Pre-Fader vs Post-Fader Sends: When Each One Matters

What is the difference between pre-fader and post-fader sends?

The difference is where the send taps the signal. A pre-fader send grabs the audio before the channel's volume fader, so the fader has no effect on it. A post-fader send grabs the audio after the fader, so every fader move changes the send level by the same amount.

Apple's Logic Pro guide spells out three tap points: Post Pan (after fader and pan), Post Fader (after the fader, before pan) and Pre Fader (before both, so neither volume nor pan affects the send)^[1]. Ableton Live describes the same choice as tapping the signal before or after the mixer stage, meaning pan, volume and the track activator^[2].

In most DAWs, inserts come before the fader, so both kinds of send carry your EQ and compression. The choice only decides whether the fader, and sometimes pan and mute, stand between the track and the effect.

What happens to each send when you move the fader?

With a post-fader send, the reverb follows the track: pull a vocal down 6 dB and its reverb drops 6 dB too, so the vocal sounds just as wet, only quieter. With a pre-fader send, the reverb stays put while the dry vocal drops, so the vocal suddenly sounds farther away.

That is why the choice matters most during automation. If you ride a lead vocal down in the verse with pre-fader sends, the verse gets wetter without you touching a single send knob. Sometimes that is the goal. Usually it is a surprise.

Clip gain sits before the inserts and the fader, so it reaches both kinds of send. If you are deciding between gain and fader moves, clip gain vs fader automation covers the trade-offs.

Mute is the tricky one. Whether muting a track also silences its pre-fader sends depends on the DAW and its settings. Cubase, for example, has a Mute Pre-Send when Mute preference on its VST page that mutes pre-fader sends along with the channel^[3]. Test it in your own session before you rely on it.

Why are reverb and delay sends usually post-fader?

Post-fader keeps each track's wet/dry balance locked while you mix, so the fader becomes a single control for how loud the whole sound is, space included. That is exactly what you want for a shared reverb or delay return.

It is also the factory setting in several DAWs. FL Studio's mixer send switches take the audio after the track fader^[4], and the REAPER User Guide lists Post-Fader (Post-Pan) as the default send type^[5].

Post-fader sends also make send automation predictable. When you push a reverb send into a chorus, the push lands on top of whatever the fader is doing, which keeps builds like the ones in reverb send automation for emotional builds easy to manage. If the difference between a send and an insert is still fuzzy, start with aux sends vs insert effects.

Should a headphone cue mix use pre-fader sends?

Yes. A headphone mix built on pre-fader sends stays stable while you move faders in the control-room mix, so the performer does not hear the balance jump every time you adjust something. Sound On Sound makes the same point about Pro Tools: with post-fade sends, changes made on the main faders would also affect the monitor mix^[6].

Ableton's manual describes the Pre setting as a way to create an auxiliary mix processed independently of the main mix and routed to a separate output, such as a monitor mix for one musician^[2]. Logic Pro adds two useful helpers: Independent Pan for separate headphone pan positions and Copy Fader to Send to copy your current fader level into the send^[7].

1. Create a cue return
   Add one aux or return per headphone mix and route its output to the interface outputs that feed the headphone amp, for example outputs 3/4.
2. Switch its sends to pre-fader
   Set every send feeding that return to Pre so your mix moves do not reach the performer.
3. Start from the main balance
   Copy fader levels to the sends if your DAW offers it, or set the sends by ear to roughly match the main mix.
4. Give the performer more of themselves
   Raise the performer's own track 3-6 dB over the main balance as a starting point, then ask what they need.
5. Add a little reverb to the cue
   Send the cue-mix vocal to a reverb and route that reverb to the cue return too. Singers often pitch better with some space.

The full tracking setup, including latency and click levels, is in how to set up a headphone cue mix.

Reverb-only tricks and other creative pre-fader uses

A pre-fader send lets you pull the dry sound down or out entirely while the effect keeps running. That opens up a few moves that post-fader routing cannot do.

• Ghost reverb Send a vocal or guitar pre-fader into a long reverb, then pull the dry fader all the way down. Only the wash remains, which works as a pad under an intro or a breakdown.
• Dry drop, space stays Automate the dry fader to minus infinity on the last beat before a drop while the pre-fader send keeps feeding the reverb. The phrase vanishes but its room hangs in the air.
• Stable sidechain trigger Feed a kick to a compressor's sidechain with a pre-fader send, so riding the kick fader does not change how hard the bass ducks.
• Reverb-only stems In Ableton, setting a track's Output Type to Sends Only makes the return act as a submix channel^[8], which is handy for printing a wet-only layer.
• Pre-FX feeds REAPER also offers a Pre-Fader (Pre-FX) send type that taps the signal before the track's effects chain^[5], useful when you want a clean copy for parallel processing.

Sidechain setups are covered in depth in what is sidechain compression. The pre-fader tap is a small detail that saves re-balancing the ducking every time the drums change level.

Pre-fader and post-fader send options in each DAW

Every major DAW offers both modes, but the switch lives in a different place in each one. Some set it per send, and Ableton sets it per return.

How to make a pre-fader send in FL Studio

FL Studio needs one extra plugin because its mixer sends are post-fader. Fruity Send pulls audio from any point in a track's effects stack and sends it to a linked mixer track^[9].

1. Load Fruity Send
   Put it in the source track's effects stack. Slot 1 taps the signal before any other effects; a later slot taps it after the effects above it.
2. Link with a sidechain
   Select the source track, right-click the send control on the target track and choose Sidechain to this track. Image-Line recommends this so the normal post-fader audio does not also reach the target.
3. Pick the destination
   Right-click Fruity Send's Send to control and choose the target track you just linked.
4. Turn Dry up
   Dry defaults to 0%, which silences the source track's own output. Set it to 100% if you still want to hear the track normally.
5. Set the send volume
   Use Fruity Send's Volume knob as the pre-fader send level. The source track's fader no longer changes it.