I've been using the SC-226 channelstrip since almost a year now in many situations and on many sources.

The user interface has a comfortable size, is clear and very intuitive and fun to work with. It's not a swiss army channel strip but can be the right tool for many channels of your mix.

The four band EQ does the job very well, especially the low band and the two mid bands. I personally never became friends with the high shelf for the reason that it has a thin and thus digital sound (due to it's slope). I only use it for very small boosts or set to "bell" instead of a shelving band. The low and high bands can be switched from bell to shelf. The two mid bands have either a wide or narrower Q.

Compared to the many other plugin compressors I have, I think the one in SC-226 does a very good job! It grabs the audio very well and can have a nice and punchy character (esp. when set to RMS mode, which it is by default). Definitely a musical sounding compressor that is able to glue your drum buss or other instruments very nicely.

The highpass section (which is selectable from 20Hz to 80Hz) is the only thing I can't give good credits for. The reason is that it's not set up correctly. Switching from off to 20Hz does not feel right because it starts cutting above the labeled 20Hz. To be sure I've analyzed it and got the confirmation that it starts near 80Hz. I have reported it to Nomad Factory, which they will hopefully fix.

The warmth section, which emulates tube saturation is a welcomed addition to this channelstrip. Using it at low settings sounds very "warm" and gets you a bit closer to that "warmth". At high settings it can get grainy/fuzzier (not in a bad way!) which is often exactly what the doctor has ordered.

Last but not least: You have a phase switch and a limiter built in.

The plugin hasn't crashed once in all this time. Besides the HP filter and the "digital" sounding high shelf, I'm liking the SC-226 a lot and use it in every mixdown because it's very easy to tweak and shape the audio. Also worth mentioning is that it is VERY (!) easy on my CPU.

A very useful plugin!

If anyone here feels like their vocal (or other) recordings are lacking that certain something, yet can't afford the serious money needed to buy GOOD expensive outboard gear like a tube preamp with analog compression and eq, you could do a LOT worse than the Nomad Factory Studio Channel SC-226.

I did the 15 day trial, but within the first few minutes of use, I was sold, and had determined that I wanted to buy this plugin.

The SC-226 is adding a LOT of warmth and punch, not only to my vocals, but to my other tracks as well.

Direct from Nomad Factory, it's $149, but I found it from another online vendor for only $109.


So, with the sound I'm getting, and at that price, it was even MORE of a no-brainer for me.


Why do I love this plugin? Well, the difference is dramatic, but in a very good MUSICAL way. To my ears, with the right settings, The SC-226 colors the sound in a way brings out the best in the track.

I have often had that less-than-overwhelming experiences with other "analog" strips or tube emulation plugins. Especially the cheap/freeware stuff. I often listen to these and say, "Is that really adding anything? I can't tell."

Really, all that I want is that fat, warm sound you get from expensive analog gear.

Yeah, I know, crazy to want a killer $10K+ sound out of a cheap plugin. Who am I kidding, right?


But with the SC-226, I am TOTALLY getting "that" sound out of it, almost right out of the box. The controls are very (yet again) musical and easy to work with. If you understand analog eq and compression at all, you will feel right at home with this plugin.

I am in the middle of recording a CD of original jazz vocal material (think Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, and Tony Bennett), and this plugin INSTANTLY warmed up my vocal tracks with that vintage tube sound, and I didn't have to jump through a lot of hoops with the controls to get it. It was just "there".

In fact, it served as a much better sounding replacement for most of my vocal insert effects, simplifying things immensely. Now, it's just the SC-226 and a de-esser in my insert chain, with a little aux verb applied.

I have also applied this plugin to my piano and drum tracks, and again, the difference is very noticeable. And like the vocal tracks, I was able to pull out more complicated insert effects chains and replace them with the SC-226, yet get a MUCH better sound out of this single plugin.

I know a pretty UI doesn't necessarily mean that it sounds good, but in this case, the sound (vintage analog gear) seems to match the looks, making this one of the most intuitive and "musical" plugins I've ever used.

So, if you're reasonably experienced at recording and using DAW plugins, I recommend giving the SC-226 a chance with the free 15 day trial. For my needs, it certainly has that "wow" factor that I've been looking for.


A funny side note, when I did the A/B comparison for my wife, of the vocal tracks with and without the plugin, she said, "Ooooh! You need to buy that!"

You KNOW it's making a difference when your spouse wants you to spend money. :D