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Send/Return Effects

The Send/Return effects unit is not placed in the stream of sound like the Insert effects. It sits parallel to all the channels and can be 'sent' some of a tracks content to be processed before being 'returned' to the stream of sound.

Unlike the Insert effects, the unit can be set to effect all the channels or some of the channels at the same time and more importantly, you can set how much of the sound is processed for each Channel.

How send/return works
Using a 'send level' control on a channel, you can choose how much of a sound is sent to the S/R unit. For example, you can send 50% of the sound to the unit to be processed while 50% is unprocessed. The two separate sounds are then reunited at the convergence point in the stream of sound.

Input SocketsInput ChannelSend pointTracksMain ChannelSend pointConvergence PointReturn PointMaster ChannelOutputs


Say we select a Reverb effect in the S/R unit.
We can then set the send level of channel 1 to 50. Half the sound will continue along the stream of sound as above and half will leave at the green 'send point', be processed then returned to the stream at the blue 'return point'.
We can then set the send level of channel 2 to 100. All the sound will leave the stream at the send point and be processed.
We can then set the send level of channel 3 to 25. A quarter of the sound will be processed while most will be unaffected.....and so on.

Why bother? Why not use a weak insert effect instead of sending some of the sound?
If you have a spare insert effect for each channel and the time and patience to alter the effect then bounce it in to each track individually then be sure that you don't want to alter it a little later on then you can....

Why not use an Insert effect on the Master channel?
If you do this you won't be able to control how strong the effect is on each channel.

So the S/R unit can be used to effect all the channels in varying amounts.

How to access these features in the MRS-8 (and other similar Zoom multitrackers)

The S/R unit can be switched on and off in the same way as the Insert unit.

  1. Press the [SEND/RETURN] button until it is lit red.
  2. Use the main dial to scroll through the various effects.

At first there will be no effect. By default, all channels have there send level set to '0'. To change this....

  1. Press the [TRACK PARAMETER] button
  2. Press the [STATUS KEY] of the channel you want to effect
  3. Cursor down until "EFX SEND" is displayed.
  4. Turn the dial to change the level. The higher the number, the more sound will be sent to the S/R unit, increasing the intensity of the effect.
  5. From here you can tap the [STATUS KEY] of another channel to change its send level.
  6. Or you can use the Cursor buttons to change channel. You can set the send level of the bass and rhythm channels in this way.

You can go back to the S/R menu and change the effect at any time and hear the new result.

Any effects you make here are applied to the sound after the Track in the same way as the EQ, panning, etc. so are not permanent. Remember, if you transfer tracks to a PC, only the track data in transfered, not the Track parameter info.

To make these effects permanent, you will need to Bounce them in to a vTake or the Master Tracks.

Applying Send/Return unit to the input channel

  1. Press the [TRACK PARAMETER] Button
  2. Cursor left until "IN" is displayed.
  3. Cursor down until "EFX SEND" is displayed
  4. Turn the dial as before.

Note: Any effect you make here effects the stream of sound before it is recorded to a track so will be permanent - useful if you are in a rush but it may be better to apply the effect to the main channel after recording.