Hi there,
I have been trying for a while to find a way to:
[ol]
[li]add insert effects from my DAW before the send FX on the A4 (e.g., EQ)[/li]
[li]use the A4 as a delay/reverb FX send box for all tracks in a set, not only for the four A4 tracks[/li]
[li]selectively apply sidechain compression to a A4 track audio output before it is processed by the send FX chain[/li]
[/ol]
This is what I managed to come out with so far:
Setup (A4 and/or Overbridge)
[ul]
[li]Voice Routing: ALL disabled (main AND FX)![/li]
[li]FX Track - Channel In Left: Vol and Reverb levels all the way up. [/li]
[li]FX Track - Channel In Right: Vol and Delay levels all the way up.[/li]
[li]FX Ext PAN set to Center for both channels[/li]
[li]Season FX to taste. Max out the target FX volumes (this somehow compensates the fact the dry signal is still present in the FX output - see below)[/li]
[/ul]
Setup (Audio Interface)
[ul]
[li]1 / 2 are my main outs[/li]
[li]outputs 3 / 4 are connected to A4 Ext input Left / Right respectively[/li]
[/ul]
Setup (Ableton Live)
[ul]
[li]“A4 OB” MIDI Track with Overbridge VST, audio out to MASTER[/li]
[li]“A4 Trk1” MIDI Track with External Instrument device setup with MIDI to: “A4 OB” / “1 - Analog Four”, AUDIO from: “Trk1-Analog Four”. Audio out to MASTER here as well.[/li]
[li](repeat above for all other 3 tracks)[/li]
[li]Return track “A A4 Reverb” with External Audio Effect device setup with Audio To: 3 (see above), input gain +12, Audio From: “No Input”[/li]
[li]Return track “A A4 Delay” with External Audio Effect device setup with Audio To: 4 (see above), input gain +12, Audio From: “No Input”[/li]
[/ul]
With this setup the audio that comes out of the A4 TrkX MIDI channels (including any FX processing done AFTER the external audio effect via insert effects - e.g. EQ, Bit Crusher, compressor etc. ) is fed back into the A4 FX track external input according to the amount of Send A and B. The FX track output - containing the dry/wet mix of reverb and delay - comes out from the OB VST, i.e. the “A4 OB” track described above. Any other non-A4 channel can now send its output to the A4 effects via the send knobs.
Notes:
[ul]
[li]Polyphony should probably be disabled as you don’t want notes to be spread across tracks with different effects and sends amounts (unless that’s what’s you’re after :)[/li]
[li]Strictly speaking it is not necessary to disable voice routing completely, i.e. you could keep the routing to FX if for example you want to add some chorus straight from the box and keep reverb and delay as “global” sends (their levels should be all the way down in the AMP section if you choose to manage them from your DAW). Of course keep in mind that if you mute one A4 MIDI track in your DAW the effect(s) added through the AMP section of the A4/OB will still be heard (I am not too fond of the A4 chorus anyway :)[/li]
[li]After setting this up I finally managed to put the FX track to good use as it is quite nice to sequence “global” FX send variations through patterns. I also started getting very comfortable with a workflow that mixes a few notes and lots of plocks on the A4 patterns leaving the MIDI programming of melodies etc. to the DAW [/li]
[/ul]
Do you see any issue with this approach?
Is there a better /simpler way to achieve this result - perhaps using the “Sidechain Input Routing” in Overbridge (which I tried without success) - and spare the sound interface outs and A4 Ext. ins connectors?
Last but not least, I think the output of the FX track when audio is fed through its Ext. inputs carries over the dry signal as well as the wet one. Is there a way to get only the “wet” signal as you would expect from a typical return track?
( related topic: External input , kill dry or pre-fader fxsend (FEAT. REQ.) )