64.7 F
Houston
Friday, November 15, 2024
Facebook Instagram Mail Soundcloud Twitter
AffiliateMusic Software Bundles from Pluginboutique.com
Home Blog Page 64

Waldorf Streichfett

By
Bryan
-
We all know fashion and music and cyclical and sounds from the past usually come back into modern music. This is apparent in the sound of 80’s synths coming back into pop music. Waldorf has created the ultimate tool to bring back the sound of vintage string machines in a way that is new and fresh with Streichfett. This small piece of hardware plugs in via USB or Midi and features extremely easy controls to dial in the perfect sound. Plus it’s portable. I REALLY hope to see a plugin version of this show up soon too.
REMAGEN, GERMANY: having opened many eyes and ears when being premiered at Musikmesse 2014 in Frankfurt, Germany, high-quality synthesizer developer Waldorf is proud to announce availability of the Streichfett String Synthesizer — successfully bringing back to life the extinct string synthesizer sounds of yesteryear with a modern-day musical twist — as of July 25…
Back in the Seventies and early-Eighties, keyboard players wishing to create (not necessarily authentic-sounding) string sections often turned to so-called string machines making use of top octave divider technology to produce polyphonic pitching for each key played. Popular in their heyday, these distinctive-sounding string synths can be heard all over classic recordings by both electronic music innovators, prog rockers, and pop acts of the time — think French synth showman Jean-Michel Jarre’s multi- million-copy-selling Oxygene, or even adult movies of a similar vintage — think German synthmeister Klaus Schulze’s soundtrack to Bodylove, but died a death when more authentic-sounding sampling technology took hold. However, now Waldorf has successfully brought back to life those extinct string synthesizer sounds of yesteryear with a modern-day musical twist thanks to the Streichfett String Synthesizer, a colourful desktop module that surely stands out far from the musical crowd!
Who better qualified, then, to touch upon the whys and wherefores of string machine revival (with a cultural culinary knowing nod and a wink) than Waldorf Music CTO Stefan Stenzel: “We had a string machine in our office, and, although it was malfunctioning, we enjoyed playing it. Everything sounded like it could serve as a soundtrack to an Eighties ‘sensual’ movie! We thought it would be fun to create something similar, so we listened to many different string machines to figure out the sweet spots of each individual machine. Quickly the name ‘Streichfett’ stuck, and we decided to revive the extinct species of string synthesizers.”
As such, Streichfett brings the distinctive string synth sounds of those now-much-missed machines to today’s discerning musicians by cleverly combining the best of yesteryear’s classics with today’s technological advances — all neatly squeezed into an attractive compact and cost-effective package with everything to play for. Indeed, its dual sound engine features a 128-voice polyphonic STRINGS section (with Choir, Organ, Brass, Cello, Viola, and Violin presets) and an eight-voice polyphonic SOLO section (with shimmering-sounding, slightly percussive Bass, E-Piano, Clavi, Synth, and Pluto presets that blend well with the STRINGS section) — essential for creating those velvety smooth sounds with high-fat content! Essential, even, for creating ‘vintage’ adult movie soundtracks — Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics optional! The Ensemble effect handles lubrication of the STRINGS section while the EFFECT section adds adjustable Phaser or Reverb. Alternatively, the EFFECT section can be used to Animate the STRINGS register, resulting in spectacular sound morphing effects.
While those presets bear little resemblance to their real-world instrument namesakes, that’s not the point here. Just like yesteryear’s classic string synthesizers, Streichfett delivers distinctively rich and creamy pads unobtainable on any modern-day instrument and succeeds in doing so with a simple and easy to comprehend user interface that belies the somewhat complex sound engine that lies beneath. But despite being blessed with relatively few controls, quite an array of sounds can quickly be dialled in, so it’s just as well that Streichfett can store 12 user-programmed patches in its MEMORY. More reasons to be cheerful and take it on stage, surely?
Streichfett’s robust, roadworthy casing matches its cheerfully-coloured Rocket Synthesizer and 2-Pole Analog Filter siblings, and, of course, comes complete with MIDI In and MIDI Out plus USB connectivity for equally easy integration into any modern-day DAW- based recording setup. Left/Stereo and Right/Mono Audio Out and a headphone output ensure that the outside world can clearly hear its distinctive sounds in all their ear-opening glory.
Go check one out at an authorised Waldorf dealer today. To see and hear Streichfett is to surely want one… velvety smooth with high- fat content for sure! So why not spread some Streichfett all over your tracks today. They deserve to sound rich and creamy, don’t they?
Streichfett is available to purchase from Waldorf dealers worldwide with an SRP of €279.00 EUR (including tax). Check out the dedicated Streichfett webpage for more detailed info here: http://www.waldorf-music.info/streichfett-overview
 
Watch Waldorf CTO Stefan Stenzel’s ‘illuminating’ Streichfett video in English (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfcQYfzqhrg) and German (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT-h0PAVI7I) …you’ll soon be the king of klingt!

 

Review: Vermilion Audio ION 8

By
Bryan
-

It seems nowadays if you don’t manufacture at least one piece of 500 series gear, you’re almost considered out of touch with the “in crowd” of pro audio. More and more companies are re-releasing their mainstay products to accommodate these space saving racks. Some are even coming back from the grave just to release some 500 series versions. This not only gives you some of the most beloved pieces of gear; but it also places it in a format that can expand the capabilities of the various preamps, dynamics, EQ, and others to areas the initial format couldn’t quite reach.  With some 500 series racks offering extra features like summing and channel linking, the days of just having a power supply and outputs in a rack aren’t enough. These extra features come at a cost to the end user and the initial hit can leave you with empty pockets and a shiny new empty 500 series rack. Vermilion Audio have devised a plan to combat this, making the transition to 500 series a little more fun and affordable… while also giving you some much needed features.
 
Even though Vermilion Audio is fairly new to the scene, they bring a grassroots approach to building gear. This California native company understands that entering the world of 500 series can be an expensive initial transition, but on top of that, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice features or quality just to end up with a basic rack. Because of that, Vermilion Audio have tackled the 500 series rack with a modular approach, allowing you to buy the rack at a lower cost, and expand as you need.  We’ll get back to this in a bit but first, lets take a look at the features.
 
Enter the ION 8.
 
This 8 space modular 500 series rack is proudly built in the USA and features a very sturdy chassis adorned with an eye catching white front plate with the company’s logo emblazoned in red.  This panel also holds your LEDs for power status as well as a front mounted on/off switch, something you usually don’t find on the front of 500 series chassis. Behind this panel is where the ultra-low noise 110/240VAC power supply lives, quietly giving you 2400mA of power overall and 300mA per slot. The unit features both DB25 and XLR inputs and outputs, making it possibly to free up some cable clutter by running one DB25 cable per input and output. On top of your standard features, the ION 8 can also stereo link consecutive pairs of slots for those modules that accommodate linking 2 units.  Another extra feature this unit boasts is a channel feed switch on each slot, which will automatically send the output of a module to the next; making it possible to create channel strips of different 500 series modules. This saves you both time and money by eliminating the need for small XLR jumpers. Order of the channel strip is determined by the consecutive order of the modules.
 
So by now, you’re probably thinking, “This is great and all but this unit is going to send me to the poor house”. You would think that would be the case but it is actually quite the contrary. What makes this rack standout from the others is modular approach, which spreads out the initial cost of expanding your 500 series collection. Instead of having to buy a rack with all 8 slots at once, you can buy the chassis and Vermilion Audio’s M2 2 slot expansion bus. As you grow over time, you can buy more M2 modules and expand the chassis to a full, 8 outputs. Initially, I understand this can be a bit confusing so let me show you what I mean.
 
On top of manufacturing the 500 series chassis, Vermilion Audio have developed a patent pending adapter called the M2 which plugs into the ion8 and gives you 2 slots of 500 series. Here is what it looks like.

Each expansion card offers 2 slots worth of input, output, and stereo linking capabilities.  Installation could not be any more simple. You simply plug the M2 into the slot with the Neutrik XLRs facing out

Then anchor the adapter into the chassis by screwing the M2 into the back of the chassis like so

Done and done.
From the inside of the unit, you can see your channel link and stereo link switches.

Planning will be necessary for channel or stereo linking due to the switches on the inside of the unit.  Obviously the stereo link feature only works on each M2 adapter, but the channel link can essentially link all 8 channels together in the case you would ever need to do that. What I like to do is (if you have pairs of 500 series modules) feed 1 to 2 to 3 then feed 4 to 5 to 6 each with the same Preamp / Compressor / EQ combo to make a stereo bus for either tracking or as a master mix bus.
 
Keeping all of that in mind, lets get to the heart of the matter… how much this rack costs. I’ll start with a basic example. Say your budget gives you enough to buy 2 500 series modules. Initially the rack itself is $595.00 and at the very least you have to buy one M2 adapter for $65.00, bringing your total for a rack with 2 slots of 500 series to $660.00. As you buy more modules, you will have to buy more M2 adapters to total out 8 total slots (an ion8 has 8 slots and each M2 covers 2 slots. So a total of 4 M2 adapters will be needed). Each M2 is 65$ so in the end, the total price of the rack with all 8 slots available is $855.00. This may seem like a fairly expensive rack, but keep in mind you’re getting a USA built product with quality components and features like stereo linking and channel linking built in. On top of that, you save a few bucks by being able to expand as you go, alleviating the initial hit of buying a chassis. Not to mention it’s one of the best looking chassis I’ve seen… Yes I know looks always do not matter but it does impress the clients.  While other chassis that offer the same channel and stereo linking seem less expensive, they are actually shortchanging you by offering less power per slot. There is a certain unnamed 10 slot rack that offers channel feed and stereo linking but only supplies 1600mA of power. Say you wanted to run a few tube preamps in this rack. Because it doles out power based on its needs, you will end up tapping out your rack fairly quickly and burning out your power supply. Not with this one. Since you’re getting 2400mA total, you can handle just about any situation that is thrown your way, without straining your power supply. On top of that, the power supply is built into the unit and doesn’t have to be stowed away in the bottom of you desk. We all know space is valuable in most home and professional studios… Advantage ION 8.
 
One of my only gripes about this unit is that the stereo and channel link are on the inside of the unit, but this can be remedied quickly by just proper planning and pulling out modules. Not really a dealbreaker but me just being nit picky. Other than that, I have no complaints. I actually liked the test model so much, that I bought it. It now proudly sits in our desk at HQ. Say hello to Everything Recording’s official 500 series rack of choice!

 
 
If you’re looking for everything you want in a 500 series rack, with the ability to grow with you, get the ION 8. If you have deep pockets and aren’t concerned with price… still get the ION 8.
 
For more information and to purchase, visit http://www.vermilionaudio.com

Universal Audio UAD Tonelux Tilt and Valley People Dynamite

By
Bryan
-

We’ve featured a review of Softube’s version of the Valley People Dynamite (Here) and loved it. Now UAD users can get the same dynamic mangling creative plugin in Universal Audio’s DSP driven plugin suite. If that’s not enough for you, they are also offering the broad stroke EQ called the Tonelux Tilt. The Tilt features emulations of the circuitry of the hardware version of the same name.

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA • July 8, 2014 — Universal Audio has released two plug-ins for the UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform and Apollo audio interfaces. Developed by Softube and available for purchase via UA’s Online Store, the Tonelux Tilt EQ and Valley People Dyna-mite plug-ins are part of new UAD Software v7.8.

Designed to speed up EQ workflow and enhance creativity, the Tonelux Tilt EQ Plug-In allows for quick, simple, and effective broad-stroke EQ moves. With the single Tilt control, engineers and producers can quickly mix as they go. Turn it to the right to cut lows and boost highs, turn it to the left to cut highs and boost lows. The Tonelux Tilt EQ Plug-In also models the transformer found in the Tonelux hardware, adding a subtle distortion for bass frequencies, fattening up the low end of a track.

The included Tilt Live EQ plug-in skips the transformer modeling, freeing up even more instances for live mixing. It also replaces the Gain control with a Boost Ceiling control, which keeps the output gain of the plug-in from being boosted no matter how much EQ boost is applied.

Key Features:

  • A one knob equalizer that quickly gets your mix in shape
  • Speeds up your workflow and makes mixing more intuitive
  • Models the entire Tonelux Tilt circuit designed by Paul Wolff
  • Smooth high and low pass filters
  • Two plug-ins included —Tilt EQ with transformer modeling, Tilt Live optimized for live mixing

The Valley People Dyna-mite Plug-In is an exacting emulation of the classic limiter/expander/gate designed by the legendary Paul Buff, who founded the historic PAL studio in southern California.

The Dyna-mite has enjoyed a fanatical cult following for over three decades and is considered a “secret weapon” by top engineers and producers. Although it can be used as a traditional limiter or expander, the Dyna-mite is also a creative tool capable of extreme, yet musical effects on a variety of sound sources.

The Valley People Dyna-mite plug-in offers the exact features and sonics of the famed hardware unit and can transform instruments with dynamic gating textures. It can be used for nearly anything from gently limiting and de-essing vocals, to demolishing the transients of any sound.

Key Features:

  • An exacting emulation of the original legendary 80s dynamics processor

  • Use it to limit, expand, gate or de-ess, with a wide range of uses

  • Limiter goes from abusively squashing to transient-enhancing spikiness

  • Expander/gate goes from strict and tight to subtly expanding by softening the soft sounds and bringing the louder sounds forward

Price (Tonelux Tilt) $99.00
Price (Dynamite)     $199.00

Learn more about the Valley People Dyna-mite plug-in here:
uaudio.com/store/special-processing/valley-people-dyna-mite.html

Learn more about the Tonelux Tilt EQ plug-in here:
uaudio.com/store/equalizers/tonelux-tilt-eq.html

Download UAD Software v7.8 software here:
uaudio.com/support/uad/78.html

Learn more about award-winning Apollo Thunderbolt audio interfaces here:
uaudio.com/apollo

Learn more about award-winning UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform here:
uaudio.com/uad-plug-ins.html

Universal Audio UAD Thermionic Culture Vulture

By
Bryan
-

Universal Audio is cranking out some really high end gear and this one actually surprised me. I never would’ve thought of an emulation of this incredible piece of tube hardware. The Culture Vulture is an analog lover’s dream and outside of most of our price range, but now you can color as many tracks as you desire with the UAD version.

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA • July 8, 2014 — Universal Audio is pleased to announce the Thermionic Culture Vulture Plug-In for the UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform and Apollo audio interfaces.

For more than 15 years, the British-made Thermionic Culture Vulture has set the standard for studio-grade, high-gain valve distortion, yielding a palette of vivid distortion colors on countless genre-spanning recordings. Thanks to an intense multi-year engineering effort from Universal Audio, producers and engineers can now track and mix with the only authentic circuit emulation of this one-of-a-kind valve distortion tool.

The Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in models the original hardware’s three distinct all-valve circuit topologies and features Universal Audio’s first ever pentode tube circuit model. The Culture Vulture plug-in also offers two features not found on the original hardware — a Dry/Wet Parallel Mix control and a Link function for a perfectly matched stereo image to maximize workflow and preserve balances.

In addition, the all-new Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in features presets from famous Culture Vulture users, including Tony Maserati (Alicia Keys, Beyoncé), Rik Simpson (Coldplay, Portishead), Eric “ET” Thorngren (Talking Heads, Cyndi Lauper), Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), Chris Coady (Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio), and more.

“The Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in was one of our most challenging projects to date,” says Universal Audio CEO Bill Putnam Jr. “Getting the nuances of the various distortions right took more effort and invention that we had ever expected.”

“We decided some time ago that UA would be the best company to make a successful plug-in emulation of our Culture Vulture, and we are very happy to say that the plug-in has exceeded our expectations,” says Nick Terry, Director at Thermionic Culture. “It seems that the Culture Vulture has now taken on a digital life of its own.”

Available for purchase from UA’s Online Store for $299, the new Thermionic Culture Vulture Plug-in is part of the new UAD Software v7.8, along with the Softube-developed Valley People Dyna-mite ™ and Tonelux Tilt EQ plug-ins.

Thermionic Culture Vulture Plug-In Key Features:

  • The world’s only authentic emulation of the legendary high gain, dual-stage valve distortion unit

  • Can subtly alter or completely transform a single track or an entire mix with valve coloration

  • Dial in rich harmonic content with three diverse valve topologies — including UA’s first ever pentode tube emulation

  • Includes parallel Dry/Wet processing and Link controls not found on the original hardware

  • Requires a UAD DSP Accelerator Card or Apollo Audio Interface available fromauthorized dealers worldwide

Price: $299

Download new UAD Software v7.8 here:
uaudio.com/support/uad/78.html

Learn more about the Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in here:
uaudio.com/store/special-processing/thermionic-culture-vulture.html

Learn more about award-winning Apollo Thunderbolt audio interfaces here:
uaudio.com/apollo

Learn more about award-winning UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform here:
uaudio.com/uad-plug-ins.html

Tone2 Electra2

By
Bryan
-

Tone2 just keeps cranking out the hits to allow YOU to crank out the hits. This synth was formerly Electra X but has now been upgraded to version 2 with all sorts of new enhancements and a sleek new look. It should be hitting shelves next week some time.

Tone2 Audiosoftware is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of Electra2, the successor of ElectraX.
Coming early July, a major upgrade to our successful ElectraX synthesizer workstation will be released. Equipped with a high quality sound engine, multilayer support and a large range of music production features, yet designed in a way that puts you in control.
Electra2 will have a large number of new features, like a comfortable patch browser to give you an instant overview of all available categories and sounds. 16 new effects, a sample editor, physical modeling synthesis, 5 new filter types, enhanced sound quality, improved user interface and a huge number of further enhancements.
Summary

  • Over 700 additional patches.
  • All factory sounds were completely reworked.
  • Comfortable patch browser.
  • Sample editor.
  • Physical modeling synthesis.
  • 16 new effects.
  • 5 new filter types.
  • 236 additional waveforms.
  • Enhanced sound quality.
  • New graphics.
  • Better user interface.
  • Enhanced performance.
  • Electra2 is fully downward compatible with the previous version.
  • A large number of further features and enhancements.

For more information, visit www.tone2.com

Kush Audio AAX Friday

By
Bryan
-

Not only is today the 4th of July and that is great and all but just as important, Kush audio has released some betas for Clariphonic DSP and Pusher! Finally we can celebrate our independence from a bunch of mediocre AAX plugins with the arrival of these instant hits. As a bonus, for a limited time, they are offering the plugins for the no brainer price of just $99 each.

This Friday, July 4, Kush will be releasing very stable, well-tested AAX public beta’s for both the Clariphonic DSP and Pusher!
In truth, if we were Microsoft or Apple we’d release these as Final candidates, we’ve fixed all the bugs we were able to find. But our Pro Tools beta team is small and I’m paranoid, so we’re taking the cautious route.
These beta’s will run on the regular iLok license, so they’ll never expire and you’ll be able to use them until the final versions drop.
We take our time, but we do always get there in the end. Thanks for your incredible support!
 

For more information and to download the public betas, visit http://www.thehouseofkush.com/

California Dream Giveaway

By
Bryan
-

We all love free, but it will cost you… well a few clicks of a mouse and some social media “followery” is all they ask of you.  Remember these guys and their awesome rack? They’re giving one away with two Meris preamps! Go on over and enter… or don’t so I can have better odds of winning. Wait… you all better be glad I uphold my integrity to report all of the great things in audio or I’d just let this one slide by the PR desk….

Summer is here! We’re excited to announce our 2nd contest and it’s big! Meris + Vermilion Audio are giving away a California Dream Rig. One lucky winner will receive a grand prize which includes a stereo pair of (2) Meris 440 Mic Preamps as well as an 8 slot Vermilion Audio Ion 8 500 series rack. The entire rig is designed and manufactured in Los Angeles and Long Beach California.  Get big studio sound and 6 open slots to fill later. Don’t wait – enter now!  Winner will be announced July 28, 2014. Enter below and best of luck. Entering is Easy. 2 steps are required for valid entry! 1. Submit Email (Email must be valid or we can’t contact you!)2. Like Meris on Facebook Once minimum entry is submitted, you have a chance to earn EXTRA entries. Be Social and Win!

To enter the giveaway visit http://www.meris.us/win-a-california-dream-rig/

FREE Eventide UltraChannel Plugin

By
Bryan
-

In a bold move of promotion to show that Eventide plugins have their place in the front runners of plugin manufacturers, UltraChannel is sporting a better looking interface and is available for free until midnight July 8, 2014. Just visit HERE and enter access code 0B4968F2. You will need the Pace iLok License Manager available HERE (Mac) or HERE (Windows) but you won’t have to have an iLok, although they’re nice to have if you move from computer to computer.

EVENTIDE ULTRACHANNEL NATIVE CHANNEL STRIP – FREE DOWNLOAD Dongleless 64-bit channel strip with micro pitch and stereo delay.
Today, Eventide announced the immediate availability of its new channel strip plug-in which delivers unprecedented flexibility and sonic control. The UltraChannel™ 64-bit native plug-in for AU, VST, and AAX64 for Mac and PC features micro pitch functionality from our flagship H8000, stereo delays with variable feedback paths, plus two stages of compression, gating, and five bands of parametric EQ.
UltraChannel is available as a free download, use coupon code 0F736710 here through midnight July 8, 2014. After this promo ends, UItraChannel native will cost $249.
UltraChannel features a pair of dynamics processors: the O-Pressor™, capable of extreme compression (this is the compressor section of the Omnipressor®) and a conventional compressor with de-essing and side-chain capability. UltraChannel™ also offers Soft-Saturation, and Transformer emulation which recreates transformer core saturation. This feature adds harmonics to low frequency material while remaining relatively transparent to the rest of signal. While relatively subtle, in aggregate, Transformer can bring life to otherwise dull mixes and help glue disparate sound sources together. FlexiPath™ routing allows drag and drop for reordering the signal path of the top level components (O-Pressor, compressor/de-esser, EQ, Gate).
UltraChannel includes a variety of factory presets tailored to signal sources such as guitar, bass, kick drum, snare, piano, strings, synths and vocals. A number of the presets were created by Eventide artists.
“Eventide invites all native plug-in users to own this flexible sound shaping tool with our compliments,” remarked Ray Maxwell vice president sales and marketing. “We can think of no better way of inviting new users to join the Eventide family than to share this great plug-in with everyone. We are confident that once you’ve had a taste of Eventide, you’ll be back for more.”

After July 8, 2014, the plugin will be $249.00
For more information, visit https://www.eventide.com/

Review: XILS Lab RAMSES

By
Bryan
-

In most music today, there is more rhythmically going on than meets the eye. Buried deep beneath the pulsing kick drums and gun shot drum rolls, synths are serving a bigger role than just the chorded foundations of our music. If you peel back the layers of a track and really listen, you can hear pads with slight movement in most pop music tracks. This is borrowed heavily from EDM and other styles that rely on more than just the drums for motion in a song.
 
This has actually been a very sparse segment of the plugin community with either powerful versions that are too complex to place on a track and set and forget (iZotope Stutter) or very limited in its use (Avid Filter gate). That pretty much sums up the state of affairs for motion based gate plugins that are big players on the market. Of course, there are virtual instruments that offer gating and arpeggiators but sometimes you need a plugin to do the work after the fact. French company XILS Lab has you covered.
 
This small operation founded by Xavier Oudin has mainly dealt in the area of software synths as well as very accurate recreations of classic analog synths, but has seen a need for a standalone plugin to tackle rhythm-based effects. XILS Lab has created RAMSES just for this. The plugin comes in all shapes and sizes including AAX-64, RTAS, AU, and VST and offers more than just a basic gate. Users can program panning, filter, volume level, as well as just about any of the other effects this one-of-a-kind plugin offers. Motion doesn’t just include changing the volume at patterned intervals and Xavier understands this. Alongside your obvious choices of level, pan, and filter lies stereo width effects, special delays, saturation, and all out audio degrading mayhem with the “crush” control. Each of these can be added at rhythm-based intervals or globally across the track. This plugin contains a lot of diversity, but also leaves you wanting in some areas (more on that later).
 
Installation and authorization is as simple as they come with a one time prompt asking you for the serial number once, then never asking again, even on updates. Just how it should be. Upon opening the plugin you will see an interesting interface with a great deal of controls and windows. Understandably, when you’re working with this many different effects and tools for shaping, you are going to have a crowded interface, but for the most part, the controls are fairly divided up nicely. It just takes some patience and time to learn the tricks. Unfortunately, the manual needs some sprucing up and contains some very confusing language (especially in deciding what color the level 1 and 2 bars are in the mask display. This comes in part from a slight language barrier, but it still should’ve been run by a translation service or a fellow developer with a firmer grasp on English. There were also some missing parts explaining how to properly use the “Advanced” section of the plugin, leaving you to fiddle with knobs and presets until you get a little understanding.
 
In operation, I found RAMSES to have quite a bit of features. The filter section worked fairly well and on its own, can add a nice analog warmth to an over digital synth using the drive control. I did have a problem with making the drive level knob perform and immediately wished that the controls were different on quite a bit of the functions. In order to turn this one knob up, one has to drag down instead of up like the rest of the buttons. I also found that some features were not in plain site or even really labeled. There are several small LED looking controls next to the delay options that control timing and delay offsets that need better labeling. The actual heart of the plugin lies in the multimode panel, which is the big open window on the right side of the interface. This is where your filters, volume, pan, and just about any control can be automated to a rhythmic pattern. Users can select between snapping the increments to the tempo or free flowing to add a more human element. By clicking the “overview” button at the top, one can see all of the filters in one window, which is perfect for a big picture of what controls you have working at any given time. I feel that the grid window needed a little work but is manageable once you become accustomed to how it works. Users can pretty much control any given aspect of RAMSES using the advanced panel, but if that’s not enough, you can use RAMSES’ own RITA control for live performance of each of the controls. Midi Learn is also available.
 
Overall I found that the plugin does exactly what it is supposed to do, provide movement to tracks. I even found that some of the effects work great, even when movement is not required. The filter section and drive section can add a little saturation to all sorts of tracks, and even the crush could instantly add more high frequency content to tracks. I just wish the crush control had a little more headroom between slight crushing and all out signal loss. The delay was actually very surprising to me and I use it constantly of leads and pads. It’s not too outspoken and adds quite the character to all sorts of content. One disappointment I had was the “stereo spread” control. You pretty much have to keep it above 75% for the track to sound presentable and not out of phase, and even when you pan the signal to either side of the stereo field, it is still present in the other side. I would like to see this area improved to work more like Waves Doubler plugin.
 
One thing I will say about this plugin is that it fills a void in audio; and even though it doesn’t do everything I wanted out of a rhythm based plugin, it gets the job done. Some of the areas that left me wanting is the layout of the multimode panel where the levels are controlled. Something needs to be scaled down to allow for quicker control. I also wanted to see the ability to make pattern edits faster than just 1/16ths. Sometimes you need to be able to edit that fast choppy sweeping across the spectrum but with RAMSES, you’re limited to 16ths. I’m not actually sure how this panel could be put together to make life easier but I feel more visual representation and control of the volume levels would be a start. I will say that the founder Xavier is very open to suggestions and fixed quite a few bugs I encountered while testing RAMSES out. All-in-all, I say bravo to XILS Lab team for filling a void that I’d been having for a very long time and I look forward to future improvements to RAMSES.
 
For more info and to hear Xils labs actually show this plugin working, visit http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/R.A.M.S.E.S..html

Alta Moda Audio AM-30 Preamp

By
Bryan
-

It seems right now there is a huge influx of preamp designs based on other vintage equipment or popular circuits, but Alta Moda Audio have gone against the grain and incorporated their own design in the AM-30 Preamp. This very straight-forward looking preamp says you can go from clean signal to saturated analog goodness. Judging by the input and output knobs, this seems to be easily obtained. I’m hoping we can get an AM-30 to review so keep your eyes open for that.

The first preamp offering from Alta Moda Audio, the AM-30 is in a class of its own. Not contrived or cloned from other designs, the AM-30 is truly unique in its approach to microphone pre-amplification.
The Class-A transformerless electronics of the AM-30 are fully discrete and wide bandwidth. Clean at lower gain settings, the AM-30 can be smoothly over-driven by increasing input level or gain. Where other preamps would harshly hard-clip when pushed, the AM-30 smoothly begins to saturate, adding rich, low-order harmonics to the signal.
With its exceptional performance on a wide range of sources such as guitars, drums, bass and vocals, the AM-30 delivers a sound that is big, punchy, bold and clear.
Its high input impedance and high headroom make the AM-30 great on line level signals too; perfect for re-amping guitars or warming up previously recorded tracks and loops.
And like all Alta Moda Audio products, the AM-30 preamp is entirely hand-built in the USA, and uses some of the finest components available.

GAIN control

An 11-position rotary switch sets overall gain of the first amplifier stage. Unlike other transformerless designs, this first stage has soft, even-order harmonic overload characteristics, similar to a vacuum tube triode.

OUTPUT control

Controls the output level of the AM-30. It is a true continuous fader; it ranges from “0” up to an additional 6 dB of overall boost.

Signal presence light

To make recording session setup easier, the AM-30 is equipped with a simple “signal present” indicator light. Since it is difficult to clip the AM-30’s front end (and better to judge sound quality by ear), no clip indicator is needed.

DIRECT INPUT

A standard 1/4″ phone jack allows instruments such as bass and keyboards to be amplified directly. This FET-based circuit drives the input of the preamp just as a microphone would.

500-Series Rack Compatability

The AM-30 is compatible with any 500 series rack system which has 48V phantom power available. To achieve its maximum headroom, the AM-30 effectively uses all three available power supply rails for its power source.

Price: $499

For more information, visit http://altamodaaudio.com/am30.html

1...636465...117Page 64 of 117

Most Recent Reviews