I'm really hooked on D16's bit crusher Decimort, since it degrades sounds and gives it that raw sounding imperfect sound. I also like a little distortion and Izotopes Trash. Probably my two favorite for really roughing up my percussion's. As for an over all master and trying to obtain that Acoustic sound, I'm still learning ways. I like Kramer Tape by Waves, but for an overall master, I could not find that acoustic sound I really wanted from that particular plugin. At best, I used it for my parallel compression on the secondary audio file. It was great for that.
My overall master often consists of 4 simple steps. I use EQ, Dynamic EQ, Exciter, and Stereo Imager with a gentle Limiter. I still haven't come across a good plug in to give it that subtle analogue sound. Ozone 7 has a tape saturator, but I can never get a good sound out of that.

So, what do you guys do to obtain that sound? Any plugins you can suggest?

 

Hopefully more members will chime in but now I understand why analogue sound is kind of addiction for those who have tasted it. I am also in the similar boat discovering and trying plugins to achieve that earthy impression in my mixes. So far I have found that the most suitable and close to analogue sound plugins are Acustica audio plugins. These are dedicated to deliver the analogue sound that you are after so they were developed with this analogy in mind. Download their trial versions and experience for yourself. I hope other experienced members will guide you more in this subject.

 

VHS, casette, tape reel (if you want wow, flutter, tape saturation, warble, high end roll-off, etc)...

 

Last edited: May 2, 2016

Nebula AlexB Neev81 / Preamamp Colors & Sat

 

Basically what Ed and Lean said.
From my testing and mostly failing at it,you need either boutique analog hardware or Acustica/Nebula plugins,their channel strips,Eqs and compressors.
Acustica are so far the only plugins with which you can actually get that fat,warm yet soft full of harmonics and high end sheen sound like in the the Abba song bellow which is not possible with any other plugin manufacturer,all still sound flat.
We are talking depth,weight,dimension,we are talking life.

 

I just downloaded the NEO plugin and used it for my remaster of "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life". IT really does help. I also added vinyl crackle and some tape hum. Sounds pretty good.

 

Anywhere I can find the full copy of Nebula? I downloaded a CM version.....that's all I could find though.

 

Get a reel to reel recorder like Revox pr99 mk,you can get one in pristine condition for 1500 euros if lucky,otherwise around 2k euros.

 

I experimented with recording to an old 2 track reel-to-reel back in the late 80s, I bought it from a junk shop for a few pounds. I think it was an Akai, wish I still had it now.

 

Baxter! How to get analogue sound from software synths? I mean the same sound as if I'm using real Moog Voyager

 

Tape emulations can give you saturation which can be a great thing, however what to me is "the analoge sound" is a bunch of tracks snaking their way through all sorts of wires, capacitors, resistors and all that stuff inherent in recording consoles, each channel being different than the next. It is the errors such as different timing, crosstalk, etc that enable width, depth, and weight that can help make the sound less sharp and more rounded, pleasing and non fatiguing to my ear at least. Milliseconds do matter in this aural world of sound. Scratchy record sounds do not inform me of the analogue sound but rather of just scratchy and dusty records which are sound effects. Every pro recording engineer that I listen to extol the beauty of NOT SUMMING THROUGH THE DAW but rather utilizing even a relatively inexpensive console like a Zed to give you a great bottom end and the benefits of all the junk the sound must navigate through on its way to aural nirvana. There are expensive boxes that SSL and others make for this very reason, but who can afford all that? Not me, not now, maybe never, but that's ok, I will survive to write another song, smile at the gifts in hand and be grateful for what I have every moment of every day. We are blessed to be alive in this modern world of music production and can smile ear to magnificent ear at the wonders of technology. Yes.

 

Totally agree with you.
Its the same with modern filmography and the modern equipment,too close to the subject,exposing way too much information.
As Acustica engineers say,we already invented the wheel,now its time to reinvent it again.

 

http://mammothcaveaudio.com/passive-aggressive-series/

 

I use tape and console emulation on every track in my mixes, even on the returns. And then in the master bus too. I own kramer and slate tape, and use them both.

 

That stuff seems amazing, adding color and the ability to sculpt your sound. Used on each channel it could add much benefit in a certain kind of sound. What I imply is that the actual summing of all tracks should be done outside the box, OTB, to avoid the inherent loss of information and that broken glass sound with pointy shards that can happen when all is summed within the digital domain.

I will leave you'all with this tidbit from a pro who has recorded some of the biggest and most respected artists for two or three generations (I myself am just a rank amature with access to some great info from seasoned pros who have lived and breathed this stuff for like forever, it is just a great love, need and hobby for me)

...the calculations in the daw create latency and errors that lag time, and then get rounded off to the nearest sample/bit(truncation), voltage summing and all acts in the analog domain happen at almost the speed of light! so slowed down it is not. As far as summing overall, as an experiment, try dropping everything OTB to your console once, with no moves made ITB whatsoever, treating everything with hardware inserts on the console, and then buss to stereo subs on the console, then apply your 2 buss style compression on the subs, and leave the 2 buss naked, then recapture off the 2, and i promise you there is a very large difference in the sonics as compared to summing ITB, vivid imaging is way easier to achieve, and much more tangible via voltage summing ime.

so i'd say the benefits of summing do not come in half measures, slapping something on the 2 buss at the end can be very good, but it is not the same.

 

As I read something tape reel & stuff related.. my friend recently lent me this thing (I have some tapes to audio-capture). It’s (almost) unused PR99. Is this worth keeping (..at least as a "vst fx" ), or is it worthless? He does not really want it back.

 

Are you fucking with us?

 

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