By kritikon
On 30th August 2005 Version: 1.1 Read all reviews by kritikon
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.
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GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability | You either like enhancers or you don't, it seems. I've always liked certain types so it follows I'd like this one. First I'll mention that I used to use a h/w BBE Sonic Maximiser - specifically because it doesn't add harmonics - I was never a fan of those type enhancers. Especially within digital audio I can see very pertinent reasons for not adding harmonics - aliasing on a master recording is not very desirable to me, although others may like it. So Spectralive is a natural choice if you record at 44.1KHz (which I do). As for the Crysonics blurb, I fully concur that it does indeed add sheen and clarity. This enhancer is one of those that even at low levels adds a certain polish that would take ages to achieve with Eq/compressors etc. However - you still will need to use some of your mastering plugins however. You almost can't use Spectralive without a compressor following it (more of that later).
It adds a clarity and space to most mixes that is similar to the BBE effect of lifting a blanket off your speakers - it's not usually as harsh or bright or syrupy when overdone, though. And what's so good about it is that there are several processes and algorithms that each sound quite different, so you're not limited to only one particular style of enhancement. For a ridiculously small price you instantly lift the quality of your mix with it; the better your mix, the better the results it gives, as usual.
Another thing...it's made with Synthedit. Usually I am less than impressed with most Synthedit synths, so I'm hard to be impressed with anything Synthedit, but this thing shows the huge potential of Synthedit, especially with FX. If you didn't know, you'd assume it was coded commercially. I came to it biassed against Synthedit, but it still impressed me enough to stop using my h/w enhancer - it's really that good.
GUI - a choice of slider or rotary knobs, and a pleasing interface to the eye. It's well laid out, and although the controls are a little cryptic, that really doesn't matter - you don't need to know how the controls specifically act, you just tweak them until it sounds right (like any enhancer).
Sound - top notch. Professional sheen is not an overstatement IMO. The benefit is that it has so many algorithms that you can use it over channels and groups rather than just master. It can be used to give body instead of (or as well as) sheen and space. I wouldn't advocate using it everywhere, but it works well on drum groups, accoustic instruments and vocals. Some settings do more to the mid range than the highs. It really is very flexible.
Features - dry/wet mix, bass booster (probably a straight bass Eq), solo listening to the bass end and a few knobs for the actual process/algorithm and drive (amount of process). There's also an input knob which can be usuful to bring levels down. They're all straight forward to use even if you're not sure what they do.
Documentation - a reasonable manual. More about the general process it uses (great emphasis on phase manipulation) than specifics on what everything does.
Presets - quite a good range of presets that could be enough on their own. But it invites you to set your own depending on your own music, and that tends to work better anyway, as with any enhancer.
Support/Stability - I've not personally needed it myself, but they updated to a slider GUI pretty quick. It has been rock solid on my own DAW. It uses a fair bit of CPU but as it's mainly intended as a master FX, that really shouldn't be an issue at all. It uses just under 20% on my AMD 2.5GHz with 1G RAM. I'm happy with that considering the huge clarity and sheen it imparts.
Issues - it's not a bug or anything...in fact it states it in the manual. You MUST use it pre-compressor in your master FX chain. It will give considerable boosts to the material and occasional high peaks that WILL clip if you don't compress afterwards. As with any master, I'd advise a limiter after that as well. You need to take that into consideration with your compression - because the ouptut tends to be high, you may find it better to use a comp that has an input control to bring it down before your audio feeds the comp. If you're fanatical about your compressor settings, it means that you don't have much leeway with your threshold, which can impact on simple peak levelling. Not a problem if you use 2 comps (the first one being a low threshold/low ratio general glueing compressor), but if you only use one comp for simply controlling only the peaks and not the body of the master, then you need to bring the Spectralive output down. As I say - IT IS NOT A BUG - RTFM and they tell you it will peak highly. Having said that, you can use Spectralive anywhere in the FX chain, but it's always advisable to use a compressor after it.
VFM - it's dirt cheap and it's the furthest you can go to get commercial type sheen and clarity without using a pro. It's far better than hobbyist quality though. I seriously don't use my BBE any more. |
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