KVR Audio

leonard · Post by **leonard** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:09 pm

Hi

I am shopping for fx. I spent the last year buying vst instruments and samples. With Wusik, samples for Halion and Sonik Synth 2 I am now fully covered. Not so when it comes to fx. So far I have been using a few freebies, the Classic ones from Kjaerhus, the Fillets, the Lfx from Luxonic, SIR for convolution. Good stuff, unbeatable price

Never the less I am looking for:

1 a transparent compressor for tracks, both guitar, voice and softsynths
2 delays, chorus, echo and the alike, again, both for guitar and softsynths. It'd be great if you could suggest a bundle here. I have been looking at the Kjaerhus GMO and the Camelspace
3 a limiter (I guesss Elefant from Voxengo is a good choice here)
4 probably after getting a transparent type compressor I'd want as well a compressor for the master bus and/or one that has more punch and personality.
5 a reverb, probably convolution type. I love SIR, but it's a bit heavy on the CPU.

Voxengo and Kjaerhus stuff gets a lot of praise here, so I will definitely demo some of their products, also I am considering to get a bundle from Waves, even though I am not sure I want to spend that kind of money.

Also I'd like to know, what fx you use with your softsynths, internal or external. Maybe I am a bit spoiled from those cool hardware days (I still have a Yamaha SPX900, which I mostly use live and for cues in my home studio), but I am not that enthusiastic about the internal fx my softsynths have.

Thank you a lot, guys!

Killvehicle · Post by **Killvehicle** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:38 pm

Well for a compressor the Waves Rennasance Compressor is top notch, I think it is their greatest plug, It just has a real great character to it, I do think that they are selling a really reasonable bundle nowadays with that plug, and 2 or 3 others for like $200. Althogh I could be mistaken, I use Elephant and I use it over my Waves L2, I think elephant is great.

As far as other compressors, I think the Renn Comp, can be transparent and have a ton of character it may be the only one you need. It is really the only software compressor I use, besides classic comp. by Kjaerhus. I really like that one. OTherwise I rely heavily on my hardware comps, My main bad boy being a Vintage DBX 165. For me I havent found other software comps that deliver what I like,

And for Convolution Reverbs, SIr is pro quality, almost all conv. reverbs eat up a certain amount of Cpu, I personally just increase latency. I know Voxengo has Pristine Space, but that sa few $, and Waves has theirs as well and thats even more $..

Another plug I like a lot still is PSP Vintage Warmer..

As far as the choruses and flangers, delays etc.. There are so many Freebies around, that rival pro quality in these respects that its a hard choice. The only ones I have bought of this variety, Was the Voxengo AnalogFlux suite $79. YOu get a stripped down (send only) convolution reverb, a analog style delay, chorus and a great tapebus plug-in././

andywright67 · Post by **andywright67** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:47 pm

For Comps and EQ's I'd defo go for the new Focusrite Liquid Mix, as it runs via its own DSP, so not affecting your CPU.

FX wise - plugin's and/or external gear such as Digitech DP4, Lexicon stuff, etc... which can be sync'd via midi to the host computer.

leonard · Post by **leonard** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:17 am

Hi guys

thank you for the suggestions.

Waves stuff: great value, but on iLok. See, I have made up my mind not to buy any product that comes with a dongle. I have two Steinberg licenses on a Syncrosoft thingy, which bothers me. Especially the fact that I'd have to ensure my laptop and all of my software against theft. Actually I wrote to Waves to let them know that I ruled out their software: they wrote back, cool they read my email. I respect their right to protect their software in whatever way they like, I'm not bashing them because of the dongle, just I won't buy their products. It's ok if you want to comment the dongle thing, please just don't hijack the thread with "they suck" "I wish they burn in hell" etc... It's been beaten to death, also it's not what this thread is about.

To get back on topic: I have shortly demoed a few Kjaerhus and Voxengo plugs.
Kjaerhus stuff is great, but....I found it a bit overwhelming, in my case I think less is more. I definitely liked the Voxengo stuff, I may end buying the Analogflux suite and the Marquis to begin with, then a limiter: both products sounded great and had quite a few useable presets: see, I am lazy when it comes to comp and eq.

I thought the Camelspace was quite wicked. I had a problem with the Shapeshifter, Cubase went crazy as soon as I loaded a preset, making awful, weird noises: probably it was just a doggy download. I'll try it again, as it's got to be a nice product.

Soon I'll be browsing for a mastering suite: again, laziness makes me look at Ozone or T-racks, even Harbal with its magic one click mastering. I hope you can come with more suggestions. I appreciated your suggestions so far, expecially the Voxengo and PSP stuff is sooo cool.

Killvehicle · Post by **Killvehicle** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:29 am

I lied about not liokeing most software comps! I dont, but the T-racks compressor ALWAYS impressed the hell out of me. Except I have the stand-alone version, now they make a plug-in version I think which would be real useful. But a lot of people really are immpressed by Blockfish by Digitalfishphones,, It s a freebie,, I dont like it too much, but its cool, It reminds me a whole lot of my hardware Behringer tube composer, which isnt that great but usable... FOr a limiter, YOu need to get Voxengo Elephant!! Easily the most bang for buck in limiters,, perhaps THE best!! haha Im sure its not, but it is REAL good..

Shopping advice: compressor, limiter and multi-fx