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Replace effect command for FX Rack


Starship Krupa

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I first made this request back on the old forum, 3 1/2 years ago, and it still pesters me every Cakewalk session. I doubt I was the first ever to request it.

As we have the Replace Synth command for virtual instruments, so we should have a Replace command for FX.

Pretty much simple as that. Each time you use it, it would replace 3 clicks (delete effect, effect rack, select Insert Audio Effect) with 1 (replace effect). If you're anything like me, replacing effect plug-ins is something you do a lot in every mixing session, especially if you're making electronic music or sound design, where the line between effect and instrument is blurry.

I'm sure it's already been endlessly requested, but the way it gets done is to keep it at the top of the stack, so if you'd like to see this, please reply here.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/23/2021 at 12:12 AM, Max Arwood said:

I usually stack compressors 2,3, or even 4 and mute -unmute.  Sometimes 2-reverbs on a bus. I wish you could group off/on button for this!  After I pick - then I get to clean up the mess lol!

Yes. I do this to audition different processors. For the reverb send, I've set up two different buses and switched back and forth.

Neither allows for instant A-B testing, though. I've not figured out what would allow me to do that, maybe being able to select multiple FX and toggle their bypass status? I do have a license for MCompare. I'm sure it will do more than I've done with it yet, that's usually the way it is with Meldaproduction.

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On 10/11/2021 at 4:55 PM, Starship Krupa said:

my brain seems to have decided that Cakewalk already has this feature and at least once a day, in the heat of battle, I'll right-click on an effect name in the bin expecting to get "Replace effect."

AAARGH! Why can't I stop doing this? It's become more than once a day. Bump'd.

And while we're at it, replacing a plug-in, be it synth or effect, should absolutely default to opening the UI.

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It's been in the backlog for a while now,  however although it would seem sensible at first, personally I don't really see how useful it would be in practice.

So say I'm using a particular EQ or compressor plugin, and I want to replace it with another.  If I did just use a replace FX command, I've now lost all my original settings and I'm stuck with the default settings in the replacement effect.

I'd at least want the settings of the replacement effect to be in the ballpark of the one I was replacing.

Currently, whenever I want to replace an effect,  what I do is:

1. Insert the new effect, then pin the UI
2. Open the old effect I want to replace - so I now see both of them on screen.
3. Compare the two and adjust the new effect's settings to more or less match the old one
4. Disable the old effect and listen to the new one, and tweak as necessary.

If I don't like the new one, I just delete it and re-enable the old one (or choose a new effect and do the same compare/adjust again).

Once I'm happy, I delete the old effect.

I'm not saying we'll never do it ( that's not my call in any case)... just my my opinion on it....

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17 hours ago, msmcleod said:

I'd at least want the settings of the replacement effect to be in the ballpark of the one I was replacing.
 

For me it is not about keeping the settings (Great idea though.) 

17 hours ago, msmcleod said:

1. Insert the new effect, then pin the UI
2. Open the old effect I want to replace - so I now see both of them on screen.
3. Compare the two and adjust the new effect's settings to more or less match the old one
4. Disable the old effect and listen to the new one, and tweak as necessary.

I have done this before, but had trouble learning and identifying the sound of the EQ, because i was relying on the previous EQ's setting. So, my vocals never sounded right. Doing the A/B this way thrown my ear out. You only realize this outside of the DAW on different systems. 

Reason: The band gain of EQ-A is/might be louder than those of EQ-B including the filter frequencies and might have color you cant hear when copying settings at the time. The same goes with built-in reverb bands/filters. Same goes for compressors and replacing an effect that keeps the settings will just be extra clicking work to reset everything to 0. That's why all my plugins have a preset i call "Empty" that has all its settings/knobs/sliders to 0.

I dont believe in saving a preset for a guitar, because I will never use it again. Every time you play a new melody/riff every dynamic and frequency change in it, so using the same preset, will just ruin it. Thats why i say, you never actually learn the Plugin copying setting and by using existing presets | OR | really training your ears to pickup on subtle changes made. 

The replace thing for me is just for when you accidentally choose the wrong effect in the list, so thats where the replace effect command seem plausible to have, without having to delete/remove the effect first, to choose the one you wanted to grab in the first place. 

Edited by Will_Kaydo
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imho, the PC covers basic EQ/compressor needs pretty well, so this request is geared more for things like amp sims, saturation, non-send spatial fx and character compressors, where the goal would not be trying to "match" settings. 

@Will_Kaydo  tend to agree on amp sim presets, but found it necessary to create and save presets as they've been lost/defaulted more than a few times, and also as a convenience for L/R tracks of same but different EGs for spatial reasons and for use in another DAW.

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23 hours ago, msmcleod said:

It's been in the backlog for a while now,  however although it would seem sensible at first, personally I don't really see how useful it would be in practice.

So say I'm using a particular EQ or compressor plugin, and I want to replace it with another.  If I did just use a replace FX command, I've now lost all my original settings and I'm stuck with the default settings in the replacement effect.

I'd at least want the settings of the replacement effect to be in the ballpark of the one I was replacing.

Currently, whenever I want to replace an effect,  what I do is:

1. Insert the new effect, then pin the UI
2. Open the old effect I want to replace - so I now see both of them on screen.
3. Compare the two and adjust the new effect's settings to more or less match the old one
4. Disable the old effect and listen to the new one, and tweak as necessary.

If I don't like the new one, I just delete it and re-enable the old one (or choose a new effect and do the same compare/adjust again).

Once I'm happy, I delete the old effect.

I'm not saying we'll never do it ( that's not my call in any case)... just my my opinion on it....

This is how I see it. It's also how I manage to get 12 effects on one track with 11 being disabled.

Edited by Terry Kelley
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I agree with the reasons people have stated for having a specific "Replace Audio FX" option.  Previously I decided to remove a particular manufacturer's set of plug-ins for several different reasons.  For example, the manufacturer has an environment that installs a huge number of plug-ins.  Ones that are not licensed crash in CbB on my system.  After trying to find a solution/work around, I decided it was better (more efficient time-wise) for me to just uninstall this manufacturer's software.  

Existing projects with their versions of audio FX (e.g., tape echo) all need to have the FX replaced.  As other have stated, for me its not about retaining settings.      

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