EQ Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 61)

Soft Machines the less CPU intensive Dynamics or Equalizer configurations if the G Console takes too much CPU power. Plug-in settings will be retained when switching to other Channel G configurations. ML4000 The ML4000 is a high-resolution limiter designed for single or multi-band configurations. It’s actually two plugs: The ML1 mastering limiter, and the ML4—a multiband gate, expander, and compressor fed into the ML1 mastering limiter. As a wave hammer, the ML1 has a look-ahead brick wall design. Each sample is reviewed in triplicate to make sure the max output wall set by the user is not violated. For me, the crucial controls here are Knee, Mode, and Release. Knee is the slope of the limiting onset curve, and it can range from a hard, immediate type knee to a gradual introduction to the max output. This control has a significant effect of how the limiter sounds. From transparent to pump, the starting point is here. Mode provides five settings ranging from Clean to Crush. These determine the algorithm used—and the subsequent artifacts—of the actually peak limiting. There’s no such thing as “just pushing the peaks down.” How that task is accomplished can have harmonic and phase implications. Mode gives you some choices in this area. Of course, Release controls how long it takes to recover from the limiting process—too fast and you pump, too long and you put your audio in a permanent vice. The multiband side of the ML4000 strings a bunch of ML1s together, but adds a gate and expander to the compression/limiting. Dave Hidek—who is a mixing wizard—related to me how he used the ML4000 to save a stellar drum take from problematic mic bleed. Evidently, a cymbal was accidentally hit during a fill. The other toms were all clean, but the middle tom had the crash bleeding into the mic. Using the frequency-based gate, he was able to reduce the cymbal decay, while leaving the tom hit intact. Only someone who knew what happened would even hear it now. Another great ML4000 use is in smoothing out clean guitar lines or background vocal takes. Setting it to skim the top can give a track the even buzz cut it needs to make things more manageable for the next plug in downstream. Finally, mix engineers who need to give client’s take-home references can slap on an instance of the ML4000 on the master bus, and provide a decent approximation of a more-finished master. SYNTHESIZER ONE Synthesizer One is a full-featured wavetable-based synthesis engine that combines both wavetable and analog oscillators in a completely modular design—including filtering and a dedicated effects section. My favorite tweakzone on this plus is the Waveform Capture feature—an AudioSuite plugin that can capture and import a piece of audio from your Pro Tools session. From there, it opens on the Wave Edit page, where you can edit away. I used it on some spontaneous laughing from a vocal outtake with cool results, but there’s nothing stopping you from using recorded drums or bass as the foundation for your new synth pad. CONCLUSIONS I’ll keep it short and sweet—I don’t know of another bundle that lets you handle almost any production task as well as McDSP EPN. If you want analog-like sound out of your Pro Tools rig, the McDSP Emerald Pack is hands down the native bundle to own. REVOLVER If you think you need a full-blown TDM system to power a convolution reverb, it’s time to reconsider. Revolver handles the job perfectly, and it comes with a massive profile library that includes halls, plates, and rooms, but also some really off-the-beaten path spaces (staircases, a water bottle, a vacuum tube, etc.). Users can also capture and import their own impulse files. Revolver has some convincing room spaces—especially for drawn-out operatic aria work—and it sounds great on techno tracks. In addition to spaces and plates, I liked many of the hardware files (especially the Eventide DSP4500 and T.C. M5000), but I was less impressed with the EMT 250 settings. While it may be efficient, Revolver is a computational beast. Even with a new Intel Mac, we had to do some tweaking to get the most out of our CPUs. Fortunately, the tweaking windows are here. I suggest setting latency to low, and printing the reverb (recording it to an audio track, and playing it back instead of making the plug-in process during each play), or moving to medium latency. Depending on your source mix, you may be able to adjust the Tail Cut value to something like –100dB, thus freeing up CPU power. (Note: Unless it’s a solitary instrument, most applications are fine at the –100dB level.) Unless you need it, try setting the stereo mode to summed stereo. This lets Revolver process a combined source instead of two independent L/R channels. CHANNEL G Channel G is comprised of four plug-ins: G Dynamics (a large format console dynamics section that includes an expander/gate, compressor/limiter, and filter section), G Equalizer (a five-band EQ/filter section), G Console (the console models plus a combination of the G Dynamics and G Equalizer configurations), and the G Surround Compressor for multi-channel work. Channel G emulates many of the great names in mixing desk production, including API, Amek, and SSL. The sonic character of each brand is readily apparent, as are unique topologies, such as the API feedback or feed forward compression scheme. Seriously, this is the bus plug-in. You can use PRODUCT TYPE: RTAS and AudioSuite plug-ins for Pro Tools users running Mac OSX 10.4 or higher/ Windows XP. TARGET MARKET: Pro Tools users looking to get great analog sounds out of their DAW. STRENGTHS: Convincing “analog” sounds. Presets provide good sounds while parameter-tweaking options allow power users vast flexibility. Apps like Chrome Tone and FilterBank useful in both mixing and nontraditional effects applications. LIMITATIONS: Compatible with Pro Tools only. PRICE: $1,395 retail (Various upgrade paths are available to owners of individual McDSP plugs. Check the website for more info.) CONTACT: www.mcdsp.com www.eqmag.com MAY 2008 EQ 61 http://www.mcdsp.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - May 2008

EQ Magazine - May 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Jamie Lidell, What the New Model of Record Deal Means to You, Part II, Andrew W.K. Tool Box Aerosmith Fast Tracks Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet DigiDesign Pro Tools LE 7.4 Cakewalk Sonar 7 Line 6 UX8 Studio Projects CS5 Art Tubefire 8 Jazzmutant Dexter MCDSP Emerald Pack Overloud Breverb KRK Exposé E8B Mackie MR5 Blue Sky Exo Monitor System Big Fish Audio Around the World in 80 Raves East West Fab Four Virtual Instrument Sony Matt Fink- Starvu Session Keys Room With A VU

EQ Magazine - May 2008

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