Plugin Deals and Discussion Thread

guitarfishbay · August 2017

I do think the problem with the cheaper Waves bundles is their utility plugins aren't as modern or feature rich as for example FF's, but only the more expensive bundles have the more interesting and HW modeled stuff.

I've owned Waves Gold for a few years, the only plugins I still use from it are H delay and L1. Comparatively that makes it an expensive purchase. I've got several other Waves plugs but they were all bought individually. The next level bundle upgrade doesn't interest me at all, ad after that it gets super expensive, so waiting for the sale rotation is a better plan.

Which FF plugs did you get @PolarityMan and how are you finding them?

PolarityMan · August 2017

I got the mastering bundle, so Pro-Q 2, Pro-C 2, Pro-MB and Pro-L.

Only used them for about half an hour as bought it a couple of weeks ago then immediately went on holiday but Ive wanted pro-q 2 in particular for ageeeeeeees.

Not sure Ill use MB much but C2 and L look pretty decent too.

octatonic · August 2017

Soundtoys 5 is absolutely worth having.

Public Service Announcement: Eventide released a new delay plugin called Ultratap.
It is $49 until September.
I've had it for a few hours and it is pretty awesome.
I'm a huge fan of Eventide plugins and they bless you with two authorisations per purchase, so you can have your main Daw and a laptop authorised without having to swap iLoks.

I would avoid the Waves subscription. It is $1500 a year for Mercury which is crazy.

Compared to Slate which is $179 a year, albeit with few plugins, although they are almost always better sounding.
I've had Waves Mercury for quite a long time- well before other companies were on the market- virtually every plugin that Waves do is done better by someone else.
Exceptions are Dorrough metering, Brauer Motion and Restoration bundle.

UAD are doing some awesome things- the Massive Passive, SSL, Chandler Curve Bender, EL Fatso, Thermonic Culture Vulture, Shadow Hills Mastering Comp are all incredibly close to the hardware they are replicating.

Also check out Expoential Audio- their Excalibur plugin is the best delay plugin I've heard. I use it on everything.

TimmyO · August 2017

UAD is so good - wish I were wealthier!

guitarfishbay · August 2017

PolarityMan said:

I got the mastering bundle, so Pro-Q 2, Pro-C 2, Pro-MB and Pro-L.

Only used them for about half an hour as bought it a couple of weeks ago then immediately went on holiday but Ive wanted pro-q 2 in particular for ageeeeeeees.

Not sure Ill use MB much but C2 and L look pretty decent too.

When mixing guitars definitely try out natural phase mode on Pro Q2. I find it to sound excellent, not zero latency though so I don't use it for tracking. Also love it for overheads for the same reason - notching resonances doesn't ruin the tone as fast as zero latency, generally.

Pro-MB is very useful if you do come across something where MB compression is needed, e.g. Low end boom in palm muted passive guitars.

I also find I use it on certain vocals that use a lot of range and dynamics, as static EQ and broadband compression don't always deal with a singer going from warm low notes to yelled high notes. I sometimes also use it in sidechain on slower songs that need a relatively big bass, but also a relatively big kick to cut through. On faster songs with lots of kick hits I've found it's better to separate more clearly with EQ.

Pro C2's reduction limit mode (prob wrong term) is also mega useful if you want a consistent amount of gain reduction - again sidechain might be a reason to do this. It's got lots of different modes and a very easy to use GUI.

guitarfishbay · August 2017

You can sidechain Pro Q2 also, to get another channel's analyser to appear in the one you're EQing. Can be a helpful tool if you're having difficulty separating by ear especially in areas where your room isn't so great. Wouldn't rely on it completely but I definitely use it from time to time if things are clashing and I'm getting stuck

octatonic · August 2017

I'm messing about with Ultratap and it is really cool.

Have a listen to these:

This is the part without Ultratap instantiated: http://www.jamesrichmond.com/moved/ultratap/Stabs_no_ultratap.mp3
This is the part with it in there: http://www.jamesrichmond.com/moved/ultratap/Stabs_with_ultratap.mp3

Here it is in the context of the track: http://www.jamesrichmond.com/moved/ultratap/ALL_Stabs_with_ultratap.mp3

octatonic · August 2017

TimmyO said:

UAD is so good - wish I were wealthier!

I spent ages demoing the ones I absolutely had to have and then bought them as part of the summer sale.
They were about £1200 for the lot and would have cost £3500 outside the sale.

Image: https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/20543721_1737961146503818_5116852179814273266_o.jpg?oh=4121412d7e50fa8b1dd12393b8f82e81&oe=59F39D01

The Neve 33609 is awesome sauce.

PolarityMan · August 2017

guitarfishbay said: nice

You can sidechain Pro Q2 also, to get another channel's analyser to appear in the one you're EQing. Can be a helpful tool if you're having difficulty separating by ear especially in areas where your room isn't so great. Wouldn't rely on it completely but I definitely use it from time to time if things are clashing and I'm getting stuck

That sounds ace as my ear is definitely not super refined.

TimmyO · August 2017

octatonic said:

TimmyO said:

UAD is so good - wish I were wealthier!

I spent ages demoing the ones I absolutely had to have and then bought them as part of the summer sale.
They were about £1200 for the lot and would have cost £3500 outside the sale.

The Neve 33609 is awesome sauce.

I'd need more hardware too - and it's all moot since the life-downsizing. Zero disposable cash!

guitarfishbay · September 2017

guitarfishbay said:

So for anyone who bought the plugin, they're doing a deal to upgrade to the full SSL bundle...

Just on this point - the Studio Classics Collection Contains the SSL bundle, API bundle, and V Series and is currently on sale for cheaper than the upgrade to the SSL collection, or the SSL Collection on its own.

guitarfishbay · September 2017

https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/waves-studio-classics-collection

The Abbey Roads collection is also on sale https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/waves-abbey-road-collection

10% off via code from https://www.retailmenot.com/view/waves.com?c=7666283 seems to work at AD

j_r · September 2017

SSL G-channel now on sale:

http://www.waves.com/plugins/ssl-g-channel

IMC1980 · September 2017

j_r said:

SSL G-channel now on sale:

http://www.waves.com/plugins/ssl-g-channel

I grabbed this as well. Just need that buss compressor to go on sale now...

guitarfishbay · September 2017

Looks like the studio classics collection price has gone back up. Was $199 last week for all the API, SSL and V series EQs and compressors. Cheaper at AD and with the discount code I posted - $136 which was a good deal IMO. Sure it'll end up that cheap again at some point... they'll probably do the SSL comp on its own at some point too.

octatonic · September 2017

guitarfishbay said:

Looks like the studio classics collection price has gone back up. Was $199 last week for all the API, SSL and V series EQs and compressors. Cheaper at AD and with the discount code I posted - $136 which was a good deal IMO. Sure it'll end up that cheap again at some point... they'll probably do the SSL comp on its own at some point too.

Have you checked out the Brainworx E and G channels?

guitarfishbay · September 2017

I haven't, I assume I should?

octatonic · September 2017

guitarfishbay said:

I haven't, I assume I should?

What they are doing is really interesting, which is to model the nonlinear characteristics of individual channels in a specific console. When you pull up, say, 40 instances of the G channel plugin they will all have slight, imperceptible differences between them, much like an actual console (if you think about how individual components to a channel change over time).

It is a really novel approach and I believe it works.

PolarityMan · September 2017

octatonic said:

guitarfishbay said:

I haven't, I assume I should?

What they are doing is really interesting, which is to model the nonlinear characteristics of individual channels in a specific console. When you pull up, say, 40 instances of the G channel plugin they will all have slight, imperceptible differences between them, much like an actual console (if you think about how individual components to a channel change over time).

It is a really novel approach and I believe it works.

If they were smart they would key the variation to the fader channel number so you would be all like, I always stick my overheads on channel 3 and 9 because theyre so much warmer etc.

octatonic · September 2017

PolarityMan said:

octatonic said:

guitarfishbay said:

I haven't, I assume I should?

What they are doing is really interesting, which is to model the nonlinear characteristics of individual channels in a specific console. When you pull up, say, 40 instances of the G channel plugin they will all have slight, imperceptible differences between them, much like an actual console (if you think about how individual components to a channel change over time).

It is a really novel approach and I believe it works.

If they were smart they would key the variation to the fader channel number so you would be all like, I always stick my overheads on channel 3 and 9 because theyre so much warmer etc.

It is more subtle than that.

guitarfishbay · September 2017

That sounds interesting.

You know what I just had a thought... these rotating $29 sales - are they just trying to get people to piece together Mercury on their own in a pseudo subscription format?

Current price of Mercury $2999 - number of plugins 150+ (I'm not counting them manually to find out how many over 150 it is). IIRC it's been about that price for a while.

Simple maths $3000 / 150 = $20

frank1985 · September 2017

Waiting for the kramer master tape to go on sale for something silly

octatonic · September 2017

frank1985 said:

Waiting for the kramer master tape to go on sale for something silly

I'd give that a miss myself (I own it).
Compared to Slate's VTM or UAD Studer 800 it just doesn't compare imho.
If you want a good, cheap but awesome sounding tape plugin then check out McDSP's Analog Channel.
It has been around for a long time but I still use it all the time.
It is on sale for $49 at the moment.

Cirrus · September 2017

octatonic said:
It is more subtle than that.

I had a "down the rabbit hole" moment when I started to notice the differences in the channels on Waves' NLS. I think it was channel 4 of the SSL model, had more sub bass than the others and I started thinking hey, I should put my kick on 4... and in the stereo instances I was scrolling through the channels to find a pair that matched because, say, if it defaulted to channel 7 and 8 then 8 was louder and the bus was a bit lopsided.

guitarfishbay · September 2017

@Cirrus ;

Am I right in remembering you're a Studio One user - do you ever use the Mix Engine FX?

Cirrus · September 2017

@guitarfishbay alas, no - Sonar for me. But Studio One does look cool.

guitarfishbay · September 2017

Hmm must have confused you with someone else then!

I'm enjoying Studio One. Looks like Sonar also has ARA which is pretty fantastic when it comes to completing things before I die of old age.

Cirrus · September 2017

Yes, but I broke Melodyne while trying to tidy up my disparate plugin folders, so now it doesn't work right any more within sonar - I need to play the audio into it in standalone mode, though real time editing is still possible. Must fix that at some point...

ToneControl · September 2017

the Waves newish grand piano and Electric 88 are very nice

guitarfishbay · September 2017

Have you tried Vocalign? It can be used via ARA also.

If you do a lot of harmony/overdubs then it's a gigantic time (and vocal stamina) saver. We do so many less takes and less time spent editing since getting it, for ultimately the same end result. Not everything needs aligning as sometimes looseness is nice, but when you do want tighter it's very good.

Revoice is superb too, as it can transfer pitch as well as timing, but for just aligning vocalign via ARA is lightning fast.

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