Just curious if someone uses this. I like it a lot on busses and subtle on mixbus. Any1 able to share some tricks /insides ?

 

6 Things You Should Know About The CTC-1 Pro Console Shaper From The PreSonus Design Team

6 Things You Should Know About The CTC-1 Pro Console Shaper From The PreSonus Design Team
As many of you know - PreSonus recently released the CTC-1 Pro Console Shaper. If you haven't seen or heard it yet, you can watch a recent video here, AND enter to win 1 of 3 copies here!

Having said that, the "Mix Engine FX" paradigm, or more specifically the CTC-1 can be a bit difficult to grasp at first. So I've asked my good friend Ari Ahrendt (part of the design team for the CTC-1) to help shed some light on the CTC-1. So without further ado, here's 6 things from Ari that he feels would be useful for the Studio One community to know!

1 - Unique Sound Character Per Channel
Did you know, that the unique sound character of the console is different on every channel? So it is not just an insert plugin in the master bus. Furthermore, every channel has minor variations and will be processed seperately. Meaning that identical instruments on different channels of the console don’t sound 100% the same.

2 - The Drive Knob
Did you know, that the Drive knob is an input gain for all effected channels of the CTC-1? As with real analog consoles, if pushed - it will lead the channels into overdrive at higher levels. So it is not simply an 'effect' for the amount of distortion. The typical harmonic distortion character of the three different console models gives your tracks a kind of patina (character/vibe) before any other insert effects.

When your input levels are very low, the overdrive threshold will never be reached and there is no distortion. But the console character is always there, because it is far more then the drive state.

Tip: With an inserted VU-Meter as the first plug-in instance, you can visually check your channel input level. (Gain compensation has to be in bus mode for this). The level should be around 0dB VU. Now, when increasing the drive knob in the CTC-1 the harmonics and/or tube distortions come up. If the level is too low, you can simply raise the event gain, instrument output or use the +18 dB function in the CTC-1 drive section. But be careful with the last one!

CTC-1+Classic+Drive+Knob



3 - The Character Knob
Did you know, that the Character knob is just an enhancer stage of the character parameter? With the character setting at 1.0 (minimum) you get an authentic 1:1 ratio of the pure console models. If you like the basic character of a console model - then this character knob can enhance it’s entity. Although for full mixes you should be careful with this knob, or keep it on the authentic level of 1. But for sound design, it can be very useful for unique sound colors.

CTC-1+Tube+Character+Knob

4 - Gain Compensation
Did you know, that the CTC-1 Gain Compensation can be switched between bus or channels? The difference in these 2 modes is where this actual compensation happens. The 'normal mode' is the bus mode. That means when you increase the drive knob on the CTC-1 - all the affected channels in the console get louder, like they would with a normal hardware console. But, the level is compensated for on the bus. The result of this mode, is that existing mixes will sound different because all inserts and dynamics are getting a louder input signal. E.g. compressors will process the signal drastically harder than you earlier wanted.

Sometimes the above can make for interesting results. But if you don’t want to manipulate all your fine adjusted thresholds - then you should use the channel gain compensation. In this case the drive knob makes your channels 'louder' so that you can have the overdriven effect. But the signal level will compensated before any insert FX in the console.

CTC-1+Classic+Gain-Compensation

5 - The Custom Model
Did you know that the Custom Model is brand new and uniquely designed console with different behaviors than the classic - 'vintage style' consoles of the 60's - 80's? It is also very different to the existing free Console Shaper. The idea was to create a console model that is pretty much influenced by the knowledge of the mastering world. It uses techniques that one can find in particular mastering steps. The channels behave differently than the busses. Even the crosstalk is different compared to the other models. There is much more individual sound processing happening than a simple send-signal to nearby channels.

The technical sound design, and the circuit behaviour happening in the background is much more modern - and it can give modern music mixes that color patina (character/vibe) that people love today. In mastering studios it is a normal procedure to push music through a specific hardware device, or a whole signal chain just to get it's "color print". The custom model can do this job and more. So I would describe the CTC-1 custom model as a new/modern designed Hi-End mastering console.

*But just to be clear - the custom model is not the same as the original console shaper. They make look similar with their GUI, but they are in fact completely different.

CTC-1+Custom

6 - The ECO Mode
Did you know that the ECO mode uses a different and more CPU efficient algorithm? It may also sound slightly different in the drive stage. But with this option enabled, you can use the CTC-1 in very large projects or when working with small computers and laptops. You still have the full benefit of parameters such as crosstalk and the different unique console characters. But with this ECO mode and the previously included Console Shaper plugin - essentially you get 7 very different console sound colors:

1. Original Console Shaper (FREE)
2. CTC-1 Classic
3. CTC-1 Tube
4. CTC-1 Custom
5. CTC-1 Classic (ECO Mode)
6. CTC-1 Tube (ECO Mode)
7. CTC-1 Custom (ECO Mode)

CTC-1+Tube+ECO

Article by Ari Ahrendt - Quality Assurance Specialist - PreSonus Software Ltd.



link: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/st...the-ctc-1-pro-console-shaper-from-ari-ahrendt

 

Yeah, found that article too, good read.thx for sharing

actually, i use ctc it on busses, for example synth bus to glue things together in a unusual way. Like with the crosstalk, pretty unique feature. On the mixbus, i would rather use console shaper subtle.

 

Interesting article, thank you