CUBE

User Manual
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Global

1. CUBE’s user interface is structured into five major tabs: Main, Sounds, Orbits, Mod,
and Effects. All of these tabs are accessible from the top center panel.

2. The compact Preset Browser displays the currently loaded Preset. Clicking inside the
Preset field opens the full-size Preset Browser. The user can also click on the left and
right Arrow keys to navigate Presets alphabetically.

3. Eco Mode – The engine features an Eco Mode that preserves valuable system
resources. Eco Mode uses a single sound source per preset and deactivates Orbit
features.

4. Randomize – Looking for inspiration? CUBE features three Randomize buttons that
change either the Sound, Orbit, or FX settings of the current preset.
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5. Modulators – The CUBE engine features five assignable modulation sources; 4 LFOs
and a Macro knob. Just click on Modulators on the bottom right to reveal the modulation
sources, then click-drag them to any highlighted parameter. Handy!

6. Cube Graphics (On/Off) – It’s just for the looks, baby! Toggle off this visual feature to
save valuable system resources. Don’t worry, the sound will stay exactly the same.

7. Global Controls – This quick access menu lets you tweak the Ether, Macro, Filter, and
Volume controls from anywhere in CUBE.

8. MIDI Panic – At Lunacy Audio, we understand that all good things have to come to an
end. If you ever find a stuck note that keeps playing, just click our MIDI Panic button and
CUBE will reset all MIDI messages.

9. Settings – Opens the Settings menu. Features are sorted by the tabs Engine, MIDI,
Updates, and Info.

10. Credits – If you’ve ever wondered about the bright sparks behind CUBE, click the _L.
symbol to reveal their names!

11. Tooltip – Located at the bottom left, this handy little textfield describes the function of
most buttons and knobs as you hover over them. And who doesn’t love to have an
assistant?
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CUBE Settings

Engine
This tab manages CUBE’s default audio and graphic settings.

Driver (standalone only) – The driver type. On Windows you should choose ASIO (on macOS
it's CoreAudio by default).

Audio Device (standalone only) – Select from the audio devices registered on your system.

Output (standalone only) – Select your preferred audio output based on your current audio
device.

Buffer Size (standalone only) – Higher values increase your system’s headroom to process
audio cleanly. They also increase performance latency (the time between a struck note and its
sound). Lower values are recommended for performances and recording.
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Sample Rate (standalone only) – CUBE supports 44,1 and 48 Khz sample rates.

Global BPM (standalone only) – When LFOs or Orbit Motion are tempo synced, they move
rhythmically to the music tempo (BPM). You can set the BPM value of the standalone edition
anywhere between 60 –179.

UI Zoom Factor – Bigger is better: Customize your CUBE interface size from 50-200%.

Use OpenGL – By default, this is set to “Yes”, which forces the engine to render the user
interface on the computer’s GPU rather than CPU. If you have an older GPU and experience
issues with the plugin responsiveness, set this to “No” to render the user interface using the
CPU.

Streaming Mode – Optimize loading times by selecting the type of harddrive that stores your
sample folder.

Max Voices – Each played note uses a number of voices. We already did the math and
recommend you leave this feature at its default value. However, you may heighten the voice
count if notes sound cut short, or lower it to preserve CPU resources.

Clear MIDI CC – This button removes any preset-specific MIDI CC assignments. Use with
caution, as this command can not be undone.
Change sample folder location – If you prefer to store your samples at a different location, you
can select this path here.

Show Bottom Tooltip – Here you can toggle on/off your little assistant in the bottom left corner.

Cube Graphics Colors – Add some color to your sound? Here you can customize the user
interface color grading per preset.
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MIDI
This tab controls how CUBE responds to incoming MIDI data.

Main CCs – Here you can assign Continuous Controller (CC) numbers to the Ether slider and
the Macro, Filter, and Volume knobs.

Orb CCs – The assigned X, Y, and Z axis CCs control the Orb’s position in the Cube. Spoiler
alert: These controllers only work when the Orb is standing still.

Pitch Bend Range – This option lets you adjust the range of your pitch bend wheel, up to 12
semitones in each direction.

MIDI Automation – Any controllers assigned through Learn MIDI CC are saved per patch and
show up here. We like housekeeping.

MIDI Input – This feature only appears in the standalone version. The panel lists any MIDI
devices known to your system. Select a device name to receive MIDI data from it.
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MIDI Channels – CUBE listens for incoming MIDI data on different channels. It’s a bit like
finding the right radio frequency. This feature can usually remain set to All Channels – unless
you’re feeling fancy, of course.

Updates
Keep CUBE up-to-date at the click of a button. This tab also displays your current CUBE version
and lets you manage your available license activations.
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Info
A collection of support weblinks, provided for your convenience. You’re welcome!
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Preset Browser

The top left panel shows the available Preset Folders, including factory presets and expansion
packs. Left clicking on a folder displays its presets. Right clicking on a folder reveals a
dropdown menu with folder editing options. Users can create their own folders by clicking the
Add Folder + button.

CUBE offers several ways to find the right preset. Users may browse presets by category,
character, CPU-friendliness, author, recommendation, or completely at random. Make sure to
heart-tag your favorite presets. Clicking the heart symbol at the top left displays your favorite
presets.

The top right panel displays information about the currently loaded preset. The Notes reveal the
function of the Macro controller. Clicking on Edit Tags lets the user reassign a preset to the tag
options.

To save your own preset or an altered existing one, open the Preset Browser and click the Save
Preset button on the bottom right. The default path for saved presets is the User Folder.
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Main

This page is CUBE’s command central. We put the most impactful features right upfront to give
you ample sound control. The Main tab displays automatically whenever you load a new
instance of CUBE.

1. The Cube – This visual centerpiece of CUBE shows the Orb and Orbit along the X
(horizontal), Y (vertical), and Z (depth) axes. Each of the 8 Corners (A through H) can
carry its own sound source. The Orb’s momentary location determines how loud each
corner sounds in the mix. Hover over a corner to reveal its name and sound source.
Click on the loaded sound source to edit this corner. If Orbit Motion is switched off, users
may move the Orb horizontally and vertically by click dragging, and back and forth by
holding shift and dragging. Please note: The Cube deactivates in Eco Mode.

2. Orbit Motion (On/Off) – The Orbit speed setting determines how quickly the Orb
crossfades between the different corners. The user may switch between beat-synced
and fluid speed increments through the Division button.
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3. Ether (0–100%) – Each sound source consists of two layers with contrasting intensity.
You can think of it as a basic Layer 1 and an intensified Layer 2. The Ether Slider
crossfades between these two layers.

4. Macro (0–100%) – This controller can be assigned to modulate multiple modulation

targets simultaneously. You can access these assignments in the Mod tab under Mod
Matrix. Looking to get started? We recommend you browse a few factory presets to learn
more about the power of the Macro knob!

5. Filter (20 Hz–20 kHz) – We included this global low pass filter for quick access to preset
brightness. What’s more: You can choose to apply the filter before or after the FX chain,
for even more sonic control!
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Sounds
This page controls the sound sources of a preset. The Overview button displays the Global
Editor, while the corner labels (A through H) display the individual Corner Editors. A right click
on the corner labels opens a dropdown menu with handy copy and paste features.

Global Editor

Here you’ll find global playback controls and per-source mixing features. Think of the Global
Editor as a place to shape the sound of a preset as a whole.

1. Behavior – The following buttons apply to all sound sources:

Reverse All – Plays back all corner sources in reverse direction. Please note:
Pads and naturally looping sources cannot be reversed.
Loop All – Repeats playback for each corner until the note is released.
Monophonic All – Allows only one note per corner to sound at a time. This
feature is useful for monophonic presets, such as basses or leads.
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2. Global Volume (-100 – -24db) – This knob controls the master volume output per
preset.

3. Global Envelope – These four sliders control the preset’s volume development over
time. They stand for:
Attack (0–8 sec): The time it takes a held note to reach its max volume
Decay (0–20 sec): The time it takes a held note after the Attack time to reach its
Sustain volume.
Sustain (-100–0 db): The volume at which a Decayed note remains
Release (0–30 sec): The time it takes a Released note to fade completely

Corner Sources
4. Letter – To help your orientation, each corner in CUBE is labeled with a fixed letter
(A–H). Yup, this one can’t be changed!

5. Waveform – The horizontal color stripes show the stereo waveform of each corner
source.

6. Sound Browser – This field displays the name of the current sound source. Click on the
arrows to navigate sources alphabetically, or click on the source name to open the
Sound Browser.

7. Power (On/Off) – You can always switch off a corner if you don’t need it. Deactivated
corners will improve system performance, but any selected sources will remain loaded in
the RAM.

8. Solo (On/Off) – Use the Solo button to conveniently listen to one source at a time. This
feature temporarily deactivates the orb and orbit, but preserves any panning of the
soloed source.

9. Reverse, Loop, Monophonic (On/Off) – If activated, these corner-specific buttons

override any settings in the Global Editor.

10. Randomize Sound – Feeling lucky? This feature loads a random sound source in that
corner. Careful, there’s no undo function!

11. Volume Knob and Meter – Finetune and monitor the volume balance between different
corners.

Sound Browser – This tab features a powerful sound search system. Browse sound sources by
character tags, or scroll alphabetically. Selecting two or more tags narrows the results down to
those sources that match all tags. Press Clear Tags to quickly reset your search parameters.
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Corner Editor

Each of the 8 corner sources can be edited individually. The top middle section contains
1. Power, Solo, Randomize, and FX Bypass buttons. The sample section includes the
corner-specific playback features 2. Solo, Reverse, Loop, Monophonic, as well as an 3. ADSR
Envelope. If activated, these features override any global settings. The Corner Editor also
allows for adjusting the 4. Sample Start position.

The Basic view further includes:

5. A Tone section with a highpass and lowpass filter, as well as a color knob that works
as a formant filter.
6. An Adjustments section with a Pan and Tuning knob. Pro Tip: The Tuning knob moves
in semitone steps when click-dragged, but can be adjusted in microtonal increments by
shift-click entering decimal values.
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The Tweak view includes an arpeggio section and a set of utility features. The arpeggio section
becomes active when a source is looped.

1. Loop Time (On/Off) – Choose the length of the sample to be looped. Press the
Dotted or Triplet buttons to access further loop time increments.

2. Arpeggiator – Choose from the available patterns (Chord, Up, Down, Up-Down,
Down-Up, Random) to set the order of arpeggiated notes. Activate MIDI Thru to play
both the initially played notes and arpeggios. The Octave knob sets the arpeggio range
and the Swing knob sets the timing between odd and even arpeggio steps. Finally, the
Steps knob determines the number of arpeggio steps in the Arp Steps section.

3. Arp Steps – You may independently change the Length, Velocity and Pitch of each
arpeggio step. Left click-dragging draws values like a freehand tool, while right
click-dragging draws a straight line. Need inspiration? The Presets menu holds several
grooves to get you started. You can also save your own arp step presets and access the
preset folder for convenient sharing.

4. Stereo Width (0% – 200%) – This knob adjusts the stereo image of a source. 0% is
mono, 100% is the original stereo signal, and 200% is a widened stereo signal.
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5. Glide (0–2sec) – This feature sets the time it takes for pitch to glide between two
legato played notes. Please note: Glide is only available for monophonic, unlooped
sources.

6. Key Range (C-2 – C7) – Sometimes you may want to limit the range of a particular
source on your MIDI controller. Click-drag the left value to set the bottom, and the right
value to set the top playable note.

7. Pitch Tracking – CUBE’s percussion sounds were recorded at only one pitch.
Deactivate Pitch Tracking if you’d like CUBE to preserve the sample’s original pitch
across the key range. The Pitch Tracking option is exclusively available for non-pitched
percussion sources.
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Orbits

This tab controls the orbit path and speed of a preset. The Cube and Orbit Motion sections
remain the same as in the Main tab. Please note: The Orbits tab is deactivated in Eco Mode.

1. Orbits – CUBE comes with over 40 factory Orbit Presets, searchable by tags. That’s
plenty of dough to get you started! In case we left out your favorite cookie shape, feel
free to shape your own creations: Click on Edit to tweak an existing Orbit Preset, or click
on Create New Orbit. CUBE features two unique Orbit editors:

2. Enable Orbit – Because sound and space are an integral part of CUBE, the Orbit is
enabled by default. If disabled, the Orb can be click-dragged on the X and Y axes. The
Orb can also be moved on the Z axis by shift-click-dragging.

3. Path – These settings control the continuity, intensity and starting position of the Orb’s
path.
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4. Rotation – The X, Y, and Z knobs rotate the Orbit by axis, up to 360º. The Mirror buttons
mirror the Orbit 180º around each axis. These allow you to quickly transform the orbit
without needing to adjust the customizers.

5. Orbit Motion - Modify the duration of the orbit path by either tempo synced beats, or
milliseconds.

6. Create New Orbit

a. Orbit Stepper – Select and position up to 16 travel coordinates in the Cube.
Next, decide if the Orbit Path moves on Smooth straight lines or Jumps between
coordinates.

b. Axis Sculptor – Design the Orbit behavior independently by axis. There are six
path modules available for each axis:

i. Basic Shapes – The Sine, Triangle, Saw, and Square modules apply
traditional oscillator shapes to the Orbit. Use Cycles, Min, Max, and Offset
to shape the oscillator shapes as needed.

ii. Path – Create and click-drag custom nodes to shape the Orbit path.
Right-click to delete path points. Scroll to change the curve of each line.

iii. Manual – The Orb remains stationary on the Axis Pos knob’s value. Each
Axis CC knob can be assigned a CC number that controls the Orb’s
stationary axis position. If the Orbit is deactivated, only the Manual
modules are available.

Make sure to Save and name your Orbit! You can access any presets through the Folder
symbol. Also know that an Orbit Preset can only be tweaked in the editor it was created. All
factory Orbit Presets were made using the Axis Sculptor.
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Mod

Modulators

CUBE offers a total of 5 modulation sources; 1 Macro controller and 4 independent LFOs with
identical features, which may also function as Step Sequencers. Click on an LFO’s Steps button
to switch between oscillator shapes and steps. Please note: If switching to Steps view, the
Offset knob is replaced with a Steps knob.

1. LFO (On/Off)

2. Shapes – Choose between Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, and a Custom shape with
freely placeable nodes. Click-drag to place a new node and Cmd+click to remove a
node.
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3. Rate – Select the speed at which the LFO moves. The sync button switches between
BPM and Herz units. You may also choose whether to Retrigger the LFO with each new
note, and whether to Loop the LFO pattern continuously.

4. Intensity (0%–100%) – This knob controls by what percentage the LFO affects a
modulation target.

5. Fade In (0–3sec) – Here you can set the time for the LFO to fade in and fully affect the
modulation target.

6. Smoothing (0-1sec) – Smooths the LFO shape by softening the curves.

7. Offset (0–100%) – Set the starting position in the LFO cycle.

8. Steps (1–32) – Left click-drag to freehand step values, or right click-drag to draw values
in a straight line.
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Mod Matrix

For those interested in advanced modulation, CUBE offers a Mod Matrix tab with 16 modulation
assignment options. Any modulation assignments you create for a preset will display here.

1. Index – This list displays the Source, Intensity, and Target for each modulation
assignment. Click on any parameter to change it. Each modulation assignment also
includes a Power and Delete button. Please note that the Source of a modulation
assignment can only be changed if its Target is assignable to other Sources.

2. Target Selection – Macros and LFOs have different modulation target options, sorted by
categories: Global, Corners, Orbits, Mods, FX. If the selected modulation target is
incompatible for the other modulation source, the source selection arrow disappears. To
resolve this, either delete the modulation, or select a compatible parameter.
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Effects

CUBE offers 8 serial effects modules, flowing from left to right: Filter, EQ, Distortion, Dynamics,
Chorus, Delay, Reverb, and Limiter. Effects can be switched on/off by clicking the small circles
on top right of each effects tab. All effects tabs also have one or more power buttons, depending
on the number of sub-modules they house.

Filter – Choose between 4 Filter types; Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass, and Notch. Adjust the
Frequency and Q knobs with the help of the Filter Display. Or use your ears!

EQ – Click-drag to create and position a new EQ band. Right click on the number to change the
band type, bypass or delete the band. Right-click anywhere else in the EQ Display for the option
to delete all bands.

Dist – 3 independent distortion sub-modules to mangle your sound:

Saturator – One knob only – simple is good.
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Waveshaper – Choose from 5 Types; Subtle, Crispy, Toasty, Cooked, and On Fire.
Adjust the Intensity knob to dial in the desired impact. Done!

Bitcrusher – Make it lofi! Reduce Bits and Sample Rate, then adjust the Brightness as
necessary. Control the overall effect through the Mix knob.

Dyn – This module features a compressor and common controls. Adjust the Input and Output
knobs to control how much signal enters and leaves the compressor. Set the Threshold and
Ratio to determine how much and how aggressively the signal is compressed. Finetune the
Attack and Release knobs as necessary to achieve more musical results. Activate the Comp
Makeup gain for algorithmic gain compensation – or if you’re feeling lazy.

Chorus – This module features 2 independent, phase-based effect sub-modules:

Chorus – Set Intensity and Mix to achieve the effect you’re after.

Phase – A classic phase effect with feedback control, frequency melding, and a mix
knob.

Delay – Dial in the Left and Right delay time independently for cool stereo effects. Adjust the
Feedback to control the delay’s decay time. Click the Tempo Sync button to switch between
BPM synced and non-synced delay time values.

Reverb – CUBE offers both a Simple algorithmic, and a Convolution reverb.

Simple – Set the desired stereo Width, frequency Damping, and room Size.

Convolution – Load one of the 7 Impulse Responses, then tweak the Post-Convolution
EQ as needed. The EQ Display responds to the same commands as the EQ effects module.

Limiter – This module builds the end of the effects chain and limits the outcoming signal.
Adjust the Threshold to control how hard the limiter works. Adjust Attack and Release as
appropriate to achieve more musical results. Use the Post-Gain knob to adjust the output signal
strength.