It would be an understatement to say that I'm excited for this release, in fact to be more true to my feelings I should say that I'm ecstatic. I am a very satisfied owner of Slate Digital's FG-X and can honestly say that there isn't a compressor/limiter plug-in I've used that can even hold a candle to FG-X on the mix bus. The ability it has to maintain dynamics and clarity under even the most punishing of digital signals is truly remarkable. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about Slate's Virtual Console Collection, keep reading to find out why.
I'm a Traktor Gate whore. In fact I've used and abused her so many times during live sets I was beginning to wonder if our relationship was ever going to turn into something more. Well with the introduction of Native Instruments Traktor's 12 this relationship does indeed now have the beautiful potential to blossom into something much more serious. Native Insturments just released Traktor's 12, you can purchase it as a stand alone plug-in for your DAW by itself for $79.00 and it also comes bundled with Native Instruments Komplete 7. Traktor's 12 basically took 12 of the most popular effects used in Traktor and turned them into DAW plug-ings for use inside of their free Guitar Rig 4 Player. Wondering how to get those crazy DJ style breakdown efx into your production. Wonder no more, Traktor's 12 is here for you with some of the most well known DJ style efx bundled into a nice package that can run right inside of any DAW.
The effects that come with Traktor's 12 are as follows: Traktor Delay, Traktor Reverb, Digital LoFi, Mullholland Drive, Ring Modulator, Format Filter, Peak Filter, Beatmasher, GATER!!!, Reverse Grain, Transpose Stretch, Beat Slicer. Traktor's 12 also has 120 multi-effect rack presets from standard presets perfect for basic processing and remix tools to complex and dense crazy nuts madness preset effects. Since Traktor's 12 runs in the free Guitar Rig 4 Player, the Guitar Rig Factory Selection of 22 tools and effects also comes included.
As you can see nothing is different about the effects we all know and love, they still feature the same 4 knob control that Traktor features and look identical minus some color changes. I wasn't able to find any info about how these actually sound, quality wise inside of your DAW but I am on the hunt. I just asked on GearSlutz for a little review of Traktor's 12 from a guy who just got Komplete 7 so hopefully I'll have more to share with you all once he gets back to me. There is however a few sound examples on Native's website and the efx don't seem to sound half bad, very digital without any "true" character or feeling at all but what can you expect. If they are anything like the on board effects in Traktor Pro be careful because it is very easy to over do it with these, hopefully this next sentence sums that warning up for you. Long story short, the efx can be very unique, but, if you push them to hard this uniqueness turns to sound poo, bottom line. And although while in your studio you won't be in a live situation it's just a good thing to keep in mind so you don't feel discouraged when you are going crazy hard to the walls and end up with sound poo. The Traktor Pro Gate will always sound dope though, just don't over do the "noise" knob.
Beyond that there isn't too much to say about Traktor's 12. It's just a bunch of DJ effects from Traktor that now work inside of your DAW for use with productions. No more bouncing stems from your productions out and loading them into Traktor to re-record them using Traktor's efx. They can now all be neatly stored in your DAW's Plugin Menu, for more information on Traktor's 12 visit Native Instruments Website.
Here's a quick little video showing what the efx in Traktor's 12 can do:
So I am most certainly a fan and avid user of the Sonnox Oxford EQ plug-in. Maybe I got sucked in by the hype... who knows, all I know is that I just discovered the God EQ. I was doing some stumbling over at the GearSlutz Forum (The place I learn basically everything) when I noticed more than a few engineers were hyping a plug-in I'd never heard of as if it were Higgs Boson. They were specifically saying that it made their Sonnox Oxford EQ sound like garbage.
I admit at first I thought... nooo, what??? That's my baby... no... it can't suck. Needless to say I had to download the demo of this EQuality EQ from DMG Audio they were all speaking so highly of. That way I could A/B it and the Oxford side by side to settle this battle. I loaded up two identical tracks one with Oxford & the other with EQuality. Before I even made any adjusts what so ever with both eq's flat, just having EQuality on and in the signal path made it's track sound better. (nice, even slight low end bump mainly, right around 70-130hz) This might bother some, but if you're working with bass driven material this little bit of initial character will do wonders to your music. I was immediately intrigued so I started tweaking each and it wasn't even a contest. EQuality is far superior and much clearer the the Oxford EQ and a lot of other EQ's I've ever used for that matter. It maintains a level of clarity that I've never heard, and Sonnox can't match, while still adding a tad bit of it's own character to your material. There is a feature that allows you the ability to switch digital processing options. Basically meaning this EQ can be as a precise and clear mastering tool and also act as a sonically rich warm character driven analog EQ. The GUI is understated, pleasant and quite functional when you're in the mix with it. Some large multi-band EQ's can look quite daunting and almost scary when they're first opened.
EQuality doesn't scare you, instead she greets you with her warmth and supple bosom. I can't show you how much better it is, you'll have to see for yourself. Download a demo copy of EQuality from DMG Audio's website and put it up against your favorite EQ. See how things turn out, you just might have a new special lady in the plug-in menu. I haven't had the time to fully investigate this beast but I will, you can count on that. I think I'll even do a EQ Tutorial/EQuality Tutorial video to go with a more detailed review. There is a host of features that will come in quite handy whether your mixing, recording, or mastering so I think this would be a useful video tutorial for the production/engineering world. I'll get to know this EQ and get back to all of you with a full review and rundown of EQuality. A full license of EQuality Retails for: $149.00 and is available at DMG Audio's Website.
One way to differentiate your music from others is by using plug-ins to shape the sound you've created and arranged. Most are expensive and one can often wonder why they're spending 500 dollars on a piece of software. But... Don't worry the internet is full of freeware plug-ins for both PC and Mac users. Some are crappy, others are downright amazing. I've compiled a small list of a few places you can download some of these free plug-ins. Enjoy & happy searching, there are literally thousands of them on the internet! Let this list just be a stepping stone for you. Download and try out as many of them as you can, you may find something that sounds great with your productions.
Nothing sounds quite like a Solid State Logic console, period. I've had the pleasure of working with their AWS 900 console and I really must say that nothing even comes close. I might even argue that I like the SSL sound better than that of Mr. Rupert Neve's. (this probably just made some old school engineer cringe) Nonetheless SSL has crafted quite the sound. Solid State Logic has become a legendary brand in the audio industry and despite the high cost of most of their equipment you too can have a little piece of SSL in your productions. How? Simple, SSL makes a few plugins available on their website for FREE!
This free plugin is a model of SSL's "E" series from the late 1970's. The actual LMC-1 compressor was used to heavily compress the signal coming from musicians in the sound booth so the engineer and them could communicate during the recording session. Leave it to some engineer to figure out that the insane compression of this listen-mic compressor sounded fantastic on drums. The engineer had the desk re-wired so he could send signal to and from this listen-mic compressor. Thus, the legend of the "E" Series Listen-Mic Compressor was born.
You don't have much control with this plugin over compression as your used to with normal compressors. Remember this wasn't originally designed to be used with music. The attack and release curves are set, and the only control you have is with a "less-more" control which I'm assuming adjusts the threshold and ratio values of compression. However control, isn't really the point with this plugin. Every plugin is different and is created to address specific tasks in your productions or mix. The advantage of this plugin may not be control, but it certainly has it's own character and feel, unique to SSL. Plus, did I mention it was FREE!!!
Follow the link below to go to SSL's website and download the LMC-1 as well as a couple other plug-ins they offer for free. SSL's Free Plug-Ins
