Though it was a mean to simplify things, the way Cakewalk implemented busses can be a bit confusing. And understanding busses and signal flow can be a bit tricky, anyway.
Because there's no such thing as audio channels in Cakewalk software and no distinction between tracks and channels - which can make things easier at first - imho, it makes understanding signal flow a bit more complex. It's also less flexible.
A Send (or Aux Send or FX Send) is an additional/alternate output for an audio channel/track. It is used to route the signal to a bus.
Metaphorically speaking, a bus is a virtual vehicle which you use to route one or more audio track to a destination, and the Send is the gate which allows passengers (tracks) to enter the hangar and climb on one of the busses.
That bus can then assigned as the input on an auxiliary channel - which is basically similar to a regular audio channel to which no audio track is assigned and on which you cannot record. It is used to stream audio and/or process it. That auxiliary channel becomes the Bus destination.
Unlike Sonar, some applications will also allow you to set the destination of a Bus to a regular audio track, so that you can effectively record that Bus' output. (More on that below.)
Of course, your audio tracks can climb on many different busses at once and be sent to various destinations for different purposes. (as in Mike's Y split example).
In Cakewalk software however, busses are automatically tied to an auxiliary channel (which is also automatically created), hence the reason they refer to them as "Aux Buss" IIRC. Just like they don't differentiate tracks and channels, they don't differentiate busses and auxiliary channels.
Though the way Busses are implemented in Sonar makes things easier on one hand, it also can leave you scratching your head when you read or watch tutorials about busses and sends in a non-Sonar environment because it's a highly custom/non-orthodox way of working.
Sends, Aux Sends, FX Sends, Busses, Aux Busses, FX Returns, Aux Channels - just the terminology is enough to confuse us. ;) But it's basically 3 things - an output (send), a transit (bus) , and an arrival point (an input in the console).
To illustrate that... In other applications which mimics the hardware paradigms more closely (using "channels"), like Pro Tools or Logic, here's out it works.
You click on Send and select a Bus from a list:
Metaphorically speaking again, that's where the passengers (audio tracks) are walking through the hangar gate (Send) and a climbing on one of the Busses.
Up to that point, however, the Bus isn't going anywhere just yet - it isn't assigned to any channel, it has no output. It has no destination and is still in the hangar.
So you then assign that bus to the input of either an audio channel or, more often, an auxiliary channel. This channel becomes your Bus' destination and you passengers can now be taken to that destination.
In the image below, after creating several possible destinations (auxiliary channels), I'm selecting which bus will arrive where by assigning them as an input to a channel.
So anyone who climbs on Bus no 2 will land in Aux no 4.
As you can see, the auxiliary channel offers the option to use any available input - hardware inputs, busses, etc...
Aux 1 has no input yet. Aux 2 has one my Audio Interface's inputs selected as a source. Aux 3 is set as the destination for Bus 1. And Aux 4 is set to Bus 2 (checked) but also shows all the available inputs which could be used.
You would use hardware inputs if you were using an outboard fx unit for example, to route its outputs (aux return or fx return) back inside your DAW.
Regular audio channels offer the same flexibility in terms of input. The main distinction is that you can use them to record audio, unlike auxiliary.
In other words, in Sonar, Busses are more or less a set destination, whereas in some other applications, they are a mean to bring your signal to a destination.
Of course, you may not need the info, but maybe it can help you figure out how things work, particularly if you see someone doing something cool w/ busses in another application and try to do the same thing in Sonar, because they often use different terminology.
post edited by Rain - 2012/08/22 14:20:31