Oxford Inflator?

[tombuur]

I like the Oxford Inflator too. Got it for $160 which I believe is a good price. The still sell it: www.aage.dk (if you read Danish).

I have Elephant and they don't compare, then again Inflator is not a limiter. What it is I don't know. But unlike earlier statements here I find it does increase not only perceived level, the level you can measure in average dB is also increased somewhat.

[kritikon]

Sorry, but i think this SONY bashing does not belong into this thread.

This Thread is about the Inflator, not about what Sony did yesterday in the hardware market ...

It's extremely relevant. So just because they release a good product, we should ignore their disdain of customers - you really want to encourage shoddy practices like Sony have used repeatedly?
If a company shafts its own customers, I for one don't go back and repeat my custom to them. Same with any other s/w developer - if e.g. they release a buggy s/w and both deny and refuse to fix it, it is of utmost relevance to the end user, whatever the s/w does in terms of sonic character. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Inflator (or any other s/w) could crash certain systems set up in certain ways...Sony are the one company you can almost guarantee will do nothing to remedy that situation if it happened. If you're the one where that crash happens it most definitely is important.

We all know the value of developer support etc - Sony have absolutely none, which is very relevant to any buyer. I for one would rather buy s/w from someone like Wusik or GMedia etc, where if you have a problem, they will do their best to solve it if it's in their hands to do so. Sony not only won't solve any problems for you, they will most likely actively treat you with disdain should a problem arise.

Say, for example the issues with Pace in the past...we should just ignore the problems with it because the actual s/w that used it was good? That's just not a sensible way to me. Anyone that had system crashes with old Pace security would have been pleased to have known about it beforehand.

I have no qualms advertising the reprehensible attitude of Sony - It's in all our own interests to know - then you can make your own choice. If Inflator is good enough you want to risk a Sony product, then fine, go ahead and buy. But to say having no access to consumer support is irrelevant is courting trouble and naive at best. Personally I'm prepared to pay more for product with backup. Sony could sell Inflator at $5 and I wouldn't buy it. They are no different today in business practice than they were 20 years ago.

[martian]

the inflator used jus as a limiter is excellent for raising the volume whilst preserving punch, i have elephant too which i love, but in comparison like with every other limiter i've tried you loose the kiks punch once you turn it up, this is where inflator sounds amazing compared to everything else. But compared to elephant the inflator is incredibly noisey, which must be the trade off with having such good preservation of lf punch.

although the main marketing behind it is its unique algorithm to get your percieved level even louder, which is what adjusting the 2nd slider will do.

personally i couldnt give a shit about having the loudest track and never wanted to use the 2nd slider, but if you want the same level as everyone else and with max punch then the limiter on this is the shit.

[popsych]

the inflator used jus as a limiter is excellent for raising the volume whilst preserving punch, i have elephant too which i love, but in comparison like with every other limiter i've tried you loose the kiks punch once you turn it up, this is where inflator sounds amazing compared to everything else. But compared to elephant the inflator is incredibly noisey, which must be the trade off with having such good preservation of lf punch.

although the main marketing behind it is its unique algorithm to get your percieved level even louder, which is what adjusting the 2nd slider will do.

personally i couldnt give a shit about having the loudest track and never wanted to use the 2nd slider, but if you want the same level as everyone else and with max punch then the limiter on this is the shit.

Guys i was thinking since we know that inflator works in a very different manner than limiters and that wm has stated the alterations each method inflicts on audio , has anyone tried using both inflator and a limiter in any order ? Would that result (when both plugins have lower values than the usual overboard) in the best of both worlds i.e both punch and less noise or would it make the combination unbearable ?

[martian]

i recon something like:

eq cuts > inflator > elephant
or
eq cuts > inflator > md3

...would be pretty unstoppable combos for loud, clear and punchy.