saturation plug in on the master bus?

[sunny_j]

oh and there is also a vst called "mymag". Its free, you should check it out too..

[shanecgriffo]

Sausage fattener cranked to full.. Waheeee
(no not really..)
maybe a little valve added in psp oldtimer/me.
Or cd soundmasters free r2r tape vst works well too
and sometimes satson bus
edit- oh and mixcontrol saturation sometimes too..

[djanthonyw]

Nebula.

Try STN - Powered bus program.

http://www.acustica-audio.com/forum/ind ... =viewtopic

I tried that one, It's more than saturation and I think it changes the sound way too much with the pre-set EQ.

Which is why you need to de-emphasize it with an eq. Either pre or post.

Cheers!
bManic

You're right, I tried it (pre) and it works excellent, had to buy it!

[bmanic]

Indeed! Now combine that with the VM compressor (vari-mu) and you've got a chain like nothing else (hardware or software). It's unique.

It's actually one of the things I like the most about Nebula. Some things surely don't sound exactly like their analogue counterpart (due to some limitations) but very seldom do the programs sound bad. On the contrary. When I was experimenting with sampling a tube EQ I found that I could get almost the same "action" from the EQ bands as the hardware and at the same time be able to disable or minimize the typical tube fattening. This was excellent because I quite seldom liked the tube fattening of this unit on complete mixes (it's usually great on single tracks though).

Cheers!
bManic

[Giusmex]

how many answers thank you!1


oh i do have the kramer master tape

according to you which are the best go-to parameters ( or preset) easy to use as insert on a master channel or eventual other inserts after ( or before) it in this case?

i am very curious about that

thanx

[Mercado_Negro]

how many answers thank you!1


oh i do have the kramer master tape

according to you which are the best go-to parameters ( or preset) easy to use as insert on a master channel or eventual other inserts after ( or before) it in this case?

i am very curious about that

thanx

My go-to settings for the Master track (the only thing I change is the record level depending on the amount of color it adds during the mix. Most of the time I choose lower values):



My Master Track is always bouncing around 0dBVU.

I don't use it on individual tracks (too much CPU) but Busses. In this case I use the same configuration as above.

I'm planning to track with it next week (print the FX "on-the-fly"). I'll see how it goes...

[JorgV]

I like the KMT preset "Mastering Soft Clean Compression". I use it on every masterbus.

Try turning KMT on/off after a while. Everything just sounds better with this preset on. It adds weight to everything, stereoimage seems different. Better lows. I don't have the golden ears to hear everything it's doing. I just sounds better.

Yes, it's colored. I like it

Other settings sometimes go to individual tracks as effect, drum-bus sometimes also gets a more heavy treatment.

[CANE CREEK]

Kramer Tape, Looking forward to getting my 64bit version in March.

It's the only waves plugin I've ever bought, luckily the first years WUP is free.

[Liero]

How is the software footprint on Nebula these days? I remember a year or two ago trying to install some Nebula demo or something, it was an absolute horrorfest. Files everywhere, dependencies, weird authorization stuff, complications etc. etc. I don't remember exactly what it was but I left myself the mental note: "Okay, this stuff is too tedious and f##ked up to use right now"

Any changes to that something?

[Tapehead]

My Master Track is always bouncing around 0dBVU.

I don't use it on individual tracks (too much CPU) but Busses. In this case I use the same configuration as above.

I'm planning to track with it next week (print the FX "on-the-fly"). I'll see how it goes...

@Mercado_Negro

I keep forgetting what "0dBVU" means in our digital world? Also, when you look at the KMT meters how much action do you observe? How often, if ever, do you drive the needles into the red zone?
Thanks

[Mercado_Negro]

How is the software footprint on Nebula these days? I remember a year or two ago trying to install some Nebula demo or something, it was an absolute horrorfest. Files everywhere, dependencies, weird authorization stuff, complications etc. etc. I don't remember exactly what it was but I left myself the mental note: "Okay, this stuff is too tedious and f##ked up to use right now"

Any changes to that something?

It's been improved but still needs a bit of user interaction and organization to work as expected. There is a Nebula3 Free version you can download from HERE. You should install the library in a dedicated HDD. Once you've installed it start your host and insert one instance (Nebula3Free Reverb), go to the MAST page in the plug-in and change it from "0 Simple" to "1 Guru" and click on "SAVE". This will show you the all the options. Click on "DSPBUFFER" and change it to 2048 (if you don't want too much latency which also increases the CPU usage). Click on "SAVE". That's it. Now go to the "PROG" page and click on the word "Init" to browse all programs (presets).

Send me a pm if you need more assistance or write in Acustica Audio forums

Cheers

[Mercado_Negro]

My Master Track is always bouncing around 0dBVU.

I don't use it on individual tracks (too much CPU) but Busses. In this case I use the same configuration as above.

I'm planning to track with it next week (print the FX "on-the-fly"). I'll see how it goes...

@Mercado_Negro

I keep forgetting what "0dBVU" means in our digital world? Also, when you look at the KMT meters how much action do you observe? How often, if ever, do you drive the needles into the red zone?
Thanks

Well, in our digital world it means nothing since we measure levels in dBFS (or at least we tend to). I barely use peak meters and prefer VU meters. I use VCC meters or a dedicated VU meter like THIS or THIS. I put it in the Master and just try to keep my mix levels around 0dBVU (I almost never touch the red area in this case).

I do tend to drive my drums harder, though (around +2dBVU or +3 dBVU), but only their Buss, not individual tracks (of course, if I drive my drums harder I just pull the Buss volume fader down to avoid driving the Master).

I barely see the KMT meters moving when I have its meters showing the input (it's the switch below the meters called "I-O") but if I switch them to show me the output I can see them bouncing around 0dBVU (maybe a bit more due to saturation).

[Tapehead]

Thanks very much for your answer!

Another question: how do you set your VU meter (-20, -18, or ...-12) . I bought slate digital VCC Tube edition and it clips at around -6 (unpleasantly)...

I somewhat gave up on it but I'm thinking of revisiting it with some of the Nebula libraries so I wonder how should I set my VU meter?

[bmanic]

How is the software footprint on Nebula these days? I remember a year or two ago trying to install some Nebula demo or something, it was an absolute horrorfest. Files everywhere, dependencies, weird authorization stuff, complications etc. etc. I don't remember exactly what it was but I left myself the mental note: "Okay, this stuff is too tedious and f##ked up to use right now"

Any changes to that something?

There are some complications still but the software itself is much easier to use and third party libraries are relatively simple to install. You will still have quite a bunch of files being installed and the protection is unfortunately a challenge and response one (you start nebula the first time, it creates a .ser file which you then send to Acustica Audio and you receive, hopefully relatively quickly, the response file which you put in the same place). The only redeeming quality of that protection scheme (you probably know how much I hate challenge and response protection ) is that apparently it is yet to be cracked as it is very heavily encrypted. It's basically the uncrypt key to EACH program, making it very hard for the hackers.

Compared to other plugins it's still quite a hassle and not as streamlined as I would have hoped but as far as I know it, Nebula is considered more of a development platform (with the top of the range version you can easily sample your own equipment and that process has been made much easier over the years). Think of it kind of like what Reaktor is for Native-Instruments.

Soundwise it's improved considerably as well. With the possibility of running up to 10 vectors/kernels it is absolutely sublime sounding for some things, mainly EQ's, preamps and now also compressors.. and perhaps surprisingly, even "panning" sections of an analogue signal path. For easy install and awesome work in general, check out www.analogueinthebox.com

I just purchased the Tube Console Bundle (TL-Audio M series tube console!). It includes various versions of the preamp section, the EQ and the actual panning control which has been extremely interesting.

Finally it is worth mentioning that the 'drive' control on each program seems to make quite a bit of difference now.. and that the basic install includes several different skins, some of them removing the annoying knobs and replacing them with sliders instead.

If you don't want to deal with the hassle of Nebula itself then I suggest perhaps waiting still a while, perhaps this whole year, until the "powered by Nebula technology" plugins start materializing. It's bound to happen at some point. The first ones are already out. Those work exactly like normal plugins. Easy to install and just a single .dll file.

Cheers!
bManic

[Mercado_Negro]

Thanks very much for your answer!

Another question: how do you set your VU meter (-20, -18, or ...-12) . I bought slate digital VCC Tube edition and it clips at around -6 (unpleasantly)...

I somewhat gave up on it but I'm thinking of revisiting it with some of the Nebula libraries so I wonder how should I set my VU meter?

I have mine set to -18dBFS but there are different standards so you'd have to check your gear, console, etc., and check their calibrations.