Recording - February 2017 - 20

BY PAUL VNUK JR.

Slate Digital Virtual
Microphone System
Hardware plus software equals
infinite possibilities
To some in the industry, "clone" is a dirty word bathed in
skepticism. For many musicians, a clone may be the only
hope to get even a taste of the now exorbitantly-priced
Holy Grails of yesteryear. The problem is, no matter
how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise, a
clone will never be a true clone if you change one tube,
a capsule, or use a different grille or body. If it truly contains
the parts, build and specs that made up the original, then
it's not a clone-it's a reissue, like Neumann's U47fet or
Universal Audio's LA-2A.
Having said that, there are some really nice products,
inspired by famed originals, that have gotten very close
to the familial sound of the old workhorses. These exist in
hardware and in software modeling.
One person who has successfully dabbled in both is Steven
Slate, through his companies Slate Pro Audio and Slate Digital.
The Slate Pro Audio Dragon compressor (reviewed August 2011)
was very much a hot-rodded 1176-style compressor on steroids.
On the digital side, Steven's partnership with one of the best
software modelers in the business, Fabrice Gabriel of Eiosis, has
yielded successful emulations of all kinds. There's the Virtual
Console Collection, the Virtual Tape Machines collection, the
Virtual Mix Rack system of virtually racked plug-in modules...
Now Steven has married hardware to software, taking on
one of the most elusive things to model in software, the microphone. Dubbed the Virtual Microphone System (VMS), it is
equal parts hardware and software. A physical microphone
and preamp feeds into eight new microphone software models, along with two new microphone preamp emulations. It all
fits together exclusively inside Slate's Virtual Mix Rack.

The hardware: ML-1 mic and VMS-ONE preamp
Past attempts at mic modeling made use of source and target
mics and then applied models and EQ curves in a somewhat
early-tech way that was interesting at best and kludgy at worst.
Slate's solution is to start with a clean, neutral solid-state
microphone and a simple straight-wire-style desktop preamp,
both of which could work fine on their own with no software.
These are then used to capture sound into your DAW through
your interface, preferably one with line inputs or defeatable mic
preamps. Essentially you use the mic and preamp as you would
any other mic/pre setup-there are no digital connections, USB
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RECORDING FEBRUARY 2017

ports, drivers, etc. The mic/pre combination
can best be called, in scientific terms,
the "control". It yields known sound and
specifications every time, and the virtual
plug-in mics are built around it.
The ML-1 is a cardioid large
diaphragm condenser microphone.
It is a neutral no-frills mic with a
frequency response of 20 Hz to 20
kHz, a sensitivity of 20 mV/Pa, an
equivalent noise level of 17 dBA,
and 77 dBA signal-to-noise.
It measures 7.75" long with a
2" diameter and has a matte black
body, a black chrome grille and end
cap, along with a Slate logo badge.
The capsule is a 28mm edge-terminated dual-diaphragm design. The mic
circuitry is exceptionally minimal and
modern, but it does have an output transformer.
The VMS-ONE is made for cleanliness. This preamp is a sleek black desktop design with external
power supply, 7.375" x 5" and slanted from 1.25" to 2.25"
high. It offers phantom power, a 20 dB pad, phase switching,
level indication, a large variable input pot, a power switch,
and a selectable 1/4" input. It has 57 dB maximum gain, -2
dBu maximum input level without pad (+18 dBu with pad),
+27 dBu maximum output, and noise below -100 dBu.

The software
Once installed and authorized, the mic and preamp choices
appear inside the Virtual Mix Rack. Just like in the real world,
you will want to select your mic first and follow it with one of
the preamps; these are voiced in conjunction with the real mic
and preamp.
Tracking can be done two ways-pull up the Virtual Mix
Rack on the DAW input and track through the VMS, or track
the dry mic sound while monitoring through the VMS. The latter
gives you the options to change mics and preamps after the
fact, rather like reamping a guitar. In either case, the VMR and
VMS software is very processor-light, with nearly no latency.
We first explored the Virtual Mix Rack one year ago in
February 2016. Essentially a 500 Series rack for your DAW,
it currently offers a choice of 19 modules with more on the
way. That includes the new Virtual Mic - Classic Tube Collection and the two new preamps, which are available on their
own without the mics. Beyond the mics and preamps, you can
track and mix through your favorite Slate EQs, compressors
and more via VMS in the Virtual Mix Rack. Naturally, the mic

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2017