ProAudio Review - March 2009 - (Page 30)

studio review unique character. Contour 1 (C1) is for a studio or small room, C2 is larger with reflective pre-delays for ballad-type work, and C3 is a small room with pre-delay for faster material. Pressing each button will adjust all knobs and faders accordingly. From there, you can tweak controls such as Sensitivity for input levels, Compress for compression, Bass and Treble for lows and highs and Output for additional level. Also available at the bottom of the GUI are FX for the amount of desired overall effect signal, DLY for audible delay (range of 100-1000), DLY Mix for blending the delay into your signal, Decay for the speed of the ‘verb and VRB Tone for tone shaping. And that’s it. Obviously, these plug-in were built to dial up sounds quickly without getting lost in the details. The different Contours give users excellent starting points. Applying it to both male and female vocals, it did create a vibe that sounds like you’ve spent time adjusting EQ, Compression and effects. I like what VX1 can do to vocals, offering up just enough to give a sense of clarity and depth when needed. I did experiment with automating the settings here to provide more Air during the choruses of a song, and it worked perfectly. B72 Bass Phattener The B72 is nice and simple, but has two different faces. First, in DI mode, you sound like there was a harmonic enhancer on it. You can choose from Hi, Mid, and Punch knobs, as well as the usual Sensitivity for input and output. You can also play with the FX, Excite, Dry/Wet, and Pre-Delay controls to add additional depth to the sound. The AGC 2 Type features darker settings and added more warmth to the character of the guitar. It’s interesting that you don’t know what frequencies you’re working with; it’s something I’d like to know. But there’s no denying it have access to the Sensitivity knob for input levels, Bass and Treble for tonal shaping, and Output for master output control. Putting it on a DI’ed bass gives it a nice, round compressed feel that again sounds like you’ve assigned a chain of gear to it. By pressing the Synth button, in addition to the above-mentioned knobs, the FX dials become active. In addition to the FX control and the FX Out, the Tone knob adds buzz into a stereo spread, which adds a cool, wide flange-like sound when I applied it to some sub tracks. AGC Acoustic Guitar Designer Trying the AGC on a well-recorded mono acoustic guitar placed it in stereo since it’s a mono/stereo plug-in. Immediately the AGC 1 Type button brightened up the works to make the track cut through the mix. GTI Guitar Toner The GTI also opens up mono/stereo and features buttons for five Guitar Type settings: Clean, Clean Chorus, Heavy, Thick Rhythm, and Soft Flange. The Presence 1 adds amp-like brightening presence, and Tame adds a sense of dynamic compression. In Clean Chorus mode, the Mix and Depth knobs become available for a nice, wide chorus sound: killer on a Strat track. Thick Rhythm changes the lower knobs to Delay and Width, adding also FX, Width, Vibro, and Chorus off/on. Wow, this made the guitar sound like the great “trem” from Jimmy Page’s Physical Graffiti era — very nice, indeed. Soft Flange was also nice, offering up FX, Press, Width, Range, and Rate to the knobs. HMX Harmonics Generator No doubt, this one is my favorite. The HMX is a Harmonics Generator (mono/stereo) that widens the sound field of your chosen 30 ProAudioReview | March 2009 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - March 2009

ProAudio Review - March 2009 Contents Technically Speaking New Studio Products Opinion: Studio Sense Gear Trends In Nashville Focusrite Liquid Mix HD TDM Plug-in Daking Mic-Pre One sE Electronics RNR1 Active Ribbon Microphone WAVES Tony Maserati Plug-in Collection KRK Systems Rokit 8 G2 Monitors and 10s Subwoofer JBL Control 2P Powered Desktop Monitors Neumann TLM 103D Digital Microphone System Violet Design “The Wedge” Condenser Microphone New Live Products Opinion: Worship Audio Fender Passport Deluxe PD-500 Portable PA PAR Contributor Of The Month Behringer 2442FX 10x4x2 Analog Mixer Single Slice

ProAudio Review - March 2009

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