Fuse Audio Labs releases the VCS-1 All-In Channel Strip

[escalona]

Frequencies on the left, gain on the right... the Q knob is the only one that wanders, but it's easy enough to identify though... what's so difficult about it? (or better yet: what makes other eqs that look pretty much the same any easier to read?) [I'm genuinely curious, folks, not trying to be an a$$]

Why use colours at all if the difference is so minimal that it isn't quickly obvious to the eye. I suppose that's what I don't like about it; as others have said, I want the entire knob coloured.

Ok, I see. So maybe full colored-knobs or maybe a different design for the Q knob... I don't know I always felt that the color choice for SSL knobs always confused me... somehow to me "green" sounds like low mid frequencies...

[ZargonTheMagnificent]

Don't care about what colour, but clear and obvious sets of knobs, ideally in a line or with a line around them to make it quickly clear the the eye that they are a set.

I suppose ideally (for example) a line of pink knobs, with F Q and G on them, and maybe LOW next to them.

[cantaloupe]

Well, the VCL-4 is an opto comp

Not 'an' opto comp, the opto comp

Fantastic release this one. Most excited i have been about a plugin in a long time. After mixing a couple songs today using only this plugin, i have no idea how you managed that sound with such low cpu hit - wizardry of the highest degree. And you nailed the GUI completely as well.

I'd like to echo the weird Q range though. To compare with another EQ i use a lot, the Tokyo Dawn SlickEQ has 5 fixed Q presets represented as colours. The sharpest 'surgical' colour precisely equals the default Q, 2.1, on the VCS-1. Then VCS-1 has half of the knob dedicated to going even sharper than that. And a huge range difference compressed in the first quarter. In practice, this makes adjusting the Q feel unpredictable and complicated. My immediate expectations were that ~1.0 should be at the top, and the resolution dedicated between 2.1 and 4.0 severely reduced. Just an opinion.

Looking forward to diving into the nuance of the preamp and the compressor.

[Dombaeb]

Demoing it for almost 3 hours and am glad I didn't buy any channel strip until today because this one is the top choice from any side I can imagine...Zero-latency, almost non-existent CPU-hit, beautiful quality sound, responsive, modern-looking UI, and it should be stable as a rock (opinion based on other Fuse Audio plugins reviews)...

And it's $29...I mean...WAT? I just met you because of the Novation giveaway and you, guys, run your business very ethically and make great, fair products with love. Thank you, I will definitely support you in the future.

[Niowiad]

Well, the VCL-4 is an opto comp

Not 'an' opto comp, the opto comp

Fantastic release this one. Most excited i have been about a plugin in a long time. After mixing a couple songs today using only this plugin, i have no idea how you managed that sound with such low cpu hit - wizardry of the highest degree. And you nailed the GUI completely as well.

I'd like to echo the weird Q range though. To compare with another EQ i use a lot, the Tokyo Dawn SlickEQ has 5 fixed Q presets represented as colours. The sharpest 'surgical' colour precisely equals the default Q, 2.1, on the VCS-1. Then VCS-1 has half of the knob dedicated to going even sharper than that. And a huge range difference compressed in the first quarter. In practice, this makes adjusting the Q feel unpredictable and complicated. My immediate expectations were that ~1.0 should be at the top, and the resolution dedicated between 2.1 and 4.0 severely reduced. Just an opinion.

Looking forward to diving into the nuance of the preamp and the compressor.

I had the same immediate impression with the Q values, and got quite surprised by how steep it was.
I would have expected the knob in default position to behave more like it currently does at around 0.8

I actually also agree on the EQ knob layout inconsistency on the 'MF" band controls brought up by others, maybe a slightly different look for the 3 different functions (random example, a colored ring on the GAIN knobs, something else on the FREQ knobs) could help. But it's also a matter of getting used to.

Cool plugin though. Killer price and impressive feature-set (variable channel unlink on the compressor ) considering the interface is looking quite clean and not as crammed as some other channel strips on the market.

[trmupstage]

I bought it. I had read elsewhere that it has some bug where it crashes in Cubase 11 if you use the VST3 version. I have not tested that yet but that would be a big temporary show stopper for me. I work in Nuendo 11 and have had various VST3 plugins hard crash. Poof... gone. Save often. Hope this issue gets resolved very quickly. I'm going to want to test this against SSL 9000 J on my drum channels.

[thecontrolcentre]

I'm going to want to test this against SSL 9000 J on my drum channels.

Interested to hear your conclusions

[fuseaudiolabs]

I bought it. I had read elsewhere that it has some bug where it crashes in Cubase 11 if you use the VST3 version. I can have not tested that yet but that would be a big temporary show stopper for me. I work in Nuendo 11 and have had various VST3 plugins hard crash.

Please let me assure you that we’ll be addressing these issues ASAP.

[fese]

Frequencies on the left, gain on the right... the Q knob is the only one that wanders, but it's easy enough to identify though... what's so difficult about it? (or better yet: what makes other eqs that look pretty much the same any easier to read?) [I'm genuinely curious, folks, not trying to be an a$$]

Yeah, I know a lot of channel strip EQs seem to use that classic console layout, but to me it doesn’t make sense in a plugin.
Compare it to the White and British Channels from IK Multimedia, where the EQ is in a horizontal layout, with Q, gain and frequency always in the same position (even with the gain knobs being bigger). It’s easy, you don’t have to think at all, your hand can move the mouse pointer automatically to the target, executing what you have in mind.

With this one there is this tiny interruption of the process where the brain (well, at least mine) goes out of creative mode into “wait, where is the bandwidth knob for LMF now?”-mode. It’s an interruption of the workflow. I guess that with regular use of the EQ that gets mitigated as you get used to it, but at the beginning, it just does need extra brain activity and distracts me from what I was going to do.
Maybe it’s an age thing and I’m just getting old

[sqigls]

Frequencies on the left, gain on the right... the Q knob is the only one that wanders, but it's easy enough to identify though... what's so difficult about it? (or better yet: what makes other eqs that look pretty much the same any easier to read?) [I'm genuinely curious, folks, not trying to be an a$$]

...you don’t have to think at all, your hand can move the mouse pointer automatically to the target, executing what you have in mind.

That's exactly why i built this thing.
i spaced the channels out and used different coloured knobs and small blobs of colour.
Just glancing at it i know what each and every knob does and i don't need to think twice.

Personally, colour does a lot for me when I'm producing or playing live. Maybe it's a "left brained" thing or an age thing i don't know, but it's immediate. Unlike having to squint and read a label.

midi-controller-sml.jpg

[Hettoblaster]

Wishlist: Highpass for the compressor would be great,

"...while the side-chain of the compressor can make use of the filters, the EQ, and external control signals"

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

Lovely strip guys.

I am experiencing some gui issues in Reaper 6.40 on Win 7. They actually result in crashing Reaper. It seems to be related to the scroll bars and reopening the instance. I have experienced a few different things but in general it is repeated by adjusting some parameters scrolling then closing the window.

This does not happen in Mulab or Mashine but neither of those have the ability to scroll the gui.

Congrats on a fine audio tool.

[Vortifex]

Edited

[Dark Fiber]

An almost complete channel strip for $29,- verrry nice!
I say almost complete, for me at least. Would like to see a tilt EQ added, and maybe a clipper. But that's just me dreaming of the ideal channel strip plugin. Can't be done for $29,-, but could be done for the non-discounted price?

[Burillo]

tilt-style EQ is something i wish more devs would recognize as an essential sound shaping tool. Sonimus Sweetone is quite literally my most used EQ plugin by a wide, wide, wide margin - the few knobs it has give me so much flexibility that more often than not i don't need to do much else in terms of sound shaping.