Hey,

I’ve just upgraded my audio interface to a UA Apollo Twin Quad to use with Ableton/Eurorack. I’ve got a 3 bundle plugin pack where I can choose any three plugins over the next couple of weeks so just demoing things and wondered if you guys on here had any tips? A lot of the sites I’ve looked at mainly talk about tracking live instrumentation. I do use electric guitar and voice occasionally, but really everything else is a small eurorack set up, ableton synths/omnisphere and lots of samples and field recordings.

I’m thinking of getting the brainworx V3 as one of the plugins for surgical EQ/Mastering but trying to decide if it’s worth getting some channel strips/pre amps or other speciality stuff for the other two plugins. I’ve listed below the FX it comes with.

thanks in advance for any thoughts!

1176LN
1176SE
Ampeg SVTVR Classic
Antares Auto-Tune Realtime Advanced
Antares Auto-Tune Realtime
Brigade Chorus
LA2A
Manley VOXBOX Channel Strip
Marshall Plexi Classic
Oxide Tape
Precision Mix Rack Collection
Pultec-Pro
Pultec
Pure Plate Reverb
Raw
RealVerb-Pro
UA 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ

I’d recommend doing the 14 day demo for pretty much all of them… take something that’s pretty representative of the stuff you generally record and just try all the plugins.

Personally, I think one channel strip, one fx (tape, reverb, something), and a good compressor is a nice starting combo that will be useful in a lot of situations.

All the plugins are good, so it’s really just a matter of which ones you will find useful for the kind of music you make.

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I’m a big fan of the EMT 140. It sounds really good on acoustics and vox, but also shines on line level gear like synths. The 250 is also good, but less natural imho.

The Ampex is another favourite of mine for on my master bus. It can be subtle, but also lofi if you adjust the wow & flutter. I have all the tape plugins and this one is my favourite.

Before I got a hardware SSL channel strip, I used the Neve 1073 on everything. It sounds nice and the EQ has many sweet spots.

I have the LA-2A compressor collection and it’s lovely. The less options, the better.

Plugins I havent tried, but would love to own: AMS RMX16, OTO Biscuit(should have got this when they were still in production), SSL Buss Compressor, the Dyntronics ones, AKG BX20.

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Prob the 480L (although the Relab one was first and equally good) since you get so many algorithms that sound great with synths and percussion, highlights being halls and rooms.

RMX16 if you like the ambience program sounds.
There are EMT style plate alternatives from Soundtoys, Waves, Valhalla, but the BX20 you will not find anywhere else. The Pure Plate is a stripped down version of EMT 140.
The Eventide H910 is one of the best and vibiest delay plugins, but also available native.

For eqs and what not
The newer versions of SSL strip and Bus are ridiculously good emulations (I know the hardware well), but use a lot of DSP. I found these much more accurate at capturing the dry SSL sound than the Brainworx versions and more dimensional than SSL Duende, which is rather old at this point. The Cytomic is also good, but has a little less character than the UAD.

The newer 88rs is more neutral in sound but similar quality.
The Softube for UAD Chandler Curve Bender is a great bus eq, with color and more forward than Massive Passive, which is better for acoustic/more relaxed work
Also like API 550 series for channels, eg 560b for kicks and 550a for guitars.
1176 collection (the newer one, I consider the black 1176LN to be the most like real thing) and Distressor.
The gray LA2A is the best

The 1073 is much better than the Slate one, which is too pointy in mids and the phase interaction is wrong. I do not consider it a must have for electronic music however.

For surgical eq try TDR Labs, cheap and high quality.
Personally I use DMG Equilibrium, also very popular with mastering engineers.

If it were me for electronic, for most mileage I’d get the SSL console bundle and the 480L
Then get the new Valhalla delay
Then BX20 or AMS

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2nd the BX20 characters.

@Oneven how do you adjust the wow and flutter :scream:?

I’ve been using it on everything for years now and had no idea that it was an option (granted I’m new to ambient and it has only recently become desirable).

Check out this new eurorack track from Caspar Hasselager to get a sense of that BX20 on synths. Sounds great.

I’ve been using the UAD plug ins since long before I ever got into synths and still continue to! The grey LA-2A is pretty much my go to on ambient pieces. It wouldn’t be my first choice on something more percussive or rhythmic but anytime I do ambient/drone tracks (I always record stereo out of my case with no overdubs) the LA-2A goes right after surgical EQ for softening and warmth and then the studer tape follows it!

I’ve been using the plug ins now for the better part of 7-8 years? and haven’t really added much apart from the LA-2A, Studer Tape, 1176 and Lexicon 224! I highly recommend the 224 if you’re a fan of what the OTO BAM puts out. This thread definately has me considering whether or not I should add a nice EQ and a few more effects…

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Whoops, I meant the Ampex tape plug-in. The Studer unfortunatly does not allow for control over the wow & flutter. My bad.

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Well I know where my next coupon is going :+1:

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Thanks for the ideas folks! Some great thoughts, I actually hadn’t really considered reverb units properly, so I’ll give those a whirl. There’s some 50% promotions on at the moment so I may see if I can get one with a coupon whilst they’re reduced.
For those curious, I’ve been weighing up the SSL 4K, API vision strip and Neve 1073 EQ. Popping the Neve on channels and failing about is really playful and musical and you get some great sounds. Lack of meters is a bit annoying though. The vision strip is great but takes way too much DSP so I can only run a couple of instances. The SSL is more transparent. I’ve tried the Neve 88RS? Strip but need to spend some more time understanding it’s dynamics. I’ll take a look at the Ampex too, the Studer is really lovely, might be good to get some larger sounds and modulation though.

It is truly wonderful!

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I wouldn’t worry about missing out on these particular promotions. UA always has a ridiculous barrage of ongoing sales and offers.

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Not a month goes by without UAD having a sale. Never buy at full price is the name of the game.

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The Massive Passive have done magic on some of my ambient recordings! Pretty heavy on the sharc chips though!

Echoing the La2a and BX20 sentiments here. I’d also recommend taking a look at the API 2500 and Decapitator. Their Decapitator sounds shockingly close to the real thing, and the 2500 does a great job mimicking the original too. I find both to be incredibly versatile, with the 2500 being particularly great for electronic music and anything percussive. Use old school feedback mode to add character, feed forward for more clean control. The ability to change the degree to which left and right are compressed in relation to each other is also a feature I didn’t know I needed but now can’t do without. I don’t think I’ve recorded a modular piece without the 2500 on the way in for 2 years.

Great info!! Sure I’m going to be adding to the collection soon.

For now I ended up going with Brainworx V3 EQ, The SSL channel strip, Fatso tape compressor and the BX20.

:slight_smile: