Equivalent VST to UAD Fatso and Distressor Minus Cost of UAD-2 SOLO Card?

[dublave]

I know there is always tons of discussion on here about the Distressor, but I honestly can't see a time in my near future when I can justify blowing $1,300-ish on one machine for my little home recording set-up.

So then I got really excited about UAD's Fatso VST that not only has some Distressor presets, but is also apparently one of the best analog tape emulation softwares around. I'm even seeing talk about a possible Distressor VST for the future. Here I am getting all excited, totally willing to muster the $300 for the Fatso VST right now, then I find out you have to buy a UAD-2 SOLO card that's an additional $500 give or take just to access the Fatso. Seriously?! $300 suddenly becomes more like $800. That is ridiculous. For me anyway. I do not have that kind of money.

Basically, I'm looking for some analog-y "color," I like things to sound a little more rough and a little more raw, but would prefer that to be in a more high quality way. I'm trying to teach myself some basic production and engineering for a pop band recording project with my girlfriend. We'll be layering lots of live percussion, every odd instrument we can come by, samples, effects, and tons of reverb. But my budget only calls for a couple decent mics, a decent preamp, a decent interface, and not a whole lot more. Just the reality of things, I don't have very much money to throw around and want to do the most that I can with what I have.

So I'm wondering if there are any VSTs out there very akin to the Fatso, as in something that can both emulate the sound of the Distressor for compression, and emulate analog tape as well. Something more in the $300 range. Something perhaps a bit more sophisticated or "pro" than the Vintage Warmer, or similar VSTs. And something compatible with Mac Os X and Ableton Live. Suggestions very much appreciated, thank you!

[nightscope]

The Magix Analogue Suite has a very decent tape sim and comp in one plugin included in it's three plugins. Demo link here. All functions work but no saving. I know nothing about Mac OSX.

KVR: Magix am-track - Virtual Effect

Try it out. Or not.

ns

[dublave]

Looks like the AM-track is only available for Windows. Thanks anyway though, nightscope!

[nightscope]

Originally Posted by dublave

Looks like the AM-track is only available for Windows. Thanks anyway though, nightscope!

OK. Sorry.

ns

[beanface]

Well, seeing as your not on windows, you can't check out AM suite or Bootsy's free Ferric plug (which IMO sounds more organic than the tape sim by magix..), I'd look at the T-Racks 3 Fairchild 670 plugin. It sounds pretty organic and when driven harder, produces some pleasing tranformer / tube type saturation which is very nice. Its not really a Distressor or Fatso equivalent as such, but it definitely sounds smooth and sweet. I think it is $99, which is a bloody steal for what it is.

[dublave]

Thank you, beanface! I'll definitely look into that.

Just came across Stillwell's series of VSTs. Even saw one person say they ditched their UAD card because of this company. That may be a bit dramatic, but for someone on such a tight budget, could something like the Rocket and a few others be a good alternative?

[Hardtoe]

The rocket is awesome, though very clean -

I like the urs Saturation plug ($150 or so, need an ilok - might as well get one anyway - almost of the best native plugs need it) for tape like action (maybe not the best sim, but has really good flavours and a large variety of them).

For compression I really like The Glue - ($99 - SSL Buss type) - It has parallel comp & a control which lets you the depth of the transient squash - very cool - most things sound more "pro" with this plug.

Also the PSP "Oldtimer" ($99 Tube Comp) is real gem - compression and harmonic saturation in one plug - very gooey and tubey.

Happy Hunting

[dublave]

It seems most people recommend the Rocket over the Glue (what great names, ha) as far as being a compressor with some color. Sounds like you see it the opposite way, Hardtoe?

And seriously thank you for the recommendations! Damn these iLocks and UAD cards! I think I'm going to try out the Rocket and go from there. For a $50 plugin that many people are hyping as equal to or better than its several hundred dollar counterparts, seems like I can't go wrong. Even if it's not quite that good, sounds like it's at least close. For now, and for just $50, that works for me!

[Hardtoe]

For me the Rocket has vibe, not tonnes of "colour", but who cares - it sounds really good, can do parallel comps tricks, and has a little balls if you turn up the impetus (I guess that IS colour - just a lighter one to me).

The Glue isn't about colour so much as just put it on and the mix sounds more professional and more complete almost instantly - this is a really great one for the main mixbuss (and anything else). The colour is "record" (I fell in love with this one, whereas I just "like" the Rocket- we may get more serious later!)

I say get both in true gearslut style - the are both really good - sound distinct and are inexpensive - together they are only half your original budget.

When you really want to flip out, get the Soundtoys native bundle (ilok $400 I think). Echoboy is another level in plug-in land....

su-F'ing-perb!

[dublave]

Thanks again, Hardtoe! You're absolutely right, I really might as well get both. A little more versatility.

As for echo and delay, I'm really partial to the Tape Echo in my Roland SP555 sampler and my DD20 delay pedal. When it comes to effects, I really want hardware knobs and little metal boxes to play with. They may not always have the best of the best sound, but I feel like I can be more creative with them. Who knows though, maybe one day i'll switch over. But for now, since decent hardware compressors and limiters and reel to reel tape recorders are like a grand+, I'm happy to cover those with VSTs!

[spicemix]

I was having lots of fun trying out this freebie yesterday:

Audio Damage :: Rough Rider

Sure, its LPF is way, way too severe to use on anything you want to retain fidelity from, but it is just about the most fun ITB compressor I've ever played with, and it can work quite well in parallel. (Combined with a bit of preemphasis to counter the LPF, which I guess is from oversampling, but sounds intentional.)

The Rocket is Stillwell's best plugin IMO, it's usable and useful, but it's not a Distressor or Fatso (or 1176, as its intention) as such.

The Fabfilter Pro-C is something I really think you ought to check out, it's a lot of fun and has very helpful displays to help you learn and understand compression.

[Hardtoe]

I agree knobs are part of the magic with delay, BUT, Echoboy can do all kinds of cool tape delay type vocal grime which is really very cool in the mix (for depth without verb) - anyway you can worry about that some other time.

Dont forget to demo first - just to make sure.....you will have a good time!

[spicemix]

Originally Posted by Hardtoe

I agree knobs are part of the magic with delay, BUT, Echoboy can do all kinds of cool tape delay type vocal grime which is really very cool in the mix (for depth without verb) - anyway you can worry about that some other time.

Dont forget to demo first - just to make sure.....you will have a good time!

Speaking of which, the Soundtoys plugs all have antialiased analog models (including one called "Distressed" available on Echoboy) that are really quite nice sounding. "Fat" is actually a pretty nice ITB compressor you can get just with a zero depth Tremolator, and "Clean" is quite warm and rich. They are incredibly deep plugins and the Echoboy versions allow quite a bit of tweaking and some rather unique controls...

I would say Soundtoys is the most impressive set of native plugins in the world, and something I don't think you will outgrow at any level of the game. These plugins are so deep it does require reading the manual, but it definitely pays off. They have Eventide heritage, and you can tell these people understand digital.