Blind Summing Shootout - Slate VCC 4K ITB vs ITB vs 32 Ch SSL Analog Summing Box

[shashwatology]

A. SSl
B. ITB
C. VCC

[scot_35]

1. ITB
2. VCC
3. SSL

Results please

[FakeOnMercy]

A. feels more live, like I'm in the same room
B. sounds good, more mojo or something, could also bit more low end
C. the highs don't sound natural to me, least favorite

I've no idea which one is the SSL, VCC or ITB but I would love to know now

[Gertius]

Wow - very interesting test. Thanks for sending me the results!
One question - did you have oversampling engaged in VCC? I´ve noticed that setting it to 8x makes quite a difference.

Cheers!

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by Gertius

Wow - very interesting test. Thanks for sending me the results!
One question - did you have oversampling engaged in VCC? I´ve noticed that setting it to 8x makes quite a difference.

Cheers!

I have no idea what you're talking about.
I just had VCC at it's default settings.

[Gertius]

Not trying to sound like a smartass here:
"Oversampling helps avoid aliasing, improves resolution and reduces noise."
From: Oversampling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can enable it for playback or mixdown seperately in the settings dialog of the VCC (on the lower right of this image: http://www.protoolerblog.com/wp-cont..._vcc_group.jpg). By default it´s off.

In my previous experience (I´ve run some tests with the API model on a kickdrum), setting Oversampling to 8x was quite an improvement in fidelity and tightness.

I would be very interested in hearing your example with 8x OS engaged!

Cheers!

[DanGo]

My guesses, as I've mixed ITB and with the Slate VCC, but never had the pleasure of using SSL hardware...

1. SSL Analogue
2. Slate VCC
3. ITB

On second listen, I like 1 best. It feels full and balanced, not too hyped in the bottom or top. The reverb feels best in it. Number 2 is close, to me, as it feels decently balanced, but a little light on the bottom, making the reverb pop out too much. The third sample sounds dark and like it has enough bottom end, but I don't like the transients in it as much, which is how I usually feel about my ITB mixes!

I'd love to know the answers!

[DanGo]

Wow, I just got the PM... I'm surprised, but glad that my ears were at least partly right. I'm going back to listen to those samples again.

[Mr A]

1. Slate VCC
2. SSL Analogue
3. ITB

?3 I liked less of all..

Now, could I know the truth?

[msprigings]

1. Itb
2. Ssl
3. Vcc

[redwasp]

I'll bite.
1: SSL
2: ITB
3: VCC

[JozTheShark]

1 - ssl
2 - itb
3 - vcc

[marcosings]

I have no clue what the answer is, but i would like the OP to pm me with the results please. I came to this thread to see if i needed to go OTB and spend money on a summing mixer. By the look of all the varying responses i think i'll just save my money and stay ITB. I'm Not being a smart @ss. I truly appreciate knowing that the difference is somewhat subtle. Thanks for doing this.

[side_chain]

Could someone please pm me the results?

Thanks brothers and sisters

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

[RightOnRome]

i like 1 and 3

[chrisjones]

1. Itb
2. Ssl
3. Vcc

[marchhare]

1.) ITB
2.) VCC
3.) Analog summing

[h2o]

1. ITB
2. SSL
3. VCC

Fav is #2 co'z the image is much better and the tone is subtle .

[tfunster]

Can someone please PM me results?

[fewture]

Hi,

Could I have the results pm'ed as well?

Thanks

[teod]

1. Vcc
2. Ssl
3. Itb

[sdR]

Originally Posted by Wiz_Oz

I like 2 the best.

then I like 1 followed by three ( i had to edit that, I had written two insead of three...)


So I suppose

1. VCC
2. SSL
3. ITB

cheers

Wiz

The same for me !

[Luciano S]

1 - SSL
2 - ITB
3 - VCC

Please PM the results to me.

[orpheus_]

If I had to guess I'd say:

• #1: SSL, I can hear the crosstalk between the channels which is gluing everything together and creating a sense of space in the mix
• #2: ITB, because there's no crosstalk between channels that I can hear
• #3: VCC, there is glue but not as much openness

Right or wrong though this is a really hard test and a really good ear training exercise. The difference is less than a few percent. I wonder if it would be clearer if not MP3'd. Don't forget MP3 of any bitrate removes psychoacoustic elements we "don't notice".

orph

[orpheus_]

Out of interest here's the tally so far

ITB VCC SSL
#1 33 22 44
#2 45 27 27
#3 20 45 34

I'm not a statistician but these look statistically significant to me ...

[Nemomusic]

My guess:

1) ITB
2) SSL
3) VCC

I actually prefer 3 over 2 by a small amount. They both have the same impact in my ears but the transients in example 3 sounds more natural without jumping out of the mix. The ambience in example 2 is better defined on my listening setup (iPad with AKG K270 headphones) though which leads me to think that it's the SSL. I'm no pro though and i've had precious little experience with the summing phenomena. Thank you for doing this:-)

[drBill]

Originally Posted by orpheus_

Out of interest here's the tally so far

ITB VCC SSL
#1 33 22 44
#2 45 27 27
#3 20 45 34

I'm not a statistician but these look statistically significant to me ...

Well, that statistically confused the hell out of me....

Why not release the results publicly? It obvious by now that the statistics are what they are.

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by drBill

Well, that statistically confused the hell out of me....

Why not release the results publicly? It obvious by now that the statistics are what they are.

Yeah - I was just thinking that.

Here are the results.....
1-SSL
2-ITB
3-VCC

It's been fun.

[orpheus_]

Originally Posted by drBill

Well, that statistically confused the hell out of me....

Why not release the results publicly? It obvious by now that the statistics are what they are.

Sorry about that... Yes I'm not a statistics dude either, but roughly 50-60% more people voted for (feel free to correct me if you're a maths dude ):
1. SSL
2. ITB
3. VCC

Which is what the results actually were, so definitely people are picking correctly... IE the difference IS audible...

[orpheus_]

Originally Posted by anguswoodhead

It's been fun.

Appreciate your work man!