Channelstrip vs. single Plugins?

[Caine123]

hey guys i recently got the SSL Native Channelstrip as i wanted to test and didnt see a demo and the price was around 14 bucks and i wanted to try it out. but i dunno yet if im convinced or not...

i mostly used single plugins e.g. fabfilter ones and of course you have this way more settings etc. so in the end does the SSL Native Channelstrip for example, has any unique character to the fabfiler chain i would do?
e.g.
1 Pro Q 3
1 Gate
1 Transient Shaper
1 Comp

vs
1 SSL Channel Strip

or would you even say first the channel strip to hear on one instance how you wanna transform/mix the sound and then fine tune the rest? or why and how would you choose a channelstip over single plugins?

thx

[beely]

It's mostly about workflow, and flavour for me.

I can still load in particular tools to solve particular problems, but a good channel strip gives you a core set of useful tools you can generally apply everywhere without having to faff around loading different plugins when you want to quickly tweak something.

It's not about having everything you need with all the parameters all the time, it's about having the bulk of the core set of accessible tools without hundreds of parameters in the way ready to go.

The SSL Channel Strip isn't a particularly characterful channel strip BTW, it's clean and focused. Other channel strips may offer a similar set of tools, but have a different flavour (eg analog console emulation, saturation, vintage Neve sound, rock SSL sound, american API sound etc...).

Use what best works for you, some people find the channel strip workflow really quick and useful, other people find it limiting and prefer to always load individual tools of their choice when they need them.

[cryophonik]

There’s no right or wrong and it’s fine to use both, combine channel strips with individual plugins, etc. The three things I like about channel strips are (1) easy accessibility to a bunch of processors in one interface (esp. useful for tracks that don’t need deep processing, like percussion, etc.), (2) usually much lower CPU hit than using a bunch of individual plugins, and (3) internal sidechaining in many channel strips. For tracks that need more detailed work (e.g., vocals), I prefer individual plugins, or a combination of both.

[Vortifex]

Edited

[MogwaiBoy]

It's simply about workflow and the benefit of limitation. No one hears an SSL desk emulation in your music.

[Unaspected]

I wouldn't be using a channel strip for deep processing of a sound. I'm hoping the sound coming in already sounds good and the channel strip is there for bread-and-butter processing; to balance the mix whilst imparting some kind of additional vibe.

Otherwise, if a channel strip emulation has a certain sound then there's nothing wrong with including that as part of a more elaborate signal chain.

As has already been said: It's purely down to how you want to approach the mix.

Some might want to only treat certain elements of the mix but I quite like the glue provided by processing at least one instrument group with the same strip, so as to emulate a desk.

[subterfuge]

For me the benefits of channel strips are similar to what has already been mentioned. Everything in one GUI instead of half-dozen floating windows is way easier and faster to handle, no constant opening/closing, resizing and rearranging of several windows.

Controls are (hopefully) limited to the essentials which also makes adjustments faster. Control ranges might well be a bit different and that along with less or no visual feedback apart from the knob positions forces you to mix trusting your ears. So instead of drawing nice, cool or "right looking" shapes, just few quick moves until it sounds right.

Added benefit is the possible special character and behavior of a particul channel strip type. All that said, I don't use channel strips. I have already limited my fx choices to few essentials which I know inside out. Often I also use only one or two fx on a given thing, if even that. So a channel strip is already too much, yet maybe not providing the exact thing I need. If I need to start adding individual fx, I can do that right from the get go.

In a creative flow, it's crucial to keep it going without unnecessary stops, working fast and not really thinking about the tools themselves. I can see how channel strips could help with this. Whole different thing is when learning to do something or just faffing around. Then you might well spend time deciding between hundreds of similar tools or maybe seeing if there would be something new to download.

Not related to the sound or necessarily even workflow and surely a personal thing, but some things like the mentioned SSL Native channel strip do look beautiful. Skeuomorphism doesn't bother me and looks like that could make me want to work using it. But in the end it will come down to how well it would fit what I need.

[fese]

I like channel strips because of limited options/functionality. Keeping it simple and having to work around limitations are a great exercise.

[Ploki]

i prefer singles

because i have quick workflow with a few plugins and i get to the result faster than fiddling with a channel strip.

however for less present elements like i.e. some backvox or adlibs i often just slap voxformer on and twist a few knobs.

i prefer adding flavour of my own instead of whatever arbitrary shit channel strips usually have

[briefcasemanx]

I use channel strips on less important tracks that I want to tweak fast.

[Jkist]

Channel strips can be quick and easy ways to just get something sounding a certain way, like mentioned. But also, I find a lot of channel strips are modeled after some analog gear, so they impart a particular flavor which would be desirable at that time. I've been enjoying VCS-1 a lot for that.

I generally don't use or own many channel strips, but I think having a few intuitive, flavorful ones in your toolbox is pretty useful.

[ABBAhighfan]

I would rather use separate plugins. Channel strips are best used for comparison or when you need to quickly.

[kPere]

Im more for seperate plugins as well. But sometimes its fun to put a SC on couple of tracks, usually use PA ones then to sum some imperfections with their TMT. But its just for one i guess. I like my workflow with single plugs, its not any slower and more precise with what i want to achieve.