KVR Audio

Halonmusic · Post by **Halonmusic** » Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:33 pm

HOFA system is pretty cool. only have have the free version though

Dasheesh · Post by **Dasheesh** » Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:09 am

Hofa makes grown up plugs for adults. You don't want that reverb.

Look what happened when i mentioned the Channel X. This drops in my email. https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... eries.html

Halonmusic · Post by **Halonmusic** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:53 am

What is wrong with HOFAs reverb? I really like it. Again, i only have the free version of HOFA System.

dasoundjunkie · Post by **dasoundjunkie** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:03 am

I'm kinda partial to Kush's Blyss

Zoopy · Post by **Zoopy** » Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:20 pm

I am resurrecting this cause I still haven't really found something even after scrolling through the pages of arguing in this thread.

I basically want the Valhalla DSP version of a channel strip. No skeumorphic UI, resizable, focused on workflow. Why are all channel strips super gross looking? Neutron is not bad but it's multi-page and Izotope is kind of obnoxious. Double click reset + knob wheel support pleaaaase.

I fully agree with this earlier post

Captain wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 2:59 pm Some time ago I googled & compared a bunch of plugins to find a new go to channel strip. The first channel strip plugin I used was probably RChannel many years ago, then Waves SSL, then PA SSL. Nothing wrong with any of them, I have mixed and produced a lot of songs and albums with them, but I just felt there must be something even better and modern (or should I say, less restricted and conventional) out there.

If I could design my dream channel strip, it would be something like this:

1. A modern, resizable interface that doesn't try to be too skeuomorphic or copy the look of some hardware console. Console emulations are nice... but there's really no need to try to copy them any more, at least not in the GUI and functionality. We are talking about software on a computer screen, there's no restrictions or conventions we absolutely need to follow. Of course many tried and tested methods still make sense even in the software world, and there's no need to fix what ain't broken, but it's good to have a clean slate as a starting point when designing the GUI.

2. Able to see and adjust everything on a single page. This is kind of the point of a channel strip. It's still OK to "zoom in" to a specific element and possibly expose more controls, but there still should be a single view where you can do 97% of everything you need to do.

3. A selection of different EQ's, compressors and saturation types, selectable with a simple switch, but all of them behind a unified interface, so that the controls stay mostly the same when switching. The processors themselves can be analog modelled, based on some famous hardware, strictly digital, whatever... the more the better, as long as it's easy to compare them and choose the one that works best for the current channel.

4. All the basic mixing tools, plus some extras: EQ, compressor, saturation, de-esser (or simple dynamic EQ and/or multiband compressor), transient shaper, limiter, etc. And since this is 2021, also some intelligent resonance suppression thingies etc. I don't care much for any AI-based "wizard" type stuff, I know they can do amazing things, but they still feel a little too unpredictable and uncontrollable for any real world use. Oh and the ability to insert any 3rd party plugin at any point in the signal flow wouldn't hurt either.

5. Goes without saying, but of course everything needs to sound great. While this is a big and important part of the channel strip, somehow I'm least worried about this. There's so much great sounding plugins today that the biggest question is not if great algorithms exist, it's how they can be combined into a single usable package. And also goes without saying, CPU usage should be within reasonable limits.

I don't think anything exactly like this exists yet? I finally ended up with Omni channel, which ticks many of the boxes, but the GUI still feels a little oldschool. And while they fortunately made it resizable, it looks like crap in larger sizes. Anyway, I have now been using it for over half a year, and it works just like it should: I open it, I immediately know what I need to do without thinking too much, I do it, I move on.

Another one I liked was Izotope Neutron, which in many ways is exactly like the super modern channel strip I have been dreaming of, but the lack of a single "overview" page is a big minus. I really want to give it another go at some point, but Omni just feels so much easier to open...

Flux Evo Channel actually looks pretty good, somehow I missed it when I was looking for a new channel strip, need to give it a closer look. Thanks for the tip!

Like many others, I believe that Fabfilter would be the perfect company to make the perfect modern channel strip. Hope they are on it!

El°HYM · Post by **El°HYM** » Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:27 pm

Might be worth to check:
https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/h ... lstrip-mk3

Ploki · Post by **Ploki** » Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:48 pm

Zoopy wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:20 pm I am resurrecting this cause I still haven't really found something even after scrolling through the pages of arguing in this thread.

I basically want the Valhalla DSP version of a channel strip. No skeumorphic UI, resizable, focused on workflow. Why are all channel strips super gross looking? Neutron is not bad but it's multi-page and Izotope is kind of obnoxious. Double click reset + knob wheel support pleaaaase.

I fully agree with this earlier post

Voxengo Voxformer maybe
Also a bit old Metric Halo channel strip 3
Flux EVO channel
Eventide UltraChannel
FuseAudio VCS-1 i guess

I think voxformer checks the most marks.

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:25 am

Ploki wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:48 pm
Zoopy wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:20 pm I am resurrecting this cause I still haven't really found something even after scrolling through the pages of arguing in this thread.

I basically want the Valhalla DSP version of a channel strip. No skeumorphic UI, resizable, focused on workflow. Why are all channel strips super gross looking? Neutron is not bad but it's multi-page and Izotope is kind of obnoxious. Double click reset + knob wheel support pleaaaase.

I fully agree with this earlier post
Voxengo Voxformer maybe
Also a bit old Metric Halo channel strip 3
Flux EVO channel
Eventide UltraChannel
FuseAudio VCS-1 i guess

I think voxformer checks the most marks.

VoxFormer (plus Voxengo's multi-band DrumFormer) and the Metric Halo are about as close as I've found to a perfect channel strip.

Captain · Post by **Captain** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 8:35 am

Ha, thanks for resurrecting this! Agreed, I don't think there still is anything out there that looks, works and feels like a truly modern "do it all" channel strip. I'm still using Waves Omni Channel, and I'm quite happy with it and it does what it's supposed to do, but it's little things like this that irritate me: Waves recently added HD graphics to Omni Channel (like, finally). But they forgot to update all the knobs, so parts of the interface are still lo-res, which is just... I know it doesn't affect the sound or workflow, but makes me wonder if Waves has any quality control or interest in fixing these things. And don't get me started on WUP. Fabfilter, are you out there?</waves_rant>

fese · Post by **fese** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:26 am

The Perfect Channelstrip

is a chimera and will never exist. Well, except maybe if you hire a dev to build one specifically to your needs, but I guess you’re not getting away with 29 bucks then…

Zoopy · Post by **Zoopy** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:53 pm

I emailed Valhalla

Ploki · Post by **Ploki** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:53 pm

what's wrong with Voxformer?

Zoopy · Post by **Zoopy** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:19 pm

Ploki wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:53 pm what's wrong with Voxformer?

It's actually pretty close, I find the UI to be pretty ugly and retro in a bad way. Some things are still hidden behind other screens and the way it resizes is slow. I used GlissEq for years and years and years and love Voxengo but I wouldn't consider their philosophy modern or speedy.

A neat thing I've discovered through this search is Klanghelm SDRR in Desk mode is meant to be used as a channel strip, which I didn't know and am a big fan of.

https://klanghelm.com/contents/products/SDRR.html

I think I've resigned to just making my own Ableton racks for this sort of thing. VCS-1 and Evo are real close too, but again are just fiddly in little ways that defeat the purpose for me, specifically.

Ploki · Post by **Ploki** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:24 pm

yeah, voxengo GUI is, acquired taste.

I know what you mean tho, but perfect channel strip is really personal.
I would love to have Logic's "Smart Controls" (equivalent of ableton racks) as an insert form, instead of being tied to the channel strip, so i could build my own strips with macro controls mapped, with my own plugins.
I haven't found a good macro chainer yet.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:30 pm

hitherepeople wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:36 pm Now for me, I'd ask the question of why your not into the modeled ones? I demoed and promptly bought the SSL set from SSL when they were 50 bucks. I've never used a channel strip that is as good. The waves SSL is really quite nice (stood the test of time) but it's smaller and harder to read.

Funny, re-skimming this thread, I was thinking that the new SSL channel strip v2 and vocal strip should be considered. I'm like the OP - I don't give a flying f### about which developer's emulation more perfectly matches a console that I've never touched in my life, I just care about whether or not it works for my purposes. So, taking that out of the equation, the channel strip is excellent IMO, as is the vocal strip (which is not an emulation, but obviously optimized for vox).

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