Using bus effects
In addition to assigning effects to individual tracks, you may also apply DirectX and VST effects to busses.
Bus effects will be applied to all tracks assigned to that bus. If a track contains track effects and bus effects, track effects will be processed before the bus effects.
To specify whether the bus level is applied before or after the bus effects chain, do one of the following:
-
Click the Pre/Post Fader Insert FX button
/ 
in the Faders control region of the bus channel strip. -
Right-click the
button in the bus track or bus control and choose Post Volume from the shortcut menu if you want to apply the effects chain after the bus volume. This has the same effect as right-clicking the bus output fader and choosing Pre FX from the shortcut menu.
When you're working with 5.1 surround projects, the Master bus supports 5.1-channel audio effects.
-
To add effects quickly, you can drag plug-ins and plug-in packages from the Plug-In Manager window to busses in the Mixing Console window or a bus track header.
-
If you want to add effects to all audio in your project, you can add effects to the Master bus.
IMPORTANT When input monitoring is on during audio recording, audio effects chains that contain non-in-place plug-ins are displayed in yellow (
) to indicate that automatic plug-in delay compensation is being used. Chains that cannot be used for live monitoring are automatically bypassed and are displayed in red (
).
Applying effects to a bus
-
Click the Bus FX button
located on the bus's audio bus track. The Plug-in Chooser window appears.TIP You can also use the Insert FX control region in the bus channelstrip to add or edit bus effects.
-
Select each plug-in you want to add and click the Add button, or browse to an FX package.
TIP To reorder the plug-ins within the chain, simply drag a plug-in button to a new location.
-
When you have finished adding the plug-ins, click the OK button.
Editing effects on a bus
-
Click the Bus FX button
located on the audio bus track. If the bus has an effects chain, the Bus FX window is displayed. -
Use the Bus FX window to enable/bypass effects, edit effect parameters, and add/remove effects from a chain.
TIP You can also use the Insert FX control region in the bus channel strip to add or edit bus effects.
Automating effect parameters
If a plug-in supports it, you can use envelopes to automatically adjust effect parameters over time. Automation envelopes can be added to tracks and bus tracks to control individual effect parameters for track effects, bus effects, and assignable effects.
When you add a plug-in that supports automation (effects that can be automated are indicated by the 
icon in the Plug-In Chooser), the Bypass FX Automation button 
is displayed in the Bus FX window:
-
After you've added effect automation envelopes, the Bypass FX Automation button is deselected, and effect parameters are automated using the envelope settings.
-
When the button is selected, effect automation envelopes are ignored and the effect's initial state is used for the duration of the track.
-
If you delete all automation envelopes from a plug-in, the Bypass FX Automation button is unavailable.