smoothing out digital harshness?

[jens]

]
You will find that it matches the threadstarter's criteria exactly, and your comments about it made it seem even more of something he was looking for.

I still think you must be almost deaf and have no clue what you are talking about...

[bduffy]

Tbt's plugins - especially TubeLimit - and the underrated UKM Nonlin are excellent for this.

indeed - indeed - spot on!

Finally! I made a good post. Thanks.

[Frippertronix]

]
You will find that it matches the threadstarter's criteria exactly, and your comments about it made it seem even more of something he was looking for.

I still think you must be almost deaf and have no clue what you are talking about...

fffft ffftt hsssssss!!!

[Frippertronix]

To me, the two smoothest, most non-digital "end of chain" plugs (not having tried all native stuff but most of it and not having owned a UAD-1) are Elemental Audio Finis and TbT Pocket Limiter, with the nod going to Finis, although it isn't cheap, because it's a bit more transparent and it doesn't have PL's bug which causes it to steadily loose gain when used with various other plugins.

[The Chase]

]
You will find that it matches the threadstarter's criteria exactly, and your comments about it made it seem even more of something he was looking for.

I still think you must be almost deaf and have no clue what you are talking about...

posting that pic with kind of a jackassish response I apologize for. I post that way when I get home from school

but check it:

I'm not expecting a plugin to work miracles and make it sound exactly like an analog equivalent, but getting a little closer would be very welcome.

it doesn't sound like tube-distortion but rather like generic digital waveshaping nonetheless - it doesn't sound analog at all!

V TB is a good choice for such a mindset like the threadstarter's

[The Chase]

Aleksey was spot on in last post. YOU CANT fcukin UNBROKE
SOMETHING THATS ALREADY BROKEN. Key is to have great
sounding source to begin with. If your hihats are
aliasing you cant unalias them by anything. If your
track was (badly) clipped, in analog or digital domain,
you cant unclippit with anything. If your converters
sucks ass get something decent (like Rosetta or Lynx2).
You cant unjitter signal converted with sloppy-clock
ADC. And keep your fcukin levels fcukin low, troughout
signal chain. If you want loud, you have level knob on
your poweramp for that.
And guitar pedal would be last thing I would use to
make something sound smoother.

cheerz
urosh

LOL

Many of the "most analogue sounding" synths around just have oscillators that produce very mathematic waveforms and at the end of the signal line go through some kind of "warming" mechanism that produces the audio equivelent of a very nice D/A converter (see: powercore virus, Karnage). Sure, some may have some sort of anti-aliasing mechanism for an accurate sound which is done AFTER the signal has already left the aliasing oscillators (see: vangaurd, Pro-53 and Asynth, If i'm not mistaken) and some simply do both (see: ImpOSCar, MiniMoog).

I've heard aliasing greatly diminish after subtle distortion/warming. Don't forget that some great hardware has very digital sources (namely later roland and korg hardware) that doesn't turn golden until the D/A stage.

[jens]

V TB is a good choice for such a mindset like the threadstarter's

nope - it isn not!

Imo there are way better alternatives - that was my point from the beginning - there are several plugins which are able to add 'analogish warmth' (some of the being made by Voxengo b.t.w. albeit not free) but Voxengo's TubeAmp isn't one of them - it adds distortion but this distortion is 'cold' and digital - and even if there was written tube five times as big on it it still would sounds like generic digital distortion.


just to reiterate:

I never said there aren't any free plugins being capable of what the thread starter asked for.

[aciddose]

to entire thread; (apparently i have to point this out)

so basically, if you record something and play it back, it doesnt sound digital, but if you generate something and play it back, it does? i think the term "digital" doesnt apply here at all. sorry, anyone who thinks there is such a thing as "digital harshness" is a pedophile.

[Kingston]

sorry, anyone who thinks there is such a thing as "digital harshness" is a pedophile.

erm...... huh?

[jens]

you can't be serious - so you say if you e.g. reduce the bit-depth from 32bit fp to 3bit by inserting a bit-crusher it doesn't sound more digital than before doing this?

[aciddose]

if you knew this long memory of a guy with the handle 'superstar syndrome' and his constant comments about "digital synthesizers sound like shattered glass" and "i like to watch the neighbourhood children shower themselves in the park", you'd understand.

jens, if you use a analog sample&hold on an analog signal can you say it sounds analog?

my comment was regarding the fact that, if you record an analog signal into the same bitdepth and sample rate as you generate a digital signal, can you possibly claim the one you generated sounds more digital?

obviously not, because the reproduction of both signals on output back to an analog signal will be exactly the same.

"digital harshness" in terms of processors and synthesizers is caused by "bad design", nothing to do with digital systems. perhaps the fact these designers are not capable of using a digital system is the cause.

[Kingston]

bleh,

so you have a grudge with someone. still can't make sweeping statements like that. reminds of that "wishing cancer" incident.

[aciddose]

actually i can make sweeping statements like that ^_^

i'm absolutely correct, too, so narr.

[Frippertronix]

Still, can one say that people are just imagining that so much analog gear sounds more "smooth" and less "harsh" than comparable digital plugins? If it's just bad design (which I'm not denying), then why does so much digital have more of an edge than analog?

If it is a flaw in the design of digital programs, it must be a very difficult flaw to overcome, or more people would have done it better by now (although quite a number have done it reasonably well, IMO).

All I know is, even on the VSTi synthesizers I like, I can't open up the filter too far without it sounding like a sound I think they might only want to use at Camp X-Ray at 3:00 in the morning.

If I do a similar thing on my analog synths, it's not really pleasant, but it's not unbearable.

[Kingston]

If we have to bring analog synths into this (and this thread will explode in just one page), here's a thought:

Why do I always name one preset in a VSTi "the end of digital"?

It's because that's the point I first clearly heard I was playing with a VSTi.

Some recent plugins made it really difficult, but nothing has ever fooled me. Maybe it's time for some demoes?