Send Effects

A Send effect is a special type of effect that is used to route the audio output from a buffer to another buffer, so that the audio output can pass through effects in the second buffer before going to the final mixer. This allows you to send the combined output from multiple mix groups to effects that are to be shared by all.

A typical use of Send effects is for a reverberation effect to be applied to all PChannels. For example, different sounds in a game might be played through different buffers so that they can be moved individually in space. However, the same environmental reverb parameters should apply to all. In this case, each 3-D buffer sends its output to the same environmental reverb effect.

The following figure shows Mix Group2, Mix Group3, and Mix Group4, all sending their output to the buffer belonging to Mix Group1.

In the figure, the buffers in Mix Groups 2, 3, and 4 are sources of the Send effect, and the buffer belonging to Mix Group 1 is the destination of the Send effect.

Only a mix group that has no PChannels can be used as a destination. Such a mix group cannot have a bus, because it is not directly connected to the synthesizer. It can have only one buffer.

If the source of a Send effect is a buffer with only one audio channel, the destination buffer of a Send effect must have either one or two audio channels.

If the source of a Send effect is a buffer with two or more audio channels, the destination buffer must have the exact same number of audio channels.

You can adjust the attenuation of the signal sent by a Send effect by clicking the Edit Effect Properties button in Effect Properties window.

A Send effect can be inserted after other effects in a buffer, as shown in the following figure.

The figure shows Mix Group3 using the Chorus and Compressor effects, and Mix Group4 using the Distortion and Echo effects. Both mix groups are routed to Mix Group1, so the output from both passes though the I3DL2Reverb effect before going to the final mixer. This eliminates the need for both to contain their own instance of the I3DL2Reverb effect, and ensures that the reverb parameters will be the same for all PChannels. Similarly, Mix Group5 and Mix Group6 are routed to Mix Group2, so their output passes though the WavesReverb effect before going to the final mixer.

Note Any effects to the right of the Send effect are not included in output that is routed to the destination mix group.

If you create a mix group with multiple buffers, you must insert a separate instance of the Send effect for each buffer from which you want to send the output to a different mix group. The following figure shows Mix Group2 with three buses, each leading to a different buffer. Only the output from the User Defined buffer in Mix Group2 is routed to Mix Group1. All other output from Mix Group2 goes directly from standard buffers to the final mixer.