When you use effects in a DAW (music production software), two methods come up: “insert” and “send”. Even with the same reverb, which way you add it changes how easy the sound is to shape and how heavy it is on your computer. Based on the official manuals of DAW makers and FabFilter’s learning pages, this article sorts out, for beginners, the difference between the two and why vocal reverb and delay are often used on a send while compressors and EQs are often used as inserts.
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Summary: “run everything through it” is an insert, “send a little to the side” is a send
- Insert: the whole sound of the track passes through the effect. It suits effects that shape the sound itself, such as compressors and EQs.
- Send (AUX): part of the track’s sound is split off and sent to another track. It suits effects such as reverb and delay that “add the sound of a space to the original sound”.
- If you put a vocal reverb on a send, several tracks can share one reverb, the amount of reverb is easy to adjust, and the load on your computer can be kept down.
What an insert is
An insert is a method of plugging an effect directly into a track’s signal path. Logic Pro’s official guide calls a plugin placed directly on a channel strip an “insert effect”, and explains that the channel’s whole signal is processed by the effect. It also says this method suits equalizers and dynamics effects such as compressors.
When you put several plugins on inserts, the signal flows through them from the top down (in series). The output of the previous plugin becomes the input of the next. In Logic Pro, a single channel strip can have up to 15 inserts.
For example, if you put “EQ → compressor” in that order on a vocal track, the compressor receives the voice after the EQ has shaped it. Swapping the order changes the sound, so how you line them up matters too (the order of vocal plugins is explained in The order of plugins on vocals).
What a send is
A send is a method of “splitting” a track’s signal and sending it somewhere else. Logic Pro’s official guide explains that when you create a send, the channel strip’s signal splits: the original signal goes on to the output as usual, and the other part travels a parallel path to an AUX channel strip (a track for effects). The amount sent is set with the “send level” knob. This is called “parallel routing”.
The track that holds the effect is called something different depending on the DAW.
- Logic Pro: AUX channel strip
- Cubase: FX channel track (called an FX channel in older manuals)
- Ableton Live: return track
Ableton’s manual says that return tracks can be used to share the effect of one device (effect) across several tracks.
Why use vocal reverb and delay on a send
In “How to use reverb?”, FabFilter Learn introduces, as the most common way to use reverb in a mix, creating an AUX track with the reverb on it, setting the reverb to 100% wet (a setting where only the effect sound comes out), and sending to it from each track. It gives these two reasons.
- The amount of reverb (the wet and dry balance) is easy to adjust. The original sound (dry) stays as it is, and the amount of reverb sound is set with the send knob.
- It reduces memory and CPU load. Sending several tracks to the same reverb is lighter than putting a reverb on every track. Logic Pro’s official guide also explains that the main advantage of sends is efficiency.
FabFilter Learn also explains that when all the tracks share the same reverb, the mix as a whole tends to hold together more. For cover songs, this may help when you want to put the vocal, backing vocals and instruments into one space.
Logic Pro’s guide mentions other handy points. If you bypass (temporarily turn off) the effect on the AUX, you can compare “with and without the effect” on all the channels sending to it at once. And if you swap the effect on the AUX, you can change the reverb of all the tracks you are sending at the same time.
Delay follows the same idea. If you put a vocal delay on a send, the original voice stays as it is and you can adjust only the echo sound on a separate track. FabFilter Learn also introduces automating the send level (a setting that changes over time) to add movement at scene changes in a song. Specific reverb and delay settings are covered in Vocal reverb and delay.
Why use compressors and EQs on inserts
Compressors and EQs are tools that change the sound of the voice (the track) itself. Processing such as evening out differences in volume or cutting unneeded low end is something you want to apply to the whole sound of that track. That is why Logic Pro’s guide explains that an insert “processes the channel’s whole signal” and so suits equalizers and dynamics effects such as compressors.
If you used a compressor on a send, the original voice would come out as it is and the compressed voice would be added to it. You can use it this way too, and it is called “parallel compression”. FabFilter Learn’s compression pages also have sections on bus, parallel and mix bus compression. Still, to begin with, trying the ordinary insert is probably easier for understanding how it works.
Insert and send compared
| Insert | Send (AUX) | |
|---|---|---|
| Signal flow | The track’s signal passes through the effect | The signal splits and part of it goes to an effect on another track |
| Effects it suits | EQ, compressors and the like (Apple official) | Reverb, delay and the like (FabFilter Learn) |
| Sharing across several tracks | Hard to do (you put one on each track) | Easy to do (one effect is shared) |
| Computer load | Grows with the number you insert | Can be kept down by sharing (Apple official) |
| Effect settings | The ratio with the original sound is set inside the plugin | Reverbs and the like are basically 100% wet (FabFilter Learn) |
Things to watch when using sends
1. Pre-fader and post-fader
A send lets you choose whether to send from “before” or “after” the track’s volume fader. Both the Cubase help and Logic Pro’s guide describe this.
- Pre-fader: sends from before the fader, so moving the fader does not change the amount sent.
- Post-fader: sends from after the fader, so if you lower the track’s volume, the amount sent to the effect goes down with it.
Logic Pro has one more, “post-pan”, which sends from after both the fader and the pan. To begin with, you will rarely go wrong leaving it at post-fader.
2. How panning is handled
According to FabFilter Learn, in many DAWs a send has its own pan too. Something that sounds good in solo can easily get messy in the whole mix if it is panned to the opposite side from the original sound. It is important to check it within the whole mix.
3. Do not overdo it
FabFilter Learn says that sending a lot of reverb from many tracks tends to make a mix muddy. It introduces an approach of raising the reverb until you can clearly hear it, and then pulling it back a little. Always adjust it within the whole song.
4. Set it to “100% wet”
For a reverb on a send, the basic rule is to set the plugin’s Mix to 100%. If dry sound remains, the original sound is doubled, and the sound can become muddy.
The general steps (names in each DAW)
The names on screen differ between DAWs, but the flow is the same.
- Create a track for the effect (an AUX in Logic Pro, an FX channel in Cubase, a return track in Ableton).
- Put the reverb or delay on that track and set the mix to 100% wet.
- Raise the send amount on the vocal track and set its destination to the track you created.
- Set the amount of reverb with the send knob on the vocal track.
The Cubase help says that you send from an audio channel’s send slot to an FX channel, and the part you send passes through the effect. In Logic Pro, you choose the destination bus from the send pop-up menu.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Is it wrong to put a reverb on an insert?
No. When you want a dedicated reverb on just one track, an insert works too. But when you want to match the reverb across several tracks, or adjust the amount of reverb finely later on, a send is handy.
Q. Is the sound quality different between sends and inserts?
The effect processing itself is the same. What differs is how the signal flows: “pass everything through” or “split and send”.
Q. What should a beginner making cover songs do first?
It may be a good idea to start with this setup: put an EQ and a compressor on inserts on the vocal track, and send to a track for effects for the reverb and delay. The overall mixing flow is explained in The vocal mixing flow.
Q. Can I do this with free plugins?
Yes. Inserts and sends are DAW features, so you use them the same way whether the plugin is free or paid. Free plugins are introduced in Free plugins roundup.
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