I was putting the beginnings of a mix together this morning, working with the drum tracks.
The kick and snare are both live - the kick is an ancient Ludwig 22" from the 60's; it looks like it's been run over by a truck, but it sure still sounds good. ;) ( I have three vintage snares, a '68 Black Beauty, a '71 Suprasonic, and a Rogers wood snare).
Anyway, I was in the process of choosing a compressor/gate for the kick, and when going to choose a VSTi, I accidentally opened up my old 32 bit Waves Diamond Bundle. I figured while I was in there, I'd give one of the old plugs a shot, just for fun, because I haven't used them in a long time, ( since going 64 bit, that's what I usually use for processing, but because Samplitude plays so well with 32-bit legacy type processing, it opened immediately, without a hitch), so, I chose the R-Channel (mono). I used to use this particular plug often, back when I was still in XP/Pro Tools/Sonar land.
It took me a few seconds to remember where the GR and Gate settings on the R-Channel were, LOL...but after I found them, I dialed up some quick settings, and not only did it not sound bad, it actually sounded really good.
I was very happy with the result. R-Channel is pretty transparent, it doesn't add any real character to speak of, but for this song, and for that kick track, it sounded really good.
The moral to the story... LOL... don't get rid of those old plugs. Some of them still work and sound fine, and occasionally they can even sound great... And you never know when one of those older 32 bit Waves plugs can be just what the sonic doctor ordered. ;)
FWIW
-d.
Comments
I used the Sonitus stuff for quite awhile, it goes way back to e
I used the Sonitus stuff for quite awhile, it goes way back to early editions of PE, and at that time, there wasn't the huge amount of ( better) choices for processing plugs that we have now. UAD was starting to put together their first round of processors, with their own PCIe card CPU/processor, but the expense was beyond my means at that time.
Although, I dropped quite a bit of money on that Waves Diamond bundle when it first came out for PC, back around '96 or so. I ended up using those plugs exclusively for several years. I thought they sounded better than the Cakewalk Sonitus processors, but up until that time, the Sonitus plugs served me well - if only because I hadn't had a chance to compare them to anything else.
I still have the stock Sonitus collection, although they are in DX format. I keep them around because I still have Sonar PE7 on my system, for the rare client who also has Sonar PE and who prefers to keep their project sourced in that format.
I've never tried to open any of the Sonitus plugs in Samplitude - mainly because Samp's stock processors are so much better, as are the T-Racks emulation plugs that I also use...
Truthfully, I'm not sure that Samplitude will even open them. Maybe it would... I'd have to try it and see... although off the top of my head, I can't think of any Sonitus plugs that I'd really want to use, either.
One plug that I do kinda miss having - and that Samplitude doesn't allow - is the Sonar V64 Comp/Limiter. It must be proprietary to Sonar only... unless there's maybe some way I could set up a bridge for it. I've never had to do that with any of my other old 3rd Party plugs before, Samplitude has always just opened them without me having to do anything extra, as was the case with the Waves R-Channel.
kmetal, post: 430519, member: 37533 wrote: I get a ton of use ou
kmetal, post: 430519, member: 37533 wrote: I get a ton of use out of the waves ssl channel. The Rcomp is still one of my faves for punchy sound and just easy fast compression. They did a really good job with the R series stuff. I saw it all the time in SOS on their hit mix screenshots.
I have the Waves SSL stuff, although it's in the older 32 bit format; I also have Slate's 2-bus emulations of the E and G Series in their VCC bundle (no EQ, just input and 2-Bus gain modeling) as well as the IK Media / T-Racks British Channel collection, which includes both the E and G, which are full channel strips; with EQ and GR/Gate, along with their Bus Compressor... and truthfully, I like them all.
The R-Channel had kind of slipped my mind in the last few years, but after accidentally loading it yesterday, and using it on a kick drum track, I found ( and remembered) what you said to be true; that it's got a really good-sounding "punch" to it.
It's a nice, clean, fast compressor, all the way around.
I don't know that I'd go as far as to say that it's completely "transparent", ( I think that term has taken on a new meaning over the last few years), but it's definitely "cleaner" and has far more transparency than the various "vintage" compressor/limiter emulation plugs do ( meaning those that intentionally offer tube/transformer/opto type character, like the various LA2's, 1176's, or Focusrite Red, etc.)
I think I'm gonna bring the R-Channel out of retirement. I can definitely see a use for it, as a nice-sounding option to the other processors I have that intentionally add character.
In the end, it's just another tool... but if it's a tool I could use, then I should - when it's needed, of course.
LOL - I paid money for it, so I might as well keep it warmed up in the bull pen. ;)
That must be why Cakewalk as kept 10years old Sonitus plugins in
That must be why Cakewalk as kept 10years old Sonitus plugins in Sonar X3 ;)