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mcphoto · 27th September 2010

I've been playing with the 60-day Big Blue Trial.

Love it like crazy on bass guitar; in tandem with a compressor, I can't believe that "wool sweater just came out of the dryer" feel to the bass. The GR on this thing really works well to dial down any big notes before your choice of comp. The "drive" effect is spectacular on lows.

Been playing with just using the saturation (threshold all the way up, no GR - but you do hear it even without the gain). Fooled around with some scratch tracks from a female vocalist; we'd just thrown a 57 up for her to lay down a guide vocal while she played guitar - kind of a shrill track. The Big Blue's soft grit made the track really sing - sounded like I had a much nicer chain on her voice, very lush; can't wait to get a good mic on her for real. One of those things you really "hear" when solo'd, but in the mix? It's subtle but crazy-useful, esp. considering you only get a "drive" knob, no tweaking how it responds to tonal regions (like RedLine Pre), no control over which harmonics get boosted (like TwinTube).

I still love TwinTube for some of that ethereal sparkle, and decapitator does some amazing things - but for $99, the "drive" knob alone on this baby is a steal. Anxiously awaiting SoundToys upcoming preamp plugin - after years of trying EQs and reverbs, I'm finding the analog-dirt plugins to be by far the most effective things for me in moderation.

27th September 2010	#43
mcphoto Gear interested Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 26	I've been playing with the 60-day Big Blue Trial. Love it like crazy on bass guitar; in tandem with a compressor, I can't believe that "wool sweater just came out of the dryer" feel to the bass. The GR on this thing really works well to dial down any big notes before your choice of comp. The "drive" effect is spectacular on lows. Been playing with just using the saturation (threshold all the way up, no GR - but you do hear it even without the gain). Fooled around with some scratch tracks from a female vocalist; we'd just thrown a 57 up for her to lay down a guide vocal while she played guitar - kind of a shrill track. The Big Blue's soft grit made the track really sing - sounded like I had a much nicer chain on her voice, very lush; can't wait to get a good mic on her for real. One of those things you really "hear" when solo'd, but in the mix? It's subtle but crazy-useful, esp. considering you only get a "drive" knob, no tweaking how it responds to tonal regions (like RedLine Pre), no control over which harmonics get boosted (like TwinTube). I still love TwinTube for some of that ethereal sparkle, and decapitator does some amazing things - but for $99, the "drive" knob alone on this baby is a steal. Anxiously awaiting SoundToys upcoming preamp plugin - after years of trying EQs and reverbs, I'm finding the analog-dirt plugins to be by far the most effective things for me in moderation.