Plugins Ruin Everything

[EgyptionRing]

So I took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound I've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing BS. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All I need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

[lpkyer]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

So I took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound I've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing BS. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All I need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

Welcome, son.

[EgyptionRing]

Can you recommended a good eq for under a thousand?

[CJ Mastering]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

Can you recommended a good eq for under a thousand?

What kind of EQ? graphic? Parametric?

For Graphic = Rane DEQ 60
For Parametric = Summit Audio FeQ-50 or Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5033
Cj

[lpkyer]

Well I really like the EQ on my Ward Beck 460LA modules so maybe check out for used racked modules?

This seems cool too:
Square State Solid State EQ Model One B | Equalizers @ ZenProAudio.com

[jitterybit]

MP3s ruin everything
earbuds ruin everything

[rack gear]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

So I took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound I've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing BS. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All I need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

...hardware is compatible with every platform and OS, and you'll still be using it 20 years from now... do the math, and in the long run, hardware is actually more cost effective.

I find software compressors to be bigger offenders than software EQ's.

[Chris Lago]

If you have a 500 series rack, the Api 550a would be the way to go, you can find it for 750 used.

[LQM]

It's debatable. I like good outboard as much as anyone growing up in the 2" tape / big f*** off super expensive analog console and outboard era, but there are plugins which do a good job if you spend time learning how to use them ... As someone who once owned an Alesis 3630 in my old home studio with 8 track reel tape 1/2", small used Soundcraft mixer and Atari ST with Cubase MIDI, I can say quite confidently that many software compressors can do a better job if used correctly and I don't miss that setup much (except MIDI on the Atari which was pretty rock solid so long as you weren't running lots of channels at once).

Some engineers such as Dave Pensado and Dylan 3D Dresdow both claim that if you can't make a good record with today's technology and plugins, that it's down on you and not the gear and that most people who make spurious claims about digital and plugins haven't taken the time to learn it in the same way they did learning on analogue and certainly, it goes beyond the comfort zone of some old timers who fear what they don't know - this is another reason why PTHD has survived as leading DAW app so long too, a lot of engineers I know have no inclination to want to learn Logic, Nuendo, etc. they're comfortable where they are and stuck in their ways, some of them.

[s34nsm411]

plenty of good sounding records have been mixed ITB and to suggest that they are inherently detrimental to every sound is kind of ridiculous

[Brain.wavs]

Originally Posted by jitterybit

MP3s ruin everything
earbuds ruin everything

Hoping my generation figures this outthumbsup

[widgetlocsta]

Originally Posted by egyptionring

so i took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound i've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing bs. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All i need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

were have you been all my life i thought i was hearing things plug ins are trying to be something they are not= hardware

cheap to produce easy to distribute a complete rip off

[omtayslick]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

Plugins sound like cartoons.

Now thats a great line! Whether one agrees with it 100% or not.

It's also a true statement about many plug-ins.

Try Nebula.

[Tracs]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

So I took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound I've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing BS. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All I need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

What cheap compressor?
Just wondering..

[Steab]

You don't know what you're doing, son.

[EgyptionRing]

Originally Posted by Tracs

What cheap compressor?
Just wondering..

Art VLA II.

[EgyptionRing]

Originally Posted by Steab

You don't know what you're doing, son.

You say that with such certainty pffff.

[DopeMusicEnt]

are u saying WAVES Compressor is garbage?

[Unclenny]

Originally Posted by LQM

there are plugins which do a good job if you spend time learning how to use them ....................many software compressors can do a better job if used correctly

Yeah......sounds like you may not be taking the time to get your plugs into their 'comfort zones'.

I would much rather send my mix through a judiciously applied RComp than a cheap outboard.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

So I took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound I've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing BS. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All I need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

Yawn...there's good and bad of everything. I love a hardware mixbuss chain as much as anyone, but I can manage with ITB everything else. I'd rather have ITB compressors than cheap hardware too, but each to their own. You may come full circle again somepoint when you realise the negative effects of your cheap hardware comp.

Originally Posted by Steab

You don't know what you're doing, son.

Harsh but some truth there.

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

You say that with such certainty pffff.

Well, there are lots who can make plugins sound great, just as there are drivers who can win races with inferior cars. doesn't mean the drivers wouldn't be the same or better with better cars, just different (or in some cases, very similar).

[sparqee]

I find that if the tracks sound really good to begin with then using plugins "lightly" sounds fine but if your tracks don't sound so good and you have to do "a lot of work" then hardware sounds better (i.e. heavy handed HW sounds better than heavy handed software). That being said I think if you're after that modern "every track is some degree of forward" sound then good plugins can give you what you want. If you want a more traditional mix with a greater sense of space and depth then HW will get you there faster.

There is certainly something to be said for playing to your strengths. If you have only software then go for that "software sound". It won't sound like HW but it may well sound better than trying to get your software to sound like HW. There's room in the world for different sounding mixes. And as Dave Pensado is credited with saying "It's better to sound new than to sound good".

[dibravibra]

Yeah, plugs -The biggest cheat in the history of music production, ha, ha!! For me working with plugs was always something like piloting JET in a simulation room. No real deal. Sound is coverd with kind of veil, with no edge, lifeless. I mean, with HW Eq I can dial what I want in a minute. With Soft Eq my search was endless. I remember once I wanted to null HW Eq with soft EQ. I think it was Sony Oxford. Man that was crazy. A few db boost in Hw needed almost 15dB in software. Finally I did it, but hey, instrument was dead. I gave up at that moment. I'm glad you also realized that. I'm afraid that buying one HW Eq and mic with a lot of treble woun't solved you problems. My advice: buy analog mixer now!!

[ktodac3298]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

Art VLA II.

I've been thinkn about getting this for awhile

esp. after reading this thread


but now my mind is made up, will be ordering soon

[Whitecat]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

Can you recommended a good eq for under a thousand?

Speck ASC-T.

dbx 242.

[audioboffin]

Originally Posted by jitterybit

MP3s ruin everything
earbuds ruin everything

Nah, money ruins everything, but "there's nothing wrong with money, that a lot of it would't fix"

Thanks to Pete Wells, RIP mate

[eeldip]

my guess is that whatever plugin you were using was a little bit too hi fi. i bet you could get close by following the compressor with an eq and a saturation plug.

[Retinal]

Softube CL1B, Fet, Dynamite
Waves CLA and 2500
Brainworx stuff
mPressor
The Glue
Emi TG
just to name some, they all sound great. I own among other analog compressors the VLAII, try to do the same thing Fet does with it, or Waves 2500 or CLA76.
Just different tools, it's all a matter of know how to use it.
Also true that to each his own, mixing is very subjective

[CJ Mastering]

Plugins dont ruin everything, woman do!!!

[jjboogie]

Originally Posted by EgyptionRing

So I took off the eq and compression on vox and the mixbus. Ran the mix through a cheap analogue compressor and everything jelled. My mixes have that sound I've been searching for now. What a waste. Plugins sound like cartoons. I don't care how much they peddle them as "vintage" and "classic". Ha, classic marketing BS. I won't use them on anything crucial from now on.
I am compressing on the way in too, by the way, which kicks ass too. All I need is a good outboard eq now. Using a bright mic that doesn't need eq on vox. But it would be nice for other things.

It's called "USER ERROR"

[EgyptionRing]

Originally Posted by jjboogie

It's called "USER ERROR"

Look, I know how to track and I know how to use software compressors just fine thank you. There are plenty of plugs I like (soundtoys for sure) and other effects but you don't get the depth of field with software on the 2bus like you do with outboard. It's just different.