Hi!


I bring you connundrum #3. In similar ways to the past, I bring another dilemma to you.


I have around 500€ to spend on software (yey, tax return!). I've been trying acustica audio's stuff and I have found them so good I'm going to spend a coin on them. I have already talked to my local dealer (nice guy, sells his stuff properly) but I am really confused.

I do mixing and mastering, so I'm gearing up on what I believe to be the best options.

I truly need some help.

I've chosen already:
- Ivory (so transparent)
- Titanium (it's SMC tubes, not much else to say..)

???Indecision???
- mixing bundle (pink, sand and amethyst)
- GOLD
- Cobalt
- Coral
- Another alternative is bx_digital v3

Please help me, as successfully as you did in the past

Thank you,
D.

 

Coral is an invaluable tool for mastering, everything on it is freakin' awesome.

Cobalt sounds very nice but I still haven't grasped the whole Dynamic EQ concept and how exactly it works, so not using it at its full potential at the moment. Its compressor is very very nice though and the EQ as well.

For Gold I have kinda mixed feelings, although most people seem to praise it. Maybe not my cup of tea, maybe the weird behavior of the compressors & metering but I seem to not prefer it when mixing (except its preamps which sound very nice).

Pink - Sand - Amethyst are fantastic tools (Pink gets updated these days, Sand is amazing for my taste, Amethyst is great but kinda CPU hungry since its EQ is not stepped), I'd highly recommend these along with Coral, but everything is a matter of personal taste.
I am sure more people will chime in and drop some different opinions!

 

EDIT: Nothing to say. @WillTheWeirdo has said it all.

 

Last edited: Jun 30, 2017

Hello, my best advise is to demo Sand, Pink and Gold, determine what of those 3 you prefer then build around that.

For mixing.....
If you prefer the more forward cleaner aggressive Sand sound, team it with some Neve color with Lime (smoother) or Gold (thicker), add Ebony for EMT strip with that fabulous EMT 140 plate verb. This give you clean forward with some added thickness of a Neve sound and EMT, with the finest plate verb available IMHO.

If you prefer the thicker Gold sound, team it with the smooth Amethyst 3 or aggressive Sand or modern Diamond, add Ebony for the EMT contrast with that fabulous EMT 140 plate verb. With this your focus is on a thick Neve sound contrasted with a cleaner strip and the EMT for verb and strip.

If you do mainly acoustic, music look to Lime or Amethyst first and build around them with Cobalt.

If you want an EQ for the modern sound, add Diamond to anything you grab.

So Demo all of them if possible, build a mix toolbox based around the sound you prefer, then add other Acqua tools that fill the gaps from what you prefer.

For Mastering demo Cobalt and Coral first.

 

FWIW I can never get Plugin Alliance and Acustica to play nicely so be aware that getting both may not be in your best interest. I'm not the only one that this happens to on windows. Mac is not as good for Acustica either. Windows and reaper seems to be mostly the best combination for Acustica.

 

The thing about CORAL is that my gut feeling says no. For some reason I don't like the compressor, and the one on cobalt is beautiful. The eq is meh, but the elliptical filter is gooood. Probably going to get COBALT and pair it bx_digital v2 (already have). I don't seem to be happy with GOLD, I'm going to leave it... I'll save the money for Titanium.

Thank you for your opinion!

 

I really like your youtube channel, Weirdo! I think I'll stay with SAND+PINK+AMETHYST. GOLD is meh for me, I don't know why...

You really are selling the EMT :p I think I'll pass, though it sounds really good. I'll try LIME though. Diamond is good, I'll consider it if some money is spared.

Thank you for your opinion!

 

In ableton live (MAC) they pair OK, though I've had problems with NUGEN plugins. I'll take into consideration, thank you for your opinion!

 

Mix using 99% Nebula 4 and Acqua's.