Apply Audio Effects or leave the plugs in?

not sure what you mean?

I know it's destructive, but this assumes you're happy with the mix or that Applying the effects will still leave enough headroom for change if you're not.

I was really thinking about Sonar's performance and whether or not the sound is different once you've Applied. Audio Effects. It shouldn't be but you never know.

I have eight 3.3 Intel cores and 12 gig of RAM so it's more of a curiosity question.

No, the sound won't be different.

12Gig RAM? EIGHT Cores?

What on EARTH are you worrying about?

tonemangler


I find it a good practice to always clone, archive then hide a file that you are going to apply destructive editing, It's like audio insurance.

Paul

that's one way of doing.  i too lack the most ideal system for digital audio recording (compaq presario C700 1.86 GHz dual processor, 2 GB of ram).  the freeze option is my (and my plugins) best friend.  for years, i applied my audio effects to my mixes and re-saved them under a new name so the old track was archived without the destructive edit.  then, one of the archived mixes became corrupt and all i was left with was the new mix with the plugs applied to the multitrack and an old version of file saved on dvd from several months prior.  freezing has eliminated of few of the steps.  i still backup frequently, but for someone like me with an older laptop system, freezing has really helped.  i don't know why i didn't discover it sooner.

freezing: it's for more than just soft synths! 

In terms of sound quality and system resources, there is no difference between freezing a track and using Apply Audio Effects. The former is therefore preferred, so as to retain the option of changing your mind later.

That's a good option to have even if you're happy with the track and don't think you'll ever change it. Experience has taught me to never throw anything away, even takes that have been eliminated as part of the comping process.

My own exception to that rule is effects on individual clips, where I need to lock them down but not the whole track. Even then, I may keep a muted copy of the original clip behind the bounced version as a safety.

(Many old-timers think this obsession with un-doability is lame. There was a time when it was necessary to record effects live during recording. That meant planning ahead and knowing just what effects would be needed and to what degree. To those guys, we are all indecisive wusses with too many options. And yup, that's a fair description of me.)