Spectrafoo or Transient Designer

[alcohol]

I got a little extra money to get some studio improvements.

To those who would know, which would be more important to have - the Spectrafoo Standard or a Transient Designer (2 channel)?

thanks

[henryrobinett]

I don't know Transient Designer, but for me Spectrafoo has been invaluable.

[robdarling]

you will use the TD on every mix you do. i do not see how you could use spectrafoo that much unless you do live sound or spend more time looking at meters than listening to music when you work.

[headz]

go for the TD and get the 4 ch. version....just the ability to tweak two stereo loops or kick/sd with loop together is a great opportunity to tweak rhythms no FX plug-in can give you so far. about spectra foo there are alternatives (audiofile engineering) which are cheaper and mora dvanced some run in a 30demo period so you can test (and watch your new TD working ;-) and maybe buy later if really needed.

[henryrobinett]

Oh man! When I have things setup just right, I have 'foo on my powerbook off to the side. When I have a question about frequency, phase, relative levels, balance, errant noise, a quick glance helps explain it all.

No, my eyes aren't glued to the 'foo. But it's sometihng I've come to rely on. Plus when I don't have it, I've learned enough from having used it so much . . . if that makes any sense.

[muziqfreek]

C'mon doooode!!!! this is Gearslutz.... You need BOTH of em!!!!! In order of preference... Hmm... a lil more tricky...... What sort of work do you mostly do...? Mastering or the Live sound Market..? Then its Spectrafoo all the way baby.... More towards the Studio Recording/Mixing end of the market..? TD-4 Kicks some transient Butt bigtime...!! ( i know i won't be selling mine anytime soon!!!)

[alcohol]

I downloaded Spectrafoo demo in my DAW with Mac OSX. I haven't gotten to work yet. I think I need to send an audio signal into Spectrafoo because it doesn't work as a plug in and it doesn't "Open" audio files.

So would it be better to have it installed on another computer, an iBook for instance' and send an audio signal from Pro Tools to the iBook; or should I take a send from my Pro Tools hardward into my DAW Mac and run Spectrafoo simultaneously from the same computer? Or can I play an audio file from iTunes? I'm not yet at home to try these things.

I'm just running a project studio, recording rock bands and the final project I send to a legit mastering house.

Eventually I'll have both, I'm just wondering what should be the priority, the Transient Designer or Spectrafoo?