Surround Sound

Cubase provides integrated surround sound features with support for several formats. All audio-related channels and busses can handle multi-channel speaker configurations. A channel in the MixConsole can contain either complete surround mixes or an individual speaker channel which is part of a surround setup.

Cubase offers the following surround-related features:

  • You can route audio-related tracks, that is, audio, instrument, and sampler tracks, to surround channels.

  • The VST MultiPanner plug-in is automatically applied to audio-related tracks with a mono or stereo configuration that are routed to output channels with any kind of multi-channel configuration other than stereo. The VST MultiPanner plug-in is available in the Inspector and MixConsole and can be used to position channels in the surround field.

  • For virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) productions, you can create mixes in first-order, second-order, and third-order Ambisonics format. Cubase allows you to monitor Ambisonics mixes on headphones or loudspeaker systems, and supports VR controllers and head-mounted displays when working with 360° video.

  • Third-party panner plug-ins are supported.

  • The MixConvert V6 plug-in is used to convert a surround channel into a different format if the corresponding input/output configuration is not handled by VST MultiPanner. Cubase places MixConvert V6 automatically where needed.

  • Plug-ins with multi-channel support specifically designed for surround sound mixing tasks are supported, for example, the Mix6to2 plug-in. Furthermore, any VST 3 plug-in features multi-channel support and can therefore be used in a surround configuration, even if it was not specifically designed for surround. For detailed information about all included plug-ins, see the separate document Plug-in Reference.

  • You can export surround mixes in different formats using the Export Audio Mixdown function.