[Intro pricing extended] Available now: T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb

[glokraw]

to me, because while the code might be "all-new", I very much doubt that it is doing anything new.

There are audio-product companies releasing products
that do new things, and push the envelope on routine things.
Some of them strive for creating an integrated code base so discoveries can be included in related products.
In 2019, I've purchased from IK, U-he, BlueCat and Native Instruments, and have no reason to believe that IK intends
to lag behind the competition.
Their UNO hardware synth is a great new product,
combining form, function, upgradabilty, and portability,
and even good ole fun, at an excellent price. I expect
this Sunset Studio software will be deeply tested before release,
to insure maximum enjoyment when it finally arrives.
Track record, recent history, demos, and reviews
all converge when considering an important purchase.
Cheers

[Obsolete236871]

Lets face it: there is nothing wrong with convolution. It can sound fantastic and convincing. But it also has its limitations. IKM has probably not reinvented the wheel with this product. The underlying technology, I think we have established this fact now, is pretty much generic convolution technology that has been used in commercial products for 2 decades now. The captured room acoustics may be unique (like every IR captured from a specific real space) and they belong to a renown recording studio - I think we got that. But it doesn't change anything about the reality that this is another processor using generic convolution that can only produce a static image of the acoustic profile of a real space, hence it's good but limited in realism and accuracy.


The talk about dynamic modeling of the preamps sounds rather ambiguous. Please specify in what way the preamp drive and parameters are accessible from the interface, because I don't see any dedicated controls. Also, what benefit would preamp saturation yield in a reverb processor? I would want to drive / saturate my signals on their specific channels or mix bus, but not by adding saturation into the acoustics of a room. That would not make any sense, sorry to be frank here.

We are waiting for the demo so that we can run your product through Plugin Doctor and SPAN to double check each and every claim that was made in the cause of this thread by IKM representatives and associates.

[kj.metissage]

The talk about dynamic modeling of the preamps sounds rather ambiguous. Please specify in what way the preamp drive and parameters are accessible from the interface, because I don't see any dedicated controls. Also, what benefit would preamp saturation yield in a reverb processor? I would want to drive / saturate my signals on their specific channels or mix bus, but not by adding saturation into the acoustics of a room. That would not make any sense, sorry to be frank here.

Sorry to be frank, but it seems that you didn't grasp the concept of mimicking the whole recording chain.

The goal is to give you the sonic imprint of the studio, as if you were recording there. Thus the use of specific vintage microphones and emulation of the different consoles of the Sunset studios. To give you that "iconic" signal path.

But what do I know, I just read the product page.

[Squids]

The talk about dynamic modeling of the preamps sounds rather ambiguous. Please specify in what way the preamp drive and parameters are accessible from the interface, because I don't see any dedicated controls. Also, what benefit would preamp saturation yield in a reverb processor? I would want to drive / saturate my signals on their specific channels or mix bus, but not by adding saturation into the acoustics of a room. That would not make any sense, sorry to be frank here.

Sorry to be frank, but it seems that you didn't grasp the concept of mimicking the whole recording chain.

The goal is to give you the sonic imprint of the studio, as if you were recording there. Thus the use of specific vintage microphones and emulation of the different consoles of the Sunset studios. To give you that "iconic" signal path.

But what do I know, I just read the product page.

Thanks. You saved me from having to say that part and I'll add a couple of things here. While I agree the product was never meant to "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to convolution reverbs this does not mean that it's automatically "generic" either. It does more.

[Edited: I don't have time to argue over and over with the same people. I'd rather give other people, especially those who are truly actually interested in the product, a chance to be heard and responded to since my time is limited.]

[Squids]

Guys, listen, I'm excited about this product as you can tell. I find it very useful and I know others will too. It's not meant to be revolutionary or like nothing else ever before. It's a very cool T-RackS Single, one of many plug-ins in the series and this one happens to be like 4 reverbs in one - Chambers, Plate, Spring and Room (while there are reverbs from other companies that are just Chambers or just Plates etc. for the same price or more - when comparing the regular price not company's sale prices which vary too much to compare product to product as that's an overall company to company thing and a separate topic IMO). IK hasn't had a reverb plug-in since CSR and that one was algorithm-based which is more like Lexicon rack reverbs than convolution reverbs meant for realism. It does have a combination of IR and modeling to achieve its sound goals which are to emulate the ambient sound of this iconic studio how you'd hear it there accurately in a plug-in.

I've been beta testing it and for me it's totally useful for the kind of music I produce which is rock, alt rock, acoustic, progressive rock, classic rock, hard rock and whatever you want to call the various styles that are similar to a lot of bands and artists who have recorded there over the years. It brings a great iconic flavor into my DAW-based studio and that's it! I didn't have to buy it because I get it for free but I absolutely would have bought it if I had to and I have bought similar types of plug-ins from other companies too because, well, I like this kind of stuff. I'm the sort of person these products are made for I guess.

In the interest of being productive and enjoying the day, I think I'm going to try to stay out of the purely "intellectual arguments" with the theories, assumptions, the occasional bad attitude and the whole spec snob thing and I'll just focus on what I personally care about which is actual audio and music making. I was originally motivated to spend a lot of my personal time to demonstrate things in forums but man I've been pulling crazy hours (it's 2:30am now) and I'm kind of burnt out. Plus, it'd be different if I was doing this for a bunch of people who are excited and truly interested in the product. However, if I'm doing it just to prove things to people who are skeptical and obnoxious it's just not enjoyable enough for me to do it.

IK has been around a long time and has established a solid reputation and grown every year. I have no doubt lots of people will find this product useful and not be stuck on the same road blocks some of you are. It's good not to over think certain things and I don't feel that this part of the discussion reflects how the real world will see this plug-in anyway. I even think it's kind of disrespectful to the studio and its legacy to harp on it too much, especially before it's even released. Frankly, we're lucky they opened the doors to allow this to be made and out in the world for us to use in our music after all these years. Some respect and appreciation for that would be nice to see.

Anyway, if this thread becomes populated by more people seriously interested in the product and/or what Peter or I have to say then maybe I'll come back to spending my personal time and effort on what I was planning to do here. Until then, I'll do what I can but I've got to split my time with a lot of other things.

[rj0]

If you want to emulate the room sounds further, after putting a source recorded with the pre through it, slap any of the following compressors on it: Mono sources - LA3A, 1176 (blue stripe or LN), La2a, or a 176 tube comp - I’m thinking these for the booths (e.g vocals/ax guitar). For stereo sources in live rooms, the same as above, but you can add a 33609 or TG1 style
Plug in to the list. Follow it all up with a 550a If you want to emulate studio 1 or studio 3. To emulate the Neve in studio 2, just slap a neve 31102 eq on the tail end.

With the chambers and plates, just throw the API 550a plugs ins (Studio 1/3) or the Neve 31102 (studio 2) after the reverb and it would be a similar setup to what’s used in the rooms. Don’t forget to add a pre-delay, if you’re so inclined. Pretty common to put one of those in front of the chamber or plates.

If you have all those plug ins plus the mic pre to record the source with, you’d be emulating much of the entire signal flow, minus the microphone. Fun stuff!

Well THAT was gold! Thanks for sharing! And yeah if you have some great mics too like Neumann M49s or U47s or U87s that always helps as well.

That's useful to know.

[songshark]

Squids -- here's a usage/workflow question/dilemma.

The following regards trying to EMULATE RECORDING IN THE SPACE -- i.e. the rooms themselves -- NOT the reverbs.

Based on your prior comment -- Sunset Sound Reverb will use a lot of CPU (comparable to IK Tapes). So it will only be practical to use a couple instances of it in a given DAW project.

So I was assuming one would just create a send bus to an aux channel -- with the Sunset Sound room on the aux -- and you could add the "famous Sunset studio room sound" to each audio track that way -- a normal channel send.

(And you could wait til the mix to do this -- with as many channels as you wanted. Simple enough. And only one instance of the Sunset plugin -- no problem!)

However -- as the former Sunset Sound engineer insightfully pointed out -- to correctly emulate recording in that space, you'd want the SSSR room emulation blended in with the signal PRIOR to any channel FX, e.g. compression, EQ, and really any other channel processing on that audio.

Because -- to emulate a live recording in the Sunset Sound room -- any channel's fx processing should be performed on the sound of the instrument mic'd IN the room.

But I see no way to do that as a send effect -- at least in Logic. Because the send return can't be routed back into the channel PRE-efx. By using a send you're forced to have all the channel FX on the sound first and THEN "putting it in the Sunset room."

So it seems like the only way you could FIRST make this emulate the sound of having recorded a track in that space -- and THEN add effects to each audio channel -- would be to use the Sunset Sound plugin as a separate INSERT on every channel -- which would be totally CPU prohibitive.

(Or, I suppose, you could record one track at a time and track THROUGH the Sunset Sound plugin -- printing it to each audio file.) (Or render each audio file with it separately, prior to adding FX to each channel.) But a burdensome workflow.

Are you following my logic? And what do you think? You've said that you haven't had much chance to A-B the sounds of the rooms on your tracks -- so I'm curious to hear what you find -- and if you are concerned about this point of having to add each channel's compresson/EQ/FX -- "before the fact" -- as it were.

I ask -- because my curiosity/interest re: this plugin is at least as much about getting the natural sounds of the Sunset Sound rooms on my tracks -- as it is about adding their EFFECTS reverbs (i.e chambers, plates, spring.)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Meffy]

A reminder that when you signed up to post at KVR you agreed to abide by the rules. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=44705

Here's one of the most important:

Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will result in your post being edited / deleted, and you may be issued with a warning and / or a ban.

Asking tough questions is okay. Personal abuse, such as in the two deleted posts above, is not.

This particular round of flaming has gone on too long, and without question the personal attacks have violated the rule above. Take some time to cool down.

[eta] I see Izak already had a temporary ban, so this time's permanent.

Also, Izak posted this in another thread.

And please stop violating first amendment rights and Free Speech. Your commercial interests do not trump universally accepted basic human rights as enshrined in the American constitution and the constitutions of every democratically oriented society in the known universe!

Here's the text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

KVR is not the United States Congress. It is a privately owned website. The First Amendment applies to the U.S. Congress, and the laws it may and may not enact. It does not apply to private venues, which is why, for instance, I'm not allowed to climb on stage at a concert, grab a mic, and engage in a rant against rush-hour traffic. The same principle applies here.

Now back on topic, please.

[Squids]

For the record, I did not ask any mod to permanently ban Izak or anyone else. But, anyone can tell both I and Peter were being worn down with shadowboxing these sort of attacks and that sucks for people who are genuinely interested in getting info about this product. I spent so much time defending esoteric concerns that I ran out of time and steam to prepare my demonstrations. I'm actually in the middle of a bunch of album and Blu-Ray mix sessions in stereo and surround so this "excursion", at least for me, needs to be worth it. I don't mean in an immature way of proving someone who's complaining or making assumptions about it wrong. I actually don't have time or interest in that. I thought for a second that I did and then took a step back and asked myself "what am I doing?"

If anyone's curious what my answer to Izak's last question before he ruined the privilege of being on KVR for himself (and not without lots of warnings), even though I would have liked to decline to answer because it's not fair for one person to take up so much of my time, especially when other people who truly are interested in the product would like a response to, I will say to that question what I already said before when I answered the question in the first place. The answer is that the modeling part of Sunset Sound Studio Reverb mostly has to do with Studio 1, 2 and 3 having elements of the mixing console coloration such as that of the mic pre included and possibly more. But, as to what of that modeling is specifically available on the GUI, I don't know. I think the filters are also part of that modeling too but the main thing I think is the dynamic coloration of Neve and API mic pre as It would be on the console sending and returning depending on the effect. Although, I'm not the developer myself so there could very well be even more modeling involved in the engine than I'm aware of.

I could find out even more specifics maybe but that's starting to get too nit picky even for me who generally likes to know the geeky stuff. Although, I think everyone at IK is probably just fine with simply sharing that the sound is achieved through a combination of IR, which is part of a new engine at IK in terms of offering a reverb product with it, and modeling of analog gear that IK is already known for doing. That together makes it sound more authentic. Not everything that's in the engine creating the sound is represented discretely as a corresponding knob or button on the GUI. But, to assume that it's not there if there's nothing specific graphically that indicates it is rather ignorant when you consider that the company is actually known for modeling vintage gear (it was even one of the very first companies to do so in the late 90s with the first T-RackS). Why anyone would be skeptical that a new T-RackS plug-in might have gear modeling in it like the many other TR plug-ins do is a mystery to me. But, it's one I don't think I'm going to ponder much longer.

By the way, obviously I DO think it would be cool to have a Sunset Sound-specific mic pre or channel strip as its own plug-in as well so hopefully we'll see something like that happen in the future (I've already requested that long ago). But, for now, if you want access to EQs like they have at the studio you can use TR's models of Neve and API 550a in your session in conjunction with the SSSR to emulate more of the sound of the signal flow of that studio. I'll get into more of that in response to Song Shark's question. I'll do it in a separate post so it doesn't make this one look even longer which risks it not even being read.

[El°HYM]

I am looking #ffw to the point when this Thing is finally released.

[Meffy]

For the record, I did not ask any mod to permanently ban Izak or anyone else.

I'll corroborate this. I visited the thread without prompting to see how things were going. I decided a two-week suspension would be appropriate, then noticed that Izak had already been given a temp ban (and a warning for an abusive PM) and resumed with an abusive post. I dislike perma-bans but when lesser remedies fail that's what the rules call for.

In case anyone thinks "oh, what an IK fanboi" — I have some IK products, like them okay, but usually end up using others instead. The Sunset Sound reverb looks okay but I have plenty of reverbs already and don't expect to buy it.

On to my actual job (programming) now.

[Squids]

Squids -- here's a usage/workflow question/dilemma.

The following regards trying to EMULATE RECORDING IN THE SPACE -- i.e. the rooms themselves -- NOT the reverbs.

Based on your prior comment -- Sunset Sound Reverb will use a lot of CPU (comparable to IK Tapes). So it will only be practical to use a couple instances of it in a given DAW project.

So I was assuming one would just create a send bus to an aux channel -- with the Sunset Sound room on the aux -- and you could add the "famous Sunset studio room sound" to each audio track that way -- a normal channel send.

(And you could wait til the mix to do this -- with as many channels as you wanted. Simple enough. And only one instance of the Sunset plugin -- no problem!)

However -- as the former Sunset Sound engineer insightfully pointed out -- to correctly emulate recording in that space, you'd want the SSSR room emulation blended in with the signal PRIOR to any channel FX, e.g. compression, EQ, and really any other channel processing on that audio.

Because -- to emulate a live recording in the Sunset Sound room -- any channel's fx processing should be performed on the sound of the instrument mic'd IN the room.

But I see no way to do that as a send effect -- at least in Logic. Because the send return can't be routed back into the channel PRE-efx. By using a send you're forced to have all the channel FX on the sound first and THEN "putting it in the Sunset room."

So it seems like the only way you could FIRST make this emulate the sound of having recorded a track in that space -- and THEN add effects to each audio channel -- would be to use the Sunset Sound plugin as a separate INSERT on every channel -- which would be totally CPU prohibitive.

(Or, I suppose, you could record one track at a time and track THROUGH the Sunset Sound plugin -- printing it to each audio file.) (Or render each audio file with it separately, prior to adding FX to each channel.) But a burdensome workflow.

Are you following my logic? And what do you think? You've said that you haven't had much chance to A-B the sounds of the rooms on your tracks -- so I'm curious to hear what you find -- and if you are concerned about this point of having to add each channel's compresson/EQ/FX -- "before the fact" -- as it were.

I ask -- because my curiosity/interest re: this plugin is at least as much about getting the natural sounds of the Sunset Sound rooms on my tracks -- as it is about adding their EFFECTS reverbs (i.e chambers, plates, spring.)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I agree he's a great person to be around here in discussion. Someone who actually has worked at the studio is a great resource of info for anyone, including me. I love to know what's been commonly done at the studio on records there over the years in terms of signal chains and processing for different instruments etc. As I said, that's gold to me and should be to anyone else wanting to have some fun with SSSR and modeled gear such as what you have in T-RackS 5 MAX.

Now, to answer your question, I think you might possibly be overthinking it or maybe I'm not understanding what you're saying. In my defense I'm freakin' BURNT man! haha. So exhausted. Anyway, to get what's close to the signal flow of the studio using multiple plug-ins it would be something like this:

1. If you want to sound like you're working in Studio 1 or 3 you use a model of an API 550a as an insert on your individual channels like you would if you were at that console in the studio or a Neve for Studio 2.

2. You can add something like a model of an 1176 or other compressors as an insert as well... and if you can find a good model of a 176 tube compressor that's a rare one that's used at the studio (and I've requested that to be modeled as well at some point because: I want! Haha).

3. You then AUX send those processed channels to however many instances of SSSR (depends if you want to just use one Chamber or Plate etc. or if you want to use multiple reverb types layered like I was saying before where it sounds really nice doing that sometimes... say a chamber and a plate on a vocal).

4. On your aux/effect return channel you can also put any post EQ or filter or even compression on it like you COULD (but don't necessarily do) at the console at the studio. The point made previously by the guy who used to work at the studio is that the reverb returns at the studio come up on the console too so all the same EQ or insert possibilities are there post reverb. He can correct me if I'm wrong or elaborate.

Edit: Anywhere in that chain you could also add in T-RackS Tape Machines to emulate that aspect of classic recording sessions at the studio.

Now, as to how one does this in Logic I don't know because I don't use Logic. I have it and I've been wanting to dig into it for years, however, I'm so busy that I use what I know and that's Pro Tools. What I just described is easy to do in Pro Tools. Probably is in Logic too... but I'll let a Logic user explain how.

Finally, I haven't yet put a bunch of SSSR on to even see if it's a CPU hog to do that. However, I purposely got a powerful desktop computer so I don't have to worry about that too much. I was tired of running out of power mixing on my laptop so I got the same computer system my friend Tom Lord-Alge uses and swears by. I'm glad I spent the money on that finally because it really does make a difference. However, whenever or if ever I'm in a situation where I want to do something like that (multiple instances of plug-ins) and I don't have enough CPU power I just print it.

In Pro Tools you can "commit" or "freeze" a track to save power but be able to get back to the original if you need to tweak. It's a good idea to commit to audio anyway when you're done with the mix so that you can pull it up years later and not have a problem. But, during the mix if you want a sound and it would otherwise cost too much computer power to get it. Nothing wrong with printing to audio files. And many engineers, like Ross Hogarth who explains it in the interview I did with him at NAMM (you can watch that on the IK web site or YouTube channel) will record the Sunset Sound real reverbs to the DAW when he tracks there... but what he liked about the plug-in is that if the parts going into the reverb at the studio change (such as if a comp of multiple takes is made or new overdubs or even just tweaks to the original sound) he doesn't have to go back into the studio just to get the reverb sounds again. He can and would use the plug-in for that. Since Ross and I were the impetus to this plug-in even happening with IK, I think it's safe to say we mainly just wanted it to exist so we could use it! Haha.

[songshark]

Squids -- thanks for your reply -- which has useful info. Hope you've had some rest by time you read this.

But I think you didn't understand or address my question.

For the sake of my question -- PRETEND THAT SSSR DOES NOT INCLUDE CHAMBERS, PLATES OR SPRINGS. That it's only being used to recreate the sound of actually recording in Studio 1 -- say, an acoustic guitar. Pretend you just wanted the natural sound of your Martin guitar in that room as your basic track (with no other reverb added). Which you later plan to run through some of your own EFX plugins, compressor, EQ or whatever.

To achieve realism, wouldn't you need the sound of the guitar already in that room space (including the sound of the Sunset pre and board) PRIOR to whatever plugins you would want to add -- such as compression, EQ, chorus, etc.?

In other words -- to emulate a guitar actually being recorded in that room -- wouldn't any further application of effects would need to be altering the already-combined sound of the guitar AND the SSSR room?

Or to put it yet another way: shouldn't the sound of the initial recording in that room be "baked in" prior to all that follows -- including other plugins such as you mentioned?

Otherwise - it would be like adding a mic simulation -- like IK Mic Room -- at the very end of your effects chain, not at the beginning where it should properly be if the goal is to emulate a real recording chain. You'd want to hear the sound of, say, of an LA-2A and a Pultec and a delay -- on the vocal that had already been colored by mic -- not the sound of the mic after the color of the LA-2A and Pultec and delay.

That was what i took the Sunset Sound engineer's point and logic to be. (Or maybe it was someone else.)

The rest of my question was pondering if/how one can accomplish that with SSSR -- using a send -- since multiple instances of SSSR seem unlikely to be practical CPU-wise. I can't think of a way to do it. The only option/workaround I could think of --if one was trying emulate the sound of several instruments being recorded in that room on multitrack -- would be rendering/freezing each track with SSSR as first insert -- not a very appealing workflow for tweaking, editing, etc.

I don't mind the response that I'm "overthinking it" but you didn't hit on WHY this thinking was wrong.

Thanks for all the time you're spending here! I find your posts interesting.

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

And to summarize a couple of important points for those who don't like reading some of the back and forth (and I do also suggest one does not skip the posts by someone who actually worked at Sunset Sound as those are gold):

To quote Squids with some parenthetical additions: Bottom line is this. If you're serious about wanting those sounds, the reverbs of this studio (Sunset Sound), then this plug-in (T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb) achieves it perfectly and this is the price.

If you are concerned about how it sounds with your material or resource utilization (which neither Squids nor I have precise figures on until it goes gold - gold being a concept Sunset Sounds is more than familiar with ) you can try T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb upon release soon and then plunk down the 149.99 introductory pricing if you like what you hear. We do have the stamp of approval from Paul and others at Sunset Sound as well as some of the very inner circle of those who have recorded amazing albums there, for those who have or are interested in ordering now.

[Squids]

Squids -- thanks for your reply -- which has useful info. Hope you've had some rest by time you read this.

But I think you didn't understand or address my question.

For the sake of my question -- PRETEND THAT SSSR DOES NOT INCLUDE CHAMBERS, PLATES OR SPRINGS. That it's only being used to recreate the sound of actually recording in Studio 1 -- say, an acoustic guitar. Pretend you just wanted the natural sound of your Martin guitar in that room as your basic track (with no other reverb added). Which you later plan to run through some of your own EFX plugins, compressor, EQ or whatever.

To achieve realism, wouldn't you need the sound of the guitar already in that room space (including the sound of the Sunset pre and board) PRIOR to whatever plugins you would want to add -- such as compression, EQ, chorus, etc.?

In other words -- to emulate a guitar actually being recorded in that room -- wouldn't any further application of effects would need to be altering the already-combined sound of the guitar AND the SSSR room?

Or to put it yet another way: shouldn't the sound of the initial recording in that room be "baked in" prior to all that follows -- including other plugins such as you mentioned?

Otherwise - it would be like adding a mic simulation -- like IK Mic Room -- at the very end of your effects chain, not at the beginning where it should properly be if the goal is to emulate a real recording chain. You'd want to hear the sound of, say, of an LA-2A and a Pultec and a delay -- on the vocal that had already been colored by mic -- not the sound of the mic after the color of the LA-2A and Pultec and delay.

That was what i took the Sunset Sound engineer's point and logic to be. (Or maybe it was someone else.)

The rest of my question was pondering if/how one can accomplish that with SSSR -- using a send -- since multiple instances of SSSR seem unlikely to be practical CPU-wise. I can't think of a way to do it. The only option/workaround I could think of --if one was trying emulate the sound of several instruments being recorded in that room on multitrack -- would be rendering/freezing each track with SSSR as first insert -- not a very appealing workflow for tweaking, editing, etc.

I don't mind the response that I'm "overthinking it" but you didn't hit on WHY this thinking was wrong.

Thanks for all the time you're spending here! I find your posts interesting.

I wasn't sure if you were overthinking it or if I just wasn't catching what you meant. But, now I have a better idea and also I think it helps to think of the application of its use because the plug-in can be used in so many ways.

So, if you wanted to do something like you're saying here where you'd simulate the sound of putting an instrument in a room at Sunset Sound (which, to be fair, is never going to be exactly the same no matter what plug-in you used for room simulation but knowing this the idea is to get close and have fun with it in my opinion... in most cases most people wouldn't even be able to tell that you DIDN'T actually record in the studio). To do that, I would put SSSR as an insert effect on that instrument (or on a buss insert if it's a multi-miked instrument) and then into EQ, compression and anything else I'd run a sound recorded in the room into on the console and outboard gear if I was at that studio (or even in my studio which is part DAW and part analog). But, as I said before, if CPU power was a concern then I'd just commit/freeze the track and print to audio the desired room sound (and keep the unprocessed original dry sound around as an inactive track in case I change my mind). Nothing wrong with printing it (ie. committing it to audio without the plug-in anymore - baked in as you said) because, after all, if you DID record the instrument in the actual room at the studio it would be recorded with that sound anyway. Now you're just using the plug-in to make it sound like you recorded it in that room. That should work quite nicely in a lot of cases!

Hope that helps. I like the way you're thinking and thanks for helping to take the discussion in new areas as I'm sure it's giving other people ideas on how they could use it too. You see? This is how a thread like this can be GOOD! People being friendly with each other and sharing ideas. That's great. I enjoy being around for that!