which exciter?!

[martian]

i need something to add more freqs to hihats above about 12k, without destroying the transients like conventional distorion would. ive tried using warmifier with a little success, but i need something that does more, a proper exciter i guess.

preferably freeware, but will get something if its really good. i have checked through the kvr database, and the rgc audio one took my fancy but seems discontinued.

so any other recomendations?

regards,

[kevvvvv]

I'm still in love with Cryosonics Spectralive

[bduffy]

Spectralive is my favourite exciter/enhancer and it's practically free. Apart from that, I find most have a "grainy" artefact to them (including rgc:audio's). For quick tweaks like hi-hats I like Dominion, which is also a very useful plugin.

EDIT: Crap, almost forgot: CamelPhat 3 also has a nice little exciter too.

[ew]

BBE Sonic Maximizer. It's the first thing in my mastering chain, and it works.

The other one I really like is rgcAudio's HF stimulator (DirectX only- for VST, use in VB Audio's fFX4 or Console). That one's a freebie

ew

[opia]

elogoxa has an x-cita
http://www.uv.es/~ruizcan/p_vst.htm

[bduffy]

BBE is a little far from free though...great plug-in, of course!

Actually that rgcAudio one sounds pretty good. I recall having a problem with it many moons ago - must've been the stereo spread, which seems to introduce some kind of delay.

[kritikon]

Yeah...the RGC one or the Elegoxa one would be more what you're after. The BBE doesn't use harmonics (although it will add sparkle to a mix's top end, and hats will sound clearer). It doesn't appear that Spectralive uses harmonics either - there's no mention of it in their blurb, and I haven't ever seen any frequencies added over what's there normally in any analyser I checked on.

But my vote is with Spectralive too. It's very flexible, and it does sound very very good. Of course, it may not work that well for the >12KHz hats trick if the hats have no frequency content there to start with (which is entirely possible if they're samples... ). But that's the neat trick with a good enhancer - it uses all kinds of psychoaccoustic jiggery-pokery to make you think you're hearing an airier top end.

Another suggestion would be PSP...Mixsat has valve emulations which add harmonics. It can be a bit harsh though. And steer clear of the compression feature for the high end - you'll lose any transients you have. But it can work wonders on loops with hats, as long as you can accept the very in-yer-face snares that will also happen.

DSPFX also used to have a harmonic enhancer that was pretty good. I don't even know if it's still for sale though.

Oh and wasn't there that unofficial ReFX exciter? Again, don't know if that's still available...but it used to be a freebie. From my vague memory, it wasn't available on the ReFX site though - it was on one of their coder's site (sorry, don't have the link or name...someone around here will chip in, I'm sure though).

[ew]

i have checked through the kvr database, and the rgc audio one took my fancy but seems discontinued.

You're right- it looks that way . I'd try PMing Rene here...

ew

[bduffy]

A google search revealed this.

[martian]

thanks everyone, will try all these.

[sparrow]

I'm sorry if I seem to go a bit off topic.
The thing is, if your mixes are well balanced, then it's always better to leave high freqs such as hihats alone and they will spark nice and smoothly. Too many superimposing or poorly recorded sounds in the low mids usually are perfect for mudding things up.
Nevertheless, nowadays there are really good helpers at the time of adding sweetness and sheen to a mix.
Try using ColorTone Free on the mix buss and the drum buss. If you use it properly it'll really open the mix without having to excite the high end.
I'm just not too fond of standard exciters in the digital domain.

Hope this helps.

S-

[fabi]

I'm sorry if I seem to go a bit off topic.
The thing is, if your mixes are well balanced, then it's always better to leave high freqs such as hihats alone and they will spark nice and smoothly. Too many superimposing or poorly recorded sounds in the low mids usually are perfect for mudding things up.
Nevertheless, nowadays there are really good helpers at the time of adding sweetness and sheen to a mix.
Try using ColorTone Free on the mix buss and the drum buss. If you use it properly it'll really open the mix without having to excite the high end.
I'm just not too fond of standard exciters in the digital domain.

Hope this helps.

S-

now colortone free doesn't have all that many parameters, but still, how do you prefer using it? do you drive the input and color a lot, while lowering the output? or do you just pull up the color slider and leave input and output untouched? any favorites from the dropdown menu? i personally really like the 1960 setting.

[djsubject]

the one with the big brests & bleach blond hair & shaven muff

thats my choice in exciter

[Artgiver]

Spectralive, especially at it's price point. It's also extremely versatile in the sounds you can dial up - much more than other exciters (e.g. BBE).

[sparrow]

now colortone free doesn't have all that many parameters, but still, how do you prefer using it? do you drive the input and color a lot, while lowering the output? or do you just pull up the color slider and leave input and output untouched? any favorites from the dropdown menu? i personally really like the 1960 setting.

Input and color a lot, while lowering the output!
I know it sounds a bit extreme, but that's how I seem to get the best results.
My favourites are, yes, 1960, F670 and SSL.
As with Spectralive, I don't know, maybe I didn't use it well but it just sounded too artificial to me, although is the best sounding exciter I've heard so far. Izotope Ozone it not that bad either.