FX chain order

[HenryBurlingame]

Due to my hardware and mixer send/return limitations I am having some trouble deciding where to put my oto boum (compression and distortion) in my fx chain.

I think I have decided to put it before my delay and reverb hardware but I am not sure whether to add it before or after filtering (I am using a bugbrand crossover filter to split a mono signal into stereo using the three different filter outputs).

One option would be to add the boum to the final chain at the end of my signal processing (boum->stereo delay->stereo reverb->recorder).

My other option would be to use the boum on a mono send with mono or stereo return. The issue here is that if I filter first then the portion of the three filter outputs that I send to it are summed to mono and lose their stereo position. But I could filter after the boum instead and then not lose stereo position information.

So I am wondering how you all like to order your FX. Delay, reverb, filtering, distortion, compression, eq, etc. I am sure hearing how you do it would really help and will give me some new idea to try out! Thanks!

[th0mas]

Sounds like you might have enough gear to make it worthwhile to get a patchbay, so you can mix and match to your heart's content.

[Dave Peck]

.... and a mixer with several post fader / post EQ sends, enough for each parallel effect, and then bring the FX back into spare input channels (not into FX returns) so you can EQ the FX signals and use the sends on THOSE channels to cascade each effect into the other effects.

[HenryBurlingame]

.... and a mixer with several post fader / post EQ sends, enough for each parallel effect, and then bring the FX back into spare input channels (not into FX returns) so you can EQ the FX signals and use the sends on THOSE channels to cascade each effect into the other effects.

I feel lucky just to have a mixer with 3 mono sends and a stereo sub I can use as a stereo send (Tascam model 16). Mixers seem to have fewer and fewer sends as the years go by...

[Dave Peck]

Yup. My mixer has five post-fader sends. I really wish that sixth send could be switched to post-fader so I could use it as another FX send....

[thomachine]

Do you have a spare bus on your mixer? I use a bus to send tracks to my compressor, and Analog Heat. So i can use the sends for reverb and delay effects.

[deft_bonz]

There is no "order" that suits all. It really depends what you try to achieve.

A compressor in front of the FX chain will "tame" or shape your source signal (even further, if you don't have one already on the source). That is one solution I never used. There is usually a compressor already added to the source, if it need compression.

A compressor will make sense in that place, after an effect, that will produce highly dynamic sounds, so the sound might benefit from compression. That place can be anywhere after the first effect. But maybe you want that dynamic sound going into the next effect? Then maybe after the second effect. And so on.

But if you need to shape the sound, not necessarily compressing it, then probably as first unit in the chain.

On the other hand, if you have a delay as a first effect in the chain and you want to bring those delay trails upfront, then right after the delay.

Maybe you can get some dynamic control and loudness with distortion as well. That might even sound better. Then the quest for the right place begins all over again.

...you see, it really depends what you are trying to achieve


PS: If there is no dynamic in the sound or the sound doesn't need shaping, just don't use a compressor. Only use tools, where they really are needed.

[Technologear?]

Try this:
FX send A to BB COfilter.
Bass out into Overdrive then return into channel 1
Mix out into Boum into delay into reverb then return channel 2

Be careful not to FX send from channel 1 or 2 into the chain unintentionally. Intentionally is fine just go slow.

If this sounds too different or disrupting to your current setup, save the suggestion somewhere to revisit later.