"Track versions" for inserts

Cubase
,
1

I love the track versions feature to manage the evolution of my Cubase projects. Being able to experiment with different things, and being able to timestamp and go back to previous versions is a lifesaver!

I would love to have the same capability for my track settings (mostly, insert plugins and their settings). That way I could, for example, experiment with different kinds of vocal chains operating on the same source track.

I’ve thought of two workarounds, but they’re both clunky and have drawbacks:

(1) Duplicate tracks: That gives me another “track version”, but that also means that any edits I make on the underlying track won’t reflect in the duplicated version, so I would need to remember to always copy any edits to any duplicated tracks, and that quickly becomes too much of a hassle and a source of “oops I forgot to copy these changes”.

(2) Save insert chains: Cubase has a feature to save insert chains, but I don’t want to clog up that area (which should be reserved for finalized chain presets) with a huge number of temporary files that represent experimental versions of things. It’s clunky, but it’s the best workaround I’ve identified.

Am I missing something here? Is there an easier way? Or is this a feature-request?

2
  1. Maybe duplicating and group editing to link edits
3

How about using direct routing? Create e.g. three new tracks with different plugins and settings (but no plugins on the source track), then use direct routing to send to the different effect chains and switch between them.

4

There is also Mixconsole Snapshots. They don’t handle automation data though (which is a shame).

5

These are all great suggestions and workarounds, thank you!

I’ll play around with these options to see which one best fits into my workflow. I especially like the direct routing option, since it would allow me to set up different insert chain combinations and even import them across projects via the “import tracks” feature.