Please help me understand aux systems

[farview]

You set the effects unit that you connected fo the aux output to 100% wet.

[Nate Dort]

To set it to 100% wet, do I turn the aux gain all the way up and leave the aux master fader in the shaded area?

No, 100% wet on your outboard effect. As in no unaffected signal being passed through the outboard gear. Most reverbs have a "blend" control, though it's sometimes referred to as "dry/wet." It's purely a function of your gear, not the console.

[farview]

To set it to 100% wet, do I turn the aux gain all the way up and leave the aux master fader in the shaded area?

set the effects unit that you connected to the aux output to 100% wet.

[banana brains]

cool, thanks!

[ithoughticouldrelate]

Is it best to only pass one thing at a time through an outboard effect (assuming you're going to use the same settings anyhow, just a different amount of dry/wet)? For instance, an outboard reverb you want to throw on the bass and a snare. Would you typically have everything but the bass turned down on the aux send, get the wet/dry mix you like, and then bounce that to a separate track / .wav file in a DAW, then turn down the bass aux send, turn up the snare aux send, and repeat?

I've heard of the (sometimes revered, sometimes hated) 2-buss compressor, but in general is running lots different signals through an aux a "bad" idea (outside of like a double-performance/double-track of the same source, for instance)?

Edit: Sorry, that's kind of convoluted. I guess what I'm saying is: you individually apply the reverb effect to your snare and bass and bounce them separately. Then you simply play the originals (not bounced) with the effect on at the same time. Any difference sonically or in terms of mix muddiness/mixing problems down the road? I know some people favor the mix-buss compression for "glue," but with a lot of effects/channels, you don't necessarily WANT them to be that "glued!"

[farview]

Is it best to only pass one thing at a time through an outboard effect (assuming you're going to use the same settings anyhow, just a different amount of dry/wet)? For instance, an outboard reverb you want to throw on the bass and a snare. Would you typically have everything but the bass turned down on the aux send, get the wet/dry mix you like, and then bounce that to a separate track / .wav file in a DAW, then turn down the bass aux send, turn up the snare aux send, and repeat?

I've heard of the (sometimes revered, sometimes hated) 2-buss compressor, but in general is running lots different signals through an aux a "bad" idea (outside of like a double-performance/double-track of the same source, for instance)?

Edit: Sorry, that's kind of convoluted. I guess what I'm saying is: you individually apply the reverb effect to your snare and bass and bounce them separately. Then you simply play the originals (not bounced) with the effect on at the same time. Any difference sonically or in terms of mix muddiness/mixing problems down the road? I know some people favor the mix-buss compression for "glue," but with a lot of effects/channels, you don't necessarily WANT them to be that "glued!"

This makes absolutely no sense. If you want less reverb on the bass than you do on the snare, you just turn the aux on the bass channel up less. That feeds less bass signal to the reverb.

The only reason to d what you are suggesting is if you want a completely different effect on the bass than you do on the snare. Even then, it only applies when you don't have enough effects processors or aux sends to use them at the same time.


You don't use an aux send for mix buss compression, you insert the compressor on a mix buss.

[dfuruta]

I guess what I'm saying is: you individually apply the reverb effect to your snare and bass and bounce them separately. Then you simply play the originals (not bounced) with the effect on at the same time. Any difference sonically or in terms of mix muddiness/mixing problems down the road? I know some people favor the mix-buss compression for "glue," but with a lot of effects/channels, you don't necessarily WANT them to be that "glued!"

The amount of difference between these two approaches will depend on the effects box in question. With a compressor, for example, the results will potentially be quite different: when you compress the aux with both the snare and bass, the bass is getting compressed in response to peaks on the snare and vice versa. I suspect that a reverb would be more similar in the two cases.

[vvv]

Even when in the box, if you render a pair thru an effect, or render them separately, it can make a difference. For example, a left and a right backing vocal into a stereo plate reverb effect: run together they have a smoother, more "unified" sound, whereas run separately they sound more distinct from each other.

[ithoughticouldrelate]

This makes absolutely no sense. If you want less reverb on the bass than you do on the snare, you just turn the aux on the bass channel up less. That feeds less bass signal to the reverb.

The only reason to d what you are suggesting is if you want a completely different effect on the bass than you do on the snare. Even then, it only applies when you don't have enough effects processors or aux sends to use them at the same time.

You don't use an aux send for mix buss compression, you insert the compressor on a mix buss.

Ah, cool thanks for clarifying. Sorry, my question was not well put...I know that if you just wanted a different amount of reverb on different stuff you'll just adjust aux send level/fader level (depending on if it's sending pre/post fader). I was mainly wondering if with outboard gear you ever get into trouble by sending too much stuff at it at once.

The amount of difference between these two approaches will depend on the effects box in question. With a compressor, for example, the results will potentially be quite different: when you compress the aux with both the snare and bass, the bass is getting compressed in response to peaks on the snare and vice versa. I suspect that a reverb would be more similar in the two cases.

Ah, that makes sense. So you might get an inadvertent "pumping/ducking" effect you wouldn't have wanted otherwise.

Thanks for the help! And sorry for such a noob question.

[ithoughticouldrelate]

Even when in the box, if you render a pair thru an effect, or render them separately, it can make a difference. For example, a left and a right backing vocal into a stereo plate reverb effect: run together they have a smoother, more "unified" sound, whereas run separately they sound more distinct from each other.

Oh, very cool! Do you notice a trend between the two applications (using them run together if the mix is already pretty full vs. separate if you need a little more "presence")? Or is it a "try it both ways and trust your ears" sort of thing like with say drum mic phase-switching?

[vvv]

The latter.

That said, I tend to pan a pair of BV's at mebbe 3:00 and 9:00 and buss them into whatever effects together to make em sound consistent. FWIW, my typical BV mix-down chain is L/R tracks to stereo-compressor/stereo-reverb (I record with compression, also).

Now, with L/R rhythm guitars, I tend to give each their own reverb onna insert (often with a stereo return). (But I'm more of a garage-rock than a math-rock guy, and never compress electric guitars.)