insert vs. in-line

[Richard Monroe]

I'm using a little ambience on the reverb for tracking acoustic guitar, for instance. I'm using 2 mics, a SD cardioid condenser pointed at the 12th fret, and a LD omni condenser over the left shoulder, going into a DBX 386, then into a TC electronics M300 multi- FX box, then to the recorder, either into a Roland VS1824CD or into a line level shifter to drop to -10 dbv and into KORG PXR4. Should I use the reverb as an insert to and from the DBX, or from the line out of the DBX to the line in on the M300, and from the line out of the M300 to the recorder, and why? Is one of them wrong, or are they both valid signal chains? Are there advantages/disadvantages to one chain or the other? All the I/O's are balanced analog TRS in this case. I'm techno-challenged, and in the absence of an engineer, easily confused.-Richie

 

[TexRoadkill]

You could do it a number of ways like you suggest but the cleanest method would be to go from the DBX preamp straight into the recorder. Save the effects for the mixdown.