about exterior effects...

[ethan_by]

First of all, gr8 site...
second, how do people use exterior effects after recording?
I meen, once you recorded a track on your computer, how can u use an exterior effect on it?

 

[mikeh]

You have to be able to get the sound out of the computer into the effect.

Using my studio as an example.I have A/D converters to take an analog sound source (let's say a vocal), change it to digital data to record and store in the computer. I then take the recorded signal run it through a different converter (changing the digital data back to analog sound) to get the sound "out of the computer". That analog signal is then run through a standard analog mixer (in my case a Mackie) where I can then route the sound to whatever external (often called hardware) effects I choose.

 

[ethan_by]

but....

then u would have to re-record the audio data after you'd run through the effect...

 

[scrubs]

then u would have to re-record the audio data after you'd run through the effect...

yup, that's the way it works if you want to use external effects after recording digitally.

 

[Robert D]

There are other options besides going through additional conversions. Most outboard effects units are digital, and will add another set of conversions to the ones mentioned above. So a track will have gone through the original A/D, then a D/A to get out, an A/D in the effects processor, a D/A coming back out of the processor, and an A/D to get back in the computer. ECK!!
The better approach is to keep everything in the digital domain. Most effects processors have some digital I/O, usually S/PDIF, sometimes AES/EBU, and now there's units with USB interfaces that emulate being a VST plugin. I use S/PDIF interfaces for outboard, but haven't tried the newer USB/VST approach. It's a great idea, one that should integrate nicely into the DAW environment.