Plug-in Purchases

[mattrw89]

I've been searching the forums for several days on plug-ins and everyone's feelings about them. I have found some great information but would like to inquire of my current feelings.

Right now I only have the standard Digi 002 plugs that come with their ignition package. I have JBL LSR4328 speakers, black lion modded 002, and a decent ear so I can discern the small differences between plug-ins.

So, with that knowledge... If you had $1300 to spend on plug-ins that would mix & master an entire album of alt rock what would you buy.

Options that I have looked into:

--UAD card w/ plugs - seems like too much of a hassle... Not enough processing power

--McDSP Emerald Pack Native - looks awesome. I'm about to demo it myself.

--URS Channel Strip Pro - Tried this out last night... AWESOME. But if I got this what plug-ins would you buy to complement it?

--Also thought about the Izotope Ozone 3 plug for some mastering responsibilities, but I can't stand the hard limiter in it.

--Waves - wait, did I really just write that down... Nevermind.

So those are the main avenues I have investigated. Other ideas for package you guys can assemble?

Thanks,
Matt

[bulangat]

Liquid Mix.
£500
Job done!

[Krecording]

Waves SSL, no really, $800.

[yeloocproducer]

CSP, altiverb, and echoboy. Contact Tony Belmont for a grreeeaat deal on CSP on this board. He hooks it up. You could def. mix an entire album with those 3 and the digirack plugs.

[ddageek]

First and foremost go down load the Massey Demos Then be amazed!

with Massey, and agood set of the console emulations (waves API<SSL V series or URS)

and Sound toys antive bundle (if only Sound blender were native I could get buy with a couple of good out board comps and a decent reverb!

[BLueROom]

I'd pay $1k for my UAD stuff over and over again. Not a waste IMHO.

[Resonant Alien]

UAD with 2 cards. If you track it right going in, that's all you'll need. (You do have some good mics and mic pres, right? If not, put some of your money there first).

[Stiff]

Of those you mention I wouldn't hesitate a second for going with the McDSP Emerald Bundle. "If I could only choose one..." and all that jazz.

I agree with a previous poster about checking out Massey as well though.

[5down1up]

waves ssl for the eq & dynamics,
massey for the comp, the limiter & some cool tools,
altiverb for reverb and rooms,
and the digidesign which are nice as well,

DONE

[wildpark]

mcdsp -waves v series or api -

[grevan]

Massey for sure, and the Music Production Toolkit.

[noizemakerz]

MCDSP! for a do it all set, Sprinkle some massey plugs in there and you have some good shit

[swisha31]

Originally Posted by noizemakerz

MCDSP! for a do it all set, Sprinkle some massey plugs in there and you have some good shit

yeah i think McDSP is good and I have waves SSL, its good too. I downloaded the Massey plugs and they are great and CHEAP so that can really help you maximize the amount of purchases. I dont think i would go the CSP route cause its only one plug and it will take up your whole budget(even though it's supposed to be so good). So if I were you i would look into:

McDSP plugs
Waves SSL, V-series, or API bundle(whichever you like best)
Massey plugs
UAD plugs

you should have it all covered with those.

[AlexLakis]

Massey and Music Production Toolkit for TL Space (which is equivalent to altiverb without the latency) and multitrack beat detective (which you may definitely want to have if you're only mixing the album, sometimes you never know what you're gonna get.) Then I'd probably pick up something like Waves SSL or check out the new URS strip (haven't tried it yet, but people have been saying good things.) That might get you around your budget.

What's your computer looking like? If you want to use UAD-1, you'll have to be cautious here, as many systems won't even run them, especially alongside a Digi system. You'll have to do some research into that, check the support forums. Also, your session portability options would be limited.

If I was buying plugins to mix an alt/rock album and I was also on the production end, I'd pick up a couple of Massey plugs and spend the rest on guitar gear, snares and/or cymbals. I've found a lot of the plugin tweaks I end up making can be avoided by simply choosing the right instrument to strum/hit or amp/cab to play out of in the first place. Even at the mixing stage, a direct track can always be X-Amp'd.

[mattrw89]

Thanks for all the responses guys! I can't believe everyone stayed on topic on a forum. Sweet.

Right now I'm really leaning towards the McDSP emerald pack... I just mixed a song with it and it sounds pretty good and allows me to manipulate the audio in just about every way I could ever want and I've only really used Filterbank, Compressorbank, and the G Console right now.

I must say I still love how the CSP has the 5 different years for each EQ band and the input processing type but McDSP makes it sound fat just because it seems like.

As far as all of you who are screaming Massey. I too am a Massey believer but I really need some more precise tools than Massey even though they sound fantastic. I am going to buy his L2007 Mastering Limiter and maybe Tape-Head.

For those recommending the Music Production Toolkit... I have that :-) So, yes every drum track is chopped up nicely bar the 7.3 error that deleted half of my fades beyond recovery and is making me REDO every song . Of course 7.3.1 fixed the problem but did not allow me to recover.

I have demoed the Waves SSL bundle and I must say that I like it but I must say that I think i like the McDSP bundle better. I haven't tried the Waves V or API bundles though...

Regarding UAD stuff... I just don't want to be tied down to the hardware pain in the rear and the limit of only having a few of a certain type of plugin... If I buy $150-250 for a compressor I want to be able to run as many of it as my computer can (like 50... not 1 or 2 per card)

BTW - I recorded all of these drum tracks on a Neve 8232 at a local studio (Digi 002 Rack converters though :( -- And they don't have the Black Lion Audio Mod yet...). Then my friend recorded the guitars and vocals through my Soundcraft Compact 10 into his Mbox. So the drums sound pretty good and I'm really playing mind tricks to get everything else to sound decent.

Thanks guys.

[GGreen]

This is my list itb.

Sony All of em!
URS Channel strip pro.
Soundtoys All of em!
Massey Tape head and THC and the new tape delay.
Eventide Anthology II
IK CSR reverb

Thats about it for itb duties for me the rest happens out in the real world!

I used to use UAD / Duende but ended up filling my pci slots with PT HD cards instead..

G5 so only 3 slots , UAD had to go! and the Duende was running on its own FW card in order to work properly but that got taken out and replaced with an HD card to.

Cheers

gfx

[thermos]

For me,
CSP also no doubt (I like it better than the waves emus). I guess Altiverb (I don't like that IK reverb that everyone talks about, where are the highs?). I love the psp delays, but I bet the massey one is awesome (haven't tried it yet). I was never a fan of the old MCdsp algorithms, but maybe the new ones are better. For mastering I'd say skip ozone, the massey limiter is the way to go (I guess you know that) and use CSP for your mastering compression duties (The vari mu emulation is the sickest mastering comp plug I have heard). And then get a nice mastering type eq like angeltone, etc....

I feel uad is a total waste at this point. No reason to lock yourself into not having enough processing power to use what you want.

[macleodgrant]

you can't go wrong with the waves gold bundle, it's really an essential toolkit with multiband compressor and renn tool. soundtoys native is awesome too and then the sonalksis compressor should finish it oof nicely

[Stiff]

Originally Posted by mattrw89

As far as all of you who are screaming Massey. I too am a Massey believer but I really need some more precise tools than Massey even though they sound fantastic. I am going to buy his L2007 Mastering Limiter and maybe Tape-Head.

It hurts me to say this, because I like to support Massey in anyway I can, but if you go with the Emerald Bundle, make sure you try the ML4000 before you even think about another limiter. It has retired every limiter in my collection.

[macleodgrant]

Originally Posted by Stiff

It hurts me to say this, because I like to support Massey in anyway I can, but if you go with the Emerald Bundle, make sure you try the ML4000 before you even think about another limiter. It has retired every limiter in my collection.

even the sonnox limiter, cos that limiter it absolutely amazing??

[emfrank72]

I'll agree with the UAD being too much of a hassle especially on PTLE where you don't have ADC. I have also had lots of problems getting 2 cards to work in a system. Love the sound of the plugins. I'd almost be willing to buy them all over again if UA would make a version that ran natively.

The Waves SSL and V-series are great sounding plugins. I don't have the Sonnox plugins but after demoing them would like to add them to my collection when I get a chance.

Because I am currently using Sonar, I can't comment on the McDSP, Soundtoys, or Massey plugs but I hear good things about all of them. I am saving for an HD setup so will be checking them out when I get closer to pulling the trigger on it.