Incredible new EQ type for Nebula plugin

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

A new equaliser is available, for free!!
You need nebula3 free for running it (download from www.acusticaudio.net):

original: http://www.acusticaudio.net/modules.php ... t&lid=1289

mirror: http://www.acusticaudio.net/modules.php ... t&lid=1290

more details:

!Free! - Retro Analog Studio Suite 1
A Preview of my first Nebula Commercial Library, For Sale Soon!
Library Creator: Michael Angel, www.CDSoundmaster.com
______________________________________________________________


Coming This week: Four New Free Presets for Nebula !!!!!!

Keep an eye out for information on Acusticaudio.net about when to download!

About this library:
I've been testing, preparing, and studying for the results of this library for over a year and a half. If it weren't for the astonishing capabilities of the current Nebula engine and sampler, I would still be looking for the right programmer or vst developer to apply this concept. Thank you Acustica Audio!

I have found that many home recordists and mixing engineers have been searching for a way to get 'the' sound of certain era's of music. People will ask for advice on how to get the sound of a certain album, producer, band, or song. Although advice about certain specific pieces of gear or specific techniques may prove beneficial, the truth is that we work in a digital environment these days, and simply applying a single emulator on a track, or a series of plug-ins to our master bus will not produce the full effect of working in an analog environment more closely related to 'the' sound we are hoping to achieve. I have addressed this issue in this collection of presets, and I think that the Nebula provides an incredible vehicle for truly turning your DAW into a flexible, high quality analog studio!

These free presets are a preview for my upcoming full library release: "Retro Analog Studio Suite 1".
Three of these free presets are for Nebula Free customers, and the fourth is only available for registered Nebula Commercial users.
They are not reduced in quality, are fully functional, and the only limitations are on the bandwidth of two equalizers.
The "HMIDFREE" and "HLowFree" presets are based upon the "Retro_02_Mid" and "RetroStudioLowEQ" presets from the full library. The 1176 preset is a unique variation based on those included in the library. The "1073Clean-Mid" for Nebula Commercial is the complete preset from the library. Make sure and read about the full presets by following the link at the bottom of this topic.

Listen to audio samples from the free release:
http://cdsoundmaster.com/FREE_ACGuitarB ... 288kHz.mp3
http://cdsoundmaster.com/FREE_Bass_B4_7 ... owFree.mp3
http://cdsoundmaster.com/FREE_DRUMS_1176.mp3

You will find two new categories in your Nebula program once you have installed the free files:
RAE
RAC
These stand for "Retro Analog Equalizer" and "Retro Analog Compressor".

For the full details on the upcoming library, and background on what makes up these presets, please visit:
http://cdsoundmaster.com/neblibraries.html

Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,
Michael Angel
CDSoundMaster.com

[S-N-S]

nice,gonna try these out on my new 2,5 core2duo pc tommorow.
good to see something new for nebula 3 free,it is a great program

and if i could use my visa elektron card with paypal i would buy the commercial version,but i sadly cant

paypal dont support my card,and they wont support it

[lordnielson]

I like it. It doesn't have the "funny" topend that the UAD version does (in my very personal opinion). I find that it can be quite hard to stop it from pumping though, but maybe that's a tweak issue.

[mangel1234]

I like it. It doesn't have the "funny" topend that the UAD version does (in my very personal opinion). I find that it can be quite hard to stop it from pumping though, but maybe that's a tweak issue.

Thanks!
Is it the 1176 preset you are referring to? If so, the sampling process I used definitely will leave some pumping, but in the full library there are some nice in-between the cracks settings that you can go much softer on the compression artefacts, and they line up for parallel compression as well.
Hope you enjoy!
-M.

[lordnielson]

Thanks!
Is it the 1176 preset you are referring to? If so, the sampling process I used definitely will leave some pumping, but in the full library there are some nice in-between the cracks settings that you can go much softer on the compression artefacts, and they line up for parallel compression as well.
Hope you enjoy!
-M.

So there's a mix slider in there as well ? I like the compression artifacts and the liqdt slider seems to ease up the release cutoff. Did you sample the actual saturation and compression curve of the unit ?

[mangel1234]

Thanks!
Is it the 1176 preset you are referring to? If so, the sampling process I used definitely will leave some pumping, but in the full library there are some nice in-between the cracks settings that you can go much softer on the compression artefacts, and they line up for parallel compression as well.
Hope you enjoy!
-M.

So there's a mix slider in there as well ? I like the compression artifacts and the liqdt slider seems to ease up the release cutoff. Did you sample the actual saturation and compression curve of the unit ?

If you place the original .wav on two tracks in your DAW, one dry and one with the Neb preset, you can do parallel as long as your DAW compensates for vst delay. There aren't conflicting phase issues in the preset, so it will blend nicely.

The sampling was done with a chain of settings, and a ton of variations to get the best examples of attack and release. It is only for the compression and variance in frequencies: the preamps and equalizers from the library are the primary focus for distortion and frequency characteristics, since they are about entire signal paths and not individual units. The frequency reactions of hitting the 1176 input is sampled, but without distortion.
For a very dimensional hardware effect, load up HMIDFree with eq essentially flat, and raise the input of Nebula to +4 to +6dB, and lower Nebula's output to -4-6dB, then send it to the 1176 preset and adjust it's input from a few dB low and listen. Lowering the 1176 input will give you a range of 'driving' the signal with the harmonics from the HMIDFree preset.

If you have a decent amount of ram/cpu, you can try placing HMIDFree or HLowFree on each individual drum track and group bus to a single 1176 preset and really get the feel of the signal chain of the eq's. You will hear how they are made to work together as a virtual, very realistic all analog studio.

[Sam@Megablastic]

I like it. It doesn't have the "funny" topend that the UAD version does (in my very personal opinion). I find that it can be quite hard to stop it from pumping though, but maybe that's a tweak issue.

Thanks!
Is it the 1176 preset you are referring to? If so, the sampling process I used definitely will leave some pumping, but in the full library there are some nice in-between the cracks settings that you can go much softer on the compression artefacts, and they line up for parallel compression as well.
Hope you enjoy!
-M.

Hi, I've been reading your http://cdsoundmaster.com/rass1manual.html info.....

Lovely stuff, and I've also been a firm believer just about all you wrote about with regards to why in the box mixing sounds so....in the box.

But can you confirm for me that you used the origional units and analog hardware to make the presets.....or were they digital emulations. It's just the bit about the Helios eq (havn't read past that bit yet), and on further reading the 1073 sounds like you sampled the digital UAD-1 emulations rather than the actual units?

So are these Nebula samples of the real deal or of uad-1 emulations. If Uad-1 emulations doesn't that maybe defeat the object? I mean no offence by this but it's kindof like me sampling the the Aturia Mini Moog and releasing it as an analog sample emulation of a Moog.

Forgive me if I have read this wrong though.

[lordnielson]

The frequency reactions of hitting the 1176 input is sampled, but without distortion.
For a very dimensional hardware effect, load up HMIDFree with eq essentially flat, and raise the input of Nebula to +4 to +6dB, and lower Nebula's output to -4-6dB, then send it to the 1176 preset and adjust it's input from a few dB low and listen. Lowering the 1176 input will give you a range of 'driving' the signal with the harmonics from the HMIDFree preset.

If you have a decent amount of ram/cpu, you can try placing HMIDFree or HLowFree on each individual drum track and group bus to a single 1176 preset and really get the feel of the signal chain of the eq's. You will hear how they are made to work together as a virtual, very realistic all analog studio.

That does work very well indeed. In your estimation how close are the sampled presets to the original hardware, sound and reaction wise ?

[dreaddd]

oh jeeeeeeez
thanx Giancarlo...dunno when i find time to test them but i already caaaant wait to enjoy them in a mix

Peace out

[mangel1234]

Hi Sam@Megablastic,

Thanks for taking the time to read from the website!
Let me do my best to answer the scope of your question here.

In the example of HMidFree and HLowFree eq's, there is no single device being sampled. Since the concept is to attempt to construct the true reaction of an entire signal chain, with each device in it's proper order, with the right gain-staging and resulting harmonics, distortion build-up, variations in dynamics (slight crunching of/limiting in the signal, circuits that sustain the signal slightly, etc.), I first had to find a way to recreate what I think needed to exist in order to replicate the true, ALL analog studio 'in the box'.
The way I mention it on the website in regards to using Nebula in order to try and achieve this, is that most people are going to logically focus on individual, high end pieces of gear to sample for Nebula. For example, Velinas' BAE 1073 series, which he did a phenominal job sampling a Brent Averill '73 for the eq and several settings for preamp. In my case, I also sampled a Chameleon 7602 for the preamp and eq, separate and combined.

The preamp of the 7602 device, my API-series preamp, and other outboard gear came into play in helping to learn, study, take notes, save lists of settings about what is happening to signals, saved alongside .wav files of the same test results with different types of music to help me construct the concept from the bottom up.

No I do not own all of the gear in the world, and that includes the Helios. I do own the UAD-1, and this is partly why I think I was able to get this far with my idea, but nothing from UAD-1 is being directly sampled in the eq presets: here's how it goes, and why it satisfies what I originally set out to do in theory over a year and a half ago, before I fathomed trying to do this myself (with Giancarlo's help!):

EQ construction:
1- the input signal
Plugging into channel one of a very sweet, late sixties/early seventies mixing desk. Previous to sampling with Nebula, I had tons of before/after files of running .wavs through gear, and I had UAD-1 plug-ins and other plug-ins to analyze... not sample. I wanted to get some of the similarities in frequency plot of Neve/API-style input gain and harmonics, but it also had to line up nicely going to imaginary tape, and that meant looking at one stage in relation to the next, so when it came time to sampling, I sampled a chain of gear and a chain of DAW settings to get a realistic input preamp setting for imaginary idealized studio #1.
2- the eq section of the imaginary console.
I wanted it to have some of the qualities of the Helios, but I wasn't looking for a replica of it: just something that made for the awesome eq in this studio setting. I ran the UAD-1 through an analyzer to learn and help construct, but I think I succeeded in taking the concept beyond nice filters, and got more of the effect of bending, smoothing, and driving the filters at this stage, while maintaining what sounds so nice about them. It took a combination of matching curves to that eq and 3 others I liked, making some changes, and building the harmonics at the same stage, which is really the magic of what Nebula can do: it knows the difference in the signal at a soft volume vs' a loud one. Every single volume has been sampled differently to give the feel of this eq.
3- Building a tape track to send it to.
4- returning to the same imaginary input channel as mentioned in #1- a combination of real devices and programming to make necessary changes.
5- sending to a static group-bus based on the same circuit concepts for #1.
6- very slight emulation of a 2-track master tape- helps drive the signal of all before it in relation to all before it, adding light harmonic and frequency changes like it would in the real world.

So, I think what you have here is a really good example of what I had in my head, and each stage seems to match what I lined up by listening to compared .wavs, and looks accurate in the analyzers used.
This is why I state that the entire concept that I set out to achieve takes place in the eq presets, but the comps and tape programs are there to help fill any gaps. I truly never expected to get as far with the comps, and the majority of my plans for that are in the future after Giancarlo is able to complete the last elements of changes in sampling comps!

I hope you enjoy using what I made, and I definnitely invite you to try lining it up with some recordings to se how it fairs, using the input to add some gain-drive where necessary etc.
Thanks for asking and enjoy!

Sincerely,
Michael


"Lovely stuff, and I've also been a firm believer just about all you wrote about with regards to why in the box mixing sounds so....in the box.

But can you confirm for me that you used the origional units and analog hardware to make the presets.....or were they digital emulations. It's just the bit about the Helios eq (havn't read past that bit yet), and on further reading the 1073 sounds like you sampled the digital UAD-1 emulations rather than the actual units?

So are these Nebula samples of the real deal or of uad-1 emulations. If Uad-1 emulations doesn't that maybe defeat the object? I mean no offence by this but it's kindof like me sampling the the Aturia Mini Moog and releasing it as an analog sample emulation of a Moog.

Forgive me if I have read this wrong though."

[mangel1234]

I wanted to add a short follow-up to the above info!

After posting I remembered that for Neb Commercial I included the Clean73Mid preset from the library. After talking w/Giancarlo and Velinas, I decided to include that set of presets in the release as a bonus. Those are in fact modified samples from a "fill in company name here". As part of the research process for the more complex eq/signal chain presets, which are the primary accomplishment of the release, I took frequency plots of my outboard preamp at certain settings and combined them with a certain high end plug-in, to get the results of the signal-chain concept minus any 'drive' or harmonics. I think this came out nicely, but is only a portion of the concept, as it only represents the frequency changes that happen in a full signal path.

So,the previous post is certainly about the eq's as they relate to the ones that represent full signal path with distortion:
Retro_02_High
Retro_02_Mid
RetroStudioLowEQ
RetroStudioLoCut
RetroHi_LoBoost
RetroConsoleEQ1
These are all from scratch, use some real analog gear to represent the signal path, are variations based on some real equipment, but designed to be highly idealized and truly bring an entire analog studio to the DAW, as opposed to just an eq or variation of an eq.

Side note:
just on the topic of 1073s:
you might enjoy this page for some audio comparisons of various hardware and software versions:
http://cdsoundmaster.com/nebaudio.html

[Sam@Megablastic]

Thank you for the long and very detailed reply. I see where you are going and where you want to be....and like most people we don't all have Helios's, 1176 etc in analog form.

I'll give your presets a go, I just recently sold my 4 x Uad-1's as I'm leaning more towards hardware these days. Building a Neve 33609, dual 1176 and SSL compressor from scratch using Pcb's and origional analog parts.

But running in the box has big advantages over time etc.... I was thinking of doing something along the lines that you were once I had built the units.

I understand where you are going with sampling the whole chain rather than individual units and you are right ....that is the way to go. Nebula is the only way to get the low inpu cleanliness and high input harmonic distortion warmth that I love in a digital plug in.

I did love the uad-1 plugins but they are not 100%, the 33609 was the closest yet, but doesn't sound so great when pushed hard.

[shanecgriffo]

i'm a bit confused, i see the download for the free library, but is the one for the commercial users available yet?, also , will the free library ones run within the commercial plugin? thanks

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

i'm a bit confused, i see the download for the free library, but is the one for the commercial users available yet?, also , will the free library ones run within the commercial plugin? thanks

commercial users will have 4 programs instead of 3 using the same installer.

[shanecgriffo]

will the free library ones run within the commercial plugin? thanks

to answer myself.. yes they show up in the commercial version.. cool