KVR Audio

JohnPativens · Post by **JohnPativens** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:18 pm

tonedef71 wrote: If you are looking for pure versatility, then the following (from my collection of 30 mix packs) are good choices (in no particular order):

Core Expansion
Mastering/Mastering II
Songwriters Tools
The Mix Toolbox
Bass Toolbox
Drums Toolbox
Vocal Toolbox

"Modern Pop/Rock" and "Alternative Rock" are quite usable, too. If you plan on recording clean instruments and like fat, lush sounds, check out the "Ambient" mix pack.

The Producer Signature Series line of mix packs are excellent when you want to emulate a style or sound that the particular producer is known for. For example, I really dig Andy Sneap's rock and metal presets.

The "Peter Henderson" presets are a perfect example of presets that are quite usable on just about any source material. Many of his presets make use of delay.

The "Mix Toolbox" mix pack contains a small set of presets designed for very specific mixing needs (e.g. "Cello To The Front", "Bass De-Pick-Clicker", "Stereo Expander", etc.) set up as aux, master, insert or group bus presets. Sometimes they really do help to remedy a mixing problem. Some of the presets are artistic (e.g. "Steel Guitar Vibe").

As I mentioned before, the source material makes a big difference, especially when a particular EZMix preset is EQ'd to be between a certain range of frequencies.

Thanks for your review!

JohnPativens · Post by **JohnPativens** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 6:56 pm

Fleer wrote:
That's why I may pass on the Lead Vocals expansion after all, since Nectar has me covered.

I checked out the Nectar 2 plugin, that's pretty good and complete for vocals. Yes, with that you're set!

Anybody else wants to share with us spare opinions and reviews about the available expansions?

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 6:59 pm

JohnPativens wrote:
Anybody else wants to share with us spare opinions and reviews about the available expansions?

Anybody?

In the meantime, I'll go for the Peter Henderson pack, now I'm leaning towards "name" expansions for EZmix2 as this is clearly different from what I have in T-RackS, Alloy2, Nectar2 or Ozone7.

JohnPativens · Post by **JohnPativens** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 7:10 pm

Fleer wrote:
JohnPativens wrote:
Anybody else wants to share with us spare opinions and reviews about the available expansions?
Anybody?

In the meantime, I'll go for the Peter Henderson pack, now I'm leaning towards "name" expansions for EZmix2 as this is clearly different from what I have in T-RackS, Alloy2, Nectar2 or Ozone7.

Yes, the first part of the message about Nectar was directed to you!

The "anybody" part was for the whole community.
I agree with you anyway, you should go for the producer packs since you are already well covered on "generic" tools.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 8:31 pm

JohnPativens wrote: Yes, the first part of the message about Nectar was directed to you!
The "anybody" part was for the whole community.

Got that, John

I was trying to strengthen your call for anybody else to chime in!

JohnPativens · Post by **JohnPativens** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 6:16 am

Fleer wrote:
JohnPativens wrote: Yes, the first part of the message about Nectar was directed to you!
The "anybody" part was for the whole community.
Got that, John
I was trying to strengthen your call for anybody else to chime in!

Ahaahahaha I misunderstood

Let's strengthen the call then!

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 5:07 am

Got the Henderson pack. Testing this weekend.
Come on people, give us your opinions and reviews on all these sweet EZmix packs.

JohnPativens · Post by **JohnPativens** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 5:23 am

Fleer wrote:Got the Henderson pack. Testing this weekend.
Come on people, give us your opinions and reviews on all these sweet EZmix packs.

That's good news! Let me know if it's worth it, it might be my next one also.

Anyway, I've been trying some different mixes lately using the few expansions I have VS the factory set.
I'd say about generic inserts, you can get similar results using no expansions at all, maybe with some help from the Core expansion, unless you need some very specific tones (like the metal guitar amp presets by Andy Sneap or anything like that).
On the other hand, some of the most useful presets are the drums rooms/busses/overhead, other specific instrument group inserts and the mastering chains you get in producer's "name" expansions.
For instance, I could do better sounding drums using the Ainlay pack than with Factory set. Also I like his two mastering presets more.
I think that's the real point in producer's packs.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 5:49 am

I believe you're right. Those producer's packs are the way to go.
On another note, I was wondering whether the older packs, made for the original EZmix, have been updated when EZmix2 came out, as they did almost double in price. Couldn't find any information after a quick net search.
I did trace some launch dates of the older ones, however: Chuck Ainley and Mark Needham (2011), Mastering (June '12), Neil Dorfsman (Sep '12), Vocal Toolbox (Feb '13), Peter Henderson (March ’13), Lead Vocals (May '13), The Mix Toolbox (June ’13), Mastering II (Aug '13), Andy Sneap (Nov '13), Ambient (Feb '14), Colin Richardson (Aug '14).

JohnPativens · Post by **JohnPativens** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:08 am

On YouTube there's an old video review of the Chuck Ainlay pack on Ez Mix 1.
Preset list and fx chains are the same. I guess they just optimized the older packs for the new engine code-wise, but I think they just sound the same.
I for sure would never pay full 50$ price for each pack!

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:12 am

Fleer wrote:On another note, I was wondering whether the older packs, made for the original EZmix, have been updated when EZmix2 came out

For the most part, EZMix 2 is an improved version of EZMix 1; UI improvements were made and new features and effects were added (e.g. Impulse Response modeled amps). So any EZMix 1 pack would be compatible with EZMix 2; in those rare instances when enhancements to the EZMix 2 architecture broke compatibility with an older mix pack, the mix pack was updated. The mix packs themselves do not appear to be updated very often; I think only two of the thirty I own provided a new version to download. Newly released mix packs of course take advantage of the latest EZMix 2 features. Update 2.0.9 of EZMix 2 was mandatory to provide support for newer mix packs.

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:19 am

JohnPativens wrote:I for sure would never pay full 50$ price for each pack!

I agree. If you can hold off until you can afford to purchase the choose-your-own six pack, it is a better deal. The choose-your-own six pack comes with six individual codes that you can redeem separately at any time. If you do not like the currently available mix packs, you can bank the redemption codes until a new mix pack is released that you want.

I suppose that you could also sell on the KVR marketplace any unused redemption codes that you do not need.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:46 pm

tonedef71 wrote:
Fleer wrote:On another note, I was wondering whether the older packs, made for the original EZmix, have been updated when EZmix2 came out
For the most part, EZMix 2 is an improved version of EZMix 1; UI improvements were made and new features and effects were added (e.g. Impulse Response modeled amps). So any EZMix 1 pack would be compatible with EZMix 2; in those rare instances when enhancements to the EZMix 2 architecture broke compatibility with an older mix pack, the mix pack was updated. The mix packs themselves do not appear to be updated very often; I think only two of the thirty I own provided a new version to download. Newly released mix packs of course take advantage of the latest EZMix 2 features. Update 2.0.9 of EZMix 2 was mandatory to provide support for newer mix packs.

That's how I saw it. Yet I thought Songwriter's Tools should have been updated at least once, because EZmix2 added those two dial knobs, if I'm not mistaken.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:50 pm

JohnPativens wrote: I think that's the real point in producer's packs.

Interestingly, some of the no-name packs have a name behind them, other than a Toontrack employee. The Mix Toolbox, for instance, was made by Mark Hallman of Carole King and Ana Difranco fame.

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:21 pm

Fleer wrote:
tonedef71 wrote:
Fleer wrote:On another note, I was wondering whether the older packs, made for the original EZmix, have been updated when EZmix2 came out
For the most part, EZMix 2 is an improved version of EZMix 1; UI improvements were made and new features and effects were added (e.g. Impulse Response modeled amps). So any EZMix 1 pack would be compatible with EZMix 2; in those rare instances when enhancements to the EZMix 2 architecture broke compatibility with an older mix pack, the mix pack was updated. The mix packs themselves do not appear to be updated very often; I think only two of the thirty I own provided a new version to download. Newly released mix packs of course take advantage of the latest EZMix 2 features. Update 2.0.9 of EZMix 2 was mandatory to provide support for newer mix packs.
That's how I saw it. Yet I thought Songwriter's Tools should have been updated at least once, because EZmix2 added those two dial knobs, if I'm not mistaken.

I do not recall the "Songwriter's Tools" mix pack being updated; I only seem to recall the "Ambient" and "Andy Sneap" mix packs receiving v1.0.1 updates.

I have noticed in some mix pack presets that the second knob is unused and so is disabled.

EzMix 2 Expansion Packs Thread: User Reviews