Equipboard Accepted Payments?

But for compressor presets... pardon my ignorance, but how the @3$% would that even work? Makers have to ship with presets, or face the consequences in both pro and consumer reviews... but the idea that you'd click a compressor preset that said like "rock drums" and somehow it would be right for whatever mic'd acoustic kit you may be feeding it... without you having to learn the plug inside and out and know what needed to be adjusted to fit the unique qualities of what you were putting into it... IDK... until those working on realtime ML/AI-based magic compressors make something so amazing that the industry is generally won-over, presets on dynamics processors (save for maybe brick wall limiting presets) feel, to me, like they're setting up false expectations for users new to this whole thing.

What am I missing?

nothing, the idea is idiotic, you go to 'rock snare' and you play with the threshold? that's what folks do and you hear the time constants fighting the song. And another VST compressor peeve here, stuff that's designed to slam can't be subtle, its so hard to make it just tickle the reduction meter at less that 3dB of reduction on big transients.... in rea life this is easy as pie. I have comrpessors that mangle stuff but its easy to tweak in a threshold that just gently massages peaks too or to get a tiny bit of RMS constantly working at low ratios. But no one simulqtes that behavior correctly cuz ITB jaggoffs making generic EDM all day are like "Hulk smash transients0! Hulk compress all tracks hard and run master through SLAM! and L2 ultramaximizer! And Hulk not duck master output down to .3bBfs or less, Hulk not care about clipping converters of end lsitener,. End listener need more loud and Hulk not have fans anyway Not even Hulk's mom listen to Hulk's music. Puny dynamics not important to Hulk. High frequency detail for wimps, not for Hulk. Harsh wall of distorted treble all Hulk need!"

ANGRIER RANT ADDED: kids will always be like, why didn't you master it, your record is so quiet.... dude, I don't have a mastering lab and I left lots of headroom and dynamics for the mastering engineer to do his job, duh... anymore I smash playbacks for clients if I think they're idiots or young people who don't know what music used to sound like when people cared about fidelity.

Real quick in defense of automatic gain reduction, it's been done for radio and done well. CBS labs made the audimax and volumax lines of broadcast limiter and compressors that provide program dependent AGC and time constants with zero artifacts due to expansion right in the side chain and some if the cleverest logic circuits of the 60s and 70s. We shall never see their like again... and certainly not in a matched pair for less than a used car! The 2u audimax IIs are amazingly transparent program limiters. Used in studios by guys who know. Make a plugin if that and it doesn't need a preset. It is a preset.

Most code jockeys know nothing about CBS/Thomson labs though.

If you only know the drawmer line you can be forgiven for assuming that only an AI can do auto compression... or those behringer autocoms lol. Funny sounding stuff. Not so automatic usually.

Real quick in defense of automatic gain reduction, it's been done for radio and done well.

A great point I had never really considered.

Most code jockeys know nothing about CBS/Thomson labs though.

That or many just can't afford to get their hands on a matched pair to study... nor do they want to spend years educating the market on why these pieces of gear not generally found in pro studios of today are worth having. They generally build what ppl already want, it's a safer bet.

If you only know the drawmer line you can be forgiven for assuming that only an AI can do auto compression... or those behringer autocoms lol. Funny sounding stuff. Not so automatic usually.

Would a perfect volumax/audimax emulation be something you'd want to use on every instrument though? Wouldn't that fall more under mastering applications?

No no. The audimax is program limiter. Excellent on busses. You can use it to even out whole groups or stereo recordings like overheads or something like that. The volumax on the other hand is like a gates level devil, stalevel etc. But far more hifi. Some are tube but most are fet based. They're an excellent choice for rock vocals. A solo vocal in mono or groups of backing vocals if you have a pair. Actually the level devil is more like the tube audimaxes... so I guess you could use an audimax on vocals but I never have... usually reach for a gates if its available and flatten thatshit Johnny cash style!

Then theres the notorious gates solid statesman, the deathnell for gates as it cant compete with an audimax for radio. It was cheaper though but eventually killed off by affordable vca designs from orban and texar that are also great in a studio...

No no. The audimax is program limiter. Excellent on busses.

Dang. Well then someone hurry up and make me a perfect version of a used-car-priced vintage unit for $129. Sheesh!

These arent well known. Even the gates stalevel was pretty obscure until recently. These are secret we weapon type processors from the era where you wanted a sound you went to that studio. The bro as dcast stuff is very Nashville/Memphis.

I shouldn't be revealing these secrets on a public forum. The other soundguys might take ki e out a hit on me...

I shouldn't be revealing these secrets on a public forum. The other soundguys might take ki e out a hit on me...

With no disrespect to anyone, I don't think the # of unique monthly visitors to this forum is enough to count as "public", lol. It's basically a private chat for a few regulars and a few lurkers.

Those lurkers are going to steal our tricks, man.

Best Service! Nice!

Best Service! Nice!

Did you just make a purchase? How was it?

Best Service! Nice!

Did you just make a purchase? How was it?

Nope. Not yet. Best Service is a sample library company that's been around forever. Saw some of their products pop up on the store recently.

Nope. Not yet. Best Service is a sample library company that's been around forever. Saw some of their products pop up on the store recently.

Oh, cool!

Oh hell yeah, how did I miss this addition?!

I mean, I kinda like supporting the developers directly, but I like this too. If I ever start writing VST plugins I know who to add into my marketing mix :)

And if Equipboard payments are up and running, I'd still be up for an option to buy an ad-free annual plan so I don't feel guilty running my AdBlock here (sorry...)