Review: Soundtheory Gullfoss EQ

Hey everyone, Bryan here. I’d like to introduce Everything Recording’s newest writer, Dave Willis. Not only is he a great writer, but he also is the executive producer of Tabitha Rasa, a project featuring the best unknown female vocalists from around the world. From time to time, Dave will pop in, featuring reviews, exclusive articles, and whatever he sees fit to post. Enjoy!

Equalizers! There are so many kinds — parametric, passive, graphic, and even dynamic. Well, now there is one that claims to be intelligent. I’m all for boosting the level of intelligence on my side of the mixing desk, so I decided to give this new plugin from Soundtheory a spin. Say hello to Gullfoss.

The Latest In a Long Line of “SoundGoodIzers”

Gullfoss is a plugin “to improve the clarity, detail, spatiality, and balance” of your sound. Bold claims! As humans strive for the perfect sound recording and reproduction, from the beginning of wax recordings to the latest digital, there have always been the class of “soundgoodizer,” those plugins and devices come along and claim to improve the recorded sound. As digital perfection reached its current apex, everyone is now going to great lengths to go backward in technology and recreate the analog sound of 50-60 years ago… by using digital plugins. And by buying actual analog gear to run their digital signal through. We’ve seen many traditional DSP methods used to improve our mixes, but Gullfoss brings us something brand new.

A New Kind of EQ That’s Really Listening

Rather than an old Aural Exciter or BBE Sonic Maximizer approach of frequency-dependent phase shifting and harmonic synthesis, Gullfoss listens to your signal 300 times per second and adjusts the EQ in real-time. This is a much more responsive approach than a dynamic EQ or multiband compressor since it’s changing what it’s affecting all the time.

They Did the Research So You Don’t Have To

OK, interesting. But for me the big question is: what is it changing it to? My mix is unique and I don’t want someone else’s taste forced on my sound. Soundtheory spent 14 years researching to gain deep insights into “how the human brain processes sound,” and to create a program that would “analyze sound the same way a human would perceive it.” That sound like it’s going to be awesome or utter marketing nonsense geared towards noobs looking for one plugin to replace years of work.

But hey — I make music for humans! Let’s try it out.

Installing Gullfoss

Installation was easy and painless, and requires an iLok. One small thing was that the installation on a Mac didn’t ask what to install. That means AAX was installed even though I do not use ProTools. Not a big deal, but it’s nice to be able to decline things I won’t use.

Because it’s new and not obvious as to what it does, I broke with longstanding tradition and actually read the manual! (Please don’t judge me!) It’s readable, short, and clear and explains how it’s different.

Using Gullfoss — Do You Need Recovery or Taming?

I put it on my master buss to see if it thinks my mix is fit for human ears. The one and only window looks like any other EQ, but that’s where the resemblance ends. There are two main controls: Recover and Tame. Gullfoss is designed to reveal masked signal elements, and it can do so by either recovering elements that are masked or dominated by other elements, or by taming components of the signal that are too dominant. I like that they chose active verbs to describe this process, since producers/musicians think in terms like that. Because we care 🙂

Recover and Tame are adjustable from 0 to 200%. It’s very easy to hear the difference it makes, even though it’s sometimes extremely subtle. Higher percentages = stronger effect. It’s designed so that if you push Recover up and it boosts certain frequencies, it also cuts other frequencies so that the perceived loudness remains the same. Ooh, I like that. One necessary skill in mixing is being able to A/B changes you’re making, and this makes it super easy to do since neither A nor B will sound louder.

When I put a control at < 50%, Gullfoss was only making adjustments of 3 db or less. When pushed further, it adjusted up to 6db. Adjustments are heard instantly without lag. And in Logic, there was no noticeable CPU hit on my 2017 iMac Pro.

How Do You Like Me Now?

I liked what I heard. There were no phase issues, no added harmonics, and even at extreme settings, there was no harshness or brittle high end. (It’s fun trying to make a plugin sound bad!)

Since Recover and Tame operate on different frequencies, you can use them both at once. (Hello, Pultec!) In fact, I found myself using a combo of the two for most purposes.

Now I tried the secondary controls, Bias and Brighten. Bias tells Gullfoss which one of the two main controls, Recover or Tame, to work on more frequencies than the other. It goes from -100% to +100% with the positive numbers giving Recover more power, and negative values giving Tame more oomph between the two. (Recover and Tame still control how much of those frequencies they affect.) Brighten controls the perceived brightness by telling Recover and Tame whether to prefer higher or lower frequencies. While messing with this control, I was impressed how the perceived loudness never changed, even though the tone did.

Lastly, there is the Boost control. It is independent of all the other controls and goes from -50 db to +50 db. Positive values will emphasize the bass frequencies of a signal while reducing the mid frequencies, and negative values the opposite. I never found this control useful although I imagine it could come in handy if doing a quick and dirty mix so you didn’t have to dig out other plugins.

All the controls are intuitive and easy to adjust, and encourage twiddling.

Before getting this plugin, I watched one reviewer complain that he liked it, but didn’t want it affecting certain frequencies. He didn’t read the manual, which explains the handy ability to high pass or low pass what Gullfoss processes from within the plugin. This is super handy and something mixers will want control over. (Did I mention I read the manual?

Gullfoss includes two other versions: Live for using it in live situations with low latency, and Master, which is optimized for the “highest possible quality and even lower noise floor.” It has a higher CPU hit, finer control, and a more precise listening model. For reference, my recorded samples use the standard version.

My Learned Opinion Which I Learned While Using Gullfoss

So, did my mix sound more pleasing to the human ear? Yes, to mine. You can judge for yourself in the samples below.

Everything Recording · SoundTheory Gullfoss Review

I found I had plenty of control over the effect with the four main controls. It definitely added clarity, opened it up, and made the bass less muddy. Could I have achieved that without Gullfoss? Yes, but it would’ve taken a lot more time. And more importantly — I’d have to be aware of those issues to be able to make the changes in the first place. Which brings me to another use of Gullfoss that I found very valuable: insight. By seeing what Gullfoss does to a track, it can alert you to an issue with the mix you might not have been aware of. I always send my mixes to a friend to check, but sometimes friends aren’t available at 3:00 a.m., those selfish bastards!

I personally do not have a ton of gear, but I try to get high quality with what I’ve got. On the theory of “he who buys cheap buys twice,” I’ve got a few Universal Audio devices to run their high-quality plugins with, and also sprung for Altiverb, an expensive convolution reverb plugin that emulates everything from a Yamaha SPX 90 to a Pharaoh’s tomb inside a pyramid. (Seriously.) So my perspective is to go for the highest quality I can on my budget, and buy fewer and better tools. I look at plugins from the point of view of:

How often will I use it?
How much will it improve my sound and give me a better result?
If so, how much time will it save me in getting that result via a different route using my current plugins?
Is that all worth what they are charging?

My answers are:

Quite.
Substantially .
Mucho, especially if I’ve been slaving over a particular mix.
Yes, especially since I’ve spent more on plugins that do far less. This one can be a real butt-saver. (Can I say that?)

Does Gullfoss Earn a Place in My Plugin Arsenal?

I am a decent mixer, but half the time I send my material out to a third party mixer when I feel my skills aren’t up to the task. With Gullfoss, I can save money on those third party mixers who get at least $300 if they’re any good.

I found I liked the algorithm it’s using to sense what human ears like, and this would have earned it a place in my arsenal for analysis purposes alone. As for utilizing it for its EQ adjusting powers, I’d like to think that my skills will someday allow me to make the perfect mix without it, but for the foreseeable future it’s just too fast and too good for me to pass up. That being said, I found the best results were when I had the Recover and/or Tame controls at 40% or less. Others may disagree, but I think if you need to adjust more than that, then you’ve got bigger problems in your mix!

BTW, Gullfoss is the name of a famous waterfall in Iceland, and since everyone loves the sound of a waterfall, they bestowed the name upon their plugin. A bold move, indeed, but the name certainly fits.

Review: HOFA IQ-Series Reverb V2 – Not Your Dad’s Reverb

Bryan

Space – the “final frontier.” If you’re going to tackle one of the most critical factors in giving richness and depth to your mixes, you’re going to need the right tool. HOFA plugins may very well be the best and last reverb you’ll ever need.

Explanations and Apologies

We initially discovered HOFA plugins when reviewing IQ-Series EQ V3 (review HERE). What we stumbled into is nothing short of astonishing. This company does it all, and I mean it ALL. They train you to mix, give you the tools to mix, help you press the album, and hell; they even design AND build the treatment for your room. It’s not a stretch by any means to say this company knows all aspects of pro audio. This is evident with their latest version of IQ-Reverb.

I also think I may owe an apology to you, the reader, and HOFA because I’ve been using IQ-Reverb V1 for YEARS without featuring it. Now, hear me out before you come at me with QWERTY keyboard-shaped pitchforks. I have a good excuse – I DIDN’T WANT TO SHARE MY SECRET WEAPON (Just kidding, I was waiting for a V2 because I had a feeling they were going to update). Seriously though, IQ-Reverb V1 has been on too many of my tracks to count, so when V2 came out, I reached out to HOFA to give it a spin.

Espatially Unique

Typically, you either have a convolution or an algorithmic reverb in a plugin. Both are great, but never the two shall meet. While this separation has been a mainstay for eons primarily due to lack of DSP, the “times, they are a-changing.” Sometimes you need a little of each to get the track to sit right in the mix and either don’t feel like stacking plugins or switching between interfaces. IQ-Reverb V2 has both iterations in one plugin (technically, it has six, but we will get into that later). Although Convolution and Algo reverb in one plugin is sufficiently groundbreaking, that’s not even the impressive part of this plugin. The veritable “kitchen sink” has been thrown at Version 2.

Overview

Immediately upon opening the plugin, you can tell there’s a ton going on without being too overwhelming. It’s obvious HOFA put in a lot of hours laying this plugin out. Controls pop into the visualizer area via translucent panels. I appreciate this because, all too often, the onslaught of tabbed windows gives the interface a more “operating system” vibe. Quickly, you begin to feel like you’re constantly searching for controls instead of seamlessly using them. IQ-Series Reverb has tackled this issue masterfully.

The browser section is easy to access with one of the most intuitive breakdowns of presets. Not only do you get the stock-standard names for types of IRs, but also extra tabs like “type of instrument this would work best on” and “whether this is a synthetic or natural reverb type.” You can even set ranges for parameters in the Limits tab to narrow down decay times, brightness, etc.

While you’re tinkering with presets, HOFA offers what I think is the best feature ever put on a reverb plugin. At the top left corner is a “Test” section where you can play various samples from instruments within the plugin to hear the reverb. No more looping audio, soloing aux sends, or general DAW tomfoolery to preview reverbs.

Tabbed for you Pleasure

Seven tabs adorn the top of the interface for all of your reverb needs. The first four tabs are specifically for impulse responses. Possibilities abound with IQ-Series Reverb.

You can:

Use HOFA’s built-in IRs, which are top-notch right out of the gate
Buy premium expansion packs specifically designed by HOFA
Import your own IRs.

IQ-Reverb offers up to four individual IRs at once for precision space design. If that’s not enough, the following two tabs add “AlgoVerb,” which borrows from the many presets in HOFA’s SYSTEM plugin reverb section. Lastly, to tie it all in, we have the Master tab that houses a mixer to perfectly blend each piece of your “three bed, two bath condominium” reverb you’ve created.

The top tabs are fun, but like Nicki Minaj, your eyes immediately wander to the bottom. We will get into what each section can do later in the review but take a second to behold the vast array of processing tools at your disposal. HOFA even allows you to change the Saturator, Compressor, and Gate order to mold your creative effects in countless ways.

A Plugin with a View

While most convolution plugins use the same stock-standard display showing decay over time, the majority pale compared to the amount of info in IQ-Series Reverb displays.

Although a little unorthodox, you’ll get the hang of it quickly. The waterfall display shows the decay time graph from right to left and the frequency decay from the back (low frequencies) to the front (high frequencies). If you understand natural decay across the frequencies (which I know you all do), you’ll quickly see why the lows are in the back and the highs are in the front. This is because it essentially takes longer for the lows to dissipate than the highs, and when you think of visualizing room decays like a sprawling mountainous terrain, HOFA’s approach makes perfect sense. You’re even given the IR’s waveform (in gray) in the foreground.

Of course, if this display doesn’t work for you, the graph is interactive. You can pan, rotate, and zoom with the mouse. However, I would strongly suggest giving it a fair shake in its default state because it genuinely is the most logical way to picture what is going on with your audio.

Unimpulsing the Response

While the visuals are helpful, we are “Engin-EARS,” not “Engin-EYES. (thanks for the quote Joe Baresi).” One of the fallbacks of typical Impulse Response plugins is that you cannot edit much of the impulse response, save a few selective controls. IQ-REVERB changes that with tools to completely transform the IR to lengths unfathomable in most plugins.

To assist with this task, HOFA has integrated two decay times in the visualizer panel. Just below the Size control, you’ll see IR Length and RT60. The IR Length represents the original time of the initial captured impulse, and the RT60 is the calculated length. You may be asking, “why do you need a calculated length?” Simple, IQ-REVERB V2 has controls that allow resizing the initial IR. While IQ-Reverb has many advanced controls to “nuance the hell out of an IR,” initially, let’s stick to the central ones.

The Reverb Time and Size knobs utilize “damping” and “stretching” to resize the space. These controls work from a percentage of the original impulse, but remember, you can always check your RT60 to see the new decay time. The “+” and “-” controls sandwiched between the “Reset” button work to suggest settings for the Damping and Stretching of the IR. Just note: using the “-” after adjusting the “+” will not set the reverb back to the previous setting. This is due to how the plugin recalculates after each adjustment. To revert, use the undo or simply reset if you’re too far in the weeds. Lastly, for quick access, you’re given a pre-delay control next to the Size knob.

That Was Crazy – How’d They Do That?!

Great question – the Damping control works very much like a see-saw, except instead of adjusting a specific frequency, you’re turning up the volume at the end of the IR. Although this control seems very simple, the stretching is not so much. The stretch control pulls the IR outward like a Slinky to make the decay either longer or shorter. Any further explanation would probably require an NDA on the methods they use, and Everything Recording’s “crack law team” went to Disney World for the week. Suffice to say, they’re hopped up on Churros and Star Wars, so we will keep the explanations simple.

Everything AND the “Kitchen Sink”

No HOFA plugin would be complete without more tools to shape your reverb to unimaginable proportions and IQ-REVERB V2 packs aplenty. Better grab a snack because this section is a doozy.

Reverb Time

See what I mean by the interface having “Flow” instead of opening a whole new window. Additional controls fold into the existing interface in a way that feels natural and elegant.

The Reverb Time tab expands on the constantly-visible Reverb Time and Size knobs. Once you click the tab, extra controls slide into view with a few features that look very similar to an EQ… but they’re not. These High, Mid, and Low controls let you tweak the decay times of each set of frequencies. How crazy is that?! With each control adjusted, the IR visual will respond and morph to your new settings. Percentages show up next to the frequencies to show how much you’ve modified from the original, and once you finally have your perfect balance, the central Reverb Time will work as a global control for all three at once.

HOFA IQ-Reverb V2 Stretch — Streeeeeeeeetch those mids!!!!

If that’s not fun enough, two more buttons appear next to the Pre-delay control. The Swap L-R button will flip left and right to give a new perspective, and the Reverse does just that by inverting the reverb for those cool backward effects. You can literally “put your thing down, flip it, and reverse it.” Missy Elliott would be so proud.

Direct / Early / Tail

Basic Pre-delay controls are so 2019. Step into the future with Direct, Early, and Tail controls.

Once again, clicking the next tab smoothly transitions the visualizer to profile view and adds the next set of controls. The Dir/Early/Tail takes the concept of pre-delay and expands it into a universe of controls. The IR separates into three sections: Direct Signal, Early Reflections, and Tail. Using the volume knobs for each, you can tailor the level of individual sections of the reverb. If you want to get highly surgical, HOFA gives you two different Pre-delays for the Direct Signal and Early Reflections. Lastly, there is an Offset control to fine-tune the separations of each Pre-delay. This level of control offers a whole new level of dimensional control of the original impulse response.

EQ

Of course, no reverb will be complete without some form of EQ to shape the frequencies you want to hear in your mix. IQ-Series Reverb V2 doesn’t just have some form of EQ built-in. They have a full-blown EQ plugin inside.

If it works for Abbey Road, it will work anywhere. Here, we have carved out the famous Abbey Road EQ curve for reverbs but with a twist. We used HOFA’s “flat” band to bring the level back up to compensate for the attenuation of frequencies.

The EQ section sports up to four individual bands with nine different filter types. Adding a band is as easy as double-clicking the interface where you want the band. From there, additional parameters pop up.

My ONLY suggestion for this EQ section is if I click on the far corners of the reverb, the filter would automatically set to a high or low pass filter. Although a minor gripe, it would save mouse clicks. Overall, I like the controls of this EQ section even better than IQ-EQ V3. Let’s hope in the future, V4 uses this setup.

IR Envelope

Ever wanted advanced ASDR control over a reverb? Up until now, I had never really thought about it, but HOFA sure has. They’ve taken the Attack, Sustain, Decay, and Release concept to new heights with IR Envelope. Instead of shackling you with just the essentials for each, IQ-Reverb V2 lets you go nuts. Double-click anywhere on the white line to create a breaking point. You can get downright OCD with envelopes by adding to your heart’s content. I made over 20 nodes and only stopped clicking because I got bored. The bottom even has a zoom bar for getting in tight.

This section adds very creative FX to the reverb tail, but if I’m getting nitpicky, I feel the envelope section lacks the ability to edit the curves between envelope changes. Also, I see huge missed potential in this section to create tempo synched pumping effects on the reverb, which would be a first of its kind. I appreciate the IR Envelope, but I want to see more! Also, please help me delete all of these nodes I created in one mouse click!

HOFA IQ-Reverb IR Envelope — I may have gone overboard…

IR Cut / Gate

These two are similar, so it’s best to cover them in one section. Both IR Cut and Gate perform the same task, just with different approaches and subtleties. The Gate works like any you’ve encountered. You have a Threshold that once the audio drops below, the reverb tail attenuates based on the attack, hold, and release settings. However, the IR Cut physically trims the IR either at the reverb’s start, end, or a combination of the two. To make things less abrupt, you’re given a Fade In and Fade Out. If we’re going on utility alone, the IR Cut most likely edges out the Gate due to its ability to cut the beginning of the reverb. For instance, if your IR has a much longer Pre-delay than you need.

The joy of this plugin is that you can use both at different stages for some awe-inspiring results. Both tools additionally have a Beats control that will sync the release or length of the IR with the song’s tempo. Finally, you can put away that dirty printed Tempo / Decay sheet on your desk.

Modulation

What reverb would be complete without a bit of movement? We all know that most impulse responses have a rather sterile feel. So why not breathe a little life in them. Controls are easy with Modulation. You’ve got a Rate and Depth. Adjust to taste.

Positioner

This tab was one of my favorite features of IQ-Series Reverb V1. You can place your source where you want in the stereo field without having to adjust volume, panning, and pre-delay. Positioner is most useful when placed as an insert to individual tracks and wouldn’t have the same impact on the stereo field on an auxiliary bus. ER Tip: Automate the Positioner on lead, pad, or vocals for subtle movement.

Saturator

When you’ve made as many plugins as HOFA has, you can use parts from others in new plugins. From subtle to outright mayhem, Saturator can do it all. From Low and High Cut filters with varying slopes to a Tilt EQ with the Tone knob, your reverbs will never sound warmer. Find that perfect balance with the Dry/Wet control and if the Saturation isn’t heavy enough, click that Böse button. The Thrill indicator will be your guide.

Compressor

What better way to round out the audio toolbox with some dynamics control? Add a little more movement to your ambiance by compressing the reverb. Sadly, I wish we had the same Beats button as the Gate so I could use time-release for some rhythmic pumping.

AlgoVerb

At this point, you’ve probably forgotten we have two more slots of algorithmic reverb. Don’t worry; we’ve got it covered. As an “inception style” twist, HOFA has the Reverb within a Reverb thing going on here. This highly customizable algorithmic reverb section hosts ten different types of reverb that you can either tack on to your IR or use standalone.

This section is undoubtedly no afterthought either. AlgoVerb features a version of the IR tabs modulation section and frequency-dependent decay time controls. It also has a few different tricks. The Vintage button next to the algorithm selector uses an entirely different sample rate, mainly used in the ’70s. The Vintage control takes the edge off, resulting in a buttery reverb tail. Finally, Valhalla’s Vintage Verb has a new contender.

So…

Sonically, IQ-Series Reverb V2 is perfection. I can imagine a space in my head and have it jumping out of the speakers in no time. Other reverbs may be able to get you close, but you have to squeeze the sound out of them. I can type flowery hype words all day, but this is one of those plugins you must see to believe. I’ve used actual Lexicon and Bricasti units that can’t do what IQ-Series Reverb can do. Using this plugin with its lush presets and “it just fits in the mix” quality, your mix will immediately jump up a level.

However…

There may be a catch. This plugin is pretty CPU intensive. I usually don’t have issues with CPU usage, but on some of my bigger mixes, IQ-Reverb caused some freezes and stops. I’m not sure what HOFA could do about this except maybe offer the “Full Monty” version, with the option of a single IR or AlgoVerb version for when you don’t need to layer. Although, I will say this; I use as many instances as I comfortably can.

In Closing

Besides a few tiny setbacks and “you give me an inch, I take a mile” requests, IQ-Series Reverb V2 is as close to perfection as a plugin could get. I could uninstall nearly every other reverb plugin I own and not miss them one bit. I can say with almost complete certainty, IQ-Series Reverb V2 is the last reverb plugin you’ll need.

IQ-Series Reverb V2 Rundown:

4.5 / 5 Reviewer

BUY:

Pros

- Extremely versatile reverb
- Everything you could possibly need to shape a reverb in one plugin
- Seamless interface. Masterfully designed

Cons

- CPU intensive

Summary

If you were to buy a single plugin based on my recommendation, buy HOFA IQ-Series Reverb V2. As far as reverb plugins of this caliber go, HOFA has priced it well below value. Don't believe me? Go price out Altiverb (IQ Series Reverb can do more too). Buy it now, thank me later. Current Price (at time of review): $281.00 ($338.00 with 5 IR Packs)

Rating

Demystifying Acoustics with Jeff Hedback – Part 3

Bryan

This is Part 3 of a 4-part series. To start from the beginning, visit Part 1.

When we left off in Part 2, we built the space, determined the mix position, and measured the room for proper treatment. We also ended with a bit of a cliffhanger on how we were going to treat the room. We had an initial plan but circled back due to a few factors. In part 3, we look at the alternate option and how we ultimately treated the room.

Decisions, Decisions

Let’s take a look at where we left off. We had a custom modular approach that needed to be built from scratch.

While we had the resources to build this extremely classy and slightly-invasive treatment plan, I realized this would take a great deal of time and effort. We also wanted to make sure this series serves you, the reader. Many of you don’t have the tools, time, or desire to build your own treatment. I’ll be honest with you as well – while the renders look incredible, I’m not completely sure my final product would look that good. We’ve all seen Pinterest fails, and I wouldn’t want to be stuck with a pricey build that doesn’t look professional. So we went another route.

Option B

Because Jeff works with projects big and small, he has various solutions for each. Since I was worried about my hand-built final result, he suggested an “off-the-shelf but custom” approach. In this scenario, Jeff still uses the previous room’s analysis, but instead of giving you the blueprints to build your own treatment, he utilizes manufactured products.

Now, at this point, you may be scratching your head, thinking, “almost every sound treatment company offers this approach for free.” While you’re correct on this observation, these companies have an agenda: to sell their solutions. Although said company’s products may be the best in the business, they may not make exactly what you need to treat areas of your room properly. Not being tied to one company, Jeff can draw from different “brushes” and create a unique plan for you.

Enter GIK Acoustics

For my specific room, we still had the “decorative” condition the wife set early on – “this needs to look more like a study and less like a studio.” Jeff suggested we lean primarily on GIK Acoustics, a company you will see on various projects on his website. After looking through their options, it was a no-brainer to use them – they offer decorative panels that blend into the room more than traditional panels. I also wanted to keep the treatment options within the financial grasp of you, the reader. GIK offers Pro Level, properly tested options that won’t break the bank.

Luckily for us, GIK had pretty much everything Jeff needed to create a treatment plan, so we kept it simple and used their products.

A Little Aside Here: At this point, we do need to explain something. The “off-the-shelf tailored” approach, while more ideal in my circumstances, isn’t an equal solution to Jeff’s custom plan. There is a specific give and take that needs to be considered. Think of it like this: a tailored Armani suit is going to be an ideal fit because it was shaped to your contours by a professional. That same tailor can pull off an impressive look by altering a suit off of the rack, but it’s not going to be as nuanced and fine-tuned.

And We’re Off

The back wall concept Jeff designed using GIK Acoustics products

This is the front wall concept Jeff designed using GIK Acoustics products

With Jeff being familiar with GIK products, He picked from various lines of products to fix the quirks my room had. Trust me. We had a lot of curveballs in the form of existing furniture and ergonomics. Nevertheless, he mapped out the treatment plan and sent me over to GIK with my shopping list.

One thing you will notice: there is no ceiling treatment in the plan. This is another one of these “give and take” scenarios. While treating the area above the mix position would have been ideal, the lighting fixture and sloped ceiling created a cumbersome and expensive problem. Jeff certainly could have assembled a treatment system; it just wasn’t in the budget for this room. So, we opted to leave that alone.

Kill the Waves, Not the Room

The lack of ceiling treatment meant we had quite a chore on our hands with dispersing sound. Taming these errant sound waves would require a little extra firepower. So Jeff decided that nearly all panels would incorporate scatter plates. This serves twofold. First, it gives the entire back wall the means to deflect sound waves from the mix position. Second, it maintains a lively room sound. Too often, there is a misconception that you need a “dead” room to mix. This couldn’t be further from the truth. A lifeless room where the sound sort of drops straight to the ground can cause ear fatigue quicker, resulting in more of those “mix headaches” we all get at times. Plus, a controlled room with more natural decay works great for tracking instruments.

The Waiting Game

With my shopping list to Gus at GIK Acoustics, at this point, all you can do is sit, staring out of the front door window. Coincidentally, the pandemic had caused a scarcity of sound treatment, but not for the reason you’d think. This didn’t have to do with shipping delays or lack of materials – it was due to, of all things, Zoom. Many professionals quickly realized their home offices were horrid places for audio, resulting in a cavernous wash of barely audible conversations. So, GIK was cranking out panels, even for non-audio professionals.

Then one afternoon, I got an alert my order had arrived and pulled up to a barricaded front porch.

This was only one of three shipments. So for a couple of days, while the deliveries came in, I’m sure I was not on the FedEx delivery person’s best friend.

GIK really goes out of its way to protect the panels as best it can. The packaging is pretty robust, with multiple layers of cardboard, plastic, and tape. Plus, you can use the boxes to ship guitars. They’re a perfect size!

This is how each Alpha Series panel came shipped in each box

Of course, much to my wife’s chagrin, I immediately proceeded to pull every piece out of the boxes and inspect them in the living room.

This is every piece of treatment (a total of over 27 panels)

More Asides: This part separates the good sound treatment companies from the great ones. GIK has no control over the product from when it leaves their warehouse to when it gets to my house. As much as you hope a shipping company is moderately gentle with packages, accidents happen. I had a couple of panels show up damaged, and GIK was immensely helpful in getting everything resolved.

So, What Do the Panels Do?

You may be wondering why each panel was chosen specifically for my room. I’m not going to get into an overly technical explanation – that would take up far too much space. Instead, we can look at broader descriptions of the panels and how they pertain to my room.

The Upper Defense

Starting with the back wall, we have six Alpha 6A 24×48″ panels and four 244 Series 12×48″ panels. My room had a LOT of low-end issues. These panels are 6″ thick to provide a combination of broadband absorption and diffusion. These aren’t just bass traps or absorption panels; they work overtime to tame both. All ten have scatter plates installed to maintain a natural decay. The scatter plates are visible on the Alpha Series for decorative reasons, leaving the narrower panels’ plates hidden for contrast.

The Heavy Artillery

Across the bottom, we have the more expensive and most nuclear options for the room. The five Scopus T40 Membranes are custom-tuned resonators consisting of a suspended chamber inside a sealed box. My 40hz room mode required heavy firepower, and these sit low along the back floor to capture low resonances without killing the mid and high frequencies. These panels are hefty and almost feel like a massive square Shake Weight due to the suspended inner parts.

On the Front Lines

We still have that pesky low-end to deal with, so the front corners of the room have four 24×48″ Monster Traps with Flexrange. Clocking in at over 7″ thick, these panels can attack low as well as high-frequency waves with added broadband absorption. The Monster Traps contain a complex layer of full range absorption, range limiting, and a scatter plate to keep things lively.

Right on the inside of the Monster Traps are the 12×48″ (you guessed it) 244 Series Bass traps with the same Flexrange technology. Again, I opted to display the scatter plate on these to spice up the room’s look. Finally, flanking the walls are some Alpha Series 12X48″ diffusion and absorption panels to scatter and tame those lateral reflections coming off-axis from the speakers.

So there you have it. A treatment plan HEAVY in bass control and absorption without killing the qualities that make the room great.

Installation

After several days of the wife rolling her eyes at me positioning “attack walls” around the couches for the surround system in the living room, it was time to start the installation. So, armed with a tape measure, wall anchors, a strong friend, and a ladder, we began our journey.

No, Eli, we can’t just “wing it.” This is a game of inches!

Jeff made this part immensely easy by providing precise measurements for placement.

One of the best features of these particular panels is they hang like (slightly heavier) wall art. If you approach this with the “measure twice, drill once” method, you’ll be installed in no time. GIK Acoustics provided multiple means for hanging, including rail hooks, wire, and eye hole screws. We went with the rail hooks as they hugged the wall closer, and we could mount them to the back of the frames consistently. After several hours, we were installed.

Paydirt

And just like that, after two years of planning, calculating, and re-planning, I had a treated room, a beautiful, balanced room… which we will show you on the next installment of our Demystifying Acoustic seri… OK, OK, OK! Put down the pitchforks. Here are some pics!

I couldn’t be happier with how this room turned out visually, but how does it stack up where it matters the most? Part 4 goes into the before and after analysis and overall sonic impressions of the room. Stay tuned!

Review: BABY Audio – TAIP

Bryan

Some say Artificial Intelligence will eventually destroy humanity. What you may not realize is AI can already destroy audio (in a good way). Meet TAIP, BABY Audio’s latest tape saturation plugin that incorporates AI to shape your tracks in ways not possible with conventional plugins.

Buzz Words

Understandably, as technology advances, companies will apply unrelated concepts to products to generate hype. Do we truly need a smart toilet? Probably not. For years, machine learning and AI have been slowly creeping into press releases that come across my desk. Marketing departments love using impressive terms that the populace might not fully understand to juice up a product. With that being said, I go into this review cautiously.

Please don’t take the rant above as a knock to the company. BABY Audio acknowledges the industry overuses this term, but they pinky swore to me that they’re using AI for an actual purpose (and we in “the biz” take that VERY seriously). Additionally, TAIP just happened to be the first plugin I set out to review that used AI in a way other than to analyze your mix (iZotope Neutron and Ozone).

Quasi AI

To understand how BABY Audio incorporated AI into TAIP, we have to go back to development. Traditionally, AI is used within the plugin to analyze your tracks and estimate how it will process your audio. This approach is not how TAIP utilized the increasingly ubiquitous technology. Instead, they brought AI in to analyze the “sound” of analog tape. By running dry audio versus tape saturated signals, the neural network figures out what gives audio that “tapey” quality. BABY Audio then took those learnings and applied them to TAIP’s processing algorithm. So yes, it’s AI-derived but doesn’t use it on the fly. I think this approach will start becoming more of the norm in the next several years.

Hey! It Looks Like a Cassette Tape!

It seems over the last few plugins; BABY Audio has begun to get its look. Of course, there are several different skins to choose from, and they look great. My only issue is with the heavy use of shadows. I’ve noticed them getting increasingly more and more pronounced, and this version has started messing with my eyes. I wish the bulge around the spools were less pronounced.

BABY Driver

As with all BABY Audio plugins, controls are simple. Want more saturation? Use the drive. Compensate for the volume change with the Auto Gain button in between the Drive and Output. Or you can dial it yourself with the Output Blending sits right in the middle as well with the Mix control. The bottom section has more creative tools with Noise and Wear. Noise will throw a little (or a lot) of hiss into the signal, and Wear combines wow, flutter, and a change in frequency curve to flange the sound in very unorthodox ways. With Wear engaged, the Mix slider becomes dual-purpose and blends saturation with the flange. The crazy part about using the slider is even just slightly moving the blend knob renders very different effects. So be advised, don’t go leadfoot with the blend or you’ll miss out. I feel like I hear pieces of the Wear effect in one of BABY Audio’s earlier plugins (and my top five plugins of all time) SPACED OUT (Review HERE).

Burn BABY, Burn

Headroom was a crucial aspect of tracking with analog tape. When audio is pushed a little harder through tape, a compressor-like artifact comes through. The Glue section of TAIP reproduces this quality but in a more controllable way. You can use it to round out your tracks or as a straight-up dynamics control tool. Additionally, BABY Audio doesn’t just do subtle (although it can). The Input and Model controls introduce options for downright burning down your signal. The Hot button pushes more input while the Dual adds another stage of saturation into the mix.

TAIP offers more tailored options to push audio in very specific ways. Hi-shape and Lo-shape sliders determine just how much saturation to push into each frequency band and the Presence can bring back brightness that tape saturation sometimes takes off the end. As always, the controls are laid out extremely simple and straightforward.

I’ll Be Honest About TAIP

At first, I wasn’t big on this plugin. I felt it dealt with audio too heavy-handed and worked more as a one-trick pony, but this lends to my approach to reviewing plugins. Sometimes you see reviews come out way after a plugin is released. This is because I want to give products a fair shake. Although this is not directly related to the plugin, I’ll let you in behind the scenes at Everything Recording. We do not care one iota about analytics, hype, and monetizing content. We don’t have to be the first to release a review and it is this approach that benefits you, the reader. I could have easily posted a “faux outrage review” (you all know who they are) where I played with the plugin for five minutes and posted about it. Instead, I used it for a few months and actually learned the plugin.

It was at this point where I realized this plugin is not a normal BABY Audio knob turner. There is a lot of subtlety in between the dB movements of this plugin. One control will completely change the reaction of a previously tuned value. If you give TAIP a little more care and attention, it will create magic. So I started more lightly turning knobs and learning how one set of controls relates to another. Sure, you will get some cool effects if you just start cranking knobs, but the secret to TAIP is in the subtle. In small doses, tracks would start getting dimension and movement. And just like that, I started reaching for TAIP more and more.

Punch List

In getting to know TAIP as much as I have, I’ve learned there are some features that it really needs to become that “one” plugin you reach for when you want that analog sound. I wish it had high and low-pass filter sliders. A plugin that is designed to also give lo-fi sounds needs a more aggressive solution to rolling off frequencies. Also, I really wanted the Wear to have its own mix slider so I could separately tailor the flange sound with the saturation. Lastly, I wish the compressor would work as a ducker like on other BABY Audio plugins but this time, duck the blend of the saturation into the signal.

Final Thoughts

Like a marriage, TAIP takes a little more involvement and time than the other BABY Audio plugins to truly master it; but like a good marriage, it pays off if you put that time in. I can’t think of another plugin that quite does with TAIP does to tracks. This is just another stellar example of BABY Audio’s ascent as one of Everything Recording’s favorite plugin developers.

Price: (at time of review) $39.00 (MSRP $69.00)

Please consider purchasing from our Affiliate Link. It doesn’t cost you any extra and helps keep the lights on at Everything Recording HQ.

TAIP Rundown:

4.5 / 5 Reviewer

BUY: (Affiliate Link)

Pros

- Works as both an FX plugin as well as an Enhancement plugin
- Easy to use
- Pleasing saturation

Cons

- Lacks high and low-pass filter
- Separate Blend knob for Wear and Saturation

Summary

While TAIP is useful, the true utility is found in subtle moves instead of broader strokes. The more you learn the interaction of each control, the better TAIP sounds.

Rating

SongChecks Launches: Have Heavy Hitters Analyze your Mix

Bryan

Ever wondered, “what would Lu Diaz think of my banger?” Or even, “is my overall balance Billy Decker approved?” Now you don’t have to. SongChecks is a newly released website that makes this a possibility by connecting you with seasoned veterans in the industry. For a reasonable fee, these mixing and mastering engineers will listen to your mix, and offer suggestions. Prices vary per engineer but start around $150.00.

SongChecks Is A Curated Platform For Producers, Mixers, Bands, And Songwriters Of All Levels And Locations To Get Affordable Written Feedback On Your Songs From The World’s Best Music Talent.

Rather than do the work for you, which is too expensive for most aspiring music makers, the experts on SongChecks will tell you what you need to do yourself to make your song or mix sound better.

Yes, ‘better’ is a subjective term. But there’s a reason why most artists you listen to choose to work with the ‘top’ producers, mix and mastering engineers.

The feedback you’ll receive on SongChecks will be in the form of written notes emailed directly to your inbox and could include everything from production suggestions and mix improvements to arrangement ideas, EQ and compression tips, and beyond. Basically, anything that catches the pro’s ears.

Their helpful guidance comes from years of experience working with talented music makers. All the pros are in demand from record labels and chart-topping artists. They’re on SongChecks because they genuinely want to pass on more of their knowledge to the next generation of mixers, producers, and songwriters.

You won’t be getting the back and forth dialogue with the pro that you would from working directly with them. But that process of exchanging ongoing dialogue with a top producer or mixer and having them work directly on your music is often prohibitively expensive for indie artists.

Our objective is to empower you to become more proficient at the craft of writing, self-producing, or mixing your own music — or the music of others. We see it as a learning process.

And unlike an online course, the feedback you’ll get on SongChecks will be specific to you. It’s not generic. It relates to your song or mix only.

Along the way, you’ll get your songs and mixes heard by some of the most influential figures in the music industry: the hitmakers. Maybe (just maybe) you’ll be ‘discovered’ in the process!

SongChecks is the initiative of independent songwriter, mixer, and digital media entrepreneur, Zolton Zavos.

For more information and to see the list of who all can help you out (the list is IMPRESSIVE), visit https://www.songchecks.com. Who knows, Everything Recording may throw down a couple of hundo and write a review on it in the future.

Review: MIXLAND Rubber Band Compressor

Bryan

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had one constant in my mixing workflow – the Waves RVox goes at the end of virtually all of my vocal tracks. Then comes along the Rubber Band Compressor by MIXLAND.

New Kid on the Block

It is a veritable crapshoot when a new plugin press release shows up on my desk, especially the debut plugin from a company. Some inspire while others slowly drain the desire to type out a review (i.e., oh great, what’s this? another Neve EQ clone that you’ve perfectly matched the RAF Blue Paint scheme as the original in Trent Reznor’s collection? (*screams into some Auralex). Fortunately, MIXLAND falls in the “inspire” category and isn’t another Neve clone (seriously, everyone, stop with the Neve stuff. You’ll never beat KIT’s Neve clone).

First impressions are essential. Although founder Jesse Ray Ernster may be new to the plugin scene, he isn’t new in the world of music. Working with everyone from Doja Cat to Kanye West, Jesse has figured out what works and what doesn’t for his process. In that discovery, he’s taken what he likes about dynamics and combined them into his first plugin, Rubber Band. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s got a sense of humor when it comes to hype. Not taking yourself too seriously will get you much further than trying to cultivate a “Steve Vai” mystique.

Michael Scott — “If this plugin does not meet, nay, exceed every one of your wildest expectations, well, then, you can hold me, Michael Gary Scott, personally and financially responsible.”

Idiom Included

Before I even clicked install, the Rubber Band Compressor had my attention. So many times in writing, you’re reaching for a metaphor to describe a compressor, and MIXLAND drops it right in your lap. VCA compressors are snappy and quick, much like a rubber band, so the comparison works. MIXLAND takes the concept a step further by adding graphic representation right in the GUI.

So, a little background on Rubber Band. It is a VCA-based compressor that features “exponential, dual-stage resistance.” The concept creator Jesse Ray Ernster was going for mimicking what audio would sound like if pushed through a rubber band (without the “boiiinng” sound you get, of course, although that might be a unique sound for a reverb). The result is an interesting and easy-to-use plugin. A lot of the heavy lifting is done behind the scenes, leaving you the energy to use your ears instead of tweaking many knobs.

Snap into a Slim Jim

The interface is spotless and straightforward. At the center of the UI, you have the main controls for Rubber Band: tension and snap. Although there is much more going on behind the knobs, you can think of tension as your ratio control and snap as your input drive. Like most other compressors, you have attack, release, mix, and output.

Additional tricks abound in the form of three separate controls: crunch, tilt, and weight. The crunch control pushes some modeled Class-A saturation into the input stage, adding a little or a lot of dirt into the track. On top of saturating your signal with crunch, a tube-modeled tilt EQ injects either a sparkly top end or a rich low-end foundation to the signal. Both work pre-compressed and provide dual-purpose: enhancing the sound and hyping the detector stage to whatever harmonics and frequencies are added by each. Lastly, weight places a high pass filter into the detector circuit to let the lows slide on through, giving back more “oomph” to the compressed signal.

Rounding out the interface, you also have a mix knob, auto makeup, and oversampling. The oversampling feature helps to remove aliasing and is especially useful when giving audio the business with heavy compression. Fewer artifacts are always better but do cost in the form of DSP.

“Bands a Make Her Dance”

Finally, I have a relevant excuse to use this song as a heading – thanks, MIXLAND. Rubber Band Compressor makes your audio move. It can bring an incredible ambience to drum tracks when a fast release and crunch are used. You almost don’t need a short reverb. Reach for the mix knob and blend the compression to taste or place Rubber Band Compressor on a bus and set the attack to the fastest setting. Instant ambience. This plugin also does the “pop vocal” sound masterfully. Consonants stand out, and you get that incredible clamp for the rest of the syllable. Stir in a bit of tilt eq to bring in the air, and your vocal track is mixed.

Place Constructive Compliments Here

Following the sage advice of the aforementioned lover of this plugin Michael Scott, I will offer my constructive compliments. I don’t have many, and most come strictly out of curiosity. I want to be able to move the crunch and tilt after compression. In some cases, a little spice after compression can be just what the doctor ordered. I’d also like a little more control over the detector circuit, like pushing the fundamental frequency of, say, the human voice more into compression. I’d also mention the lack of presets, but I’ve been told that those will be coming in the next update so that one is solved. Overall, no deal breakers at all.

Bringing it Home

All too often, we spend countless hours and plugin slots trying to “set” a vocal into the mix. Rubber Band does it in a few mouse clicks. After using Rubber Band on several mixes, I found myself replacing Waves Rvox completely. We all know there is some magic going on with that plugin, but Rubber Band Compressor does it differently and better. Say hello to your new “finishing” compressor.

Review – What’s New : Pro Tools 2021.10

Bryan

It’s that time of year for our “State of the Pro Tools” review where we go over what’s new, what we think about it, and what we’d like to see added. Since major releases are a thing of the past, we try to release a review each year. That way we cover multiple iterations of enhancements. So let’s take a look at 2021.10 and see what’s new.

Starting with the Latest

While we will get to the updates since last year in a few, let’s start with the most recent updates in 2021.10.

Control or Kontrol, Your Choice

Carbon Control

Avid Carbon melds even more with Pro Tools with the Pro Tools universe with built-in Carbon Control. Instead of messing about with the knobs and buttons on Carbon, you can control most of your hardware controls right inside of Pro Tools.

You’re given Imepdance, Phase, Gain, and Phantom power just as you would record arm a track. These buttons are not just accessible in one area either. You can control from Mix, Edit, or Pop Out the control like you would an Aux send. If that’s not enough, these controls work with Eucon controls as well. Go on, fire that studio assistant (or wife in my case) from having to snarkily tap on drums while you’re gain staging. Take you iPad to the drum set, set all of your gains on each channel, and dial in your mix from the drum throne! If you’re one of those types who gets to leave your drums in place in the studio, these setting on each channel can be retained in your template. You’ll always have the perfect setup.

Komplete Control

Branching out into more third-party affairs, Avid gets more cozy with Native Instruments with enhanced compatibility with Komplete Control M32, A Series, and S Series controllers. No more manually mapping controls. Go into your peripherals and select your interface and your transport, navigation, and mixing controls are already mapped for you. Recording, playback, and banking through channels has never been easier.

Flexible Track Routing

Ever get to the grocery store only to realize you left your wallet at home? That is sort of how it feels when you bounce a mix only to realize you routed your tracks in the wrong width. While this one is mainly an issue for your surround folks, the struggle is still real. Flexible Track Routing helps by allowing you to route tracks to different tracks of differring widths, automatically downmixing or fanning out audio along the way. Avid determines the source and destination and properly routes each channel to the correct width without any extra hooplah on your part.

Let’s Talk Compatibility

With Apple shaking up the industry by deciding to go back to the “let’s make processors” phase, more work is heaped on software developers to adjust to the change. All versions of Pro Tools including Pro Tools | First are now M1 compatible. As of version 2021.3, Big Sur supports all versions as well.

As of 2021.10, the universal binary driver for HD is built in as well. No more having to worry about downloading and installing that second HD Driver file. It’s also Apple Sillicon Compatible as well.

Going Dark

Avid Pro Tools 2021 — Pro Tools Light Theme

It should be a universal law that every piece of software coded from now on has a dark mode. In case most of you holed up in your windowless dark studio don’t realize, you, in fact, CANNOT get the required levels of vitamin D from your computer screen. So, why not give your eyes a little relief? Pro Tools initially introduced dark mode as a skin that you could only change by restarting the software, but as of 2021.6, you don’t have to do that anymore. Avid took the customization a step further, giving you a myriad of options. They conveniently housed these controls in the same area that you changed the colors of your tracks. Lastly, to add more pop, 2021.10 brings a high contrast UI. Text stands out more, giving you clearer definition, which amounts to a lot less squinting at your screen.

A “UI Customization” dropdown appears and you can customize until your heart’s content. You can dig really deep into the UI customization from how bright your text is to the saturation of your Folder Tracks versus your standard tracks. If you see an *asterisk by any of the dropdowns, that means you’ve made changes that haven’t been saved. Once everything is how you like it. Do a quick save and you’re all set. I do wish that the Dark and Light theme would follow Mac OS Day/Night mode.

Since I needed to give the settings a spin, here is the custom theme I designed.

Convert Those Squiggles to Dashes

Although Pro Tools subscriptions come with Melodyne 5 Essential, Avid has added convert audio to MIDI functionality directly in the DAW. You have a multitude of options in both algorithms and ways to convert. Right-click in the edit window and you can convert sections, or even the whole selection directly to MIDI in the Clips window. Right-clicking the track name gives you the ability to convert the entire track to MIDI, complete with the option of a MIDI track or Instrument track. Several different types of algorithms handle just about any situation from vocal tracks to 808s. We did a one-for-one test against Melodyne 5 Studio and Pro Tools produced an extremely similar result. Neither are perfect, but they’ll get you in the ballpark.

Space Clips

Although primarily useful for film and game sound designer, Space Clips is a new function that takes a group of clips and evenly separates them by whatever amount you like. You’re given the choice between Bars | Beats, Min:Secs, Timecode, Feet+Frames, and Samples. Operation is simple – Navigate to Edit > Space Clips, set your gap type and the value that you want to separate clips, and click apply.

Not only can this work for post editing, you can use this to arrange one shots to the beat. Take a look at this clap below. We wanted to change it on quarter notes instead of eighths so we were able to move clips with two mouse clicks. You could also take full sections (like say, a chorus) and paste it later in the song quickly.

Quick Change Track Width

We’ve all done it – we create a bank of tracks and forget to change the mono selection to stereo before clicking “Create”. Before, you’d have to delete the tracks and start over. Now, with a quick right-click of the track name in either the Mix or Edit window, you can change the width.

The same applies to copying plugins from one track width to another. Now, when copying the stereo instance into a mono track, Pro Tools will change the width for you. No more having to save one-off presets just to get them over to different track widths. I do hope in future versions, we have the ability to change the actual type of track too. Sometimes, I create stereo audio tracks when I want aux tracks.

Speaking of Tracks

The audio track count in Pro Tools increases from 128 to 256. While this seems like only a doubling of total tracks, it’s actually much more. Before, when Avid said the track count was 128, this was actually only in mono. This means if you used stereo tracks, you would only have 64 tracks. Additionally, if you increased the sample rate, that count would decrease by half. Now, with Pro Tools 2021.6, you’re given a maximum of 256 mono (128 stereo) tracks, despite the sample rate.

Carbon

Although we will be publishing a full review on Carbon, we would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Avid’s newest interface. Carbon is your one-stop-shop for tracking, mixing, mastering, and everything in between. With eight transparent onboard mic pres, four headphone outputs, talkback mic, monitoring section, and more, Carbon merges HDX DSP to seamlessly meld with Pro Tools. Combining Carbon with Avid’s new Hybrid Engine, you can tailor Pro Tools for whatever the situation calls.

Hybrid Engine

As of 2021.6, HDX users can utilize the same Hybrid Engine that was created for Carbon. If there ever was a time to switch to HDX or Carbon, the time is now. Hybrid engine lets you control how DSP is shared between your computer’s processing and your interface’s onboard DSP. A simple click of the lightning bolt icon below the Automation controls allows you to switch all available AAX native plugins to DSP in one click. This works on a per-channel basis, giving you ultimate control over latency.

Say, you’re tracking vocals and want near-final mix processing on the track, but you’re getting that disconnect of the performance that comes in that all-too-familiar delay in the performer’s ears. This latency takes the artist out of the moment and hinders getting that perfect take. Now, with Hybrid engine, you can offload the processing to either the HDX or Carbon’s onboard DSP, giving your computer room to breathe and sub-millisecond latency. Problem solved. Once that tracking session is over, simply click the lightning bolt again, and you’re back in native mode, where delay compensation takes over.

The Hybrid Engine can also help with those bogged sessions due to high plugin count. You can now choose which tracks switch to DSP and which go to Native, furthering your playback time without the dreaded freezes and stops due to lack of resources.

QUERTY MIDI

I travel quite a bit and sometimes don’t have the baggage real estate to bring along a USB controller. That leaves me having to click out chords on the trackpad. Although this is fine for small fixes, sometimes you need to actually play something out.

Pro Tools now has a built-in MIDI keyboard that works in conjunction with your computer’s keyboard. Pressing “Shift-K” or “Window> MIDI Keyboard brings it up a small keyboard, perfect for working in a pinch. You have the choice of moving it an octave with the “Z” and “X” or adjusting the velocity with the “C” and “V”. While very useful, I wish I had the option with, say, the “N” and “M” keys to shift the keys either lower or higher. For some reason, I always need the very next key when playing a riff. I will say when away from the home base, this and Captain Plugins are a great combo.

But That’s Not All Folks

If you’ve got a Pro Tools subscription or Software Update + Support Plan, you get Melodyne 5 Essential (Melodyne 5 Review) standard along with about $1600 in plugins, sample libraries, and other resources. These are not “lite” version of plugins either. From developers like IK Multimedia, our friends at BABY Audio, Plugin Alliance, and more, you’ll have everything you need to learn, create, and mix, all from the Pro Tools Inner Circle.

Overall Thoughts

I know we’ve harped on Pro Tools in the past for resting on their laurels for so many years but it definitely appears the wheels are starting to move again. They’re listening more to the community and doing what they can to add value to the DAW. At this point in the state of all recording software, all of the major players pretty much do the same thing in different ways. The vast expanse of possibilities has been diminishing over the years due to innovation and increased processing power. It’s tough to find some groundbreaking new way to mix or select a bunch of audio. Most methods have been explored and implemented. Still I see Avid innovating new ways to improve on existing processes. That being said, let’s move onto my wish list.

Everything Recording’s 2021 Pro Tools Wishlist

I’ve used Pro Tools almost exclusively now for nearly twenty years. That being said, I’ve got things I would like to see added or changed. This isn’t the gospel, but it has come from years of working in the software. Here are a few things I’d like to see added.

Sequencing

It’s no secret that Pro Tools is built around tracking and mixing, but times have changed and other DAWs have an advantage by being younger and growing up amid a huge change in how music is created. While simple and utilitarian, I really would like to see Pro Tools take on sequencing in a new way. Treating rhythmic MIDI differently than melodic would be refreshing with expanded views would be incredible. Being able to see what instrument corresponds to a note on a keyboard would make mapping out beats much faster. Piano rolls, cloning sections of loops, all of this would shift Pro Tools from “the place you track real instruments and mix” to “a place where music is created.

Folder Tracks

I really do like having folder tracks. Navigating sessions is faster and the overall experience of mixing feels less cluttered. I would like to see the ability to arm every track in my Folder Track from the actual folder. This leaves the entire folder collapsed while I’m creating and saves unnecessary mouse clicks. Secondly, when you create a Routing Folder Track, you are only given the option to type in a name for the Bus. If you type in a name that you already have, you get a new Bus with “.1” appended. This is an easy fix by adding the option of a dropdown menu of existing busses already created. That particular oversight really gets on my nerves. I know the solution could be to just create a template, but you can’t always do that in every situation. Please fix this Avid.

Track Width and Type

Avid came close to fixing this with the new change width feature but it just made me want to see it go further. Give this feature the option to change more than just width, especially when first creating an empty track. How many times have you accidentally created a stereo audio track instead of an aux. Once realized, you have to right click and delete, then go through the process all over again. Why not just let you right click the track and change the type?

In Conclusion

Overall, I really do like the changes to Pro Tools over the year. You can really see Avid is starting to listen and implement features people have wanted for years. Increased track counts, the MIDI Keyboard, and the Hybrid Engine are welcome additions that show a company getting back to creating tools for the creators. I’m very excited to see what’s in store for next year.

Demystifying Acoustics with Jeff Hedback – Part 2

Bryan

In Part 1, we discussed the misleading paths that every engineer initially faces when the mix doesn’t translate. We also brought in an important ally – Jeff Hedback, owner of HD Acoustics. Part 2 brings in Everything Recording’s new studio space and all of the groundwork you need to lay before even considering what’s going on the walls. With the introductions out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff.

Do-Over

New house – new mixing room. Although my previous room was treated, I still couldn’t get my mixes to translate. I would hook the phone up in the truck and listen in horror as obvious frequency issues reared their ugly head. I hadn’t skimped on treatment either, spending a couple thousand on sound treatment and supplies. My intentions were good, but my execution was misguided. I had thrown resources at the product and not the plan.

Everything Recording — Not a bad-looking setup. It was the “listening” part that was the problem

Infiltrate, Destroy, Rebuild

See that area over to the right? What would that even be for in real-life?

Luckily, I have a very understanding wife that let me take the area just off the living room. This came with a few conditions that we will get into a little later. Needless to say, initially, the area was relatively useless in regard to useable space in the home. again, fortunately, I married into a family that can do anything to a new or existing build (wanna see? Visit Riverwood Building Company’s Site).

As you can see, the area was elevated, overlooking the living room (thanks 80’s Texas contemporary architecture). I still have yet to have someone explain what the builders were thinking when they added that area. (If anyone can give me an explanation, please email me [email protected]. I’d love to know). After a little bit of planning, we tore out the handrail, dropped the floor to match the lower level, and framed out the area.

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Initial Footwork

Determined to learn from my mistakes, I brought Jeff in as soon as possible. While there wasn’t a lot structurally I could do after we framed in the room, there were things I can do organizationally. After all, one of the conditions was that I couldn’t do any more structural alterations. Even though this condition made Jeff’s job a little tougher, I must admit that it served this article and especially you, the reader. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t made of money and do not have the ability to make major changes to a room.

Luckily, I had a friend who knew CAD. The more data, the better.

The first step in getting to know the room was measuring out space. Once the drywall was up, I took a lot of pictures of the area from just about every angle I could. Then, I used a laser disto to measure out the entire area. Although Jeff would have been content with the length, width, and height, I had the ability to measure, then draft the area in CAD. While this could be considered overkill on my part, the more data you send, the easier and quicker analysis will be for Jeff.

Hedback Designs Measurements — Here’s part of the original measurements I sent over.

Under Pressure

This part is where Jeff took over. With all of the measurements, Jeff performed a sound pressure mapping study. He built a single-faced 3D model of the room and virtually placed a single omni sound source in several positions in the room. The goal of this study is to determine the best mix position based on the frequency response of the room. Essentially, if you start with the area that needs the least intervention, you’ll have the best chance of success in dealing with room issues.

Initially, Jeff looked at the area facing the window as the ideal mix location.

This would be the obvious first choice due to the downward-sloped ceiling over the mix position acting as a built-in “ceiling cloud”. So Jeff began pressure mapping at this location, then moved on to a couple more places to see if the hunch was correct.

Acoustical Forensics

The software he employs specializes in irregular-shaped rooms and determines various room modes (areas where particular frequencies build up and resonate). Acoustical properties are assigned to different surfaces based on their building materials and Jeff can take a deeper look at individual frequencies. The main frequency range Jeff is looking at in the study is from 20Hz to 400Hz). When I pressed why this particular range, Jeff responded with a quote from the great Floyd Toole “Below 400Hz, the room is the dominant feature. Above 400Hz, the speaker is the dominant feature”

This is an example of the sound pressure mapping study where the simulated speaker location was placed on the west wall. The study is mapping 27Hz.Once Jeff analyzed the single omni source in various positions in the room, he determined that the north wall was the best mix location. To verify this position, a “stereo simulation” placed two speakers in the ideal mix position, and frequency response was measured. REPLACE IMAGE With Stereo speaker at Final Position (same freq)

Location 3 was the east wall and actually worked out perfect because that was the position I was hoping the desk would go.

Sound Judgement

With the mix position determined, I could now get to work organizing the studio. By this time, the room had been painted, the barn doors had been installed, and my wife bought me an incredible five-year anniversary gift – a desk.

After a year of renovating the house, I started pulling some gear out of their boxes and setting it back up. That desk though!

We wanted to move away from the previous studio design since this room was right off of the living room. Instead, we went with more of a “study” look. For Christmas, the wife bought me those vintage 70’s leather chairs. Just as comfortable as they are good-looking!

The wife designed these doors from a drawing on paper. We had a local woodworker build them for us.

Here they are with glass installed and hung

After several iterations of furniture layout, we settled on the setup you see in the pictures above. Now that we had a floorplan, it was Jeff’s turn again to analyze the room, only this time, using real data instead of a model. Using a room measurement mic, we recorded an acoustical sweep at several positions in the room using each individual speaker, as well as both speakers. The purpose of the in-room acoustical testing is two-fold: 1), to verify the initial simulated sound pressure mapping study was accurate, and 2), to use real-world data to determine the treatment plan. The modeled results agreed very close to the actual in-room testing data. Although there were small differences, these could be attributed to slight differences between the acoustical properties of the building materials actually used versus the materials in the model.

Digging In

Taking a deeper look at the actual test data, we can get a better idea of what is happening in the room pre-treatment. First, let’s look at the mix position below. For those new to acoustics, we will use the words “resonance” and “null”. What we mean by “resonance” is a buildup at a particular frequency. The opposite goes for “null”, where a dip in the frequency occurs.

This is a full graph of the SPL and Phase at the mix position

At the mix position, we see a hefty resonance around 42Hz, followed by several nulls at 85Hz and around 120Hz. The end goal with treatment is to see a graph like the one above, but with a more flat response across all frequencies.

In Treatment

Using all of this preliminary data, Jeff began working on a treatment plan. Because this is a case-by-case step in the journey, Jeff initially got a feel for what type of project I wanted to go with. Because I had access to carpenters, we initially went with a plan to create all of the treatment from scratch. The room definitely had some limitations due to the layout so Jeff had to work around quite a bit. Additionally, one of the conditions for the wife giving me this room off the side of the living room was that it had to look less like a studio. This definitely created a “fashion over function” debacle but I must say Jeff handled it with the patience of a saint. Here is the initial plan Jeff came up with.

This design involved quite a bit of construction but took a modular approach. This would satisfy the “no major construction” condition the wife laid out but would use significant custom work building each piece. As you can see, the layout of the room with the large window on one side and the doorway on the other really limited options for the side walls. After a few more discussions, including which would serve this article best, we decided to go with a slightly different plan. While this plan required more work on Jeff’s part, he was very understanding. This is one of the reasons I highly recommend using HD Acoustics. Jeff is very flexible in approach and understands the give and take of treating a home studio.

To Be Continued

I’m sure you’re wondering what exactly this new plan entails but don’t worry, we will cover it in graphic detail in Part 3. See you then!

If you’re as impatient as I am, in the meantime you should check out Jeff’s website at http://www.hdacoustics.net/. He’s got some beautiful designs along with some very big-name studios he’s designed.

Review: Brainworx bx_console Amek 9099

Bryan

Today, we take on a console that comes full circle from analog to digital, back to analog, and then to plugin form. Of course, we’re talking about Brainworx’s most ambitious bx_console plugin yet – Amek 9099.

Back to the Future

*Lexicon reverb and floating chair not included

While Amek used “Easy Rupert” as the caption for this brochure, we prefer “Sons of Analog-y.”

The year is 2000. Modern computing has hit the mainstream, and everyone can’t get enough. This appeal also gets companies at the forefront of technology thinking, “How can we apply this to our field?”

In pro audio, Amek was that company introducing one of the most groundbreaking mixing consoles ever made. The Amek 9098i still stands as one of the precursors to today’s hybrid workstations. They essentially threw everything in but the kitchen sink at the design, even bringing analog royalty Rupert Neve. Amek was very proud to have Mr. Neve, as shown in the pages of the 9098’s print brochure.

Amek 9098 Brochure — Going on pure speculation, we have Analog’s bad boy, Rupert Neve, narrowly escaping security after an attack on rival Solid State Logic’s HQ – apparently with an attractive getaway driver. How any of this has to do with a console is beyond me but immensely amusing. I propose this be B. Church’s next tattoo

The $500,000 Question

So what does the 500,000$ (2021 Equivalent to $789,0000) get you in the year 2000? For the time, a surprisingly advanced console. First, you have a 400MHz Intel Celeron processor running MS-DOS. You may wonder what you would need a small computer for in an analog console. Well, the 9098i is not fully analog. Amek incorporated “Virtual Dynamics” by way of their CAP (Central Assignment Panel). This piece of software housed what could be considered the precursor to plugins. You’re given 12 different processors to choose from that you can assign to any of the console’s VCA faders. Crazy enough, the Virtual Dynamics suite even had an Auto Panner that you could sync via MIDI. This is extremely impressive for the year 2000. The future sure was looking bright!

You know, for the year 2000, the GUIs on the Virtual Dynamics looked pretty good. It looks like fun until you realized you had to edit them on a 12.1″ CRT monitor.

The 9098i also included an integrated trackball and keyboard to control Virtual Dynamics and automation parameters. Unfortunately, in only what could be due to the high cost of monitors, the 9089i had a paltry 12.1″ monitor in the meter bridge. I think Amek knew at the time that trying to tweak an attack time on what is the modern-day equivalent to an iPad from 4 feet away wasn’t going to cut it. So they added another VGA port for your own monitor. Break out the Sony Trinitron!

The Sign of Things to Come

Being at the forefront of plugins and DAWs wasn’t always easy, but some saw the writing on the wall – Like Mix Magazine’s Larry the O. Let’s take a look at his Amek 9098i review from Mix Magazine.

“To me, knobs and buttons are, on the whole, much better physical than virtual controllers, and graphic or text representations of parameter values can be more clear than a picture of a knob. Trying to drag a virtual pot by rolling a trackball while simultaneously holding down a button with the same hand is awkward and, over the long haul, unhealthy. However, there seems no stopping this trend.”

Overall, the console still retained its Analog soul by incorporating Rupert Neve’s TLA (Transformer Like Amplifier) design for the input modules. Additionally, the 4 band EQ had features not usually seen on consoles like a “notch” button on the mid bands for precise cutting, Glow, and Sheen buttons to change the filter curve of the low and high shelves, and the ability to use the EQ bands to feed the sidechain of the dynamics. Lastly, the stereo sections had a “Width” control that utilized the introduction of cross panned, and phase flipped material on each side of the field.

Which Brings Us to Today

You rarely see a console with this many features, so you can see why Brainworx wanted to include this in their bx_console line. Additionally, this series also holds a special place in Brainworx creator and owner Dirk Ulrich’s heart. It happened to be one of the first “really high-end channel strips” he bought when he finally had the budget.

Not to rest on their laurels, Brainworx took this particular bx_console plugin to new heights, adding even more features than the original console along with a few tricks that no other bx_console plugin has.

Same but Different

The bx_console AMEK 9099 still retains the same proprietary Brainworx TMT (Tolerance Modeling Technology) as all of the other consoles in the lineup. In addition, you’re given different variants of individual channels of the original console that you can select in series or randomly via the “Random” buttons.

What sets AMEK 9099 from the other consoles are several genius features. While the original AMEK 9098i console had a Width control, Utilizing their extensive knowledge of Mid/Side processing, Brainworx took the concept further by including a Stereo Width and Mono Maker control. The Stereo Width improves on the console’s version by retaining your center section while widening. Additionally, the Mono Maker borrows from other Brainworx plugins to fold the processed sound at and below the selected frequency of the knob into the center of the field. This is very useful in cleaning up the sides of a mix and focusing the low-end content into the middle for tighter bass.

What could be the more useful feature ever placed in an “analog non-graphed EQ) has to be AMEK 9099’s “Auto Listen” button in the EQ section. When selected, every time you select a frequency or Q control on a band of EQ, it solos the band. This is IMMENSELY useful when sweeping for that problem frequency. More developers need to add this to EQ plugins, and I’m BEGGING Brainworx to add it to all of the other bx_console models (or at least the Focusrite SC. We will consider it a personal favor). Rounding out the “not on any other bx_console” features is a “Soft Clip” option for the limiter, fully functional Expander / Gate with its own sidechain filters, along with the ability to use your EQ filters to sidechain your Compressor / Limiter.

Interface

Alright, which one of you Brainworx coders was eating while designing the Gate section?!

Although the interface naturally has quite a bit of knobs, it’s not at all intimidating. All of the knobs are color-coded to match their function, so it’s easy to glance and get around. The many dynamic parameters could easily get cluttered with too much feedback, but the interface brilliantly transforms knobs and visual feedback to accommodate the new task. For example, take the Gate sidechain filters: with the “High Q” setting enabled. The EQ curves above the filter knobs change to show the resonant bump in the filter.

The GUI is easily the best looking yet for Brainworx and deserves a deeper look. You can tell a lot of TLC was put into the design. Just look at the shadowing and reflection on the VU meters and knobs. Yes, we know looks don’t mix a record, but you have to appreciate the aesthetics and visual design when a manufacturer puts this much work into it. Brainworx even went as far as adding a “UI” selector in the top right corner of the plugin. You have the choice between a “spanking new” console or a used one, complete with scratches, discoloration, and even the slovenly engineer’s grease-stained thumbprint (every studio has one, right? If you say no, odds are, it’s probably you. Go wash your hands)

For the engineer that keeps a custom Selvyt cloth on hand, we have “fresh out of the box” mode

Add a little character to your interface with “Used Mode”

Filtering

Starting at the top left, we have the filter section with all of the trappings of standard filtering. In normal mode, the High-Pass works from 20Hz – 300Hz, with the option to increase the range from 60Hz – 900Hz via the “x3” button. Similarly, the Low-Pass filter has an “/3” button that will change the standard 4.5k – 30k to 1.5k to 10k. The plugin also added the “x3” and “/3” buttons for more versatility. For even more control over filters, bx_console AMEK 9099 allows both filters to be placed at the input, post dynamics, or into the sidechain of the dynamics sidechain. Think of it as a “master sidechain” control for all dynamics in addition to the Gate and Compressor sidechain filters.

Dynamics, Dynamics, Dynamics

Gate / Expander / Everything in Between

Because the original 9098i had so many modules via the “Virtual Dynamics,” Brainworx pushed their version to the limit with just about every option you could need – all in one window. Starting from the left, we have the Gate / Expander section. In our bx_console N review, we loved the gate section. This one is no different, expanding (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) on the original with more bells and whistles.

The Gate section clocks in with your normal controls of threshold, attack, release, and ratio, but it’s the other buttons and knobs that stand out. First, we have the “Listen” button. This lets you spy on what’s triggering the gate. This is especially useful with drums when trying to find that perfect spot for gating. Additionally, the Gate section has a sidechain section complete with a High Q button for each filter. This adds a resonant bump at the frequency you sidechain to make the gate especially sensitive to that frequency.

Everything Recording AMEK 9099 hack: If I’m not doing any additional processing or want to do creative filtering, I use the Gate’s HPF and LPF with the High Q. It has more range than the console’s high pass and low pass and the resonant bump at the frequency adds a special “oomph”. Maybe Brainworx could give us the option to use the Gate’s filters instead of the ones at the top. It should be an easy addition. Just put a button on the top filter to route to the Gate’s filters and continue through the plugin chain.

Expanded Controls

In addition to the helpful sidechain Listen, the Gate can also switch to an Expander. With the EXP button clicked, the Hold button under the Threshold transforms to a Ratio. Three modes control the attack with the Attack button but Release is variable. You’re even given a Linear option for release. By default, the release works on an exponential level. Linear mode lets go on a straight line.

Lastly, the Gate / Expander section has an INV button. INV is short for “inverse,” and it does just that. Instead of gating or expanding the source material, it shows you what it’s removing. Essentially, the INV button is like having a teenage kid – it does the opposite of what you tell it to. If you’re familiar with gating and expanding, it’s a great creative tool. If you’re new to audio, INV can show you what the processor is doing, therefore a great learning tool.

Compression with a Side of De-Compression

Continuing the engineering equivalent of “Doomsday Prepping,” the Compressor / Limiter section leaves no stone unturned. We all know how a compressor works for the most part, so we understand we have the standard controls all dynamics tools have with threshold, attack, release, a ratio that goes up to 16:1, and makeup gain. However, it’s the additional controls that make this compressor section a veritable swiss army knife.

Off of the original 9098i Virtual Dynamics, you’re given an auto-release feature, hard knee, additional High-Pass sidechain filter for the detector. Probably the most interesting feature of the 9098i’s original Virtual Dynamics is the Ambience mode. Similar to the Gate’s INV control, Ambience actually shows you what the compressor is doing, essentially almost “uncompressing” the track. It’s a great tool for those wanting to learn the basics of compression, not to mention an interesting sounding processor. Depending on how you adjust the attack and release, it works as a quasi-gate / transient designer. Slowing the attack ever so slightly can soften the snap of a transient. Combine that with the Brainworx-added compressor Mix knob, and you’re off to the races.

Take it to the Limit

Just below the Compressor, we have the Limiter. This section has the same controls as the original (threshold, fast attack, and release), but Brainworx saw more unique extras they wanted to add. First, they added the same mix control and makeup gain as the compressor section. Additionally, Brainworx added a “Clip” button that uses swift attack and release times to shave off the transient above the threshold. Once enabled, the Release knob cleverly disappears not to distract you, and you now have a new dynamics tool. Combine the Fast Attack button, and you can really do some damage. Light use can reduce peaks without sacrificing the tail of the transient, and heavy use can push into creative distortion. This effect is similar to the Peak Stop Limiter section on Arturia’s COMP VCA-65 and can be used for very creative purposes when combined with the Mix control.

Rounding out the entire dynamics section are the SC Link and Ext Key buttons at the bottom of the Limiter’s section. The Ext Key button enables external sidechaining from your DAW, perfect for keying a bass track off the kick drum. The SC Link enables the linking of two stereo channels. That way, the same gain reduction occurs between both channels for each instance’s compressor, gate, and limiter. When used with the gate, one channel’s signal can trigger the gate on both, and with the compressor or limiter, gain reduction is maximized on both channels. Interesting stuff.

Big Bands

This EQ section is easily one of the most feature-loaded EQs I’ve seen on an analog console. Hell, it’s one of the most loaded in software versions. Brainworx carefully recreated this EQ, only adding a couple of extra features to set this EQ into legendary territory. This isn’t due to Brainworx slacking – the original just had that many features.

You’re given four parametric bands that can be placed either pre-dynamics, post-dynamics or fed into the sidechain of the dynamics. You also have that awesome Brainworx-added “Auto Listen” button we mentioned earlier that solos each band as you adjust the “Q” or Frequency. The Low and High filters can be either Shelf or Peak (via the Peak button) and even have the original 8098i’s “Sheen” and “Glow” options. These buttons work respectively with the High and Low bands and change the curve to a broader, more subtle one. The Glow creates a more “rounded” low end, while the Sheen gives you a nice sparkly halo around the top.

Don’t think the mid bands didn’t get any love because you’re given a “Notch” button that transforms the band into a surgical EQ, complete with “Q” control for the width. This is perfect for catching those annoying resonances in a snare or acoustic guitar. Brainworx also added an “x3” control that changes the High-Mid band and an “/3” that adjusts the range on the Low-Mid band. What more could you want in an EQ?

Output Section

Just because other output sections of channel strip plugins are boring doesn’t mean this one is. We’ve got more knobs and buttons that do cool stuff!

Of course, we have the TMT section like all other bx_console plugins, complete with a rotary knob to change the modeled channels. Just above that are the THD and V Gain knobs that add more virtual voltage into your 1’s and 0’s. Next, you can give your stereo tracks a more authentic console vibe by selecting “Analog” for the Stereo Mode. This uses a different modeled channel for each side of the stereo field. Conversely, Digital will use the same channel for both sides. Lastly, you can randomly peruse the modeled channels with the Random One button for each instance you’re working with or use Random All to change every instance of bx_console AMEK 9099 in your session. This is great after finishing a mix to give a subtle change of timbre in the mix. It’s like being able to randomly route physical channels to different ones on a mixing board with one click of a button.

At the very bottom are the Mono Maker and Stereo Width controls. These two give you the ability to fold the processing of the selected frequency into the middle of the stereo field and push the stereo signal more to the sides, all while still maintaining imaging. The remaining controls give you input gain, phase, mute, and a fader for the output signal.

In Use

I own several bx_console plugins. I honestly think if you’re going to own one of these plugins in the series, it HAS to be this one. This is a textbook example of balancing utility and workflow with the best analog has to offer. The closest adjective I can come up with for the overall sound of AMEK 0900 is “sweet.” The EQ brings out everything you want in the frequency you’re working with, the gate works masterfully, and the dynamics are snappy and quick. If you need surgical precision, the notches cut the fat without losing musicality. There isn’t a piece of source material that AMEK 9099 won’t thrive on.

Even if you’re newer to mixing, you can benefit immensely from bx_console AMEK 9099. On top of creative uses for the Gate Invert and Ambience mode, you can hear firsthand what each processor is doing to your signal. Additionally, the EQ has every feature needed to get any tasks done while forcing you to use your ears. After all, we’re called mix “engin-ears,” not “engin-eyes.” I’ll see myself out. If you’re looking for a plugin that can do it all, look no further.

No Gripes, Only Requests

I have no valid complaints – only a wish list. Brainworx is known for Mid/Side mastery. I really wish the EQ would work in Mid/Side. I also really wanted the original 8098i’s “Auto Panner!” Most of the auto panning plugins I own are overcomplicated, and a simple one integrated into the plugin would have been a godsend.

Lastly, this is purely personal preference, but even though you can resize the GUI, I’d like a mode where it is completely vertical, like a channel strip. I know this would be small, but when you’ve worked on a real console, it just makes sense to your eyes. Of course, these are just nit-picking and do not take away from how incredible this plugin is.

In Conclusion

If you own ANY channel strip plugin, make is bx_console AMEK 9099. This plugin is what all others should be measured against. The sheer flexibility, console goodness, all wrapped in a gorgeous GUI, makes this plugin the best Brainworx has created. Seriously, take a bow Brainworx. You’ve raised the bar.

bx_console AMEK 9099 Rundown:

5 / 5 Reviewer

BUY:

Pros

- Easily, one of the most versatile channel strip plugins available
- The EQ's Sheen and Glow modes "sweeten" anything you throw at it
- The Gate's INV button and Compressor's Ambience button are a great tool to see exactly what each dynamic tool is doing.

Cons

- None. I just really wanted the original 9098i console's Auto Panner

Summary

If you're looking for a "one-stop-shop" plugin that combines the best of old-school cool and modern design, look no further. The bx_console AMEK 9099 is a must-have for anyone from brand new to seasoned pro.

Rating

Review: Melodyne 5 – How Many Plugins Can it Realistically Replace on Your Signal Chain?

Bryan

Whether you have a client who hit sour notes on an otherwise ideal performance, or that guitarist who insists on using a 1980’s Hondo that refuses to stay in tune, Melodyne has your pitchy posterior. This update is a big one, packing multiple upgrades that transform this plugin beyond simple pitch and time correction. So today, we set out to answer the question, “just how many plugins can Melodyne 5 replace on your signal chain?”

Pitches Be Crazy

Like it or not, pitch correction is a mainstay in music. If you’re in the professional space, you will be hard-pressed to find a client who isn’t going to want (or need) at least a little nudge in the right direction. Regardless of if you use it as a crutch or creative tool, you need it powerful, fast, and straightforward. We’ve all heard the worst pitch correction has to offer. Tonal detection is an elusive beast with so many different variables, so you want to make sure you have the best at your fingertips.

Melodyne has consistently been the industry standard for dealing with more than just a pitchy vocal track. Over the years, Celemony has made sizeable improvements to the Melodyne line. Version 5 is no different, with this one of the more significant releases yet. The update is packed with enhancements to current features (and several new tricks to wow your clients).

Decisions, Decisions

Celemony understands that specific tasks need an onslaught of weapons in the chest. However, they also realize your bedroom producer may not need the whole dog and pony show. So they’ve broken Melodyne into several versions. Before we get too deep into all the new fun stuff, let’s go over the versions. That way, we know what version you’re going to want.

All versions come in all standard flavors of AU, VST, RTAS, AAX, ARA, and Rewire, (with Studio offering Standalone capability). Furthermore, each edition can open a project from any other version. So don’t worry about all of those Melodyne Essential projects not working when you inevitably upgrade.

Essential

This is Celemony’s entry-level pitch correction. With Melodyne Essential, we can edit Melodic and Percussive material in both pitch and time. As far as tools, we have the pitch center, length, note separations, and pitch position options. If you’re looking only to correct pitch, this could be your tool. Just know you are limited on anything more than fixing a whole note’s tone. If your tone is drifting too far or vibrato too hard, you may want to upgrade.

Assistant

If you need more in-depth pitch edits, Assistant has you covered. Controls for vibrato, pitch drift, formants, amplitude, and note timing are available. On top of more expanded tools for monophonic material, Assistant can translate your audio to MIDI. That vocal melody you want a lead behind can be exported to a MIDI file and used in your favorite Virtual Instrument.

Editor

What about polyphonic material like correcting an out-of-tune guitar string or bungled chord on a piano? You’ll need to upgrade from Assistant. Editor brings the ability to tap into DNA (Direct Note Access), which breaks the material into individual notes. You can also alter and extract scale data from audio or even create your own. In addition to in-depth macros for pitch, Editor adds tempo editing.

Studio

Studio brings multi-track pitch editing in one window. Instead of opening several Melodyne instances, you can run the standalone program and edit all harmony stacks together. Studio can also quantize timing from a reference track, locking your harmonies to your lead vocal. Lastly, you can change the timbre by changing the levels between partial notes.

The New Stuff

With the versioning out of the way, we can get into what you most likely Googled to get here. But, first, let’s go over each new enhancement and addition and get you on the road to running Melodyne 5.

I Robot

Right out of the gate, Melodyne 5 has improved detection and added a new algorithm. Percussive Pitched works great for transient sounds that also contain melodic content. That 808 riff can be better detected and changed, or that random xylophone solo in that Math Rock song you’re working on can be salvaged to fit in the song! Content with excess reverberation can be analyzed better with the Robust Pitch Curve and the Complex algorithm playback can better decypher formants.

More Human than the Human

Pitch is no longer detected by an overall average. Instead, Celemony has tweaked detection to the point that it almost borders on sentience. Melodyne 5 now behaves more like the human ear. In most cases, when someone deems a note “out of tune,” they’re actually only hearing a segment of the note and judging the whole based on a part. The rest of the note may be perfectly fine, but pitch detection will sometimes throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Melodyne 5 can pinpoint these areas of interest where the note deviates and center in on that one part. This results in the issue handled while leaving the remainder of the note intact for a more natural sound. Additionally, to work together with this new upgrade, double-clicking a note will center the note more precisely, further offering more concise choices for musical correction without losing the authenticity of the track.

Divide and Conquer

One of my biggest gripes about Melodyne was the sheer amount of separation that I had to do manually. If you pitched up a note, the non-pitched material would move. Consonants and breaths took on a very metallic quality unless you zoomed in and separated the “s” or the “ch” from the melodic content. Those days are over with Melodyne 5’s new overhaul to the detection engine.

Melodyne now differentiates and separates pitched data with breaths, consonants, and other data that doesn’t need pitch correction. Don’t worry; the consonant data still displays with the pitched material. Since the information is separated, any pitch or time corrections will have a more natural sound when notes are stretched. Likewise, if a note is shortened, the consonant will adjust accordingly, leaving you with a more true-to-life adjustment. Your visuals are still intact, and you’re no longer zooming in and slicing data.

Celemony Melodyne 5 — You can clearly see what data in your “blob” is consonant and what is melodic. The sections that look “striped” are consonant. They stay with the whole note but do not process the same.

A Return to “Sibility”

By now, you’re probably adding two and two together and realizing, “If I can separate consonants, I can de-ess.” This can undoubtedly be done, and Melodyne has made it even easier with the Sibilant Tool. Although the “s” data is still visually attached to the pitched data, the Sibilant tool only changes the sibilants in a blob. You can either increase or decrease the data by dragging up or down. What if the whole track is heavy on the 19^th letter in the alphabet? Super simple. Use the Select all, grab the Sibilant tool, and adjust to taste. If you want to see all of those “s’s,” click the settings menu and select “Show Sibilants.” Now all of your “s” data will appear with hatching on it.

Imagine the engineer who had to de-ess that track with hardware.

Chords, Chords, Chords

Not everyone is good at harmonies. I’ve heard some of the best vocalists reduced to rubble when attempting to harmonize with the main vocal. At the end of the session, you’re left with a bunch of harmonies that sound ho-hum. Maybe you were in a rush and missed the fact that the piano player could have played a better variant of a chord. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool with a keen sense of music theory?

Chord track works in tandem with the Pitch Grid and Note Editor to see what variations of chords are compatible with your current pitch configuration. Given that you can analyze and display compatible chords, you can quickly switch between alternate voicings. In addition to offering alternate compatible options for chords and harmonies, Melodyne is also a handy tool for analyzing chords for remixes. The algorithm can even analyze entire mixes and distinguish different chords per track. Using this feature has a hidden purpose too – comparing your notes with another track’s. No more worrying about plagiarizing famous songs with your versions, right Vanilla Ice?

Dynamic Duo

No one wants to automate a compressor or expander on sections of a track. Melodyne can do either on a per-note basis. So let your favorite compressor sit the next few plays out and put Melodyne 5 in. The new Levelling Macro consists of two sliders: one to make quieter parts louder and another to make louder parts softer. By selecting a section or the whole track, you can use both sliders in conjunction to level out your track’s dynamics.

Maybe your piano player played a little too heavy on the bass notes. Simple, bring it into Melodyne and use the Levelling Macro to bring down that Ben Folds angst into submission to better match the right hand. Even if you still wanted to use a compressor for vibe, Melodyne is only going to help. By bridging the gap between your loudest and quietest part, you can more evenly apply that Arturia COMP TUBE STA on your vocal track.

And EQ Too

Version 5 gets a unique EQ for Melodyne Studio users, thanks to Celemony’s Polyphonic Spectrum shaping. The algorithm can separate partials from a note into frequency, which Melodyne then lets you shape like an EQ. Note, this feature only works on Melodic and Polyphonic modes, but essentially, what it does is fantastic. A display pops up at the bottom of the GUI with bands a semitone wide. As you adjust various macros across the bottom, the analyzer will react with both the columns and “bouncy balls” for each band moving accordingly.

Where this EQ diverges from the normal EQ is that individual notes can be processed separately from others. For example, the low notes on a guitar can be adjusted without affecting the rest. Welcome to “Quantum EQ.”

In Use

At this point, we are brought back to the question that started the review: How many plugins can Melodyne replace on your signal chain? Given the new features in the latest version, I’m up to five. This is not counting a pitch correction plugin because, well, we already know Melodyne can do that. So how did I come up with five? Of course, I have to show my work given this type of answer, which I gladly will below.

Now that Melodyne can separate non-melodic content and added a Sibilant Tool, you now have extremely detailed de-essing capabilities. Non-melodic content also includes breaths, so you can easily remove the de-breath plugin as well. The Levelling macro can make loud parts quiet and quiet parts loud, giving us both expander and compressor capabilities. Lastly, Melodyne 5 packs one of the most powerfully creative EQs due to their Polyphonic Spectrum Shaping. This thing goes way beyond just EQ, and I’d almost call it a sixth plugin, but there aren’t many plugins that can tonally transform material to sound like a synth.

Let’s do the math really quick: De-esser, De-breath, Compressor, Expander, and EQ – that’s five. Coincidentally, that is the version number of the Melodyne we’re reviewing.

What I Like

I really have to give it to Celemony on the new version. Melodyne continues to fight for its top spot in pitch correction. That’s not an easy feat seeing as it has been met with some worthy opponents. Version 5 delivers an impressive set of new tools that continue to push the boundaries of pitch, time, and now tonal correction.

The upgraded analysis algorithm definitely shows significant improvement. In previous versions, I would have to frequently re-analyze sections where the algorithm misidentified pitches and rendered metallic artifacts. I don’t think I’ve had to re-transfer audio at all. Editing has become significantly faster now that consonant and non-pitched sounds are separate. Adjusting an overly dynamic vocal has never been easier due to the Levelling Macro. Usually, I would either use clip gain in my DAW or individually edit notes in Melodyne. Now, I set my boundaries and let Melodyne do the rest.

One of my favorite tricks is using Melodyne to remove all consonant and sibilant data from a duplicated track and send it to an effects bus. This will give you the delay and reverb tail of just pitched data and has a very cool sound. Conversely, you can leave only the sibilants and process them separately from the pitched data in your DAW.

What I’d Like to See Added

The only thing I want to see added to Melodyne is a dark mode. Most engineers have holed up a cave of sorts, and although we could all use some Vitamin D, I’m not sure we’re going to get it from the only white interface left in the game. I really hope future versions incorporate a darker interface.

Thoughts

Overall, Melodyne 5 is a home run in my book. I’ve been using this version for quite some time now and really have no complaints (other than dark mode). However, Celemony has not rested on their laurels, which they easily could do at this point. Instead, they’ve made a handy new set of tools that will quickly find their way into your workflow. So get version 5 and give your plugin chain some extra real estate.

For more information, visit, https://www.celemony.com/

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