"Lindell Audio 50" API channel strip by Plugin Alliance

[Teksonik]

Are we still talking about the TMT ? All that does is emulate the slop in tolerances between channels on the hardware.

As for analog, first you have to establish that there is an actual advantage to analog. One person's "sterile" is another person's "clarity". One person's "warmth" is another person's "mud" and so on.

I understand the popularity of anything with the word Analog on it but do not share the same reverence for it as others do.

But again to each his own. If someone thinks a digital emulation of analog gear is magic then it is...to them.

[jamcat]

I think the goal is to sound more like you’re mixing through a real console. If that’s what you’re after, then it sounds “better.”

Better than? Like I said I'm not one to think that analog automatically =better.

Better than not sounding like a real console, if the console sound is what you you're after.

For me it's about it sounding like it came out of a proper recording studio, and not a home PC.
Computer recordings don't just sound more sterile, they also sound flatter and more cramped. Whatever the bx_consoles are doing, it is giving the mixes more depth, focus, and space between instruments, and that becomes obvious on an A/B comparison. To me, that IS better. But TMT is only one layer of what is making that happen, and far from the most significant one.

I switched to the bx SSL 4000 E and G channels from the IK British Channel. I love the IK models. They work and sound as expected. But when you switch a full mix from IK to bx (which is easy to do in Studio One with 2 clicks) you hear the instant difference, and to me, there is no contest, the bx channels sound like a physical console.

Is that due to the plugin components themselves or TMT ? What does a "physical console" sound like? Which ones have you spent time with?

I have experience with SSL consoles (4000 & 9000) as well as smaller form factor Mackies. Mixers do impart a distinct sound. Music will never sound as good as it does coming off a multi-track through a mixing console in the studio, and you just have to be there to experience it. It loses a little something in mixdown to ½" tape or digital, but getting your DAW mixdown to sound like that is the best you can hope for, which is what I'm trying to achieve.

The bx_console N is modeled after a specific console owned by Dirk, which has done duty in Skywalker Ranch and numerous studios around the world over the years. I believe the toothpicks wedged in certain channel shelf buttons is because they are malfunctioning and need a little help to stay on.

Well that's a bit silly don't you think. Emulating a button that won't stay on?

Obviously the button stays on. That's what the toothpick is for.
Maybe they just wanted to have some fun with the GUI, or maybe those channels actually diverge more than the others in the model.

Do you mean the 2098 or the 9099?

bx_console AMEK 9099

You may or may not find this interesting, then.

[Teksonik]

For me it's about it sounding like it came out of a proper recording studio, and not a home PC.
Computer recordings don't just sound more sterile, they also sound flatter and more cramped. Whatever the bx_consoles are doing, it is giving the mixes more depth, focus, and space between instruments, and that becomes obvious on an A/B comparison. To me, that IS better.

But it's still a "computer recording" so...... You say flatter and cramped I say analog sounds muddy and smeared and around we go.

Mixers do impart a distinct sound. Music will never sound as good as it does coming off a multi-track through a mixing console in the studio, and you just have to be there to experience it.

I have been there but didn't come away with the same reverence for analog as some people did. I remember we couldn't wait until digital became affordable. I wouldn't go back now.

To me great records were made not because of analog gear but in spite of it. Again to each his own. If you think there is magic then there is....for you. Just not everybody agrees.

I buy plugins because I like the sound not because they attempt to emulate analog gear since in the end it's still digital. For example I normally operate the Console N with the Analog button off.

Do you mean the 2098 or the
You may or may not find this interesting, then.

I've seen the video pop up on my YT feed and never watched but will now. The AMEK is still a long way off from being at a price point I would buy. Probably at least a year or more before it hits the $29.99 "bargain bin".

Do all the other PA consoles Null ?

[jamcat]

There's no guarantee complexity = better. But then I'm not one to think analog automatically=better.

as jamcat said above, im not sure thats necessarily the aim.

as i said earlier, i dont know if it works, but i think the idea is more for people who are making "band" music in the box. and while we are modelling rooms perfectly, a lot of mixes are still sounding, for want of a better word, sterile, in comparison to similar music, where actual live musicians are recorded, rather than samples arranged in a host.
again, the instruments sound as good as possible, but that something is missing.

now, is that analog mojo as they call it? and if so, how do we achieve that, not for everyone, but for those that do want it.

its not about analog being better, otherwise the obvious answer would be, buy a bloody mixer and record musicians!!!!
its about making digital, sound appealing to "some" people

Right, I think Teksonik is too hung up on it meeting his own subjective definition of "better" track by track. That's certainly reasonable, because generally people use plugins to achieve a particular result of "more this" or "less that," and if there is a Betterizer button on the GUI, they will always press it.

But with the Brainworx and Lindell plugins, the goal is simply to make a more complete and authentic emulation of the hardware that gives the fullest experience possible of using the actual artifact, and lets the chips fall where they may.

And also, it's not so much that this channel or that channel is better or worse for this or that, but simply that they are different which creates a cumulative effect across the whole mix. Particularly on stereo pairs and aux sends where a signal is being duplicated.

[zovosaf]

Anyone compare this with the Softube American class A?

Been almost a year and I'm wondering the same thing.

So where are we at with non-UAD API emulations atm? Is Lindell, Softube, or AA the king of non-UAD API emulation atm? To my ears, Softube seems to have that sound down.

[Gaston_H]

Anyone compare this with the Softube American class A?

Been almost a year and I'm wondering the same thing.

So where are we at with non-UAD API emulations atm? Is Lindell, Softube, or AA the king of non-UAD API emulation atm? To my ears, Softube seems to have that sound down.

I have the UAD API Vision but I'm wondering the same thing, been looking at the Lindell for a long time mostly because I want the 2500 compressor. But I don't think there will ever be a straight answer to this, everybody seems to differ

[jamcat]

It's not time to buy the Lindell 50 Series until it hits $29.

[el davo]

It can now be had for $25 (with a $25 loyalty voucher). I am primarily looking for a good (native) 2500 emulation and was looking at Trackcomp 2. Would this suffice? Looks like there is no knee setting. Guess I'd better demo..

Edit: holding off until PA sorted out Native m1 support. Apologies for the noise.

[beely]

It's not time to buy the Lindell 50 Series until it hits $29.

And that time is today... so I did.

[Aloysius]

... I want the 2500 compressor.

Waves Audio have API 2500.

[simmo75]

Is it this worth the sale price?

[HcDoom]

Demoed it, bought it. Great sounding plugin. Never played with API hw so I cannot say is it a direct emu, but for a plugin it sounds excellent, precise with enough of dirt if you gain stage it more aggressively. On top of that, it has soft and hard clip plus up to 16x in oversampling. So, for 25 USD after vouchers you get preamp, 3x eqs, 2x compressors, gate and clipper, very good deal.

[psynical]

Is it this worth the sale price?

Only you can answer that question. Download the demo and find out...

[jamcat]

It's not time to buy the Lindell 50 Series until it hits $29.

And that time is today... so I did.

Yep. I got it for $25 with the 48hr $49.99 flash sale + my $25 voucher.

[midi_transmission]

It can now be had for $25 (with a $25 loyalty voucher). I am primarily looking for a good (native) 2500 emulation and was looking at Trackcomp 2. Would this suffice? Looks like there is no knee setting. Guess I'd better demo..

Edit: holding off until PA sorted out Native m1 support. Apologies for the noise.

I have Trackcomp 2 and has bit of a learning curve, but it's amazing. At first I wasn't that impressed, but the longer I use it the better I find it. Not only from the sound quality, it has one of the best functional interfaces and the good working auto gain comprensation makes a/b checks very convenient. Every compressor without that feels like a regression, when you used good working auto gain comprensation once.

I don't use the api emulation that often, so I can't tell you which one is better. But Trackcomp 2 api has Knee control (hard, mid, soft).

Makes a lot of sense to have it and DMG very much worth to support.

That said, I like all Lindell products a lot too. But the Trackcomp has the better workflow. For the current price I will end up with getting both, I guess.