Best channel strip plugin that's NOT emulation of SSL, Neve, API, Amek, etc.

[ghettosynth]

Personally enjoy Omni Channel. Andrew and the Waves folks seemed to put a lot of usability thought into it and it sounds good.

I tried to like it, but it's too large for my tastes. I've found that I really prefer a more modern non-skeuomorphic U/I.

[ralfrobert]

Somehow I like the good old Alloy 2 from iZotope.

[ghettosynth]

Somehow I like the good old Alloy 2 from iZotope.

That era had a certain simplicity. I have Nectar 2 and I quite liked it, but, it is not as feature rich as Neutron in terms of basics, if that makes sense. It has a usable plate reverb, but that isn't something that I want in a strip. I view channel strips as both a track tool and a bus tool and use them in both places.

I actually don't give a shit about the A/I tools except in Ozone. I'd like to see ToneBoosters make a channel strip with a uniform tabbed interface.

[BONES]

So do you use this on every, single track or just here and there where something needs a boost? Studio One has this kind of krap built into its mixer, if you want it.

[antic604]

So you don't want channel strips emulating Neve, Trident etc...you want what? emulations of shit desks?

No. We - well, at least I - want a plugin that has amp, gate, compressor, EQ, saturation, limiter/clipper in one, ideally on a single screen, with dedicated fixed-function knobs/faders so that I could quickly shape the sound using my ears, i.e. without looking at beautiful EQ curves or dynamic compressor transfer curves.

[jonalyn]

McDSP 6060

[antic604]

I'm thinking of things like:
TBProAudio CS-5501 - https://www.tbproaudio.de/products/cs-5501

Think that one is ace!

It' definitely full featured, but the workflow is terrible - drop-down menus everywhere, many things are hidden from view in secondary and tertiary panels. I wish it was simpler: with just once instance of everything, everything on screen and drag & drop for reordering the modules.

The "lower" version of that strip was very close to that, but they don't even sell it anymore

[antic604]

iZotope Neutron is pretty good...

Indeed, I keep forgetting about it because it doesn't look like a typical channel strip plugins, but it definitely is one

[ghettosynth]

So you don't want channel strips emulating Neve, Trident etc...you want what? emulations of shit desks?

No. We - well, at least I - want a plugin that has amp, gate, compressor, EQ, saturation, limiter/clipper in one, ideally on a single screen, with dedicated fixed-function knobs/faders so that I could quickly shape the sound using my ears, i.e. without looking at beautiful EQ curves or dynamic compressor transfer curves.

So it's not unreasonable that we want different things. I find Neutron's spectrum analysis and dynamic EQ visualization useful. I've thought about/tried using sub-hosts, but that just always ends up a mess that isn't necessarily portable across DAWs/Hosts.

[antic604]

McDSP 6060

Aren't most of the modules an emulation of some hardware units? I wasn't sure, that's why it's not in the OP.

[ghettosynth]

McDSP 6060

Aren't most of the modules an emulation of some hardware units? I wasn't sure, that's why it's not in the OP.

Yes, and styled in that 500 lunchbox style. IK has something like that as well.

[jonalyn]

yes there is emulation but there is a few one that are invention of Mcdsp

[audio/fault]

...I find my self using my DAW’s built-in channel strips more and more these days

Which is?

Primarily Logic, but I also still use Studio One and Cubase a bit. Sonar/Cakewalk has a great built-in channel strip, and that was my main DAW for years. But, I was really talking more in generalities. In the past, I used RenChannel on almost every track or buss because it was so light on the CPU and gave me instant access to EQ, dynamics, and gain/level, and mostly because I was just used to working with it as part of my core workflow. But, over time, most DAWs starting improving their own channel strips so much that it because unnecessary to use a third-party channel strip for general purpose processing.

where is the channel strip in logic hidden? haven't found it so far...

[Ploki]

[quote=audio/fault post_id=8155021
The only thing I'd do with an external mixer is set the level. And maybe pan.

People around here seem to look for excuses to use the maximum amount of effects on everything but where I prefer to put in my effort is to make the perfect sounds that require no effects whatsoever. Obviously that's not always possible, or achievable, but that's why more than half the effects I use in a song go onto my vocals and a couple go onto the drums (which are all sampled). For everything else, I tweak the patches to make things work together in a mix.

god damnit bones, stop making me agree with you

where is the channel strip in logic hidden? haven't found it so far...

https://support.apple.com/guide/logicpr ... 219210/mac

you can then use Smart Controls to make macros for all the plugins you insert, acting as a single GUI channel strip.
https://support.apple.com/guide/logicpr ... d66614/mac

[LeVzi]

Omni channel by a country mile, its so cool how it works. Its not modelled on anything as far as I know. I had movable modules and each one is pretty cool in terms of how they work.

The old one from TeamDNR would have been my first choice, but the dev passed away IIRC, and it never got further developed which was really a shame, as it was a brilliant channel strip.

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/mixcon ... laborative

Real shame this never got further development, but it may even still work.


EDIT : Yeah I checked, it does still work fine.