Waves MPX or Wave Art Tube on 2 buss?

mattg082 · 29th November 2011

So I've had some time with the waves mpx. Right now I'm starting to get half way through a album and tried the waves mpx on the 2 buss mixing into it for a song. It's good,but it does take a bit out of the high end dulling it and changes the sound some... Sometimes desirable, but a little questionable to me on the 2 buss. Leaves me scratching my head whether it's a good thing or bad. Sometimes this plug is just better on stereo busses,bass and guitar by itself. I still like the 3d saturation mojo I get from putting something on the 2 buss! I usually use the duy tape on each track when mixing rock, but that changes sometimes with new plugins coming out especially Satson console emulation.

Now I haven't tried Wave Arts Tube emulation. I know it's very cpu heavy, but 64 bit is on the way very soon, in beta right now and I would probably only use one instance on the 2 buss or print it.I'm wondering if something like this would be a better choice to getting grit and warmth vs say the mpx? My usual chain on the 2 buss would be Noble EQ,The Glue(or Waves SSL) and Sonnox limiter. Sometimes Fab Filter stuff. That's my standard for a rock mix on the 2 buss and sometimes I have something for saturation in there, but still trying to find my go to after all this time.

Wanted to know from some that might have used the waves art plug on the 2 buss as I haven't. I'm also open to other ideas!

LinusWendel · 29th November 2011

The MPX didn't work for me on the 2 buss either. I love it on drums and bass though. Try using Slate Digital VCC RC Tube, you get the 3d saturation you're trying to get without sacrifice too much top end.

lobsterinn · 29th November 2011

Aside from the obvious fact that they emulate different things, they are really useful for different things. The Wave Arts is quite CPU-heavy, so you might want to see if that is even an option once you have a full mix of plugins running. I just used it to lightly process an album I am mastering, using small amounts of drive and a bit of the eq to taste on each song - it sounded great in this context, adding subtle enhancements. The MPX would really need to be mixed into from the start in order for it to not really skew your mix.

Since you are using the Noble EQ, you are probably already getting some tube-ish saturation going on, so I'm guessing another tape sim would compliment your chain better. There are many decent choices out there at the moment, (depending on what format you are using) so I suggest you try some of those out.

tonecontroller · 29th November 2011

Honestly, I've found the MPX can be absolute magic at times on the buss but it can also be terrible. You have to really watch the input levels otherwise it can make everything crumble but sometimes on the right song, it's exactly the right thing. The Wave Arts tube is also amazing but I must confess I've never used it on the mix buss as far as I can remember. That's a fantastic plug to make certain elements 'sing' in the mix. I've used it on synths/guitars/drums/bass at different times.

On another note, I've been heavy mixing a big 20 track project (almost totally ITB) over the past couple of weeks and I have been thinking how great ITB has got these days with the new generation of desk and tape emulations. Good job really with today's budgets!

29th November 2011	#1
mattg082 Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 2,717 Thread Starter 1 Review written	Waves MPX or Wave Art Tube on 2 buss? So I've had some time with the waves mpx. Right now I'm starting to get half way through a album and tried the waves mpx on the 2 buss mixing into it for a song. It's good,but it does take a bit out of the high end dulling it and changes the sound some... Sometimes desirable, but a little questionable to me on the 2 buss. Leaves me scratching my head whether it's a good thing or bad. Sometimes this plug is just better on stereo busses,bass and guitar by itself. I still like the 3d saturation mojo I get from putting something on the 2 buss! I usually use the duy tape on each track when mixing rock, but that changes sometimes with new plugins coming out especially Satson console emulation. Now I haven't tried Wave Arts Tube emulation. I know it's very cpu heavy, but 64 bit is on the way very soon, in beta right now and I would probably only use one instance on the 2 buss or print it.I'm wondering if something like this would be a better choice to getting grit and warmth vs say the mpx? My usual chain on the 2 buss would be Noble EQ,The Glue(or Waves SSL) and Sonnox limiter. Sometimes Fab Filter stuff. That's my standard for a rock mix on the 2 buss and sometimes I have something for saturation in there, but still trying to find my go to after all this time. Wanted to know from some that might have used the waves art plug on the 2 buss as I haven't. I'm also open to other ideas!

29th November 2011	#2
LinusWendel Gear nut Joined: Jun 2009 Location: Sweden Posts: 131	The MPX didn't work for me on the 2 buss either. I love it on drums and bass though. Try using Slate Digital VCC RC Tube, you get the 3d saturation you're trying to get without sacrifice too much top end. __________________ "Ideas are one thing and what happens is another" - John Cage

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

29th November 2011	#3
lobsterinn Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2005 Location: Portland, Ore. Posts: 732 2 Reviews written	Aside from the obvious fact that they emulate different things, they are really useful for different things. The Wave Arts is quite CPU-heavy, so you might want to see if that is even an option once you have a full mix of plugins running. I just used it to lightly process an album I am mastering, using small amounts of drive and a bit of the eq to taste on each song - it sounded great in this context, adding subtle enhancements. The MPX would really need to be mixed into from the start in order for it to not really skew your mix. Since you are using the Noble EQ, you are probably already getting some tube-ish saturation going on, so I'm guessing another tape sim would compliment your chain better. There are many decent choices out there at the moment, (depending on what format you are using) so I suggest you try some of those out.

29th November 2011	#4
tonecontroller Gear nut Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 86	Honestly, I've found the MPX can be absolute magic at times on the buss but it can also be terrible. You have to really watch the input levels otherwise it can make everything crumble but sometimes on the right song, it's exactly the right thing. The Wave Arts tube is also amazing but I must confess I've never used it on the mix buss as far as I can remember. That's a fantastic plug to make certain elements 'sing' in the mix. I've used it on synths/guitars/drums/bass at different times. On another note, I've been heavy mixing a big 20 track project (almost totally ITB) over the past couple of weeks and I have been thinking how great ITB has got these days with the new generation of desk and tape emulations. Good job really with today's budgets!