YES a real analog Compressor, but which one? Drawmer? Elysia?

I love the FATSO Sr UAD plug. I usually only use it on bass and drums though, not on the 2bus.

IME the UAD plugins nicely capture the ā€essenceā€ of their hardware counterparts, and in some cases sound spot on, but usually fall a lil short on the extremes of the operational ranges. Platinum records are being made every day with UAD plugs, so Iā€™d say theyā€™re good enough to get work done :diddly:

But! for weirdos like me, having and using a certain UAD plug for long enough time always gives me GAS for the hardware eventually. But every time, its a ā€want, not needā€ type of thing. For example, now that I have a hardware SSL G bus comp clone, Iā€™ve been procrastinating A/Bing it against the UAD plug in the fear that I will be unable to hear a big enough difference in sound between the two :nyan:

Only area where I can hear a distinct difference against the plugins are in mic preamps. Even with all the UAD unison voodoo etc, my lowly DBX 386 tube mic pre with NOS mullards smokes the UAD 610A & 610B, every single time.

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Yeah wouldnā€™t use the Fatso on the 2bus either
Too much coloration

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I guess one ā€œproblemā€ of the compressor plug ins in generell is how accurate is the metering - especially on bus compressors. I know you should use your ears anyway bla bla bla :smiley: but for example the vu-meter on the new uad ssl is very fast and gives you good optical feedback.

keen to read of your opinion, maybe hear how the unit works?

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iā€™m a big fan of the rms755, hereā€™s a lil review by tape op

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Definitely. Will be happy to share any examples I can. Unit is on the truck for delivery today according to FedEx, so hopefully I can have some opinions on it soon.

If anyone would like some free mastering work using it just hit me up. :wink:

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More or less the same here. Iā€™ll use the Shadow Hills with 1-2db at most on the optical then the same or less on the VCA. When it works for that material it sounds awesome, but itā€™s not what I usually try first.

Iā€™ll occasionally use the UAD Fatso on 2bus, but when I do itā€™s usually a parallel setup. Some tracks come in pretty lifeless and ā€œblahā€, so Iā€™ve had luck there. Again, usually not the 1st thing I try, but when it worksā€¦ :slight_smile:

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A tip for anyone wanting an equivalent of Fatso in a plugin outside UAD.
Try the Kush UBK-1.
I was able to reproduce the sound so it was indistinguishable from the UAD version.
When I sold my UAD system I searched methodically for VST replacements of my favourites UAD plugs before selling it, testing side by side

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Uh oh, now you made me curious about your list of UAD replacements! Care to share UAD plugs and their non-UAD replacements? :smiley:

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A couple people asked about the Tegeler Audio Creme. I recently got one. Hereā€™s thread I started for it: Tegeler Audio Manufaktur Creme

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That tegeler audio review was interesting and to me, emphasizes my gut feeling (VCAs are easier to model than tubes in software)

Tube emulation is almost there, but not quite. Decapitator gets pretty close.

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I donā€™t have anything tube based yetā€¦ Analog Heat (which Iā€™m very happy with) is as close as I get with saturation and distortion right now. I do agree with you though. In the limited online only comparisons Iā€™ve heard software is getting a lot closer. Will it ever be as good? Who knows and thatā€™s completely subjective anyway.

Iā€™m very happy with the PA Black Box HG-2 plugin as well. Thatā€™s usually the 1st one I try when Iā€™m going for tube sound. PA Vertigo VSM-3 is also a favorite of mine for saturation, but Iā€™m always trying the Heat first. Decapitator is solid too.

I think youā€™re talking about my impressions? Hereā€™s what Iā€™ve been coming away with so far. The Creme is just easier to come up with something that sounds great and obviously a lot more tactile. It limits me in a way (pardon the pun) but the choices it gives all sound fantastic.

Are plugins hard? No, but I have a bazillion of them, so I sit there fiddling with a bunch of different ones swapping them in and out trying to figure out which is ā€œbestā€. With the Creme, itā€™s turn it on, turn a couple knobs and BAM. Maybe try a few different variations, but thatā€™s it. Itā€™s almost effortless and it still sounds better overall. The plugins are very (in some cases extremely) good thoughā€¦ I completely and honestly have to say that.

For what Iā€™m doing (mastering stuff) Iā€™m really finding having a few key pieces of hardware is the way to go while doing the rest in software. I donā€™t feel like Iā€™m going to collect a bunch of it. Probably 3-4 devices to build a chain with solid DA / AD and call it day. Everything else is plugins as needed.

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Iā€™m so incredibly inspired by all of this, I could talk for days about it.

But then again, talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

For the high quality DA-AD i would recommend RME. Well, at least i know their Fireface 400 firewire card is super top notch. Has anti-jitter technology and is well respected. Not sure about the other connection types (usb or thunderbolt), havenā€™t researched.

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I really like RME as well. I had one of their very early cards many years ago (honestly donā€™t remember the model now). I was coming from an Echo Event Gina and the RME was just completely solid. Iā€™d like something RME for tracking the synths and samplers I have. One of the 1U USB/Thunderbolt ones but itā€™ll have to wait a bit.

For mastering, Iā€™m pretty sold on a Lynx Hilo. Iā€™m hoping to find a used one later this year. It seems to be the ā€˜low endā€™ of the ā€˜high endā€™ converters. Another choice is possibly a pair of the Dangerous Music units (again used), but thatā€™s getting out of my league and budget. I definitely donā€™t have the money for Crane Song, Lavry, Burl or similar setup. I canā€™t blow $5K on converters unless I start a GoFundMe. :rofl:

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i remember being entranced by the poetic title of ā€œCrane Songā€ when first reading about them in the Katz book on audio mastering.

If we are talking actual mastering here AD/DA to and from external gear is equally as important as the external gear.
RME is good, I have a UFX, but it is not mastering quality.
As mentioned above you want Lavry, Mytek, Benchmark, etc.
I have had all the above and used Mytek for mastering chain, when I had external hardware
The Lynx Hilo I had was good but not as good as others. I found the bottom end on the Hilo a little thin, and imo not as flat as the others
You will need mastering quality monitors to hear the subtle differences, but they are there

A AD/DA loop of the Lavrey blue stuff is less than the Hilo and sounds amazing. Much better than Hilo IMO. It even gives a nice tape effect similar to the Crane Song that is useful on some material.

in 2004 i moved into the most gigantic warehouse with nothing in it except power points, a sink, and a sliding glass door.

oh, and the owner had a pair of totally gorgeous, huge, mastering-quality speakers. they were white and seemed large enough to rock a medium size outdoor doof. he said to me ā€œif i gave you twenty thousand dollars to make this warehouse profitable, what would you do?ā€

ā€œbuy a vinyl pressing machine and make records for people!ā€

i didnā€™t get the twenty grand.

maybe if i came up with the idea of going with a mastering suite things would have worked out.

another cool thing i found an image of in the Katz book on audio mastering is this:

ā€¦

as regards product design itā€™s just so well-made.
for the purpose ā€¦ audio mastering is such a mysterious art, enjoyably reductionist, forever complex. and this single freestanding item somehow represents that.
although come to think of it, some photographs would seem to indicate the unit connects to a couple of racks of processors.

but all of this is distraction from how incredibly luscious-sounding the Tegeler Creme could potentially be.
itā€™s just that there isnā€™t much to say about it.
just put a track through the Creme and then take it to the stage already! :heart_eyes::joy::scream_cat: