KVR Audio

Trancit · Post by **Trancit** » Sun Mar 01, 2020 7:32 pm

Because of the genius videos of Dan Worral on the Fabfilter channel I decided to dig a little bit more into this whole Saturation story once again as I perhaps often underrated this topic too much and do not know much about it...

As I am not really able to decide between Reaper and Studio One I took this saturation topic to dive a bit into the Console Shaper of Studio One as I never felt before this would be important for me and never tested it properly... it always felt overcomplicated to me as it affects the channel levels before the mixer and changes can have drastic and destructive results... but anyway... I did now...

Until now I tended more to Reaper but after some serious tests with the Console Shaper apart from just watching others using it (where you never know if the sound changes not just come from higher levels)...
...I have to say: Wow!!!

This results I wouldn´t have expected and Console Shaper is just the old and simple little brother from CTC-1 which sadly doesn´t got a demo...

But even this thing sounds georgeous...

I tried to recreate this sound with various other saturation plugins, soft clippers and EQ´s by A/Bing, analyzing the difference in an spectrum analyzer and matching the loudness ...but nope... this thing does something magic... the result (with just the standard preset: basically very little drive) sounds very round and pleasant out of the box...

This brings Studio One a big step ahead of Reaper for me...

I find Presonus stuff in general sounding very very good by being extremely resource efficient... i.e. the Fat Channel plugins...but...
Do I have a wrong focus or are they really that good??

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:07 pm

Presonus plugs have always sounded good and out of the way, if that makes sense. They do the job required that you ask of them.

jinotsuh · Post by **jinotsuh** » Sun Mar 01, 2020 10:45 pm

I think they are pretty good, as good as Console Shaper is/was, I got CTGC-1 Pro on release and have never touched the original CS again. CTC-1 Pro goes on everything, every time, it's just not the same without it. Softube Tape is also MixFX compatible, and does very well, you do have to do a little dance because you can only have 1 MixFX per slot/bus, but it works great, some say it is CPU intensive when used as a MixFX plug, I have never experienced that personally.

I personally bailed on REAPER about 4 years ago, when Studio One 3 was released, never regretted it or had any desire to go back, and unless PreSonus/Studio One starts going down the chute I would never even contemplate returning to REAPER, even then I would likely look elsewhere.

oneway · Post by **oneway** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 12:20 am

They're good although there's only three of them (CTC-1, Console Shaper, and Softube Tape). Just remember they only make an impact on the Mixdown if I remember correctly. So if you're exporting Stems through the normal method I don't think they make a difference. I still strongly prefer Studio One to REAPER for almost too many reasons to list but if CTC-1 is the only deciding factor for you I figured the whole Stem export thing beared mentioning.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:59 am

The S-1 stuff is good in general. I've never used Reaper so i can't really compare the 2.

Danilo Villanova · Post by **Danilo Villanova** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:04 am

You could try the Airwindows Console plugins (free) in REAPER. They’re also ‘summing’ plugins, keep in mind that you need to put one on each individual channel AND on the buss.

But yeah, S1 is just more fun to use than REAPER in every way.

Trancit · Post by **Trancit** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:26 am

Danilo Villanova wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:04 am You could try the Airwindows Console plugins (free) in REAPER. They’re also ‘summing’ plugins, keep in mind that you need to put one on each individual channel AND on the buss.

...

Just want to be precise before this thread turns into a wrong direction...

It isn´t that I am not aware of how summing plugins/console emulations work (even if I have completely ignored them

)...

It´s that when I compare them side by side in Studio One with the Mix FX the latter does so much more... it just sounds so full bodied and pleasant ... much more than with anything I compared to...

Perhaps it´s really about the core level integration or perhaps they found a very nice setting which does this magic but it´s nearly like a "shit to gold" converter here...

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:32 am

I wished that all included fx were equally good though. The analog delay, for example, is utter shit... the reverb, phaser or chorus fx aren't really great either.

Well, I have more than one third party alternative for those.

Danilo Villanova · Post by **Danilo Villanova** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:45 pm

Trancit wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:26 am
Danilo Villanova wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:04 am You could try the Airwindows Console plugins (free) in REAPER. They’re also ‘summing’ plugins, keep in mind that you need to put one on each individual channel AND on the buss.

...
Just want to be precise before this thread turns into a wrong direction...

It isn´t that I am not aware of how summing plugins/console emulations work (even if I have completely ignored them )...

It´s that when I compare them side by side in Studio One with the Mix FX the latter does so much more... it just sounds so full bodied and pleasant ... much more than with anything I compared to...

Perhaps it´s really about the core level integration or perhaps they found a very nice setting which does this magic but it´s nearly like a "shit to gold" converter here...

Have you compared it to the Airwindows plugins? I’ve been meaning to but haven’t had the time.

eclipxe · Post by **eclipxe** » Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:47 pm

Agreed - the Mix FX really do add something "special" that I can't replicate either. Love it.

Crossinger · Post by **Crossinger** » Tue Mar 03, 2020 4:10 pm

chk071 wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:32 am I wished that all included fx were equally good though. The analog delay, for example, is utter shit... the reverb, phaser or chorus fx aren't really great either.

Yes, the analog delay badly needs a successor. Phaser and Chorus do their job and I cannot imagine what else I could need. But imho the reverbs do really shine, especially Open Air with custom IR‘s. But the Plate preset of the RoomReverb isn‘t bad, either.

Trancit · Post by **Trancit** » Tue Mar 03, 2020 8:05 pm

Danilo Villanova wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:45 pm ...
Have you compared it to the Airwindows plugins? I’ve been meaning to but haven’t had the time.

I gave this a shot... but no chance against the Presonus stuff...
I ended up with a combination of Console6 and ToTape5 with higher "Louder" and "Fatter" values which brings it somewhat in this region but the console shaper in S1 sounds way more precise, more pleasant...

Trancit · Post by **Trancit** » Tue Mar 03, 2020 8:09 pm

Crossinger wrote: Tue Mar 03, 2020 4:10 pm
chk071 wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 8:32 am I wished that all included fx were equally good though. The analog delay, for example, is utter shit... the reverb, phaser or chorus fx aren't really great either.
Yes, the analog delay badly needs a successor. Phaser and Chorus do their job and I cannot imagine what else I could need. But imho the reverbs do really shine, especially Open Air with custom IR‘s. But the Plate preset of the RoomReverb isn‘t bad, either.

I never used the analog delay but their reverbs and I will never become friends... that´s for sure...
RoomReverb takes too much CPU for what it does and doesn´t do it very well for my taste at the very end and Open Air first has to think 5 minutes (yeah, I know too overdriven...) whether it loads the impulse file or not

AdvancedFollower · Post by **AdvancedFollower** » Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:31 am

The great thing about CTC-1 and the Console Shaper is that they aren't just saturation effects added to the current channel. They replace the entire summing engine in Studio One and affect all channels going into a bus, even if nothing is inserted on the individual channels. There are a few other plugins that do this, but they require you to insert one instance on each channel, mess around with "groups" etc.
I use CTC-1 in almost every project. One drawback is that it can have a pretty significant effect on the EQ curves and levels, so it's usually best to add them before you make any mixing moves.

The "Fat Channel" collection is also great and now works in any DAW as a VST. They also dropped the price from $500+ to $149 for the entire package. Lots of great, classic EQ's and comps in there.

Cartwheel · Post by **Cartwheel** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:57 am

After reading this forum, I decided to revisit Console Shaper - I've only been using S1 for a few months now so, lots of exploring to do - I know this term gets over-used but, it does seem to add some "3D" goodness. Initially, I thought the drive was a little harsh sounding but, using the slight setting, for my suff anyway, seems to be about right. I usually use Reelbus 4, because I thought it sounded more natural - but, warming-up to Console Shaper the more I use it.

Are the MIX FX in Studio One really that good??