Aux send knobs

[Paul881]

Now I know this is a stupid question but....

I've seen the schematic "Routing and Mixing Digital Audio" drawing in CW8 Help, but the question I have is what do the Aux send knobs actually do on the track module and where do they fit in to the schematic? (they are not shown) I would have thought that they control the send signal levels to the Aux modules, but isn't that what the volume slider does in the track module?

Whether I make the aux pre or post fader doesn't seem to make any difference to my recording playback, whereas using the track slider makes my playback of that track louder or quieter. And why are there two of them (left and right channel?) If so, whats the pan control for then? Isn't the pan control for increasing/decreasing signal strength left or right?

And in anycase, whether the Aux module is switched to pre or post fade, what do I need the track pan and send for as they seem to be cut out of the loop according to the schematic?

Confused of Leicester, England

 

[John Sayers]

The aux sends are for sending to other fx. Lets say you select a reverb on the aux1 and a chorus on aux 2.
By ajusting the blue aux slider you send part of your signal to the reverb. You can also send to the same reverb from other tracks as well etc. The pre Post determines whether the signal is effected by the volume fader (post) or not (pre).
BTW The volume on the track view is the same as the fader on the console view.

cheers
john

 

[Paul881]

Okay, I think I am getting the picture....

So in effect, by using the Aux send knobs (you refer to them as blue sliders, but on CW8 they appear in the console view as knobs) what you are in effect doing is sending part/all/none of your signal to the Aux module(s) for adding FX. So the Aux module is, in effect, a 'grouped' FX facility for a number of tracks?

BTW, in CW8, the EQ only auditions 3 seconds of your chosen track, not any 3 seconds but only the 3 seconds at the start of the track. So if your lead guitar say, starts after 4 bars of the song, after the 3 sec watershed, tough luck! You can't get to audition it before applying it and then listening. Is that the same for CW Pro 9?

Also, is your advice (depending on available budget) to put a preamp & EQ before the input audio signals (guitars and vocals) goes into the sound card? Presumably, the more you can mix the signals going in, the better and easier it is to use CW? And what about compression? I thought I read somewhere that digital music suffers from compression. Whats your view?

Sorry for so many questions, but I've got the bug oh so bad!