boch]

Thanks for the advice Chris I have a question when doing parallel processing do I use the parallel group fader or send gain to set the required amount of parallel group or is it not necessary 💙

[@mixdownonline]

I would say, watch this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/moqWm5qNrceKra8

[@thecoastCoverband]

Tanks Chris greatz from holland

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for watching!

[@LondonSteveLee]

My meters are set to something very similar to yours, but my way of normalising (non destructively) is my template has a PSP Infinistrip loaded on every channel with just the clean gain module and autogain (peak) set to -18dB. That means that the gain is ridden downwards on every channel until it peaks at -18-dB. After a single playthrough all the channels are gainstaged correctly to start mixing with the Cubase faders at unity. The plugin uses practically zero CPU with just this one module loaded - I don't even notice it.

[@Slinky1973]

hey there, i was just wondering if you could tell me the keyboard shortcut that is similar to clicking the Q link button so i can change several pre gain or any parameter for that matter of many selected tracks? i saw it in another video but i can't recall which....its something like CTR+SHIFT+COMMAND (maybe + ALT too...?)...any help appreciated, joey :)

[@davidhellegouarch1622]

Thank you for sharing these tips ! So you have every tracks at around -18 dBFS. How do you place tracks that need to be quiet ? Do you send them to a group to keep resolution with your fader ?

[@mixdownonline]

I gain stage first, and then if during the mix I need to bring down a few Faders very low for some reason, I just do it, I don't overthink this.

[@johntraynor1913]

How about a video about clip gain, pre gain, and normalizing; as in the differences and when to use each?

[@mixdownonline]

I can do that :-)

[@kdcyp]

Hi Chris, great tips! Is there a way to lower multiple/all tracks after inserts etc. As that’s where the real time wasting happens when we find the master too high once we’ve mostly mixed a track so we don’t want to change the clip gain or pre gain as we would have to tweak all our compressors etc. One thought would be to add a plug-in like MV meter2 that has a gain adjustment, to all tracks after all inserts but is there an easy way to adjust all this plugins at once please?

[@mixdownonline]

I always gain stage my tracks before I start mixing with plugins. When you're need the end of a mix, Pre-Gain is not an option at this point, just use your channel Faders, and bring them down

[@kdcyp]

@@mixdownonline Thanks Chris. I suppose can always use the pre on the stereo bus to keep the fader at unity, then adjust any inserts accordingly just on that bus.

[@diegoalejo15]

good hints as always! my tip is to start every Cubase session with a template in which every track is set to Pre gain -10

[@mixdownonline]

Good stuff!

[@mgmthegrand]

My template pre-gain is set at -9db...

[@shari_8410]

Hi Chris nice & really Helpfull Videos on This Channel :) especially about Cubase 👍 but One Question about your Statement in terms of the Sweetspot Level for Plugins where're emulated of their Analog Hardware Dudes or Nowdays Hardware . As i Know so far : the VU Meters on these Plugins and on the Hardware Gear back in the Days do have a Delay of arround 300 ms and reacting very Slowly ...So should it not be -18db RMS instead of -18dbFs Peak /True Peak in Digital World ? As i can Remeber right i read somewhere , that the Digital Plugins which are Vintage emulated needs +4dbU=0VU which is equal to -18db RMS Input Gain not -18dbFS Peak/True Peak for Digital Plugins ( Emulated ones ) in Todays Times . Cause so many People get confused about that if they should set it on -18dbFs Peak/True Peak or -18db RMS (cause the VU Meters Reacts with 300 ms Delay ) which makes a lot of sense to me :)

[@ericfreget]

Thx for your nice work ! Problem occurs when you have FX sends . Because their level remain at the same level so way too loud. And it's more complex when automation is done on the track. Do you have a hack for this case ?

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, I always Gain Stage my recordings before starting the mix with plugins :-)

[@ndtunes8731]

After gain staging and applying my effect process while leaving my faderw at unity,do i still balance up my mix with the individual faders?

[@svetokustura9606]

Hi Chris,When I adjust the balance some channels must be quieter (e.g. pad, etc.) for me it's still difficult to keep the fader around the 0. Please explain how to adjust it?

[@danpettimusic]

Is that manual feature with the pencil not available in Cubase Elements?? I've been constantly trying and I can't get it working

[@INNERLANSCAPE]

Hi Chris, I did Google it and did some searching, but do you perhaps know how to disable the peak hold on the master out. It seems that the highest peak keeps showing, even when I lower the gain. I always have to manually click on the value to get the new peak value. Grts Marco

[@mixdownonline]

Not sure there's a way around this expect to click on the value to reset itself

[@jeremythornton433]

I have trouble selecting groups of tracks. How exactly do you do it?

[@joeowensuk]

What is the disadvantage of setting all clips to (say) -18 dB via normalise? Love your vids, very helpful.

[@mixdownonline]

I will make a video on this soon!

[@joeowensuk]

@@mixdownonline Looking forward to watching that one Chris.

[@dk_original]

Just wondering if there might be a way to create your favorite starting point (sweetspot) automatically by using a key command (or Macro)?

[@mixdownonline]

I don't think there is, but I would do this manually even if there was a way

[@bassic6959]

This video was helpful but it also helped me figure out that gain staging is not done with the faders. (I know now that I say that I sound very dumb) I have done this for years and I have always gotten frustrated by it

[@mgmthegrand]

Please help me understand. I thought the pre-gain controls the input level just like clip gain. However, I noticed that when the meter position is on input pre-gain doesn't affect the meter reading at all. This is with the channel strip in pre position as well. Could someone please clarify?

[@mcfahk]

Very useful! Thank you very much! Why cant I save this to 'watch later' (because I need to watch it again to take notes)

[@mixdownonline]

Weird, cause I can on my side.

[@mcfahk]

@@mixdownonline Probably doing something wrong here then. Thanks again!

[@1loveMusic2003]

How are you liking your WA-MPX pre amp? I've recorded bass and didn't even use any amp sim or cab sim just Di doubled Low and high. Not many pre-amps can do that. IMO

[@mixdownonline]

It's a great Preamp...working on my video at the moment :-)

[@IniresMirrors]

The idea of setting the meter colors to your preferred range made me smack my forehead so hard it woke my kids. And then the draw function... it kills me that some lowkey CoolEdit functionality was staring me in the face this whole time.

[@mandolinskiorkestarokruk6053]

when I put meter position to input and change value of pre gain,nothing hapend because pre gain is actually post gain(post fader), what is very different to real pre fader....Please explain this;

[@mixdownonline]

Pre-Gain is always Pre-Fader- Pre-Instert etc...However, the input metering will only look at the Wave Audio Recording, and not the Pre-Gian value. So Clip Gain an audio recording will be shown on the Meter when set to Input, but not Pre-Gain. This is actually something I would like Steinberg to modify in a future Cubase version, Pre-gain should affect the meters in Input mode like CLip Gian does, IMO

[@nyniomusic]

what do you have on the walls? it's somehow polyester

[@johncostigan6160]

I forgot that plug-in models of analog gear have a different sweet spot. Thanks Chris for the review. I'll try not to blow anything up...

[@mixdownonline]

Lol, you're welcome!

[@jithin9494]

This is the most simplest way of doing gain staging!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you like my approach

[@user-ej3sb7ip7g]

what is the green circle when I guess you are clicking or selecting something?

[@StayFunKey]

If the channels are not clipping but the master does why not lower the gain on the master? If you lower the clipgain you can always increase the view of the waveform back to become bigger I believe.

[@joseantoniogazzo2875]

Chris, what about Normalizing tracks before all that?

[@mixdownonline]

I never normalize tracks for that purpose. I will make a video on this :-)

[@joseantoniogazzo2875]

@@mixdownonline That would be great!

[@brianlespoir6287]

I leave my Master channel at unity gain as well, because I learned so, but I have no clue why.

[@mixdownonline]

Lol, it's a good habit to check IMO, but there's nothing wrong on moving the Master Fader if you need to.

[@call365]

what mic is that? 1:01

[@mixdownonline]

Sennheiser MKE 400, it's a camera mic

[@call365]

@@mixdownonline thank you so much!!

[@deppam]

I feel the pencil is a bit fiddley to write the level on the part. It would have been a better idea to have the range section tool to do this.

[@tariqtayab]

Starts at 5.30

[@mixdownonline]

Not really

[@kyleritter3074]

perhaps I don't understand, but most of those tracks are in fact peaking. Clipping. @1:38

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, that is before I gain staged those tracks :-)

[@teddym2808]

Unfortunately, clip gain is still horrendous in cubase and nuendo going by this clip. That draw ramp and what you have to do if you just want to lower a section of the audio is very annoying to use. Dealbreaker for me and why my Nuendo 12 has not even been upgraded. Studio One and P1, just range drag up down on as much or as little audio as you want. And of course you can do the horrible ramp style if needed, but for quick edits, this is still way behind.

[@JohnSk82]

I love the pre-gain because I'm a dinosaur :P

[@mixdownonline]

Join the club 😅

[@JohnSk82]

What's the equivalent of rawr for a dino to call you ? DAWR ? p:p @@mixdownonline

[@fadassereuben1319]

Fait moi cadeau d'un de tes speakers? Pour moi c'est gatté recenment.😢 Je suis au Ghana

[@KadokiPo]

Everybody talks about gain staging and everybody uses clippers))) digits doesn't matter, just listen and trust yours ears😊😊

[@mixdownonline]

I don't think every mixers use Clippers. When Clippers are used in a mix, it's for a specific mixing reason. , and not on all tracks. I will make a video on this soon!

[@KadokiPo]

@@mixdownonline It will be great!!

[@sound-engineer]

I thought that the "Just use your ears,bro" cult has shut down

[@raztube90]

Move to logic man and try it once 😮 Cubase is laggy and not smooth at all Once you use logic on new arm Mac wow it is smooth as butter it has all the tools and you never have to pay $$$$$$ for simple Updates lol

[@mixdownonline]

I'm pretty sure Logic is a good DAW, but I've been working with Cubase since 2002, it's solid, smooth, and not laggy for me :-)

[@raztube90]

@@mixdownonline I can see the lag myself in your videos man Even plugins takes 1 sec extra to open up Dorico is same lag lag lag

[@mixdownonline]

I'm convinced, I'm switching... 😂😂😂

[@raztube90]

6:15 compare how animations are vs logic