Audio effects

Audio effects (Fx) are analog or digital signal processing systems that transform certain characteristics of the sound source and are widely used in various media, such as music, live performances, television, movies, or video games. In the context of music production, audio effects are used primarily for aesthetic reasons. The most typical audio effect transformations are based on frequency, such as equalization, dynamics as compression, spatialisation as panning, tone as distortion, and time as artificial reverberation, delays or modulation-based audio effects. This manipulation is achieved through effects units, or audio processors, which can be linear or nonlinear, time-invariant or time-varying, and have short-term or long-term memory.

Most of these effect units can be implemented directly in the digital domain through the use of digital filters and delay lines. However, their analog counterparts are often preferred, as their analog circuitry, often in conjunction with mechanical elements, produces a nonlinear, time-varying system whose full salient perceptual qualities are difficult to fully emulate digitally.

Effect units can be applied as send or insert effects. Send effects are used when a copy of the input is processed and then added to the original input. Insert effects are applied directly and in series to the input signal.

Fig. 2 Audio Effect as insert.

Fig. 3 Audio Effects as sends.