Pros and Cons of Send vs Insert?

[shonoob]

Hey guys,

I would like to start a discussion in regards to sends vs inserts, I recently read Maarten Vorwerk's pdf on production tips, and he said he prefers to use inserts over sends nowadays, since many computers are powerful enough and are able to using inserts vs sends.

I currently have 3 reverbs on sends, and a delay. But I am finding the delay send to be somewhat intrusive as I like to mix things up when it comes to delay, but at the same time I enjoy keeping delay at 100% wet and sending it as a pre-mix delay bus, so I am considering what I should with that.

Anyways, What do you guys think is the best way to use sends vs insert fx's? What way do you guys favor most?

Thanks!

[ImNotDedYet]

Advantages of Sends:
ability to send multiple tracks to same effect
ability to send pre-fader or post-fader
ability to process the effect itself both before and after, including EQing, compression and/or side-chaining
ability to control pan location and volume level of effect itself and route elsewhere if necessary

Disadvantages of Sends:
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The only place I use an effect like verb or delay as an insert is if I intend it to be part of the track's/instrument's actual sound. Otherwise, there's really no good use for it IMO and the advantages of sends far out-weight inserts - even with a great spec'd computer.

[spirit]

I always use insert fx. I tried for a while to do the "right" thing and use sends but found them really tedious. Then halfway through writing the song I find that I want to change something about the effect anyway, then I have to disconnect and insert the effect after all - which is what I instinctively wanted to start with. Often I'll use the same effect and same preset on multiple channels, but then will start to add individual automation and other subtle tweaks.

For me inserts just keep everything much more organized and flexible and I've never tipped the CPU over 40% on my most complex song.

I think sends are more for people who are used to hardware and traditional studio production.

[stillshaded]

I don't get it.

this strikes me as one of those threads that's like "what are the pro's and cons of using acoustic guitars vs. electric?"

I dunno. Use electric or acoustic. You're thinking too much.

[Krakatau]

I don't get it.

this strikes me as one of those threads that's like "what are the pro's and cons of using acoustic guitars vs. electric?"

I dunno. Use electric or acoustic. You're thinking too much.

this is purely technical strategy, so on that point of view, the guitars example comparison seems a bit irrelevant IMHO

if you want to simulate a live situation for an acoustic band for instance, you'll surely need to work with a single reverb in a send/return loop ,but then better use a stereo placer based on stereo phase shift as an insert effect for each instruments rather using pan pots
(...except if you use a single, multitimbral instance of a big sampler/sample player like independence in where such a live simulation is totally implemented into the included Origami reverb, AFAIK, likely true also for the aria engine, Kontakt (?) and, especially, the vienna MIR environment)

[BDeep]

I only use reverbs on sends, unless I have for instance a pad with a big washy reverb that's only used for that pad, then I use it on a send.
Using reverbs on sends glues things together a bit more. For everything else, I don't see the point.

[AnX]

Sends are useful if an effect doesnt have a wet/dry knob.

[Lotuzia]

Send effects : Time effects ( Reverb, Delay )
Insert effects : Modulation effects ( Chorus, Ring Mod, Phaser, Disto/crush etc ) EQ & dynamics processing

Sure, you can adopt different strategies in certain cases, like NY compression, depending on what you want to achieve, but these are somewhat classic starting points.

Btw these stategies are not related at all to any CPU considerations etc, but strictly related to audio processing, and workflow.

[BDeep]

Yeah but then I also differentiate between aux channels (send/return) and busses. The latter are useful for compression and the likes.

[nickamandote]

Send effects : Time effects ( Reverb, Delay )
Insert effects : Modulation effects ( Chorus, Ring Mod, Phaser, Disto/crush etc ) EQ & dynamics processing

+1

[ENV1]

In my opinion (and experience) this totally depends on the situation.

Usually:

Is the effect supposed to affect only one track in the song: Insert

Is the effect supposed to affect multiple tracks in the song: Send

So to me its not a matter of 'Pro and Con', but simply of 'What do i need here to achieve what i want to achieve'.

[foosnark]

Sends are useful if an effect doesnt have a wet/dry knob.

That's often why I use them. Also sometimes you want to sidechain or gate an effect from the dry signal, or run multiple FX in parallell. But for typical stuff I just use a send.

[Krakatau]

In my opinion (and experience) this totally depends on the situation.

Usually:

Is the effect supposed to affect only one track in the song: Insert

Is the effect supposed to affect multiple tracks in the song: Send

So to me its not a matter of 'Pro and Con', but simply of 'What do i need here to achieve what i want to achieve'.

in fact as you describe it, it's a question signal chain, you can include submit tracks as intending to affect multiple track similarly without affecting the whole mix

Pro and cons of a definition, if you allow me...

[btw]

I almost always put reverbs on sends. I'll usually have just a few different reverbs set up on aux channels; it's a balance between maintaining a sense of cohesion in the mix while being able to place elements at different layers of perceived distance from the listener. I'll send the signal of individual tracks or groups to one of these different aux channels according to where I want them in the "Z axis" of the spatial mix.

I could go either way with delay; if the effect is integral to the sound of the the track and won't be used on other tracks, then I'll use it as an insert. If I think I might want to put extra processing on the delay effect alone, which opens up a lot of creative possibilities, then setting it up as a send on an aux channel is the way to go. Then there are special applications like the "delay throw," which is a common device in many genres. I find it's most easily achieved by automating a track's send level to a delay on an aux channel. I also sometimes throw something like a single drum hit to a huge reverb with a long decay.

For most other processing (EQ, modulation, dynamics), I'll use an insert on individual tracks or groups.

That's just what I've learned to do. It's always worthwhile to experiment for yourself and use your ears!

[Krakatau]

For most other processing (EQ, modulation, dynamics), I'll use an insert on individual tracks or groups.

i' in the case, for one, agree with EQ and dynamic process, not necessarily with modulations