KVR Audio

bbaggins · Post by **bbaggins** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 3:41 pm

I'd like to hear more about how folks use Space Boy.

I've demoed it twice now. The first time was about a year ago and my reaction was meh. But some users describe it as a unique game-changer, so I'm giving it another eval now. So far, it's still meh.

I've tried it with a lead guitar as transmitter and rhythm guitars as receiver, lead vocal as transmitter and entire instrumental mix as receiver, kick drum as transmitter and bass guitar as receiver.

In each case the effect was no more impressive than if I'd simply employed the same complementary EQ techniques I've used for the past 4 decades. Maybe that's what it does, only with less work?

Or maybe somebody can clue me in on what I'm missing.

jbraner · Post by **jbraner** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:43 am

Does anyone know how to get SPAN to work? I've loaded an instance in each track in Reaper but for the life of me I can't figure out how to get all the signals to appear in one instance of the plugin to compare them.

You put one instance on a track, and then you point other tracks to this one via their outputs or sends (there are 4 stereo pairs worth of inputs on the SPAN instance. Then you have to set up the input routing in SPAN. Then you uses the group buttons to pick what is displayed on the screen (primary display) and there is a button called "underlay" (not too intuitive IMHO) that chooses the second display on the screen.

It's not exactly straightforward - but any plugin with multiple inputs is going to be exactly the same...

kvaca · Post by **kvaca** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:56 pm

bbaggins wrote:I'd like to hear more about how folks use Space Boy.

I've demoed it twice now. The first time was about a year ago and my reaction was meh. But some users describe it as a unique game-changer, so I'm giving it another eval now. So far, it's still meh.

I've tried it with a lead guitar as transmitter and rhythm guitars as receiver, lead vocal as transmitter and entire instrumental mix as receiver, kick drum as transmitter and bass guitar as receiver.

In each case the effect was no more impressive than if I'd simply employed the same complementary EQ techniques I've used for the past 4 decades. Maybe that's what it does, only with less work?

Or maybe somebody can clue me in on what I'm missing.

well,it should sound very different than using common EQ techniques,becouse it behaves dynamically according to a received signal.

For instance-if your kick doesnt play than your bassguitar will NOT be affected at all,but if you use static EQ it will be ALWAYS affected.The difference in sound is like night and day,check your system or ears

bbaggins · Post by **bbaggins** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:19 pm

The difference in sound is like night and day,check your system or ears

That's why I asked for advice: the difference is NOT night and day. Perhaps I am not using the product correctly?

I'm pretty sure my system is OK, but I'll admit my ears are, uh, vintage.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:47 pm

Maybe I should be writing this to Santa Claus, but just in case it exists... what would be truly worth paying for would be something which combines the ability to see a lot of tracks' curves in one screen (e.g Blue Cat Multi, et al, which can handle 16) with the ability to then eq any given displayed frequency with a first-rate EQ, so you can see the changes (i.e. like Gliss EQ, except that it can only handle 4 tracks in the view window).

Now,you can view with Blue Cat, but to make any change you have to dismiss it, summon the appropriate EQ plug, make the change, and then switch back. Do-able but... what a boon to be able to do it all in one place. Anyone know if something like this exists?

MeldaProduction · Post by **MeldaProduction** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:57 pm

With MAutoEqualizer you can analyze both tracks and the plugin can then adjust the eq, so that it attenuates colliding frequencies from one of the tracks.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:23 pm

Thanks Vojtech, I will investigate. Do you offer senior citizen's discounts?

By the way, I tried out MAutoPitch last night and like it a LOT. Vynikající! You'l see my post about it in this sub-forum. Keep up the good work!

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:30 pm

Vojtech, I just had a quick look. Admittedly I read pretty fast but I didn't see -- how many tracks' live frequency curves can one see at one? Could it handle, say, 16?

munchkin · Post by **munchkin** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:19 pm

jbraner wrote:
Does anyone know how to get SPAN to work? I've loaded an instance in each track in Reaper but for the life of me I can't figure out how to get all the signals to appear in one instance of the plugin to compare them.
You put one instance on a track, and then you point other tracks to this one via their outputs or sends (there are 4 stereo pairs worth of inputs on the SPAN instance. Then you have to set up the input routing in SPAN. Then you uses the group buttons to pick what is displayed on the screen (primary display) and there is a button called "underlay" (not too intuitive IMHO) that chooses the second display on the screen.

It's not exactly straightforward - but any plugin with multiple inputs is going to be exactly the same...

Ok thanks! I spent ages trying to get two instances of SPAN to talk to each other but I just need to insert one and then route other tracks I want to compare to SPAN. I might have another go but I've just bought Space Boy which is really straight forward to use so I'll probably stick with that for now.

munchkin · Post by **munchkin** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:30 pm

bbaggins wrote:
The difference in sound is like night and day,check your system or ears

That's why I asked for advice: the difference is NOT night and day. Perhaps I am not using the product correctly?

I'm pretty sure my system is OK, but I'll admit my ears are, uh, vintage.

I've just bought Space Boy and find it very easy to use in Reaper. I load 2 instances into say the kick and bass or the synth and vocal tracks and then press the "Space it!" button and the mix instantly sounds better - both instruments (e.g. drums & bass or vocals & synth) seem to occupy their own space much more clearly.

I've no idea how it works - there could be a little man in there tweaking the EQ - all I know is that it works.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:37 pm

Munchkin, does Space Boy a) make space via adjusting frequencies, panning, or both? b) make space for a max of two tracks in relation to each other, or can it handle more?

munchkin · Post by **munchkin** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:51 pm

lingyai wrote:Munchkin, does Space Boy a) make space via adjusting frequencies, panning, or both? b) make space for a max of two tracks in relation to each other, or can it handle more?

So far I've got it working with two tracks. For example, Space Boy 1 on track A receives the signal from Space Boy 2 on track B. You can use it on as many pairs of tracks in a mix as you like. I think it adjusts the frequencies of each track so they don't conflict. It doesn't affect panning or the stereo image. Perhaps the dev or someone more knowledgeable than me can give a more in-depth explanation of how it works.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:57 pm

Thanks. I'm going to read the manual and maybe give it a go

munchkin · Post by **munchkin** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:17 pm

lingyai wrote:Thanks. I'm going to read the manual and maybe give it a go

It's worth trying the demo I think. I haven't read the whole manual but it would be good if it could compare and adjust more than two tracks which I don't think it's possible to do atm. Or maybe someone else knows otherwise and can explain how to do this.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:21 pm

I think we're probably hoping for too much

Maybe this is one for EZMix

Tool to analyse conflicting frequencies