Sonnox Dynamics plug-in: Tell me your thoughts on it
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
Thanks for the comments. I sold Relab LX480 too and bought Phoenix and then got R2.
Neither of them can replace LX480 imo and nothing I've used including Lex PCM is as dense. But I do understand what you mean about the dated sound. I think that's part of the reason why I sold mine. Will probably use R2 for vintage sounds and Quinto's new 250 emu.
So Sonnox let me retrial Dynamics. I am very impressed. You can do huge, and I mean huge amounts of gain reduction and you can hear that it's compressed, but you'd never guess just how much it's compressing just from listening. I did 20db of gain reduction on a synth with I think about 4db of limiting, sounded totally fine. No pumping, no distorting. Amazing stuff really. I think you can get a very robust mix with this plug-in. I even used it on the master and a tiny bit of GR and the warm and things really got loud and heavy. Very good stuff.
Also having so much in on place is handy, being able to make some simple quick eq adjustments is useful too.
I think I'll get this.
Neither of them can replace LX480 imo and nothing I've used including Lex PCM is as dense. But I do understand what you mean about the dated sound. I think that's part of the reason why I sold mine. Will probably use R2 for vintage sounds and Quinto's new 250 emu.
So Sonnox let me retrial Dynamics. I am very impressed. You can do huge, and I mean huge amounts of gain reduction and you can hear that it's compressed, but you'd never guess just how much it's compressing just from listening. I did 20db of gain reduction on a synth with I think about 4db of limiting, sounded totally fine. No pumping, no distorting. Amazing stuff really. I think you can get a very robust mix with this plug-in. I even used it on the master and a tiny bit of GR and the warm and things really got loud and heavy. Very good stuff.
Also having so much in on place is handy, being able to make some simple quick eq adjustments is useful too.
I think I'll get this.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
Thanks for the comments. I sold Relab LX480 too and bought Phoenix and then got R2.
Neither of them can replace LX480 imo and nothing I've used including Lex PCM is as dense. But I do understand what you mean about the dated sound. I think that's part of the reason why I sold mine. Will probably use R2 for vintage sounds and Quinto's new 250 emu.
Neither of them can replace LX480 imo and nothing I've used including Lex PCM is as dense. But I do understand what you mean about the dated sound. I think that's part of the reason why I sold mine. Will probably use R2 for vintage sounds and Quinto's new 250 emu.
Last edited by Aiynzahev on Thu Oct 17, 2013 4:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
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Dean Aka Nekro Dean Aka Nekro https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=162100
- KVRAF
- 6178 posts since 4 Oct, 2007 from Escaped At Last
A fine choice
I've been re-trying it on all sorts also man, On loads of mixes and all sorts of source material even though I've had it since the Pro Tools native versions, Perhaps I've neglected it abit of the last few years
as I have quite a good arsenal of dynamic processors, Well I'm sure you know how it is/how it goes/gets sometimes.
So that said I have reinstated it as my default dynamics insert in PT and made up a good number of dynamic processing & channel strip racks in Ableton Live with whichever parameters are most crucial macro mapped.
As you know I mostly work on modern metal material, So mainly mic'd up sources with Toontrack, Wavemachine Labs, NI Kontakt and Drumracks to either build up an already tracked drumkit or if its just me then all the drums come from there oppose to synthesized sources which is what yourself mainly works with/on (I dabble with synthesis but stick to magware mostly and strictly for my ears only where its best kept tbh). All that says to me is a testament to the universal quality of the Oxford Dynamics handling anything.
Then if adding warm is not enough for one's want/need for some 'mojo' then its easy to put abit more 'analogue' or 'character' afterwards with all the options
On another note, I picked up Brainworx bx_Digital as soon as it was released and I wouldn't part with it for anything. Although I do not have ArtsAcoustic CL-Series that is only due to having a few fugly green Joe Meek compressors in my racks, 'SMACK!' by Digidesign (obviously PT only but it covers similar ground sort of) and Herbert's ThrillseekerLA which can cover similar territory also sort of. There was/is a thread Nico started where I explained the only few reasons I did not snap it up. So I'd say personally keep those as they are top notch
Reverb wise I've spent many hours with that big old grey remote having fun with a 480L amongst others that are great but my home studio needs are not as exciting with WizooVerb W2, Waves IR-1 for convolution, WizooVerb being my all time love, Then Valhalla Room & VVV being what I reach for algorithmic wise. The Oxford Reverb I have but don't use that often but I still can't fault it although its most probably outclassed by VRoom & VVV plus the Lexicon, Relab & Exponential Audio offerings. The less said of what I have in my racks the better
but still shitverb can sometimes be just the thing for dirty jobs
Cheers, All the best and to all as always
Dean
I've been re-trying it on all sorts also man, On loads of mixes and all sorts of source material even though I've had it since the Pro Tools native versions, Perhaps I've neglected it abit of the last few years
So that said I have reinstated it as my default dynamics insert in PT and made up a good number of dynamic processing & channel strip racks in Ableton Live with whichever parameters are most crucial macro mapped.
As you know I mostly work on modern metal material, So mainly mic'd up sources with Toontrack, Wavemachine Labs, NI Kontakt and Drumracks to either build up an already tracked drumkit or if its just me then all the drums come from there oppose to synthesized sources which is what yourself mainly works with/on (I dabble with synthesis but stick to magware mostly and strictly for my ears only where its best kept tbh). All that says to me is a testament to the universal quality of the Oxford Dynamics handling anything.
Then if adding warm is not enough for one's want/need for some 'mojo' then its easy to put abit more 'analogue' or 'character' afterwards with all the options
On another note, I picked up Brainworx bx_Digital as soon as it was released and I wouldn't part with it for anything. Although I do not have ArtsAcoustic CL-Series that is only due to having a few fugly green Joe Meek compressors in my racks, 'SMACK!' by Digidesign (obviously PT only but it covers similar ground sort of) and Herbert's ThrillseekerLA which can cover similar territory also sort of. There was/is a thread Nico started where I explained the only few reasons I did not snap it up. So I'd say personally keep those as they are top notch
Reverb wise I've spent many hours with that big old grey remote having fun with a 480L amongst others that are great but my home studio needs are not as exciting with WizooVerb W2, Waves IR-1 for convolution, WizooVerb being my all time love, Then Valhalla Room & VVV being what I reach for algorithmic wise. The Oxford Reverb I have but don't use that often but I still can't fault it although its most probably outclassed by VRoom & VVV plus the Lexicon, Relab & Exponential Audio offerings. The less said of what I have in my racks the better
Cheers, All the best and to all as always
Dean
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- KVRist
- 111 posts since 25 Apr, 2009
Valhalla Vintage Room and Lexicon PCM can come really close to 480L density, but you need to set them this way. Relatively high bass multiplier, high diffusion and you also have to watch how you set the "tap slope" with PCM if you want to get into the 480L territory.
R2 really cannot be as dense but is a completely different type of verb. I know of nothing that would resemble R2.
Yes, Oxford Dynamics as I have already mentioned really is a tool of the highest class.
R2 really cannot be as dense but is a completely different type of verb. I know of nothing that would resemble R2.
Yes, Oxford Dynamics as I have already mentioned really is a tool of the highest class.
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- KVRian
- 540 posts since 8 Jul, 2009
Fabfilter Limter, Compressor and Gate are my main dynamic plugins. Brilliant stuff. Slate FG-X is on sale... Maybe I'll buy it. I hear good things about it.
I demo'ed the Sonnox plugins, but I missed sidechaining and VST3. They sounded alright.
I demo'ed the Sonnox plugins, but I missed sidechaining and VST3. They sounded alright.
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
Just wanted to share this with you guys, everything you can see "in" enabled. Everything max, see the huge amount of GR.
This Sonnox Dynamics is totally clean!

On this post on GS I put up a wave file of the vertigo's aliasing:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-co ... ost8854296
Edit, this test is a little flawed because I used a low freq. Taking it up to 909 Hz shows aliasing, but still extremely little on "normal" mode under normal use. More in Linear mode.
This Sonnox Dynamics is totally clean!

On this post on GS I put up a wave file of the vertigo's aliasing:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-co ... ost8854296
Edit, this test is a little flawed because I used a low freq. Taking it up to 909 Hz shows aliasing, but still extremely little on "normal" mode under normal use. More in Linear mode.
Last edited by Aiynzahev on Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
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- KVRian
- 549 posts since 9 Aug, 2005 from USA
now that's some positive feedback.jantex wrote:Despite many plugins I own (UAD, Waves Mercury, Fabfilter, Plugin Alliance, had all Softube, PSP, DMG Audio), I still regularly use Sonnox Dynamics and I greately prefer it to Compassion (which I have just sold). Very straigh forward, very powerful and transparent as hell!
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
Okay, so the sale is almost over, need to decide soon.
But as much as I like this Sonnox Dynamics I am considering just passing it up. I have a lot of compressors already and Elysia Alpha is very good with clean compression.
But then, I did some test, really listening closely, and the same amount of compression with the same settings and Sonnox keeps the low end on my kick, in fact a 4db gain reduction I actually cannot hear a difference, and doing this in the most controlled way I know. With Elysia Alpha I can definitely hear a difference doing 4db gain reduction. Which means after Alpha I have to compensate for lost punch.
I am doing .87ms attack which would normally suck the punch out of the kick with any compressor, but not the Sonnox.
This might be one of the reasons I've had a lot of trouble with compression in general and have tried so many.
With Elysia Alpha I cannot use it in a way to contain the kick without having to then compensate after, which is one of the things I dislike about processing and why I decide to keep one after a long time and sell another.
Shame because I really wanted to not buy Sonnox and save the money. But with the Sonnox I can just do what I think it "should do" and then move on because it does do it. I don't spend ages fiddling about trying to get a setting that works on the material.
But as much as I like this Sonnox Dynamics I am considering just passing it up. I have a lot of compressors already and Elysia Alpha is very good with clean compression.
But then, I did some test, really listening closely, and the same amount of compression with the same settings and Sonnox keeps the low end on my kick, in fact a 4db gain reduction I actually cannot hear a difference, and doing this in the most controlled way I know. With Elysia Alpha I can definitely hear a difference doing 4db gain reduction. Which means after Alpha I have to compensate for lost punch.
I am doing .87ms attack which would normally suck the punch out of the kick with any compressor, but not the Sonnox.
This might be one of the reasons I've had a lot of trouble with compression in general and have tried so many.
With Elysia Alpha I cannot use it in a way to contain the kick without having to then compensate after, which is one of the things I dislike about processing and why I decide to keep one after a long time and sell another.
Shame because I really wanted to not buy Sonnox and save the money. But with the Sonnox I can just do what I think it "should do" and then move on because it does do it. I don't spend ages fiddling about trying to get a setting that works on the material.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
Wow so here we are, bout 7 months later, another 40% sale. I never did get any sonnox plug-ins last time, but as time has gone on I'm still very impressed, more so than many new plugins that have come out in the meantime. I will do my best not to let this sale pass by me this time.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
- KVRAF
- 2177 posts since 12 Nov, 2009
So how much is dynamics now? Last tome i bought the limiter, inflator and transient shaper and i love them.
Finally!
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
You can get it for $150 now. Just picked up the Inflator and Limiter, waiting for licences. Going to shoot it out against my Pro-L but I wan't the enhance function anyway.cyphersuit wrote:So how much is dynamics now? Last tome i bought the limiter, inflator and transient shaper and i love them.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
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- KVRian
- 1073 posts since 8 Mar, 2009
Might be just me being anal about attack shapes but it may not squash things much but the attack stage is nothing to write home about.it's extremely square sounding like most plugin compressors of the day
I do use oxford eq from time to time though,stupidly easy eq to dial in with it's amazing gain/Q interaction and i use inflator sparingly.i''d personally say transmod and the dynamics are the weakest of the bundle
TIMT
I do use oxford eq from time to time though,stupidly easy eq to dial in with it's amazing gain/Q interaction and i use inflator sparingly.i''d personally say transmod and the dynamics are the weakest of the bundle
TIMT
I
- KVRAF
- 6210 posts since 25 Dec, 2004
they have their place. i reckon.
personally, the Slate virtual buss compressors have all but killed most of the comps i own. but i still like them all. The Sonnox bundle with trans mod, inflator and limiter is good, but I use them probably more sparingly than most people, and could have possibly save the beans for pro-L and transient designer... even though I'll buy them all in the long run as I suffer a mutherfucker of a case of GAS.
personally, the Slate virtual buss compressors have all but killed most of the comps i own. but i still like them all. The Sonnox bundle with trans mod, inflator and limiter is good, but I use them probably more sparingly than most people, and could have possibly save the beans for pro-L and transient designer... even though I'll buy them all in the long run as I suffer a mutherfucker of a case of GAS.
sketches... http://soundcloud.com/onesnzeros
some artists i support... https://bandcamp.com/spectraselecta
some artists i support... https://bandcamp.com/spectraselecta
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4083 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
I got the Inflator and limiter now.
They are so easy to dial in that I think they are very easy to take what they do for granted.
They are so easy to dial in that I think they are very easy to take what they do for granted.
Aiynzahev-sounds
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
- KVRAF
- 6210 posts since 25 Dec, 2004
Excellent tools, but i find the limiter breaks apart with some material. The compressor is very cheap at JRR shop as i'm sure you've seen. It's great at that price, that's for sure.
sketches... http://soundcloud.com/onesnzeros
some artists i support... https://bandcamp.com/spectraselecta
some artists i support... https://bandcamp.com/spectraselecta
