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File Preparation & Delivery

How to Export Stems in Cubase for Mixing (Step-by-Step Guide)

Use Cubase’s Audio Mixdown window to export every channel as a clean, labelled stem in one pass, without printing your master limiter.

Bounce stems in Cubase video guide thumbnail by Mix & Master Engineers

Cubase can export every track in your project as its own audio file in a single pass, which makes it one of the easiest DAWs to send stems from. The catch is that the export window has a lot of options, and one wrong tick can give your mix engineer files that start at different times or have your master bus limiter printed on every track.

This guide walks you through a clean stem export in Cubase, the same way DGUNZ shows it in his short video for the "How to Export Stems in Any DAW" series.

▶ Watch the stem export videos on YouTube

Before you export

  • Finish the arrangement. Delete or disable tracks you are not using, so they don't export as empty files.
  • Name every channel. Cubase can name each file after its channel, so "Audio 07" becomes a problem for your engineer later.
  • Set the locators. Place the left locator at the start of the song (bar 1 is safest) and the right locator a bar or two after the last sound, so reverb and delay tails ring out.
  • Bypass anything on the Stereo Out that is only there to make the rough mix louder, such as a limiter or maximizer. Keep it on for a separate rough-mix export.

How to export stems in Cubase, step by step

1. Check that the left and right locators cover the whole song, including the tails. 2. Open File > Export > Audio Mixdown. 3. In the channel list on the left, switch to multiple channel export (in recent versions you simply tick more than one channel; older versions call this Channel Batch Export) and tick every audio, instrument and group channel you want as a separate file. 4. Leave the Stereo Out unticked for the stems. Export it separately as your rough mix. 5. Set File Location, and choose to name each file after its channel so every stem is clearly labelled. 6. Set File Type to Wave, Bit Depth to 24 bit and Sample Rate to the project's sample rate. 7. Leave Real-Time Export off unless an external instrument or plug-in needs it. 8. Turn off the options that import the files back into the project, so your session stays tidy. 9. Click Export and wait for every channel to finish.

Prefer to follow along? ▶ Watch the video series

Recommended export settings

  • File type: Wave (WAV)
  • Bit depth: 24 bit
  • Sample rate: same as your project (44.1 kHz or 48 kHz)
  • Start point: left locator at the very start of the song
  • Length: right locator after the last tail
  • Normalize: off
  • Stereo Out processing: bypassed for stems, on for the rough mix

Common Cubase export mistakes

  • Locators set to one section. If the locators were left around the chorus you were working on, every stem will only contain the chorus. Check them every time.
  • Group and track exported together. If you tick both a group channel and the tracks feeding it, the same sound arrives twice. Choose one or the other.
  • Instrument tracks rendering as silence. Make sure VST instruments are active and that their outputs are routed to channels you have ticked.
  • Master limiter left on. It squashes each stem differently from your rough mix. Bypass it before exporting.

Check your stems before you send them

Open a new empty project at the same sample rate, import every file at bar 1 and press play. It should sound like your rough mix. Then put the stems, the rough mix and a short note in one folder and zip it.

From the studio: what I check first in Cubase sessions

In more than 15 years of mixing, the Cubase problem I see most is stems that stop at the wrong place because the locators were left around one section. The second is a group channel exported alongside the tracks inside it, so the drums arrive twice. Both are easy to avoid once you know to look. If you are sending a rock or live band session, export each microphone as its own file. For electronic projects, keep your kick and bass on separate channels so I can control the low end.

Stem export guides for other DAWs

Using a different DAW, or working with a producer who does? Each guide below has its own short video:

Ready for a professional mix?

Send your Cubase stems for online mixing, compare packages and pricing, or contact the studio and ask for a free sample mix before you book.

Keep reading

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About the author: Charles "DGUNZ" Alison is the lead mixing and mastering engineer at Mix & Master Engineers, with 15+ years of experience across hip-hop, Afrobeats, gospel, R&B, pop and more. He trained at Point Blank Music School (UK), is an approved Apple Digital Masters provider, and is a Top Rated, Vetted Pro engineer on Fiverr with 2,200+ client reviews. Meet the engineer · Contact the studio