a_invi's Reviews
9 reviews Back to a_invi's Equipboard
122
The best EQ for not fooling yourself
This EQ has the best "autogain" of any EQ i've tried, making it excellent for testing out how different frequency boosts or cuts affect the overall tonal balance. Even if you're planning on using other EQs, you could play around with this one first to experiment with which frequencies are the most beneficial to affect.
42
This i the best EQ? Do you recommend to buy the 'Gentleman's' edition?
122
I wouldn't say it's the absolute best for all possible purposes but it can definitely be useful in almost any situation. I think GE is worth it for the LF phase lag alone
42
If you don't mind me asking, I am new to Production, what would you say are the top 5 most important FX VST's for you. (Delay, Reverb, EQ, Saturation, Compressor etc etc)
Also, the only synth I have so far is Xfer Serum, do you know it? If so what do you think of it?
Thanks!
122
The best totally depends on the purpose... lately i've been doing mostly mastering which is very logistical, so the plugins i use for that are quite different than what i would use for composition when i try to be really experimental and spontaneous. So it's all a matter of the features you desire in a given moment. I would recommend spending a bunch of time testing out lots of free plugins and demo trials of plugins to get a good feel for the range of what's out there and what you find the most useful, and also to more deeply understand by ear what the processes are actually doing to the source material. I only buy something when it fulfills some special role that i can't achieve easily with other tools.
To actually answer your question, i'd say the top 5 most important FX are: -Preamp / Tube Saturation -Spectrum Analysis (not an effect persay but very useful) -High-Quality Limiting (don't believe hype, do tests yourself) -Convolution Reverb and maybe -Harmonic Enhancer
Haven't used Serum (tho it looks really versatile and powerful)... What i would recommend is to learn its functions inside and out so that you know exactly what each parameter does and custom-craft a bunch of your own patches... then your productions will have your own unique sound. i have so many thousands of various synth presets saved over the years from free synths and from ableton packs that me buying any synth vsti is not at all likely to occur.
42
I see, that is very in depth! In terms of the top 5 most important FX you listed, could you give me any names of good vsts you use? I do not mind what you use it for, I just find fascination in researching the VSTs. For saturation I currently have the Klanghelm MJUC.
Also, learning Serum has been quite difficult as I've only been learning production for about 2 months. I can't seem to build any sounds that I like out of it yet. Can you tell me how long it took you to get a 'grasp' on sound design?
Thanks again! I really appreciate the answer.
122
i'm going to decline to name specific pieces here simply out of respect for slickEQ (don't want to spend the whole comment talking about other plugs).
MJUC is awesome... "va-mu" style compressor plugins are more rare to find than other types and that thing is a nice beast.
Honestly i don't have an extremely deep grasp on sound design.... i just try random things and see what sounds cool, and then try to figure out what it is that makes it so. I would at least say to definitely always try to pay attention to phase and harmonics. And worry more about balance than about loudness.
122
One of the smoothest
The whole thing about these filters is that you CAN'T control the Q...and in this case that is a good thing, The Q is not adjustable because it uses the ideal slope for the cleanest results (i.e. "anti-crush" technology"). I rarely use this plug for the high cut on a mix buss due to its softening effect, but for individual tracks it's a go-to. Brainworx themselves admit that "anticrush" is basically a buzzword, but that word contains real buzz... i.e. if you want the cleanest possible slope for a low or a high cut, use this.
122
Yes.
Unique EQ with an exceedingly smooth sound and extremely useful features. 1. linear phase. Use it for transparent mastering applications. 2. super-useful spectrum visualizer built in. I sometimes use it just for this even if not using it to EQ. 3. innovative "spline" node methodology with near-infinite fine-tuneability for ridiculously precise sculpting while maintaining a natural sound. 4. Very nifty shift EQ curve by frequency and curve percentage (including down to negative) options. 5. pricing.... much more affordable than many more expensive but not as practical EQs. 6. it even has a built-in limiter which is quite good for curtailing occasional erratic peaks. 7. equally adept with smooth, gradual, shelf-like boosts or cuts as it is with tiny surgical work. The "spline" nature means that ideal smoothness occurs with every slope without having to stress out about what the perfect "Q" setting is for each band.
Cons? uses a good bit of CPU and latency if you want precise low-frequency sculpting. "Undo" doesn't work to undo steps, so set your settings carefully and back up your project because if you accidentally dislodge an established node, you'll have to remember where it was and re-set it manually..
122
Hybrid method for making stuff louder
What i like about this (based upon in-depth comparison tests between many maximizer, clipper, and limiter plugins), is that it seems to compromise halfway between the extremes of "pumping" and "distortion" which volume-pushing compression methods generally seem to choose between.
Some plugins will stay perfectly clean at all times yet "pump" the audio, while others will maintain transient response at the expense of sudden distortion when pushed too hard.
Waves OneKnob Louder is one of the very few "maximizer" plugins i've encountered which has a healthy balance between the two extremes. Due to this approach, it is extremely versatile for use. You could theoretically get away with using it to beneficial effect in tiny amounts on just about every stem, group, and master buss.