AudioMedia - July 2008 - (Page 47)

Powered Plug-Ins > Sonically, LiquidMix offers an impressive selection of emulated effects. Even though the functionality is limited to EQ and compression, it feels like a product that has been designed for studio engineers, rather than bedroom part-timers. Aside from Focusrite’s own-name processors, the names of the emulations are hinted at rather than being listed explicitly. This works well, because you’re more likely to concentrate on the sound than on the retro-wow excitement of using a virtual SNESL 5190LE Dead Spider Edition. There’s less tweaking for the sake of it, and more leaving the sound alone once it’s good enough for the job. The sound itself is an unexpectedly versatile selection of compression and EQ responses – each instance of the plug-in offers one EQ and one compressor. There’s something for everyone here, from grainy bright transistor effects to beefy valvification. The plug-ins have a distinctive precision and body which is sweet without being thin, although this starts to become less convincing near clipping. The emulations may not be as gigantic as the most obese valvebased analogue effects, but they make it easy to add character and colour without creating a low-mid swamp. As one of the more affordable options, there’s a great deal to like about LiquidMix. It’s not a bedroom studio magic fairy dust machine, and it needs experienced ears to get the very best from it. But it feels and sounds like a professional tool – a remarkable achievement given the inclusion of a remote, and the low price. £ £356+VAT Information W www.focusrite.com Distributor W www.focusrite.com/store_locator/distributors/UK/ TC Powercore X8 “It’s not a bedroom studio magic fairy dust machine, and it needs experienced ears to get the very best from it. But it feels and sounds like a professional tool…” Powercore has been available for around a decade now, and in its latest X incarnation it packs eight DSP cores into a 1U rack-mounted box connected over Firewire 400. X runs the latest version of the DSP core software, which allows sidechaining and improved metering. The eight cores are impressively powerful, although loading depends on the complexity of the plug-ins, and varies from around 20% to 100% per core. Powercore’s main attraction is its huge range of optional plug-ins, which is by far the biggest you can find outside of the TDM market. The list appears in the plugin status window as a handy reminder that you really want to buy them. Most are offered as trials, limited to twenty hours for the majority, and just four for the more exotic and high end sets – so there’s a feeling that the status window is as much an ad space as a status indicator. Confusingly, the standard bundled plug-ins don’t appear in this list, so you can’t immediately see which are free to use – unless you keep a copy of the back of the box. The bundle includes Denoise for dynamic noise reduction, Filtroid and Character for generic enhancement, 247C and Tubifex for analogue compressor and amplifier simulation, a selection of standard compression and EQ plugins, a couple of reverbs, and Master X3 Finalizer. This is plenty to get you started, and many of the plug-ins have a characteristic sound, which is clean and precise, with a hint of high end digital shimmer. Where there’s fullness, it’s a very digital high-resolution 32-bit fullness – not unattractive, but very different to the analogue emulations offered by the competition. They may > Powercore’s Fabrik C – not a typical channel strip. Not sure what SLGC do?Neither are we. www.ultrasone.com Natural Surround Sound headphones PRO PRO THE headphone company E xquisitely faithful sound + E xclusive design + Precision meet the most exac ting needs of professionals audio media july 2008 47 http://www.focusrite.com http://www.focusrite.com/store_locator/distributors/UK/ http://www.ultrasone.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - July 2008

AudioMedia - July 2008 Contents Recording Post Broadcast What's Up UK Geofocus: France For the Record Special Report: Develop Preview SE Electronics 4400 Sennheiser MKH800 Twin Tubetech Club Final Cut: Wanted Smart AV Tango Doctor Who Made in America DSP Roundup Product Sampler: Summer Hits Edirol R44 Video Guide AMSR Fame - Le Musical Waves MaxxBCL Yamaha AD8HR Special Supplement

AudioMedia - July 2008

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