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Definition, Distinction and Usage: send effects and insert effects?
Hi, a basic question here: please explain how sending and inserting effects are different and when one uses send as opposed to insert. At least I know what an effect is! Thanks!
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Send effects are used when you want to add something to a signal, but the signal itself is not modified. To achieve this, every channel in a mixer has "Send" or "Aux" knobs that take a portion of the channel's signal and send it (hence the name) to the send effect (which then returns the "addition", for exmaple, reverberation -- on a special "Return" channel (this is often invisible in virtual mixers such as in apps)). Examples where this is useful would be reverb and delay (echo). The big advantage compared to insert effects for this is that you can use a single reverb or delay for as many instruments as you like, because the signals themselves are never modified, only something is added. So if you have 10 instruments that you would like to have reverb, you only need a single reverb plugin, thus save 90% CPU. By varying the amount of signal you "tap" off each channel into the effect (using the send knob), you can vary the amount of reverb (or echo, etc.) each channel gets, all through a single effect plugin.
In contrast, Insert effects are used when a signal is to be changed completely, i.e. none of the original signal is left after the effect. Examples would be distortion, bitcrushing, pitch-shifting and the like. This cannot easily be achieved using sends because even if you mute the original channel signal (by using a pre-fader send, for example), all processed signals will still end up on a single channel (the send effect's return channel) and thus the ability to separately mix and further process them will be severely limited.
May sound a bit daunting but this is really the easiest way to describe it while stating all important facts
An insert is for one mixer channel only, and can be a send or return..i.e. Send from mixer channel to fx - Return from fx back into mixer channel.
Each channel on a mixer has an insert point, for inserting an fx, compressor etc directly into it.
Auxiliaries are different.. an effect loaded into an aux will be present across all channels but only audiable when the corresponding aux pot is turned up, gradually bleeding in.. best used for reverb..for example you may have 6 drum channels, so to make them sound like they're in the same room you would place a reverb on aux 1 and voila all 6 drum channels now have the same reverb across all aux 1's.
A little brief, but hope you get it
Absolutely the long and the short of it! And not daunting at all!
This is the type of Q&A that (IMO) belongs to the ages! If you check out "new category" and @Michael's post you will find that it might even happen.
Thanks for the cogent answers. I am assuming in something like Xequence or Cubasis you can also draw in automation with an insert effect whereas a send effect would be global, and most likely, unvarying. ?
In Cubasis the send fx work like auxiliaries.. the same effect on all tracks (if it's turned on) and yes you can automate when using AU fx.
If you only want an effect on 1 track then use inserts.
Edit- yes the send fx automation would be global so to speak.. across all send 1's on all tracks ( if i/o button is lit)
I've noticed, looking at other's DAW projects, most musicians seem to not understand or see the value in using send (bus) effects. You'll see 20 different channels with 20 different reverbs on each one. They think of the effects like guitar pedals, and it makes sense every track has its own pedals.
The bus effects are nice, for reverbs and delays, because it sounds like things are in the same space, just closer or further away. It also makes it much easier to change the reverb- you could get the same exact sound by using the same setting on 20 separate track reverbs, but say you want to change the setting, like from a "hall" to a "plate", you have to do it 20 times.
Why would a lot of DAW users apply the same effect to many channels when it eats CPU as @SevenSystems mentioned?
Anyway, can't wait to utilize my newfound knowledge!
One fx across many channels will save on cpu
Sorry, I meant why one would apply reverb, for ex,individually to many channels (as Processaurus wrote) instead of globally, when it eats cpu?
Because many people simply don't know what Send Effects are.
That's why it's great that you asked, and I hope I won't see 10 separate reverbs for 10 channels in any of your projects anytime soon 
So bottom line: If you want an effect that only ADDS something (reverb, echo) and which will be the same (only different amounts) for many instruments, use a Send / Aux (same thing). If you want to completely transform ONE single channel, use an insert there.
EDIT: Maybe some background is in order: When I grew up with audio production, you had to BUY an ACTUAL MACHINE to get an effect. The cheapest machines (19" rack units) for a decent reverb ran about $1000. So, there was no other way, you either had to learn all the possibilities or be rich, or only have a single instrument with reverb on it
One of the downsides of today's "easy music production using a few apps" paradigm is that it's not as obvious anymore what's really happening in the background. In the studio, I actually had to buy cables, connect them to the "Send 1", "Send 2" etc. outputs of my mixing desk, run the cable into the "Input 1", "Input 2" etc. sockets of my FX units, and then run another set of cables from the "Output 1", "Output 2" etc. of the FX units back to the "Return 1", "Return 2" etc. of the mixing desk (or if I wanted more control over the reverb's or delay's sound and what happens with it, I could also return it into an actual channel). If I wanted to have an INSERT effect, I actually had to connect an insert (Y) cable to the corresponding FX unit(XXX), and then plug the other end of that Y cable into an "Insert" socket on the channel. That helps with understanding how stuff really works 
(XXX) Actually, in order to avoid having to crawl beneith / behind the racks with all the machines in them all the time, there were "patchbays" that brought all the connections to a single panel on the front, which was more accessible. Much like in old telephone exchanges.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I'm indulging in nostalgia
(That's an actual photo from my old analog studio! 2002, good times...)
Clear as a tubular bell! It's interesting, in each iteration some new little morsel of info... In this last post @SevenSystems says you can add an effect globally but adjustable in varying amounts per track. That's awesome!