hard or soft? help me invest 500$

[mammath]

now add VAT to that price(approx 20%).

You know what? I completely forgot about that loomchild (LOL)

hey, thank you for the help, Mammath.

You're most certainly welcome! When shopping around, you want the best bang for your buck. Just wanted to make that task a little less overwhelming.

In the end, no matter what you choose, your ears are the ultimate gear!

Cheers
mammath

[leonard]

two days later.....

I found a used Powercore Compact (Firewire). Asking price is 525€, which is about 35% cheaper than the average retail price.

On the other hand I may as well wait until the UAD2 comes out. Or get the UAD1 Flexi Pack, as the goodies in it appeal most to me.

If I chose to wait, I'll get the Voxengo GlissEQ and the Kjaerhus Geq, that people usually find comparable to the Pultec stuff.

[leonard]

thank you a bunch for all the feedback and the bits of advice!

So, I think I got a lot of fx for 300$ or so:

Marquis
GlisseQ, GEQ
GMO
Easyverb
Polysquasher
MPL-1 for limiting (got it today, as it was the last day for the intro-pricing).

Got all the basic stuff covered.

Next round (or I should write paycheck) I'll want to get:

- one more eq for the master buss (CurveEQ?) and
- ditto reverb (thanks for the suggestions) and mastering compressor
- one more general purpose compressor to complement Marquis (thinking about GUP)
- multiband compressor, which is another way to say Soniformer , well, I have to investigate this matter.
- maybe Harbal as a learning tool, to analyze my mixes and reference material.


that's it. It will take me weeks (if not months) to get to know the puppies I collected in this round: back to making some noise!

[sounddesigner]

for mastering i'd choose soniformer and harmonieq over izotope ozone, but ozone is good still.I love the kjaerhus mpl-1 limiter but elephant is nice as well.The ozone offers alot in one plugin but the voxengo bundles are cheap and have a more natural sound to me and seems to fit more tracks then Ozone (wich tends to be very impressive when you first hear it but over time some loose some interest in it).
for reverbs since you did not choose uad or csr then i'd look at wizooverb 2,masterverb 5,gigapulse or the cheaper voxengo prestine space. My main favorites are the ones you prefer not to buy- CSR (top of the list), dreamverb,plate 140.

[friteuse]

For reverb, go and check out the ArtsAcoustic Reverb. Not too expensive, no dongle, very flexible and amazing sound quality imho. It's really an allrounder for everyday use. You can download a demo version to hear, if it fits your needs.

For mastering, I persoanlly think the Kjaerhus MPL-1 is a must have. It's perfect for quick and effective loudness maximizing with outstanding sound qualities. A demo is also avaliable.

My 2 cents...

[feyshay]

I would not go with the MPX-550. I had one and sold it. I then got a Kurzweil Rumour. That was great. The only reason I sold it was because I got a Kurzweil KSP8. That Rumour is about the best value for the price. Much better reverb than that Lexicon and some other effects.
I didn't realize this thread was 2 weeks old until I noticed you were considering Eqium (which is no longer in the same form). You could get a nice pack from PSP-Master Q, Vintage Warmer, Master Comp, Neon. I don't really like the Wavearts stuff. I think the Voxengo/Kjaerhus pack that you got was a decent purchase. Can't go wrong there.

[Spaceman Sounds]

Dont hold your breath for Uad-2 he he it will be a little while yet I should imagine.

But go for the uad-1, totally needed, and definatly better than all the other compressors. The Spache Echo is my favourite fx at the moment, I use it for mashing up break beats with no echo ala tape emu. Overdrive the input set tape to old and instant grungy beat.

I personally love the Fairchild for the snap it adds to drum groups. The new Neve Eq sounds pretty damn good. So good I went and ordered another card from JRR shop ( damn good service and I'm in UK).

[Cheeso]

If I had another $500 to spare, I'd forget all that and just get a Dave Smith Evolver.

[RTaylor]

http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:Reverb.it
http://www.spinaudio.com/products.php?id=2

[leonard]

thank you a bunch for all the feedback and the bits of advice!

So, I think I got a lot of fx for 300$ or so:

Marquis
GlisseQ, GEQ
GMO
Easyverb
Polysquasher
MPL-1 for limiting (got it today, as it was the last day for the intro-pricing).

Got all the basic stuff covered.

Next round (or I should write paycheck) I'll want to get:

- one more eq for the master buss (CurveEQ?) and
- ditto reverb (thanks for the suggestions) and mastering compressor
- one more general purpose compressor to complement Marquis (thinking about GUP)
- multiband compressor, which is another way to say Soniformer , well, I have to investigate this matter.
- maybe Harbal as a learning tool, to analyze my mixes and reference material.


that's it. It will take me weeks (if not months) to get to know the puppies I collected in this round: back to making some noise!

I added some final considerations in the above post. It's also meant as a thank you to everyone contributing.

[leonard]

For reverb, go and check out the ArtsAcoustic Reverb. Not too expensive, no dongle, very flexible and amazing sound quality imho. It's really an allrounder for everyday use. You can download a demo version to hear, if it fits your needs.

For mastering, I persoanlly think the Kjaerhus MPL-1 is a must have. It's perfect for quick and effective loudness maximizing with outstanding sound qualities. A demo is also avaliable.

My 2 cents...

reverbs: thanks pal! I'll check those as soon as I got time (not to mention money )!
limiter: just ordered the MPL-1 me happy!