Let’s Try an Analog Mix! Console Plug-ins Special!

Introduction

Hello.
First of all, let me say that I am not an audio engineer, nor have I ever mixed in an analog environment. Therefore, I have no way of knowing what an analog mix is. However, as a DTMer, I would like to mutter, “This plug-in adds an analog feel to ..” or “The overtones that are unique to analog are ...” with deep emotion!
Putting that personal view aside, this time I would like to introduce console plug-ins that allow you to easily enjoy the atmosphere of analog mixing.

What is a Console Plug-in?

Have you ever seen a machine like this in a recording studio? This is a mixing console.

MACKIE / Onyx24

This is a device that performs sound input/output, volume and sound quality adjustments. In an analog environment like the one you see, the actual console is used for mixing.

On the other hand, ordinary DTMers do not have such equipment and use a mixer in their DAW for processing. While digital mixers have a clear sound and are highly convenient, some people feel that they are missing something.

A convenient solution is a “console (or channel strip) plug-in,” which is made to reproduce the console of the actual machine. By

Product Introduction

Now, let's move on to the introduction of console plug-ins. This article only covers products that I have actually used.

Waves NLS Non-Linear Summe

This plug-in is designed to provide distortion with an analog console. It is simple, with the main controls being distortion and volume. By using this, it is possible to perform pseudo-thumbing.
The three modes, Spike, Mike, and Nevo, model the SSL 4000G, EMI TG12345 Mk. IV, and Neve head amps, respectively.
The plug-in is divided into Buss and Channel, with Buss controlling the parameters of each Channel.
I prefer Spike, or SSL modeling.
This bundle is available at Sound House for a reasonable price.

WAVES / Morgan Page EMP Toolbox Download Delivery

Waves Kramer HLS Channel

Another plugin from Waves that replicates the EQ and preamp is the “Helios” console.
It is by no means a dexterous EQ, but it can be the best option for defining the direction of a sound.

I tend to use it on guitars and basses, but HLS cannot cut and boost low frequencies at the same time. Therefore, I use the HLS only for boosting for sound creation and insert a digital EQ in the latter stage to process the unnecessary bandwidth.
Sound House offers the HORIZON plug-in bundle, which includes this product.

WAVES / Horizon Horizon - Simplified Package Delivery

Brainworx bx_console Focusrite SC

Plugin Alliance / Brainworx bx_console Focusrite SC download delivery

Focusrite, famous for its bright red audio interface, has modeled its legendary console into this channel strip plug-in. This plugin is a channel strip plug-in modeled after the legendary Focusrite console, and allows you to use a compressor, gate, de-esser/exciter, and equalizer all in one plugin.
This product and others in the bx_console series use a technology called TMT. This is an invention that allows switching between as many as 72 channels by modeling each channel of an analog console and incorporating even the most minute differences into the software!
In order to benefit from this feature, I use it not only on a single track, but also I plug it into a bus to finish it.

PreSonus Console Shaper

Last but not least, let me introduce you to something a little different. The “Console Shaper” included with Studio One, an up-and-coming DAW, does not add an analog flavor, but rather changes the behavior of the mixer to an analog-like effect!

The Drive knob controls distortion and the Noise knob controls noise.
The Crosstalk controls how the channels mix together.
In a DAW mix, you only hear the sound of one channel from that channel. But with an analog mixer, even the sounds of other channels get mixed in there. This may be a fatal flaw for audio equipment, but this is certainly an element that results in an “analog” feel.
Anyway, as I mentioned above, since this function replaces the mixer itself with another one, if you try to use it for processing at the end of a mix, the volume balance may be ruined. Please use it from the beginning of the arrangement or mix.

PRESONUS / Studio One 6 Professional download delivery

Summary

I have used the term “analog-like” many times in this article. To be honest, however, I am not greatly concerned about “analog-like” or not, nor do I think that an analog-like sound is the best sound. Digital or analog, as long as you like it, it is fine.

However, most of the music I have grown up listening to was produced in an analog environment. It is not difficult to imagine that the sound we have grown accustomed to listening to has become the standard for good sound.
Therefore, when you feel that something is missing, it may be the sound of an analog console that can help you out.

This is why I have introduced a plug-in that emulates a mixing console. When you are stuck in a mix, why not ask for help?
Thank you again for this issue.

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