"Proper" way to work with external fx in a small DAW?

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DisplacedGopher

New member
I'm using Cubase on a really slow computer that can't handle a lot of plugins. I have an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile 2-in, 4-out interface, both outs going to a mixer (Peavey PV10) and the mixer's main outs going to the Audiophile. I also have a multi-fx box (Alesis Q2) interfaced to the mixer in the aux loop, and I am a solo musician so I record one track at a time from the mixer.

Basically I am wondering, what is the ideal way to take advantage of external effects in this type of setup? Is it possible to use external fx boxes like plugins? I take it I would need an individual fx box for each different individual effected track, and then apply them to the track at the mixer through the channel inserts? Is there an easier way to apply fx to tracks in Cubase, with an external fx box, besides playing back each track in Cubase through the effects processor one-by-one and recording them back individually into Cubase? I imagine it would be easier if I had an 8-in, 8-out audio interface?

Basically I'd just rather spend $50 on used eBay effects processors than $800 on a new computer. I also like the no-latency advantage of hardware.
 
I think you have the basic idea down, as to what you have to do. I don't use Cubase, but most software will let you send all channels to one place, say FX1, if you want to apply an fx to all things...say a verb. But most tracks may need individual sounds, so you will have to process those individually, unless you have enough outs, and FX boxes.
 
If you can't handle alot of plugins at the same time, but you can run a few. Maybe you could try effecting one track to your likings, run out to the board, and back into your soundcard and record that. Then repeat on the remaining tracks. If your original file is saved, save the new project under whatever you like, so you have the original as a backup. If you can push a few plugs at a time, I would think that this would be more efficient than buying multiple pieces of gear, even off ebay, then you can put your $ into upgrading your PC.



If you don't mind. What are the specs of your PC, maybe we can point you to some decent, affordable upgrades for it.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice.

Kevin - that article is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I've heard about that feature in SX3 and it sounds neat. I'm stuck with LE at the moment, though.

Creamyapples - I guess what I will do is mute all the unaffected tracks after they've been affected, or maybe disable them if it's possible to do that. That way I wouldn't need to have multiple versions of the same project file. I'll need to look into this. My PC is a 550MHz Mac laptop that's nearly 5 years old, so upgrades are an all-or-nothing deal. I've got a Core Duo Mini in my sights, but it's like a fun challenge to try to eek out every last bit of juice I can with this old thing. :)
 
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