Favorite Channel Strip (Console) Plugin for Analog-ish Vibe?

[j wazza]

if you don't want console 1 then grand channel, american and british class a are good

i really like audiothing dials for a tube sound

bx ssl 4000 e is also nice

ssl's own ones like drumstrip etc

uad's are good, can also vouch for the lindell ones

some new ones by kit

lots of plugin companies have some sort of channel strip but I mostly just use them for a bit of analog mojo, i actually find the interface is usually harder to use than separate eq and comp etc, so I often do that on their own and just insert a console plugin somewhere as a saturator

[inkwarp]

So, my next question is, which is the 'lightest'..?
My poor comp is getting old now...

[theviirus]

So, my next question is, which is the 'lightest'..?
My poor comp is getting old now...

cant speak for the pc side of things, but I highly recommend a mac mini.

About 4 years ago I retired my ailing 2009 macbook pro for an intel mac mini. The performance was great and its more than enough to get work done. I swapped it out for an m1 mac mini and I saw a very significant jump in performance. The m1 absolutely TEARS through projects (logic, resolve) that used to strain the intel mac, and doesn't as much as complain or even blink. Likely the last computer I need to buy for the next 5-10 years provided nothing catastrophic happens.

[inkwarp]

sadly, Macs are prohibitively expensive for me. As much as I would love one...

[jamcat]

A slight digression, does anyone here use a channel strip on every channel? I have mucked about with a couple but only occasionally. Does having a channel strip replace a chain of plugins? It seems like a good way to totally cut back on the amount of vst's used. Is a project easier to deal with (and takes fewer resources?) if you only have one plugin on a track? Or am I misunderstanding how to use them?

I use a channel strip on every channel. I don’t do it for the purpose of replacing a chain of plugins, though. I do it because I want to recreate the complete analogue studio sound and experience.

I also don’t want “channel strips” that are really just EQ+compression combo plugins. I’m looking for full console channel emulations that include preamps and transformers and impart the sonic fingerprint of a console just by sitting there doing nothing.

I do use a lot less processing now by having a channel strip on each track. Most of my channel strips just sit there not doing anything. If I need a little EQ, then I twist a knob and it’s done. What I’m not doing (anymore ) is loading up tons of plugins just because I have them.

My full process actually entails following the channel strip with a tape machine plugin then sending to a second channel in a separate mixer view with a different channel strip. The first mixer view is the “tracking session” and the second is the “mixing session.”

What I try to do is get the best sound “to tape” on a track by track basis with the first channel strip’s preamps and shaping EQs, and whatever instances of 1176s, LA-2As, and Pultec EQs that I might use on specific instruments. These are broad tonal moves and light compression, without any consideration for the mix. I only care about getting the instrument to sound its best on its own. The plugins in the second mixer view won’t even be active at this point.

Later on, I’ll move to the mixing phase, and use the second set of channel strips, (usually SSL models) to get everything working together as a mix. This is where I’ll do sculpting EQ and heavier compression to hammer things into place. This is also where I’ll do send effects like reverb, delays, and stereo micropitch effects. Anything “post.”

Through developing this approach, I’ve learned a lot about the classic recording and mixing process and why certain mix decisions are made. It’s provided a more organic perspective to making records, and allowed me to make sense of a lot of stuff that otherwise doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in the DAW environment, where recording and mixing aren’t separated.

[tommyzai]

Jamcat, me loveth your approach. I might steal it and give you no credit. LOL

[plexuss]

I experimented with using a channel strip and tape per track to emulate an analogue studio. However I stopped doing it that way because I was getting too much distortion and it didnt sound at all like working in an analogue studio, something I used to do. However the rest of jamcat's process I also use - the tracking-then-mixing approach. I also set up and tweek a preliminary mastering chain and master as I mix. Once the mix is settled, I complete the master... if all goes ok.

[jamcat]

I experimented with using a channel strip and tape per track to emulate an analogue studio. However I stopped doing it that way because I was getting too much distortion and it didnt sound at all like working in an analogue studio, something I used to do. However the rest of jamcat's process I also use - the tracking-then-mixing approach. I also set up and tweek a preliminary mastering chain and master as I mix. Once the mix is settled, I complete the master... if all goes ok.

You have to be really selective about which plugins you're using. A lot of "saturation" and "colour" plugins lay it on thick. The key is subtle layers that add up. I have been getting really good results from Lindell Audio consoles for my "tracking" front end, and Brainworx SSL channels for my "mixing" console. I get a lot of separation between instruments from TMT, combined with good body and presence from the SUBTLE harmonic distortion from both channel strips and tape.

I've found the UAD and Lindell Audio Neve 1073 models sound very similar. Both have a microphonic quality but don't get dirty. Across a whole mix, they actually bring out details. Other plugin models I've tested seem too heavy handed and make the mix oversaturated and congested. I know you use a lot of Acustica Audio plugins, and I wonder if maybe they're just not well suited for this stacking technique.

And if you used the Lindell Audio and Brainworx consoles, you could easily dial back the THD control to tame them if you're still getting too much distortion.

I use the mic gain, plus broad additive EQ to drive the signal into the tape emulation. This is where most of my compression is actually happening. Tape does wonderful things to kicks and snares. When drums start smacking the tape, you suddenly discover THE sound of rock n' roll!

I use T-RackS Tape Machines for that (I know you do too.) I wouldn't use anything else, except maybe the UAD Studer. It sounds amazingly close to the IK 80, and ALMOST as good. But it only takes one-third the CPU! Maybe one day IK will give us an "eco mode" for mixing. (I can dream, can't I?)

I'll put a buss compressor (bx Townhouse) on my 2-buss, and follow up with the T-RackS Ampex 440 tape machine, but other than Stealth Limiter at the very end just to kill any ISPs, I'm not doing anything that resembles "mastering" anymore.

This is really something that has to be done in the context of other finished songs for an album, so they all fit together with uniform levels and global EQ. If you're doing mastering compression and EQ in the song, you're not hearing it in that context, so you're going to eventually have to "remaster" it with other tracks. That means either doing it over, or doubling up on your mastering compression and EQ, which is going to make it worse.

[Leo1999]

Waves SSL EV2
Waves Omnisheps
The latter also has ms and a de-esser
and three different compressors
Eventide Ultrachannel is special, too with two comps, stereo delays, micro pitch shift and Soft-Saturation and Transformer Emulation
If I had to pick and keep one only, Omnisheps!

[sacer]

Softube console, with weis, chandler, Empiral labs and tube tech. I have every plugin from softube, except of ssl 9000. so there is a big selection of EQs, combs, gate and saturation.

[jamcat]

apparently in a few days from now, there won't be any perpetual licences anymore from Waves - just a subscription.

I recently did some tests with the Brainwork’s SSL 4000 consoles and discovered you can use a combination of IN GAIN, V GAIN, and THD to get a pretty much identical effect as the Waves SSL EV2 MIC preamp gain, up to about +20dB, which is probably more than enough for practical usage.

I also discovered that the EV2 adds absolutely nothing when inserted at the default unity setting, unlike the bx consoles which are always adding some THD and analogue noise, even when doing nothing.

So these two discoveries come just in time for me to once again ditch all Waves plugins for good.

[Ironic that Waves is doing this just as UAD opens up perpetual licenses for Spark. Bad move, Waves. And even worse timing. Bye.]

[Danilo Villanova]

A free one that beats most of the paid ones:

https://youtu.be/20tqmkQ6TCs

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

Waves TC 12345 is full of character but a lil heavy on cpu.
Fuse Audio Labs CS1 is really full featured and has some character.

[jens]

I never understood the praise for the TG12345 - I find its "saturation" absolutely unuseable - it's either nothing at all
or some of the nastiest clipping I've ever heard.

[DNnX]

Light CPU usage Channel Strips :
Fuse Audio Labs VCS-1, TBProAudio CS-5501, HoRNet ChannelStrip MK3

Check the demo whether they sound analog or not for you