We're cool. Sorry if i sounded jumpy but someones gotta stick up for these super rich sell out radio mixers!

I definitely hear where you are coming from. Depending on the client and where the music is heading i may be quantizing a drum track, or i may take a totally unprocessed route and mix everything as it came in. Basically i like to give people what they want and it keeps me in business. I have a feeling CLA enjoys his job and he probably likes smashing out radio hits for a living. I wonder what sort of stuff he does on the side to get his lo fi funk on?

Peace.

No way Denial. I find fake tits to be way more interesting.

Yes that would be interesting..

Nothing wrong with some presets,you gonna tweak em anyway and its just faster with a starting point and interesting what someone famous did for certain sound...
Btw,what you got against fake tits anyway?They are mostly way more interesting ,bouncyand tweakable than the real thing...killing your own argument there

Here's my question?!?

So Waves has this great SSL collection. They also have the CLA Classics.

Here's my question. Does Alge use the SSL for compression, or does he use that outboard gear? Or does he use both at the same time?!?

Y'all understand what im trying to get at?!?

For the record SSL channel strip is fantastic! But if a person buys this fine plugin, why would you want the Classics they also sell under his name?

Just curious

I may be wrong about this but i think the classics are signal chains made up of multiple pieces that he uses while mixing. So you'll be getting more than just the SSL stuff.

There are some great mix articles in places like Sound on Sound where they do a pretty thorough analysis of some of his signal chains. Anyone interested in the classic buncle should check that out first and just start putting the pieces together and creating their own signal chains using UAD (etc). Might get you close?? Might not.

i agree! and there's a package for that on some waves plugs, forgot the name though :P

I know what you are getting at. It's like... you buy the SSL bundle thinking ur getting the Alge sound/tools... but then they came out with the CLA classics so you're thinking "ok.. which is more responsible for the Alge sound.... the SSL board he mixes on or the outboard gear he patches into it?"

I've heard the Alge's own SSL4000 E/G has 1176's and LA-2A, LA-3A's already patched in on a bunch of channels when he wants to use those. You'll notice the CLA classics don't contain any EQ. I'm assuming Alge probably likes the SSL eq's fine, and patches in the 1176's or other hardware comps when he needs a different sound than what the SSL channel comp would give. I've also read that he is a huge fan of the SSL bus comp, so that's another reason why he would continue to use both the SSL as well as all the outboard gear.

I know I am really late in this discussion, but I wanted to put in my $.02. Presets for drums might offer a good starting point if you have a good recording, but probably still need tweaking from there. But for guitars and almost everything else, we have two major issues: First, we need to consider our source material vs the source CLA had used. Which guitar? Which amp? which setting of the amp? Mic and placement. If CLA presets for guitar sound harsh on your recording, maybe he used ribbon mics and you used a condenser (for example), which will respond totally different to eq. The tonal gammut here is endless so certainly CLA was dealing with something specific which may be worlds away from what you have. Second: EQ descisions are made relative to everything else in the mix. How bright the guitars should be before they encroach on the cymbals, how much low end before we start masking bass guitar and so on. So if CLA presets sound wrong in your mix, they probably are wrong for your mix. That doesnt mean to say your mix is wrong. Be yourself, trust yourself. Use whatever presets might work for you but dont expect to find the holy grail. Audio descisions are made for artistic reasons. If I want to be a painter, I am better off taking some painting courses rather than buying DiVincci stencils. A small measure of education is more valuable than any vintage gear. The specific gear is far less cricial than the descisions made with them.

EQ presets work if you used the same equipment in the same place to record something.

Even if you place the same mic at the same distance it will depend on the music too. As you said, presets are a good starting point thumbsup