Audio effects (audio plug-ins)

SONAR provides the ability to use plug-in audio effects. Some audio plug-in effects are supplied with SONAR. Others can be purchased from third-party software manufacturers, and appear automatically in SONAR’s menus once they are installed on your system. If you need help when using a plug-in, press the F1 key on your computer keyboard to open the plug-in’s help file. Please note that third-party plug-ins may not have a help file.

For a list of all included plug-ins, see Included plug-ins.

Note: SONAR X3, X3 Producer and X3 Studio can use unlimited plug-ins. SONAR LE can use up to 24 plug-in effects and 8 software instruments.

Using plug-in effects is similar to using the audio processing commands off-line. The overall procedure is as follows:

In the Track view, Track Inspector or Console view, right-click the effects bin and select an effect from the pop-up menu.

Set effect parameters (or select a preset).

Listen to the track and adjust parameters based on what you hear.

You can add audio effects, like MIDI effects, to audio tracks in real time (during playback) in the Console and Track views. Unlike some of the audio processing discussed so far, using effects in real time is non-destructive. This means that the audio clip data itself is not modified, and no new audio files are created. For more information about real-time effects, see Mixing.

Note: Off-line effects may cause your audio clips to grow in length. For example, when you apply reverb, your clip may need to lengthen to accommodate the sound of the reverberation. The additional sound that an effect produces from a clip is called an effects tail.

 

See:

Real-time audio effects processing

Destructive audio effects processing