(I wanted to put somebody inflating a balloon inwards by suckling/inhaling,
but it seems humanity has lost that ancient knowledge/ability.. so this may have to serve lol)

 

Half of the plug-ins on that page at any given time are not actually new, they have just been added to the KVR marketplace. Thanks for wanting to share freebies though!

 

Better version of the same concept without the Steven Slate nonsense: https://www.bertomaudio.com/airshelf.html

 

Another interesting "soundgoodizer" could be the SPL Twintube,
an Harmonic Exciter and Drive unit with a Very Subtle and refined effect..

It would be hard to describe it,
but many times I've been "this close" to include it on my mastering session..

In the end I didn't because I work mainly on Orchestral Soundtracks made ITB,
so it's only in very rare occasions that I need to include real instruments like a guitar or something..

 

Tit Nitrous is one hell of a jug

 

And that's exactly what "Fresh Air" does to your mix when overused.. lol

 

Sounds like lightheaded anxiety. A plugin just for one setting of a high boost that blows cold air up ones pussy. That's why it's really free. Which reminds me I need to bin the shit.

 

BEAT16 is the real MVP, he's one of the regulars on here always posting the truth. Today he posted air but that don't mean shit. He's going to go back to one of the most useful members around here because I'm like, "That BEAT16 know everything"

 

As someone who *loathes* iLOK, and staunchly refuses to buy into their CPU-hogging money-grab bullshit, I don't understand this iLOK-protecting-free-plugins garbage. There are a handful of companies who obviously see this as ridiculous as well, like, for instance, Nembrini. Any free plugins (all which are all quality,) have in large text at the top of the page "FREE NO iLok REQUIRED."

 

A little trick with "aural exciter" like plugins : use them on entry level orchestral banks
Like a BBE Maximizer on garritan instant orchestra

You will get a "big boys" like sound
And keep a LOT of money in your pockets

Try it and tell us :D

 

One of the reasons why I'm never sure, and have second thoughts about using this type of "soundgoodizers"..

Is the fact that this plugs tend to modify the signal/sound even if set to absolute Zero.

Here's a screenshot of Q-Clone capturing itself clean..

Spoiler: Clean Clone

Here's Clariphonic

Spoiler: Clariphonic

Here's TwinTube

Spoiler: TwinTube

As you can see even when set at Zero, they're already doing a visible change,
which I can also Hear on the mix..

Not kidding, I've got pretty good hearing (although I cannot hear anything beyond 17,2Khz),
and I'm using some pretty much "perfect" DT880 Pro's which are like a freaking Microscope..


So that's the whole conundrum,
do I really Need to use this plugs?

Even at Zero, some of the stuff they do I may see/perceive as Positive/beneficial..
Clariphonic surely adds Clarity but.. it's like even too much at Zero!
TwinTube adds a certain and super Subtle warmth which I kinda like..

But I always have the doubt - will I be Fucking things up by using them?
What's the limit?

I haven't spent months and Months Composing, Producing, Mixing and Mastering my Soundtracks to the limit of my hearing capacities/knowledge/patience..
just to go all Crazy happily applying mysterious/placebo effects all over just because they're fancy or whatever..

And that's what makes it hard for me to decide, should I use it or not?


-As you can see I also got FreshAir and Waves Aphex loaded which I just checked, and well..
FreshAir makes literally No-Change to the signal when Zeroed.
While Aphex seems to very very slightly cut/soften the very Top Highs and Bottom Lows near nyquist?

In any case, the only two exciters I currently use are Aphex and Ozone,
(because that's what I always used/fine-tuned for years, and it works so why change it lol..)

While other non-linearities may be introduced by Elysia Alpha Comp,
and to a lesser extent DMG EQuilibrium, which also has an interesting effect on my mixes,
giving them a certain Depth/Width and "realist" feel that I like..
(oh and ofc the filtering of each individual instrument/buss made with Fabfilter Pro-Q in Natural phase mode, a few Oxford EQ's,
and whatever the rest of the processes do, compressors, multiband comp, reverbs etc..)

(Also this is only in terms of EQ, I still have to check what they do in terms of Phase..
I suspect they will also represent a change, although I still don't know how to fully interpret/understand phase graphs..)

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2021

Then don't feed him...
You're a respected member and your informative posts are very welcome here.
Thank you.

 

Muh true bypass is missing LOL
I get you though honestly.

On a serious note I know you're into rock, metal & punk so I just found what's probably obvious to some of you but I've been tossing TwinTube after my cab loader usually at the very end of my heavy guitar chain or right before the limiter at the end.

It ends up adding a lot of much needed weight to the amp and pedal I already have going before the cab. I thought I'd be stupid for doing it but it seems to at least for me sound far meaner. Been doing hard shelves in the EQ section and that helps cut the cat hiss right out without losing tone also, seems to help out tons.

BEAT16 turns up with so many useful posts on the regular. Guy always goes out of his way to help people make technical fixes which don't benefit him in any way.

Then he posts new plugins, tech talk, news and even shitposts for lols with us all the time. As of lately he opened up a ton of threads in various genres making this place a cooler place to visit.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 1, 2021

Well the particular Style one is working on is a big factor,
as well as the personal approach/philosophy of the whole thing..

I can certainly enjoy some quality Rock & Metal,
and in this contexts having more colorful or enhanced tones can be appealing/necessary..

But Orchestral music is a bit different and has different needs..
Usually orchestral timbres like Strings (which is the bread) and woodwinds, or orchestral drums/percs/timpani etc,
tend to have much more Mid-centric/brown kind of tone/freqs..

And all of this mid freqs can pile up a lot when dealing with 20-30+ instruments at once..
So usually it's necessary to cut a bit on those low/mid freqs, and enhance the higher,
just to avoid/take away some of the Mud and gain some extra Clarity/crispness..


Also the particular project one may be working on dictates the quality/type of timbres one will use,
and also the production approach to a certain extent..

For an Epic movie Trailer, or a very Realist/mature videogame,
you can use very realist/big and more produced timbres, and that also applies to the way you adjust/produce those timbres..

Here adding a certain Grit with a saturation/drive unit, like NoAvenger suggested,
an harmonic exciter like Pipotron suggeted,
or for instance vintage Tube coloring via - saturation, tape emulation, or any other process,
could be very appealing/necessary sometimes.. (depending on the original timbre production ofc)

But if you're working on a project with a less mature/more naive theme/target,
you will need different types of timbres, probably less realist/epic and more retro, ideophonic, etc..

In that context not much Coloring would be necessary in production terms.


In any case my whole personal approach/goal is always getting as much of a Clear/Clean and a Natural sound as possible,
something well Balanced, Subtly enhanced, and ofc Big/warm enough..
but Intelligibility and naturalness are usually more important factors to me than coloring/driving the stuff.


-I can see how SPL could be beneficial on a guitar amp/track,
and that's why I mentioned "including real instruments" on a previous post..

TwinTube works better on a track insert rather than on the master bus, where it will affect all the mix,
giving it some extra warmth/realism yes, but also cluttering/muddying things up a bit.

Clariphonic is better designed for master buss usage,
but as I said, even tho I find the effect beneficial to a certain extent,
even at Zero level I find it to be too much.. on top of all the other processes I already have going on,
and for this particular context/project I'm working on.

Maybe if I wasn't already using other EQ's and Exciters to obtain Clarity,
its effect wont be excessive or as pronounced..

But as it stands, in this context even at Zero I find it to be excessive,
and while it adds an interesting extra clarity/definition,
it also makes it sound a little bit artificial..

So in essence it's not what my tracks need atm.

Still I Like the plug tho, as it's got a unique sound/approach on the matter,
it's made with care and it offers some interesting options/characters to choose from..


-Btw I couldn't help but laugh a little at the manual, and the Pompous way it tries to describe it's functioning/effect..
Like talking about "telephonics" "ultrasonics" and other gibberish terms and obfuscated logic,
trying to give a more luxurious/quintessential significance to all it..

It's not as bad as good ol MAAT in their quest of untrue semantic excellence tho,
but it's interesting that they get into that terrain, when their plugs, besides of being mostly color-tools,
are well made and can be interesting/useful alternatives to the regular units/approach.

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2021

Oh true I forgot I just recently learned you did soundtracks, I thought you made rock before that to be honest. Soundtracks aren't outside of that realm either but I'm just saying. It's very hard for me to tame my heavy guitar channel so anytime I make what seems like a small breakthrough I get happier than shit because it's the most noisy and out of control bus I have.

I wish I knew why some plugins never let you truly bypass the signal but that's why I never rely on using the knobs to turn down vol or gain on the plugin itself unless it has a bypass switch and even then it sometimes works exactly as you have displayed. Which is why I just completely turn the plugin off on the mixer channel to bypass it just in case.

 

I remember you always talking about Fender Twintubes, Princetons, Tweeds & Vibraluxes so I just figured. I actually have been messing with that Princeton emulation from IK then pairing it with my own impulses then getting magical results back. Especially with a tape delay and the reverb cranked on the amp. I can truly see why you like these types of models.

 

Yes, I did a few Electro/Rock and even Western tracks some years ago,
but usually most projects/clients need/request Orchestral music..
which is completely fine by me, as I love to work on the style, and it can represent much less work in a way!

With guitars things become more Complicated from top to bottom,
not only in compositional terms but also in production/engineering terms..

Guitars are always difficult to record/produce properly, it's Always a compromise,
and they don't have the best sound.. in fact compared to other fine instruments, they suck lol

But they suck in a very Appealing/lovely way!
(acoustic and classical don't suck as much tho..)

I also worked as a session/studio guitarist for many years, so I know the difficulties believe me..
The best solution I've found so far (with the gear I've got) is simply using the Amps from the POD HD500 and Amplitube 4 Cabs.

I've tried many many modellers and cab sims over the years, (if not all the best..)
and I can tell you Amplitube has the best Cabs system/sound by far..


-In terms of Amps..
First I'm not as experienced with real/proper amps because they're very Expensive/heavy contraptions.. lol
Ofc I wish I had a what.. a Bogner, a few Mesa Boogies, a Cornford? you see I don't even know what's hip.

So coming from an empty-walleted background I resorted to go for the modelling route with the POD, which had the best tech atm..
Ofc later came Axe-FX rendering all the rest as useless paperweights, but at that moment that's where it was.

It may not have the most perfect/inspiring recreations when it comes to Playing/feel,
but it can very closely recreate/imitate pretty much any tone one might need.

So for Work matters it does a pretty good job, and it's very convenient..


Lately I've been toying with this new Nembrini and Neural amps,
and I was quite impressed with how much it's improving..

Specially Nembrini seems to capture many factors of what makes an amp be good,
not only in Tone (which even my POD can closely imitate), but also in Feel and playing responsiveness..

I think those Nemmbrini Marshalls are the best marshall recreations I've ever tried,
even better than the POD in some aspects, and better than any other Software modeller I tried..


-Alas, it wasn't me the one who you remember bragging about Fender amps,
I certainly Like them as they have their own sound/color.. and for some styles like Blues/country they are very appealing and necessary.

But if I had to choose, I think I would go with - not a Fender or a Marshall,
but more of a vintage Mesa Boogie type sound alla Mark III-V.. (I like that type of balance between Mojo/Balls/Clarity)
or maybe a Rectifier for the Heavier sounds.

For a Cleaner or more Modern Fusion type sound maybe I'd check Cornford amps,
if it's good enough for Guthrie Govan.. it's certainly good enough for me!

And if I had a bottomless pocket, maybe also a Bogner as I always liked the sounds/versatility they offer,
some of them seem to be like tasty Boutique amps that cover a very Broad spectrum of tones..

(In fact if that Tone doesn't give you an inmediate Bogner, there must surely be something wrong with your ears.. )

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2021

I used the Slate Fresh Air plugin on my song "Trying To Create", at the top of my link if you want to check it out here:

https://www.soundclick.com/aaronaardvark