What are your thoughts about this old technology and why are you still using it?

 

me. It's a fun way to use hardware emulations. My computer can handle a ton of instances. azzimov is skinning libraries continually which is cool. its clunky as fuck and doesnt do everything certainly but sounds good enough for my purposes.

 

I think it can be a generally cumbersome system and takes some time investment and organization, depending on how many libraries you have.
I do feel like it has something special, and with the wealth of libraries available the sonic possibilities are limitless.

For some Nebula is their go-to and an important part of their mixes. There are many that prefer Nebula compressors rather than their Acqua counterparts. In 2024 I do not really think to grab Nebula and use it in the mix, but I haven't had the time to properly learn all my options. There is "magic" there, but not enough I suppose to warrant further exploration at the current time. I can't afford to be a plugin analyst right now. I would not discredit it even if there are some hoops you need to jump through. I think it could be worth it.
Though it can easily become a hindrance as well... The options are overwhelming.

You can potentially chain different components in series to create your own Frankenstein object, albeit with potential ripple + crossover/phase stacking, but I think these things add some "mojo".

Nebula usually uses much less cpu since each instance only loads a single component, unless you use a custom N4 skin. These skins function similar to Acquas where they fuse multiple Nebula instances into a single container. Writing this out, I really need to make a note for myself to experiment more with the skins and other single-instance libraries also. The libraries are also a kind of piece of DSP history.
For now, all this remains in the realm of potentiality.

 

There some some interesting comments from Cupwise on this page and the next one.

https://gearspace.com/board/music-computers/566552-nebula-must-have-613.html

I think it's the 3rd party developers that get the most out of this tech due to their constant experimentation and innovation.

 

Last edited: May 22, 2024

My DAW templates are full of Nebula, and now I'm just waiting for Zen 5 to run it all without having to render individual tracks!

 

Last edited: May 22, 2024

me, kinda...
I started to emulating emulations in Bitwig. I want to change my workflow to just use stock effects...
they say TimP compressors are good, even better than the AA ones... so I installed Nebula.
till now I have 1176 and SSL bus... but la2a is a little hit-and-miss.
btw if anyone wants 1176 and la2a from TimP but no nebula---> just use
native instruments ones... they are 90% the same.

 

My sessions have nebula instances all over and if you use Reaper like I do CPU is much less of a problem then on other DAW's when using Nebula. The newer released Libraries and even the older ones from 3rd Party devs like AlexB and TimP are just simply amazing. To me there is still nothing in plugin land that can come close to it.

 

Quote from Cupwise

"the thing that sets nebula apart from other convolution stuff is that it's also using Volterra math stuff which i don't really understand on a math level but it allows harmonics to be taken from hardware also, not just the main tone. other convolution doesn't do that."

 

I use the API/Neve consoles for tracking and SSL for mixing. It's quite subtle, but it all adds up. I like to use some of the Tape programmes as well.

 

I believe in the preach of convolution as a part of a hardware emulation and Nebula takes it to another level.

 

I've bought a ton of libraries and use primarily Nebula in my mixes and masters. Takes time to adjust to the workflow, but you can't beat it sound-wise. Try Tim P Silk EQ on vocals..sweet

 

And Tim P's compressors are arguably the best in the box.

 

Clippers too

 

I'm not even into Acqua plugins anymore. There are so many newer, smarter tools that can deliver quality for a whole lotta less computer power. It's clunky and old. Do you get a great sound? Yes, of course, but other tools deliver as good a sound. It's never the arrow but the archer, right?

 

Zen 5 will be good! Do you have a large collection of libraries or only the essentials, and do you own or use some from all 3rd party developers or just a few? Plus what are some that are hard to replicate or have not been replicated in other plugins?
Thank you.

 

In all due respect, music is all about good quality sound. It takes me more energy and time to make algos work, while most of the time the Nebual stuff just works. But I agree to a degree. A combination of both is best of both worlds.

 

Nebula sounds good because it captures the harmonic details from the hardware, and I always use it alongside the algo plugins.

 

Tim P's clippers are pretty hard to beat. They are just bonus / add on libraries in some of his comp and eq modules, but they sound really good.

Very disagree here lol. NI one is nothing like Tim P's.

Its clunky and annoying, but still sounds great. Some of the libraries are unbeatable. The console strips and pre's are awesome. Alex B's recent gentleman edition consoles are killer. The stereo busses, etc. The API console has an eq / fatten function which is awesome. I find myself using nebula stuff at the very beginning of a mix, printing, then moving on to Acquas, or Algo's.

The ssl buss is really good. I sometimes use it in place of my actual SSL Buss compressor

 

Currently rendering a ton of tracks with it, it's still excellent tech

 

native instruments ones... they are 90% the same...