Liquid Channel

[songman]

It's been some time since the liquid channel is on the market and the dust around the first positive and (mainly) negative emotions seems to have settled. I am in the position of testing this thing for a week. Would anyone who has been using it on a somewhat regular basis care to let me know which are some emulations and pre-amp/compressor combinations that work well (if any) and that I should test out first.
I am interested in knowing which emulations copy the original stuff fairly well but also simply which ones give good results irrespective of the comparison with the originals.
Any other informed comments very welcome too.


Cheers, Bob.

[Fletcher]

Good luck Bob... you're gonna need it.

I would recommend that you forget about the "emulation" designations and try to focus on the unit as a 'stand alone'. I would recommend that you try to have the box stand on it's own merit... which [at least to me] would mean answering some of the following questions:

Can you get something useful from the mic pre? [any setting]

Can you get a compression thing to work and sound musical? [any setting]

Does the EQ make things sound better?

Do the textures provided by this unit compliment or conflict with the tones and textures of the music you're trying to present?

Overall... does the box 'help' or 'hinder'?

I know what I found, it will be interesting to hear about your experience(s)... you should give it a week or so of heavy use before you comment one way or the other..

You should try recording a bunch of stuff with it in a bunch of different ways. I think a lot of your experience will come from where or what your "point of reference" may be [like do you have experience with really good pre's and compressors vs. if you haven't had that kind of experience].

[Cosmonauta]

A lot of people tells that the Manley Slam (both pre and comp) sounds great... althought any of them had the chance to compared it with the original unit.
So, as Fletcher says, try to check if the FF LC will work for you instead to focus on the "emulation" hype thing...
And please, share your opinions then...

[GAK]

First recording with LC this week had great results using ISA 110 + Grinder A or B Compressor(Alan Smart C2 ) on Kik and snare. very puncy, focused and sat better in the overall mix than original recording. Will be trying out vocals this week.


GAK

[Cosmonauta]

GAK, any issues on latency?
Some ppl complained that LC's latency make it unusable to track drums...
Did you use 96khz resolution?

[GAK]

No latency I could hear, it was no problem.
recording at 96K

GAK

[songman]

Maybe I should add that my use for the LC would be as a secondary pre-amp specifically to record overdubs, second and third voices to a main vocal but sung by the same person. I am hoping to get some variation in the different voices as compared to having them all go through the same pre-amp (a "to me wonderful" Millenia STT1). So if anyone has used the LC in a somewhat similar fashion I'd appreciate your findings.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I'll get back to you with my own findings in a week or so.

Cheers, Bob.

[cannikin]

give it ten more years then it might be good.
but right now buy a really nice high end Pre.
Neve, API, Chandler, GreatRiver, Helios, etc

[RKrizman]

Originally posted by rme uk
[B]I knew within 5 min that I hate everything about this thing. I like Focusrite usually and was really exited when I got the LC and plugged it in. Until the moment I heard my voice the first time in the headphones.

Even the built in SSL mic-pres in my G+ sound more interesting and that means something!

On a different note, I got my first pair of Neve 1084's yesterday and I had to sit down the moment I first heard my voice through this babies. It felt already incredible the moment I sang.

It's my understanding that the LC has some sort of latency to it, so it's reasonable to assume that hearing your own voice through headphones in real time would sound weird because of the phase cancellations.

Not that I'm defending or recommending this box.

-R

[Renie]

Originally posted by rme uk

On a different note, I got my first pair of Neve 1084's yesterday and I had to sit down the moment I first heard my voice through this babies. It felt already incredible the moment I sang. I think I could even deliver a much better performance by hearing myself in the headphones through these things.

Those are the moments ...

[Slider]

There are way better ways to spend your money.
This kind of thing is still in it's infancy.
You'll see them on Ebay really cheap in about a year.
Eventually the hype will wear off and the next hyped modeling product will come out.
I'd avoid this like the plague.