Console emulation in your DAW

Just curious to see how many cats emulate certain hardware consoles in their DAWs.....Before putting together my own home studio, I would often go to a family members studio which was, and still is hadware based with a 48 channel console, R2R tape machine, rack gear (compressors, channel strips, eqs, etc)......Ive always loved the sound of the music that came out of that studio. I have some software plugins that i guess emulates some hardware. I have for a while used tape emu plugins to beef up drums and samples. But as far as the plugins I have that replicate consoles in my DAW like SSLs, Neves, API etc., I havent dove deeply into this yet. Curious to see how you guys are using them/setting them up in your systems.

edit:I have for example run my turntable through emu plugs to treat samples, so I know how to use them.....but my post focuses on emulating a console with your daw. example: 24 track project, each channel with console emulation (vcc, waves nls), each channel with a console channel strip plugin (ssl, neve,...)

I mix and match between various plugin emulations as I go along, but in terms of overall workflow I'm quite interested in the Softube Console 1.


http://www.softube.com/console1.php

Dope!

I kinda want that hands-on feel when working in a DAW too. I with there was something like a Command 8 that exists without all the I/O guts. Similar to a controller, but it must have good motorized faders.

The cat who taught my engineering class called the Control 24 a $10,000 mouse.

Mike Boogie wrote:Similar to a controller, but it must have good motorised faders.

I'm still waiting for the X-Touch to be released...




http://www.behringer.com/EN/products/X-TOUCH.aspx

Coz wrote:I'm quite interested in the Softube Console 1

I've been toiling over whether to buy this for months... **** it, problem solved. It should get here on Monday.

let us know how it goes.

mr_debauch wrote:let us know how it goes.

It was delivered to a neighbour yesterday who dropped it round today.





First impressions are pretty good. The controller is solid and feels like it can take some abuse. I wish it had more of a wedge to it though, so without just propping it up at the back with any old shite, I need to find a better solution so I can get it angled towards me. The CC121 to the left (or right) feels weird, so I may have to flip it and get a few of those other Steinberg controllers which should make things more ergonomic.

A few 'rogue' Softube plugins from my old computer got nuked on installation but I can't really complain about that.

Dropping the plugin on every track is a pain but I've got it set up as a preset in Cubase Pro 8 (which is stellar by the way!), so it's not that time consuming. My 100+ audio track unfinished projects might be a different story. I'm not looking forward to mapping those out at all.

Anyway, I gave it an hours test drive with a small project I started last week and it sounded excellent. I need to deprogram my brain to stop reaching for the trackpad because you don't need to!

So yeah, so far so good.

Definitely curious as to how the Console1 stacks up against things like NLS etc. I know they're different beasts entirely and I guess it's not a fair comparison really, but I just mean as far as "console emulation" goes.

I was interested in NLS earlier this year but opted to not go for it. I run every track out of the MPC thru a Fatso for a track-by-track tape emu, but that's the closest I decided to try & get with my current setup.

I have the vcc console collection from Slate, it sounds nice. It adds a bit of clarity and separation to things in a subtle way. Some may think its a little too subtle for $200 but I think it's worth it. I like using the group mode with all Vox or beat parts, and switching between modes, I usually pretty easily set in on a nice tone for each group. Add a little drive and things Pop a bit more. I also just picked up the Slate FG-X plug for the master bus, which opens things up beautifully. Amazing stuff

Alternatively If you have a spare 7 or 10k burning a hole in your pocket you could always pick up one of those SSL SIGMA racks and 32 I/O

SEMS wrote:Definitely curious as to how the Console1 stacks up against things like NLS etc. I know they're different beasts entirely and I guess it's not a fair comparison really, but I just mean as far as "console emulation" goes.

Console 1 is all about the enhanced workflow and as a bonus you get an officially endorsed SSL emulation thrown in. It's very clean and does what it does well, but I'm hoping they go for something with a bit more mojo in the future. I'm just happy that it's made a number of plugins redundant for me, and the menu diving has dropped significantly.

The next logical step up in audio quality will probably be the latest Acustica stuff. Nothing else gets close to what they are doing IMO.


http://www.acustica-audio.com/index.php ... Itemid=305

as i am an old cat coming from the analog days i always used daws more like an analog mixer and tape machine.
so as the computer power got stronger over the years and the plugin count could get higher i mostly set up all my sessions the same way.
my goal is always to emulate a ssl e or g series console, so i set up all the features that are found on the channel strips like a hpf/lpf, eq, comp/exp and gate using variations of stock and third party plugins. then i try to use them only in the way they function in the real hardware.
on my mixbus i also set up a master compressor that emulates the g-series bus compressor and use it at minimal settings just for "glue".

that console 1 hard- and softwarebundle is also something i´d like to spend some time with, because it is looking very promising to get both of best worlds and a more hands on feeling while mixing. to me it is very important to be able to tweak two or even more parameters at the same time so a controller that allows for that is a big plus.

peace, jo

selecta jo wrote:that console 1 hard- and software bundle is also something i´d like to spend some time with, because it is looking very promising to get both of best worlds and a more hands on feeling while mixing. to me it is very important to be able to tweak two or even more parameters at the same time so a controller that allows for that is a big plus.

I think you'd be blown away by the Console 1. The more I use it the more impressed I am with it.

Coz wrote:I think you'd be blown away by the Console 1. The more I use it the more impressed I am with it.

I got the Console 1 for Christmas as a gift to myself

most valuable piece of gear in my studio next to my MPC3000!