I have been severely testing Slate plugins in the last few days.
I am speechless.
This guy gets it.
Rarely,a plugin manufacturer delivers what he advertises.Rarely i go wow.
I have been testing the virtual mix rack and virtual console collection.
We are talking about 200$ bundle(virtual mix rack)which is in my opinion worth thousands of dollars.
You would have to spend several thousand dollars for a studio or hardware to get even near this type of quality.
We are talking pristine,big budget,top notch emulation.
You can really get that pristine 70s warm,full of life and harmonics sound.
We are talking life in your music,it takes the digital away and i swear to god this stuff will get your game to the next level.
Putting the Virtual Mixbus,FG-401 compressor and a bit of Custom series lift on the mixbus was just a game changer.
I also added VCR stuff on other busses.
You can really tweak each bus with the vcr rack,tailor the sound,get that warmth and softness which is just missing in the modern production.
Drums,cymbals,synths,forget about it,it can make it sound like your stuff was recorded in a top notch 70s studio.
Forget about the harsh mids and highs,you can now get that pristine sweet,silky highs.
I listen to a lot of reference material from 70s and 80s and whenever i would listen to Bill Conti`s Rocky II soundtrack i would be blown away by the mix,the warmth,softness...Remember that warm,soft Abba sound?How full of life the synths and drums were,vocals?...now you can get that sound
I will now have to get an ilok,even though i hate that thing,stuff that good i will support.
Steven Slate i salute you.

 

Hi Steve,,, because that's you.. Mr. Slate, right?

 

U and I sir, hear exactly the same..... but on camera he has ah really repulsive attitude...
maybe he is just nervous, or full of himself or both be he certainly knows his stuff/people/equipment

the compressors didn't made it in my vocals chain (thats still a cla 76 & ca-2a combo, maybe because I or the studio owns them )
but the equalizers and harmonics are top notch for vocals and real instruments, it really has 'that' sound indeed. and VBC FG-Red sits really nice on the master channel doing nothing.

but to put in a little nuance, I think it's all about good parameters/ratios/response and all that nothing special you could not achieve with TDR VOS SlickEQ or waves ssl for that matter.

for me it is how I can achieve my goal as fast as possible

 

Last edited: Apr 26, 2016

Slate is Dated!!! try Acustica >>> an Slate will Fade away \m/

 

mcdsp is better than slate

 

Fuck im exposed,@SAiNT told me im safe here....got to run...

 

Interesting. I've never tried them. Personally, I'm a big fan of UAD, even if I think they overcharge a bit for their stuff. I have most of their plugins, and there are a few which I personally believe definitely have that "sound" (helios eq is just one example). I'm curious as to how Slate compares to the comparable UAD versions.

 

Its lite on CPU cause only thing in em is Hype \m/ It takes POWER to get a hardware sound \m/

 

No man,trust me,i know what im talking about,absolutely no hype here.

 

hm, I like Slate's stuff but I'm still learning this awesome companys plugs http://www.softube.com/
Drawmer s73 is magic together with Satin on master for my reggae tracks

 

i like his plugins but i don't depend on them match!

 

Satin is amazing as well.
I usually put it on my mixbus or drumbus,U-He know their stuff.
Glad you found your magic recipe

 

The Slate plugins are definitely nice. But they aren't magical. I recently did a shootout between a few of the "top tier" tape emulators: Slate VTM, Waves Kramer Master Tape, u-He Satin, etc. Satin came out on top. Deep control, best sound, multiple applications/uses. Slate came in number 2. Definitely an option. But not the end all of plugins.

EDIT: Forgot to say, I've been meaning to give VMR a go. I've heard nothing but great things about it--and I'm looking for a console style channel strip. So it might make it into my machine. Gonna do another head to head test against some other options.

 

Yes,i did a Satin review once,it blew me away.When you compare just Slate VTM(virtual tape machines) with Satin,then Satin is a clear winner,just offers more options and sound wise its also better.
But VCR stuff with its compressors,eq-s,lift plugins is a totally different beast.
The virtual console emulation plugs are also beasts.
With those plugins you can control a whole spectre of parameters to get that additional control,added harmonics(not a mess of distortion),softness,warmth,silky highs and even softer bottom end.
I added Satin on a drumbus and then sporadically distributed VCRs on my other busses and mixbus and boy,we are talking LIFE.
Huston,we dont have a problem any more,we are now f-ing winning.

 

I wouldn't say its his attitude its his demeanor. We're used to Jabba the Hutt looking guys that slur and speak in monotone telling us about plugins and gear, and here comes Ben Affleck.

 

Last edited: Apr 26, 2016

I'm trying to get this sound: https://audiosex.pro/threads/ariel-pink-sound-possible-in-digital.24804/#post-187254 - is Slate any good, if pushed, for this?

 

Your logic wins everything...

If 2 companies make a compressor or eq, the first, you can open 150 instances, the other, just 4 or 5, the 2nd company says their plug has some a lien filters that need tons of cpu...
Automatically, the most cpu hog is the best for you, because more cpu= better hardware clone.

Ex, Melda productions plug-ins can be open thousands of times... partly because it is written in assembler.the same plug-ins made by a different company, in c++ and juce, the instances count might only be a few dozens, instead of several hundreds.

I actually find Steve slate is a nice , funny, humble and talented guy.
Just like all the Internet bashed and made fun of Manuel schleiss, with his sample CDS. .. well, today, there isn't a single computer or mac in the world, with a daw installed, without a vengeance sample CD ! He is the one who laughs, today.

For those interested, there is a great video, with plenty of cool details on his techniques, etc, even his girlfriend. It starts after 12m00.
He went as far as renting a small castle, just to have a certain 'reverbed' sound !

as always , in my comments, a small rant : how many % here detest Steve slate guy AND plug-ins, but are actually using his plugs all the time... 50% ? 80% ? Talk about hypocrisy, as usual.

12m03s :

 

Just interested to know what your testing method was?

 

more cpu= better hardware clone.

huh, this works, but not always)) Spire 1.1 made CPU usage 3 times less...Does it mean Spire is 3 times far away from hardware clones? :D funny shit happens...
some plugs have small amount of cpu usage, but sound with high-quality, vintagey and depthier...but there is a lot of cpu-eaters with shitty quality and no sound at all.
u-he's plugs are good examples...cpu eating = superior sound quality and analogueness (Diva, Satin...)

 

Testing method was mixing my material and witnessing an evolution of sound happening before my eyes,thats when i realized how powerful his stuff is.
Its not really science,you can tell his stuff is way above average.I took my time and tweaked,listened,a-b comparison.
Next day with a fresh mind and ears i was even more blown away.