grumbleweed4162
Here's a "good" reason to bypass the Master output:
 
Say you import a reference track (fully mastered) and wanted to compare the sum of your new tracks (that should be going through the Master Buss) and the reference track. If the reference track goes through the Master Buss it will affected by any processing that the Master has on it (I always have a limiter at least on the Master buss) so will be changed and so its use as a reference is compromised.
If you route the reference track to the direct outs you can A-B the direct outputs and the Master Buss with confidence that each version is what playing what it should.
 
I would like to point out even the bestest Producers use reference tracks so this isn't a lame idea.
 
Grum.

I will setup a new buss for it that does not go to the master buss but directly to the main outs.

grumbleweed4162
Here's a "good" reason to bypass the Master output:
 
Say you import a reference track (fully mastered) and wanted to compare the sum of your new tracks (that should be going through the Master Buss) and the reference track. 

Yup. This is also the reason you DO want a Master bus, so you can isolate both ways.
 
I use a submaster bus which has all my mix goo on it (console sat, tape sat, widener, limiter, etc.). If I do any stem mixing (which is rare but happens) I can then bypass the submaster and route those to the master. The only thing I put on the master bus is SPAN for referencing. Also, if you have another finished track and wanted to use that as a reference for mixing a transition into or out of for an album project it's another good reason for a master bus (or like said above, a reason to have certain material bypass it)
 

To be clear, no judgment here on how anyone else works. Just trying to
understand.

I Use a MAIN OUT  BUS  and a MASTER MIX bus :
 
The MAIN OUT  BUS is the FIRST bus: easy to get to to adjust.
The MAIN OUT bus controls the monitoring volume sent to the audio device, via sonar's main outs.
The MAIN OUT bus does NOT have "effects." And no envelopes.
The MAIN OUT bus has monitoring tools: Voxengo Span, vintage meter, Panipulator (required),...
 
The second bus is the MASTER MIX bus.
   All other Buses output to the MASTER MIX bus.
   Guitars to Guitars All, and then to Instruments All then to MASTER MIX
   All Drum/Purc buses to Drums All,  and then to Instruments All then to MASTER MIX
   Vocals Main, and background, to Vocals ALL then to MASTER MIX
 
The MASTER MIX bus is output to the MAIN OUT BUS.
 
The MASTER MIX bus is used for bounces. All final effects are in the bin.
The MASTER MIX bus may have envelopes for fades and misc. adjustments.
 
I add at least two blank tracks labeled MIX1 and MIX2, to projects.
   These output to the MAIN OUT bus.
   NOT directly to the sound device.
   Not to the MASTER MIX bus.
I solo the mix track to listen to the mix(s).  When listening to the MIX tracks there is no need to bypass the effects/eq, or change the volume setting, of the MASTER MIX bus when listening to a mix track.
 
And because the MAIN OUT BUS volume is the same, I can compare, audibly and visually, the mix with original tracks.
 
Per CJ's insight, if the mix does not sound correct, before I do anything else, I use control-z (undo) to remove the mix clip, and the wav file from the disk. This means I have fewer orphaned audio files.
 
ALSO: I change the name of the mix tracks (add the date) before bouncing-to-tracks so the wav file will have a reasonable name.
 
I never look at, or change, Sonar's Main Audio Outs.
 

 
Why route to Master Bus vs. "Speakers"?
Because it's how the professionals do it.
 
You want to be as good as a professional, don't you?
 

No, I want to be better!

I route everything to a Pre Master bus and do any final effect stuff there. The master stays blank and set to 0db until the very end (and then I might add a limiter but usually export the stereo wave as is and then apply the limiter in a "mastering" project). This has a lot of benefits for me personally one of which is the issue mentioned upthread... if I want to use a mastered reference track I can route that directly to the unaltered Master bus.

John
No, I want to be better!

Think it and you are.

Wow, this became a hot topic! Thank you for the variety of responses.
 
I've been using Cakewalk software for almost a year and I guess it was finally a few days ago I realized why I need a Master Bus. Based on 90% of these responses, a Master Bus is crucial to monitor and control the audio output of my projects.
 
I have ensured that my custom template contains a Master Bus, as this will be an important element in every new project. If I hadn't addressed this to the Forum, I probably wouldn't have thought of doing it myself.
 
As of the past few days, I've been going through all my projects in progress and routing the tracks to the Master Bus as needed. I haven't put much consideration on additional Buses because my skill/experience level doesn't quite call for that requirement yet. (Frankly, I find the use of extra Buses quite complex and intimidating.)
 
I guess I learn something new all the time! Thanks for all of your input on this.

Grundberg
Wow, this became a hot topic! Thank you for the variety of responses.
 
I've been using Cakewalk software for almost a year and I guess it was finally a few days ago I realized why I need a Master Bus. Based on 90% of these responses, a Master Bus is crucial to monitor and control the audio output of my projects.
 
I have ensured that my custom template contains a Master Bus, as this will be an important element in every new project. If I hadn't addressed this to the Forum, I probably wouldn't have thought of doing it myself.
 
As of the past few days, I've been going through all my projects in progress and routing the tracks to the Master Bus as needed. I haven't put much consideration on additional Buses because my skill/experience level doesn't quite call for that requirement yet. (Frankly, I find the use of extra Buses quite complex and intimidating.)
 
I guess I learn something new all the time! Thanks for all of your input on this.

Actually using "stem" busses can make mixing a lot easier/less confusing. Like sending all your drum tracks to a drum bus, all your guitar tracks to a guitar buss (I use one for lead and another for rhythm), a buss for vocals, etc... That way you can get things balanced with the track faders (like your drum kit mixed) then adjust the entirety of each element instead of linking track faders or readjusting things one at a time.
 
Also it's a good place to add overall effects to grouped instruments (again like drums). You can add some full kit compression or reverb or whatever on the bus and control it there instead of having a million instances of the same effects all over the place (which also consumes more computer resources). Then as you get into more advanced mixing you'll be familiar with busses, how they work and how to route them so creating dedicated reverb, compression busses or multi stage stage processing concepts aren't as intimidating.
 
But generally at least having a drum bus, a bass bus, a guitar buss and a vocal bus all outputting to the master is super useful and in a lot of ways LESS complicated/confusing than only using the track strips.