Hey there guys, I wanted to share with you a methodology that I have put together to allow any Virus TI user to make complete use of all 6 stereo outputs.
Getting everything hooked up
For this to work, you're going to have to purchase one of the following sets of cables:
- 1 x S/PDIF (for OUTPUT 1) and 4 x TSR cables (for OUTPUTS 2 and 3)
- 6 x TSR cables (for OUTPUTS 1, 2 and 3)
You'll naturally also need an audio interface which accepts 1 x S/PDIF input and 4 x balance analog inputs or 6 x balanced analog inputs.
If you wish to have the closest representation of the sound as you would get with the USB audio on your Virus TI, then you should go for the first option whereby you make use of the S/PDIF on your Virus TI.
Once you have purchased these cables, hook each of the respective outputs up to your audio card inputs. I own an RME Fireface UC and have everything hooked up as follows:
- Virus TI S/PDIF O (digital OUTPUT 1) -> RME Fireface UC S/PDIF IN
- Virus TI OUTPUT 2 L/R -> RME Fireface UC BALANCED LINE INPUTS 5 & 6
- Virus TI OUTPUT 3 L/R -> RME Fireface UC BALANCED LINE INPUTS 7 & 8
Important: Ensure that these inputs are muted in your audio card's mixer console.
Creating an external instrument to facilitate the 3 extra stereo outputs
Using external instruments in Cubase is awesome because it properly delay compensates the remaining 3 stereo inputs that would otherwise be unused. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Go to Devices / VST Connections
- Select the External Instruments tab
- Click on Add External Instrument, set Stereo Return(s) to 3 and change the name to Virus TI Extra (or any other name you like)
- Expand the instrument and associate each Return Bus to the related input on your audio interface so that Return Bus 1 corresponds to Virus TI OUTPUT 1 and so on
The resulting external instrument should look something like this 
[Blockierte Grafik: http://s22.postimg.org/hkxvzv035/Virus_TI_Extra_External_Instrument.png]
Using the external instrument to get access to the additional outputs
Now when starting a new tune, create an instance of Virus TI Extra in addition to your usual Virus TI and activate all outputs for each of these 2 instruments. I tend to drag the 3 additional outputs into the Virus TI folder on the arrange page and delete the Virus TI Extra folder like so...
[Blockierte Grafik: http://s30.postimg.org/tzigajsq9/Virus_TI_Arrange_Page.png]
A final thing I always do is add an additional +2db of input gain to any channels which are coming through analog inputs to compensate for the level reduction through the D/A converters of the Virus TI. You may wish to measure the difference on your setup too but on mine, the analog outputs were 2db quieter than the USB and digital outputs. I use the input trim to compensate for this difference.
In addition, you should enable Solo defeat on the 3 Virus TI Extra channels so that they remain soloed when you solo a Virus TI MIDI channel. You can enable Solo defeat by holding down Alt and clicking on the Solo button for each Virus TI Extra channel.
Here's what your mixer should end up looking like:
[Blockierte Grafik: http://s21.postimg.org/5o5upfdg7/Virus_TI_Mixer_Setup.png]
Using all the outputs
If you've made it this far, then everything should be ready to rock! You may now use ALL the 6 stereo output choices for any part.
As such:
- Out1 L+R -> Virus TI Extra 1
- Out2 L+R -> Virus TI Extra 2
- Out3 L+R -> Virus TI Extra 3
- USB 1 -> Virus TI 1
- USB 2 -> Virus TI 2
- USB 3 -> Virus TI 3
Note: Naturally, using the Direct output for any part will now send the output to Virus TI Extra 1 and won't be zero latency since it's now going through your audio card's latency. If you use a pretty low latency (256 samples or lower), then this should still be very easy to work with. Another point to be aware of is that any VST effects you apply to Virus TI Extra 1 will be heard when you use Direct monitoring so consider keeping this channel pretty clean (perhaps it's a good idea to use this as your main summing channel for channels which won't go through independent processing).
Hope that someone out there finds this helpful!