AnalogDAW Bus & Aux
AnalogDAW Bus has a Role selector above the processors. Bus is for groups; Aux is for returns and parallel processing. Your host creates the routing and supplies the send, return and dry-path levels.
Bus role
The default Bus path is:
Filters → Gate → De-esser → EQ → Compressor → Warm coloration → Output gain
Warm coloration is fixed after the movable processors and before Output gain. It remains part of Bus mode even when the movable modules are bypassed. Bypass the whole strip when comparing against an unprocessed path.
Insert Bus on a subgroup receiving several tracks. Start with Bus Glue, Drum Bus Natural, Vocal Bus or Music Bus, then adjust the compressor while hearing the group in the mix. Use slow attacks when you want more of the initial transient to pass through.
The shared filters, gate, de-esser, EQ and five compressor circuits work as explained in the Channel chapter.
Aux role and send effects
Aux mode removes Bus output coloration and exposes Reverb and Delay. Its default movable path is:
Filters → Gate → De-esser → EQ → Compressor → Reverb → Delay → Output gain
- Create a return/aux channel in your host and insert AnalogDAW Bus.
- Select Aux, or choose an Aux factory preset, which sets the role for you.
- Send a source track to that return in the host.
- Keep reverb or delay 100% wet for a shared return. Blend with the host's send and return faders while the source track supplies the dry sound.
Reverb and delay default to wet-only. For a direct insert where this instance must also supply dry audio, adjust Wet deliberately. A wet-only return may be silent until an enabled effect receives audio.
Reverb offers seven stereo spaces and a Wet control; it does not expose decay or pre-delay controls. Delay provides Time, Feedback and Wet. Time is manual milliseconds, with no tempo-sync control. For a quarter note, use 60,000 ÷ BPM milliseconds; for a dotted eighth, use 45,000 ÷ BPM. At 120 BPM, those are 500 ms and 375 ms respectively.
Aux presets include Drum Room, Plate, Hall, Slap and Echo. Their processor order can place filters after the wet effects to shape the audible tail. Check the visible order after recall.
Parallel compression
Aux Parallel Crush selects Aux role with dynamics and filters. Send drums to that separate return, then blend it beneath the dry kit using the host's fader. There is no internal dry blend for this compression preset. Avoid feeding the return back into itself.
Switching roles
Changing roles retains processor settings, wet amounts and stored order. Reverb and delay are inactive in Bus role even if their retained enables are on. Switching roles clears old wet-effect history so an earlier tail does not return later.
External sidechains
Gate and compressor accept an optional external detector input in hosts that support routing it. Both detectors use the same sidechain source for an instance.
- Choose the key source in your host's sidechain routing controls.
- Make sure the host enables and feeds the plug-in's additional input.
- Enable External Sidechain on the gate or compressor you want to key.
- Play both source and key signals and check gain reduction.
The key controls detection; it is not mixed into the output. If sidechain audio is missing, detection falls back to the main input. The custom editor disables sidechain switches when the host has not enabled that input. The standalone player supplies no external sidechain. Host support varies; installing Strips does not add routing features to an existing host version.
Return to the guide overview, or continue to Master.