Recording - February 2017 - 24

Slate Digital VMS

Each mic module offers only a drive
slider, which saturates the mic circuit up to
150%. The Classic Tube Mics pull up as
one module; you change and choose each
mic inside the plug-in via side-swiping or
clicking the selector button.

Comparison testing? No thanks.
It might seem that for a package like
this, which makes such a broad and bold
claim of emulating not one but seven classic
microphones (not counting the one hybrid
original), that it would be best to do sideby-side comparisons with as many of the
originals as possible. I did originally plan
to go that route, but I decided that by and
large it would be a waste of time.
For one or two products that
were still available brand-new
as a reference, it would be worth
the effort. But seven mics of
wildly varying ages? Even if I
could track down a studio with
some of them and borrow or rent
the rest, one or two might be in
original shape (with an aged
capsule and components), others
might be reskinned and perfectly
maintained, and the rest might be
modified, field-repaired, or just
plain broken. I've worked with most of
these vintage mics for many years, and
the truth is that sonic variations from
one mic to the next are often drastic-
two U47s will never, ever sound the
same. Unless I had the exact same mics
that Fabrice modeled, the comparison's
meaningless.
You know what? It doesn't matter anyway! We should care far less about how
closely these models copy the originals
than about how useful they are to engineers
in real situations. A vintage mic should be
loved and used because it sounds
beautiful, not because it's a particular
model; it's a mic, not a trophy. The VMS
should be judged on that criterion-
how it sounds in the real world.

Practical sessions? Yes please!
Instead I decided to have a colleague
come in and record a song dry through
24

RECORDING FEBRUARY 2017

the ML-1 microphone and VMS-ONE
preamp. We recorded three tracks of
Martin acoustic guitar, one lead vocal,
one double from 4' away from the mic,
4 tracks of doubled harmony vocals,
and a track of direct bass through the
VMS-ONE preamp's 1/4" input. To that I
added a cajon kick part, a Remo Mondo hand snare, a shaker, and a foot
tambourine. All of this was tracked at
24/96 in an empty office space in the
span of three hours with a Universal Audio Apollo Twin as my capture device.
When I mixed the track, I used no
compression, equalization, or processing
of any kind. Once I was happy with

my rough mix, I pulled up the Virtual Mix
Rack on every channel and loaded up one
instance of the tube mic module and one
instance of the FG-73. The only exception
was just the FG-73 on DI bass.
Then I spent time rendering down the
song nine times-once with each mic
model equally set on every channel, as
well as one of the dry ML-1 mic through
the FG-73 preamp. Then I repeated the
process, this time with every mic through
the FG-76 mic preamp plug-in. Finally,
I rendered the song with the straight
hardware mic and preamp, no plug-ins
at all. That's nineteen mixes. Phew!
Mixing each song down was a good
indication of how processor-light the
VMS is. In my 14-track session with a mic
and preamp on every channel, the CPU
meter in Cubase at 24/96 was barely
visible. It was not until I duplicated the
tracks and then duplicated them again,

creating a faux "56-track" session, that
the meter started to even hit 25%. Doing
additional tracks with the VMS on the way
in through the plug-in caused no noticeable latency above what my interface
and DAW settings created.

And then we listen
First of all, the stock mic and preamp
do not sound bad on their own and
are very usable. They are not exciting
and it's a bit of a clinical sound, but it
would make a fine base for further EQ
and processing. Next, adding just the
preamps to the stock mic reveals them to
be very representative of their real-world
counterparts. The FG-73 is tight, round,
with great solid mids. The FG-76 is more
open and top-end focused, with a nice
depth and richness that can be nicely
exploited as you push the Drive section.
Moving to the mics, yes, each
one nods to its family of origin.
The FG-47 is the most imposing,
with a thick heft and powerful
sound. It was my favorite on the
low thump of the cajon and equally
nice for thickening the guitars.
Switching to the FG-800 from
the FG-47 is the most drastic
jump between all of the mics in
the collection, as the sound opens
up and gets very sparkly. This mic
is best suited to high jangly guitars
and clean clear vocals, and even
as a dull snare brightener. Its earlier
counterpart the FG-800M adds a very
subtle rounding of the sound, but you
can tell it's the same mic.
The FG-67 is very even, smooth, and
gives the mix a well-seated sound. Its
top end has a nice rounding but is not
as dark as legend has imposed on this
mic, and I really like it as a room mic,
on percussion, and voice. This may be
the second best all-around mic of the
bunch. The FG-269 rounds the sound off
a tad more and sounds just a bit tighter;
it'd be a nice choice to tame cymbals,
tambourines, and sibilant singers.
The FG-12 is the most laidback mic of the
collection, with everything sounding clear
but not forced or pushed. I like this mic a lot
on acoustic guitars as well as percussion.
The oddball FG-M7 is very upper mid
forward and slightly nasal. I liked it on
lead vocal and snare, and think it would
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2017
