Q: Send/return FX performance

[selig]

my question is more about the sonic characteristics
Let's say i wanna use an Audiomatic retro transformer  setted on the tape preset.
I wanna use it on 6 devices with exactly the same ART setting
Will i get a better sonic result if i hook an ART on each device in the rack or if i put one ART in the send/return SSL path ?
i think, maybe wrongly, that if an FX have to " feed " a lot of devices , his sonic performance can be lowered.
( excuse my english )

In this specific case there will be a difference, just like there will be a difference between running individual drums through a compressor vs that same compressor on the drum bus. Same as whether running all your dry guitars though one amp sounds different than running them each through their own.

The common factor here is the so-called 'non-linear' (with respect to level) response of all of the above devices. Any process that affects the level of SOME signals and not others is non-linear. This includes anything that affects dynamics, and any saturation/distortion effects (because they also affect dynamics). 

Since each of these effects behave differently at different levels, when you send MANY things into one of them the result can be quite different. 

Look at a simple compressor. What can happen when multiple signals are fed into a single compressor is that the louder signals will "push down" the softer signals - the same softer signals that would have been ignored if feed to the same compressor on it's own. So you are now affecting signals differently even though all the settings are identical - make sense?

I use this to my advantage by sometimes sending all vocals to a single compressor, both lead and backgrounds. Since the leads are naturally louder, they will "push down" the BGVs when present. When there's no lead, the BGVs are back up to their normal level. The result: the BGVs are effectively

[Ayello]

Hi,
I'd like to know if an FX placed in the send/return path in the SSL and " feeding " a few devices , react differently than if the same FX ( with the same settings ) was placed directly hooked to the device in the rack..
In other words , does the number of devices connected to a single FX have an influence on the performance of the FX ?

thanks.

[selig]

Hi,
I'd like to know if an FX placed in the send/return path in the SSL and " feeding " a few devices , react differently than if the same FX ( with the same settings ) was placed directly hooked to the device in the rack..
In other words , does the number of devices connected to a single FX have an influence on the performance of the FX ?

thanks.

Generally speaking, no. If you ask about a single effect in either placement, there should be no sonic difference. But maybe your question is more about multiple FX in series? What do you mean by performance, CPU hit, sonic characteristics?

Maybe a specific example would clarify what you're asking?

[Ayello]

my question is more about the sonic characteristics
Let's say i wanna use an Audiomatic retro transformer  setted on the tape preset.
I wanna use it on 6 devices with exactly the same ART setting
Will i get a better sonic result if i hook an ART on each device in the rack or if i put one ART in the send/return SSL path ?
i think, maybe wrongly, that if an FX have to " feed " a lot of devices , his sonic performance can be lowered.
( excuse my english )

[Ayello]

Thank you Selig for those precisions. i appreciate this.
I asked this question also to get a " theorical " answer and you answered to it