Sonar X3 and "Sends"

Click on Modules at the top left and select it.

Thanks, guys!   As usual, I feel completely stupid.    :)
 
Greg

If the picture is of the OP's Console View the sends are listed below the FX bin. They are grayed out because none are activated. The + sign will bring a drop down menu for activating a send for that channel. Of course one also needs a buss to send too.

Beepster
However in the pic I'm seeing the Sends Modules ARE visible on the strips. They are just greyed out because no sends have been inserted/routed. In that case you just hit the little + sign to insert a new send on the track.

I am not seeing the Sends modules on each track.  Aren't they supposed to have a Volume and Pan knob?   I don't see that.  
 
I'm just not getting it.   So simple and yet so not.
 
Thanks for your patience!
Greg 

Next time you hit the plus button, look down at the bottom of that drop-down and find the "Insert Send Assistant." Follow those instructions and you'll be golden. Once you see how it works you can do it manually if you want, but the Assistant will get you started. Good luck.

John

Ok, I thought "sends" was that it had to say "sends."
 
Thanks!
Greg

It will have those things when you activate it. As shown they are inactive. 

When I widened the track strips, I see the "Sends."   Thanks, everyone!!
 
But . . I clicked on the "+" and went to "Insert Sends Assistant". . 
In there is a list...
 
* Send to existing bus  (which is checked)
* New Bus  (new bus options - Stereo or Surround)
* Bus Option  (which has my interface:  Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio...)
* Bus name
* Choose Effect
* Pre Fader
* Match Track's Pan and Gain
 
What do I choose in here?
 
Thanks again!
Greg
 

* Send to existing bus  (which is checked)
 
This allows you to choose a bus that you already have in the project. If you want to use a bus you have alread create to send the output of the Send to use this.
 
* New Bus  (new bus options - Stereo or Surround)
 
This will create a new bus for you and automatically route the send to it. Use Stereo unless for some reason you need a "Surround Bus" (which is for 5.1 movie type surround sound which you likely don't want)
 
* Bus Option  (which has my interface:  Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio...)
 
This, I think, is just giving you the option to route out to your hardware instead of inside your project. It's for things like Headphone mixes or alternate Monitor configs (I think... don't quote me on that)
 
* Bus name
 
This is porbably just the option to name your new bus if you used the "New Bus" option. Can't remember.

* Choose Effect
 
This allows you to insert an effect (or multiple effects IIRC) into the FX Bin/Rack of the target bus... such as reverb. THis is just a convenience option for setting up reverb/compression busses.

* Pre Fader
 
This will set the Pre/Post Fader status of the send. Pre Fader = The output from the send to the bus will not be affected by any changes you make to the Track Fader on the TRACK the send appears on (this is usually what you will want). Post Fader = The track fader will affect the output level of the signal coming from the send into the target bus.

* Match Track's Pan and Gain
 
I've never really seen/used that but it sounds like it just sets your Send's Pan and Gain levels to the track's pan and gain levels. Seems kind of useless but maybe helpful in SOME cases. Meh\
 
 
Cheers.
 
Edit: BTW... all that info is all in the Reference Guide and likely much more informative/concise than what I just posted above. It is worth a look if you really want to understand these things.
 
 
Also it should be noted that the Sends modules in X3 look different than the one in John's most recent pic. There were some improvements/changes to Sends in Sonar 2015 so your sends will look a little different than that. They still work the same more or less (AFAIK).

greg54
John, Beepster:   In other words, forget about using the "Insert Sends Assistant"...
It seems easier the way you guys use it.
Thanks for your help!  I really appreciate it!
 
Greg

I only mentioned the Assistant because you seemed to be struggling with the concept. The Assistant walks you through setting up a send and I figured after using it you'd see how it works and then you could do it whatever way you wanted. Hope you get it figured out.

John
To be fully candid here I never thought the send assistant was needed. If you can insert a track and figure out how to set its input and output a send is a breeze to set up. If you have ever used a hardware mixer the notion of a send is very straight forward.
 
In Sonar a send is simply another form of output. More so now than ever with patch points and aux tracks. 

Clearly the concept of sends and how to set them up is not as self-evident to everyone as it is to you. The OP was looking for a little help. I thought I'd offer some.

Larry, John:   I appreciate both of your suggestions.  Thank you!
 
Greg

Yes, it's working fine.   :)
 
Greg

I wouldn't use as a send effect. You can use it on a buss and you will need to output the track to that buss. Its better as insert effect. Also I think the track interleave needs to be stereo. 

According to Brainworx:
 
"bx_stereomaker creates a virtual S signal with analog style filters using Brainworx legendary M/S stereo algorithms. This friendly plugin will take any mono signal and make it stereo while allowing you to balance the center position. You can even focus the process on specific frequency ranges in your signal. And you can solo the virtual S signal!"
 
 
So you shouldn't need to touch the interleave.
 
But where I do agree with John is that you should use this directly in the Fx bin of your vocal track - forget about bussing it for now.