Setting up an effects unit

What this lesson teaches

Fifty-seven seconds, one question, and it is the question that stops people using an effects unit they already own.

With send and return

The proper way, and the reason those two sockets exist on a mixer.

Mixer send → unit input. Unit output → mixer return.

The send takes a copy of the signal out to the unit; the return brings the processed version back in and mixes it with the original internally. The unit sits in a loop beside the signal path rather than in it, which is why the mixer keeps working normally when the unit is off.

That is what a send and return pair is for, and if your mixer has them, use them.

Without send and return

If all you have is an output and an input, the unit goes after the mixer: mixer output → unit input, and the unit's output onward.

Where "onward" goes depends on what you want. Into a spare line channel on the same mixer gives you a channel you can fade the effected signal in on. Into your amplifier or powered speakers instead puts the unit permanently in the main path, which works but means everything goes through it all night.

The one thing to avoid is a genuine loop - the unit's output returning to a channel that is itself feeding the output you took the signal from. That will feed back, and it will do so at full volume.

Why the distinction matters

A send-and-return connection is parallel: the dry signal is unaffected and the unit adds to it. An output-to-input connection is in series: everything passes through the unit, so its own level, mix and bypass settings now matter to the whole system.

So with send and return you can leave the unit's mix wherever you like. In series, set its mix carefully and know where its bypass is - because the night is now going through it.