Setup
The setup menu holds various options for customizing your workflow.

Project
- Sample Rate
- Your project's sample rate can be set to 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz. New projects have the recommended default values of 48 kHz (or 44.1 kHz if supported by your iOS device).
Increasing this value only makes sense if an audio device is connected that supports the higher sample rate.
When you switch the project's sample rate or import an audio file which is not in the project's sample rate, Cubasis prompts you to convert the audio file(s). It is highly recommended to go forward with the conversion because it results in better quality and lower CPU consumption. However, if you must continue working and cannot wait for the conversion (which can take up to a few minutes depending on the audio file length), you can skip it. Cubasis will convert the files during playback in real-time, resulting in reduced quality and higher CPU consumption. Note:- Higher sample rates / bit depths result in larger file sizes and considerably higher CPU consumption which can lead to stuttering during playback! For common projects we recommend using 44.1 or 48 kHz at 16 bit.
- Mixdown is rendered to a WAV file with the project's sample rate and bit depth.
- Different device models support different sample rates. Some devices only support 48 kHz, unless external hardware is connected. 96 kHz is only available if audio hardware that supports this sample rate is connected.
- Bit Resolution
- This setting only affects audio recordings. Possible bit depth values are 16 and 24 bit for the recorded wav files. Increasing this value only makes sense if an audio device is connected that supports the higher bit rate.
- Undo History Size
- The size of the available undo history can be configured, from 50 to 500 steps. Once the undo history reaches the selected size, the oldest undo step will be discarded with each new editing action.
The Clear History button immediately deletes the whole undo history of the current project.
Arranger
- Background Color
- Choose between a bright, grey and dark background color on the arranger.
- Screen Mode
- Allows to choose a preset to change the size and arrangement of the Cubasis user interface.
- Arm Selected Track
- If enabled, selecting a track will automatically enable recording on it and vice versa. Manually armed tracks will not be influenced by this.
- Low Waveform Quality
- If enabled, audio events in the track list are displayed with a lower detail level, which reduces the CPU and disk load. If you experience stuttering during playback or scrolling, enable this setting.
- Return To Start Position On Stop
- When playback is stopped, the playhead jumps back to the position it originally started at.
- Audiobus Panel Position
- Choose your desired location of the audiobus overlay panel (bottom / left / right).
Audio
- Background Audio
-
If background audio is switched on, Cubasis playback will continue in the background, even if you press the home button or start another app. Combined with MIDI, background audio provides a set of useful possibilities:
- Play live to a Cubasis backing track with another music app.
- Play live to music coming from another app with Cubasis instruments.
- Press the sleep / wake button to switch off your screen during a long playback.
- Hardware Latency
-
The latency value determines your device's audio buffer length in milliseconds. Possible values range from 1.5 ms (64 samples at 44.1 kHz) to 11.6 ms (512 samples at 44.1 kHz).
Note: As this is an iOS wide setting that applies to all apps, only the first audio app you have launched is permitted to change it. If altering the latency in Cubasis is impossible, another audio app is blocking access. This can be solved in two ways:
- Use said app to change the latency.
- Terminate all apps (including Cubasis), then launch Cubasis first.
- Engine Buffering
- The audio engine's internal buffer can be set in milliseconds. Cubasis renders this amount of milliseconds in advance, thereby preventing crackling and ensuring smooth playback performance.
If you experience crackling noise, increase this value, but be aware that this also increases the latency between input (e.g. pressing a keyboard key, or audio monitoring) and audio output.
Note that if turned off, all rendering is performed on the operating system's audio thread, which is not recommended, but can be beneficial in certain situations. - Studio Quality
On iOS, enabling this mode minimizes all input and output signal processing that is normally applied by iOS. This can significantly reduce the output volume.
On Android, this setting only minimizes the input signal processing (output is unaffected) and maximizes the system's sample rate conversion quality, in case automatic sample rate conversion must be applied.- Audio Recording Offset Compensation
- The I/O loopback latency inherent in every system leads to audio recordings being out of sync with the metronome on the track.
If this value is set to the exact loopback latency of your device (and external hardware setup), audio recordings will be in sync without the need of manually nudging recorded audio events to the right position.
Tap the Calibrate button and follow the instructions to automatically set this value. - Bluetooth / AirPlay
-
Enables Bluetooth / AirPlay transmission.
- As both Bluetooth and AirPlay conflict with audio recording, this option will automatically be turned off once you start audio recording.
- Both services operate with fairly high latency.
- Bluetooth: Make sure you have turned on Bluetooth in your device settings and paired your device with a Bluetooth accessory (headphones / speakers).
- Airplay: If an AirPlay device is connected via WiFi, an additional popup will allow you to select it. Everything else is configured in your device's iOS settings.
- Input Gain
Adjust the input gain scale with this slider if the recorded audio material is too quiet or if clipping occurs although the track's volume is set to 0dB or less. On iOS, the input gain slider is only enabled if an audio device that supports input gain scaling is connected (some devices also support internal microphone gain adjustment).
- Play audio tracks while recording
If enabled, existing audio events on a track are audible while recording or monitoring on the track.
By default, this setting is disabled which means that audio events on this track won't be played if monitoring is enabled of if the track is being recorded on.
MIDI
- MIDI input Only for Armed Track
- If turned on, this option limits MIDI input signals to record-enabled tracks only, e.g. if you are playing on an external keyboard, it will only be registered if its corresponding track has recording enabled.
- Send MIDI Clock
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If MIDI clock is activated, the following signals are sent to all the connected MIDI devices and background apps:
- MIDI clock is sent continuously during playback.
- MIDI start, continue and stop messages are sent when playback is toggled.
- The MIDI song position pointer is sent when the playhead is positioned.
- MIDI clock can only be used to synchronize MIDI data, not digital audio.
- Cubasis does not support being a MIDI clock slave (i.e. cannot receive MIDI clock parameters from other devices).
- Note Coloring
- Choose which coloring scheme is applied to notes in the Key Editor: Track color, velocity value or key.
- MIDI over Bluetooth
- The MIDI over Bluetooth LE (low energy) functionality lets Cubasis send or receive MIDI data to or from other Bluetooth-enabled devices. The following combinations are possible:
- iOS device → iOS device
- iOS device ↔ Mac
- Compatible MIDI hardware ↔ iOS device
To set up a connection, first make sure that Bluetooth is turned on in the device's settings.
There are two ways to connect with another MIDI device:
- Host mode will open a selection window showing discoverable devices. Once paired with a client, the paired device will become selectable as MIDI input / output in the Inspector's Routing section. Best used when utilizing Cubasis as central DAW with MIDI hardware or a second iOS device as client.
- As Client, turning on Advertise MIDI Service makes your iOS device visible to other devices seeking a connection. Once you've confirmed the host device's pairing request and a connection is established, select the host device as MIDI input / output in the Inspector's Routing section. Best used when connecting to a second host iOS device or Mac.
Keys / Pads
- White Keys Touchable Between Black Keys
- This allows white keys to be touched in the area between the black keys. Turn this mode off to make touches in the upper area apply to the nearest black key (which allows for easier playing on black keys / swiping).
- Velocity Sensitive
- When enabled, Cubasis detects note velocity upon touch of a key or pad. Keys are loudest when touched at the bottom; Pads attain the highest velocity at the center.
- Transpose
- Transposition shifts notes that are played on the keyboard or received via MIDI input up or down, to a maximum of +/- 24 semitones (2 octaves).
- Label All Keys
- Enable this setting to show labels for all keyboard keys (C to B) instead of just the C.
Metronome
- Volume / Pan
- Volume and pan are applied to all metronome clicks, even to precount (which is still active even when you have turned the metronome off).
Mixdown / Freeze

- Real-time Mixdown and Freeze
- Using real-time mixdown helps inter-app routing to stay stable during mixdown and improves the accuracy and timing of your rendered song.
- Unfreeze Deletes Audio Track
- Normally, the clone track is deleted when you unfreeze a track. Disable this setting to keep the clone track. This can also be handy for creating a quick mixdown of just one track by freezing and immediately unfreezing it.
- FLAC Compression Level
- The FLAC compression levels range from 0 (fast decoding, large file size) to 8 (slow decoding, small file size). They do not have any impact on quality, as the exported files are lossless representations of the original audio data.
M4A Bitrate
- The bit rate determines the quality of an .m4a mixdown. The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality and file size, respectively.
- Track Freeze Uses Mixdown Settings
- Allows to apply the mixdown settings such as "Normalize" or "Mixdown between locators" to track freeze. In addition, the Settings button enables the direct access to the mixdown settings.
iOS Settings for Cubasis 3
