Slate VBC will change your life

[Tobor]

Meaning no disrespect to the obvious quality of the VBC collection, of course.

Looks purty and I'm quite sure sounds delicious.

[James Steele]

I'm kind of like Mark on this, just bought FG-X a few months ago and was just starting to get familiar with it when I went to 64 bit and of course now can't use the FG-X because it's not 64 bit yet (although they're promising an update soon on the website).

The VST version will work with JBridgeM FWIW.

[David Polich]

Meaning no disrespect to the obvious quality of the VBC collection, of course.

Looks purty and I'm quite sure sounds delicious.

I see you're on 10.8.4, meaning you could purchase Soundradix 32 Lives
app and convert Slate FG-x to a 64-bit AU plug-in with that. Or, you could
use J-bridge with the VST version of FG-X.

Regarding FG-X, yes it includes a bus compressor but it is not anything like
the VBC comps. I never got on with the bus compressor in FG-X, it never did
much to my ears except reduce the level going into the maximizer, and frankly with it engaged, no matter what the settings, I never liked what it
did to the sound...knocked back the drums, for one thing. That FG-X (without the bus compressor engaged) leaves the drums and their transients
where they were in your mix is one of the things I've always loved about it,
so engaging its compressor just cancels that out.

Slate has had some hits and also some misses, IMO. The VCC (Virtual Console Collection) didn't do anything for me. FG-X and VBC...total winners. I haven't tried SSD, Slate Trigger or Slate VTM so can't comment on those.

[mhschmieder]

I own the others but haven't had a chance to use them much yet. I'm so used to Magnetic that I haven't played with VTM yet. I might this week at the master bus level though. But now that Magnetic II has different tape machine emulations, I'm finding that very useful for different tracks and stems.

I'm with Dave on the FG-X issue and disengaging its compressor. SImilarly, VCC did nothing for me and I sort of regret buying it as it wasn't cheap. Trigger is quite good, but I've reverted to Drumagog for now. I was initially confused by the Drumagog update, and still find it harder to use with precision and with detailed parameterization than the previous version, but I'm more used to it now and find it trickier to get consistent results with Trigger. Each has its strengths.

I haven't used the SSD kits yet as I have been working almost exclusively with live drummers for the past two years. I bought them on sale during the upgrade cycle, as he pulled back on the over-production aspects and made that optional so that you can run dry kits if you prefer.

[Dan Worley]

SImilarly, VCC did nothing for me and I sort of regret buying it as it wasn't cheap.

Though I respect yours and David's opinions, I'm surprised by this from the two of you, as VCC is one of my favorite plug-ins of all time, and forever changed mixing ITB for me. No doubt with time these types of plugs will improve, but I'm happy with VCC right now.

FG-X is good, but there have been some songs I've tried it on that I just couldn't get it to work. I don't know if the failure is due to the plug-in or me, but if I find myself forcing a tool to work, I'll reach for a different one.

[mhschmieder]

Dan, how are you using VCC? Stems/busses, individual tracks, final stereo mix, mastering? I've only tried it on stems/busses so far. Maybe I should try it as a channel strip on vocals.

[Dan Worley]

Dan, how are you using VCC? Stems/busses, individual tracks, final stereo mix, mastering? I've only tried it on stems/busses so far. Maybe I should try it as a channel strip on vocals.

I use it on every track and bus, and on the master. I always go through and bypass it on each track, just to hear if I prefer it without. I constantly reevaluate as I move along in the mix. The instrument I use it on the least is the bass guitar.

[David Polich]

SImilarly, VCC did nothing for me and I sort of regret buying it as it wasn't cheap.

Though I respect yours and David's opinions, I'm surprised by this from the two of you, as VCC is one of my favorite plug-ins of all time, and forever changed mixing ITB for me. No doubt with time these types of plugs will improve, but I'm happy with VCC right now.

FG-X is good, but there have been some songs I've tried it on that I just couldn't get it to work. I don't know if the failure is due to the plug-in or me, but if I find myself forcing a tool to work, I'll reach for a different one.

Horses for courses, I guess. I demoed VCC for a whole day, trying it on
every type of track I could think of, and it just didn't strike me as doing
anything significant. I had to "squint with my ears" to hear any difference. Maybe a little "iron oxide grain" thrown on, and sure
I could get it to overdrive and add some saturation, but I can do that with
Sound Toys Decapitator which, for me, sounds and works better anyway.
Plus, VCC is indeed a bit pricey.

VBC, on the other hand, made a dramatic difference when thrown onto a track
or mix. And in a good way. I knew after two minutes that I needed it. Same
thing with the UAD tape emulations - both knocked my socks off, both sound
just like I recall tape machines sounding.

[Tobor]

Now I'm with Dan in that I like what VCC does, but haven't really had a great success rate yet with FG-X in limited use. Thanks to James for the jBridge suggestion, I've been holding out on jBridge to this point to keep things simple, figuring most of the plugs I'd use it with should or could be 64 bit soon.

I was just wondering whether VBC would be a bit redundant, given that a typical current master chain for me would be VCC, Kramer Tape, and Ozone 5 or L3 Multimaximizer. In other words how much of VBC's mojo is the board simulation I already have in the VCC. And I've got a couple settings on Kramer that really seem to glue things together nicely in a typical mix.

I applaud Slate for continuing to try to push the envelope with their offerings, but having already sprung for FG-X and VCC this year, I may wait for a holiday sale or similar where the discount for VBC might be a little more enticing.

A little OT here, but if you're looking for new ways to make your tracks jump out or blend as the case may be, you may want to check out the recently released Manny Marroquin artist series from Waves. 6 cool and useful plugs on sale again for $199. I'm very impressed with the EQ and Reverb and Tone Shaper, and haven't even got around to futzing with the other three yet. Good price for a lot of fun and gratification.

[Dan Worley]

David,

Sometimes a plug-in just doesn't have a place in your toolbox. I can understand that. I just want to point out that VCC isn't tape emulation, it's signal path emulation through analog consoles. From SOS article:

Its [VCC's] sole purpose in to mimic the subtle, non‑linear distortion and noise that you get when passing a fluctuating voltage through a complex arrangement of analogue components.

I feel you really do need to use it on (just about) every track and buss to hear what it's about.

I can't wait to try VBC.

[Dan Worley]

I was just wondering whether VBC would be a bit redundant, given that a typical current master chain for me would be VCC, Kramer Tape, and Ozone 5 or L3 Multimaximizer. In other words how much of VBC's mojo is the board simulation I already have in the VCC. And I've got a couple settings on Kramer that really seem to glue things together nicely in a typical mix.

VCC emulates the signal path of analog consoles. VBC emulates vintage compressors, and according to Slate, "it also adds emulated circuit paths including amplifiers and transformers." All these signal paths are useful to the sound, just like they are in an analog studio.

VCC, VBC, and VTM are designed to work together (if you want), and when mastering, you can also use FG-X.

[philbrown]

I'm touching back on this topic with something for you guys to try. I recorded a song idea really quickly at a pretty low volume - Les Paul>Carr amp>AEA92 ribbon mic>API>Apollo (just for reference). I've got the FG-Red Drive at 10, no compression, make up gain at 14db and the color it's adding is really sweet. I'm recommending hitting the front end lightly and then using the drive and make-up gain for the color. Don't underestimate pushing the make-up gain as part of the charm of the thing. I'm not saying don't use the compression, just passing on the idea of using it as a 'coloring agent'. I could see this being sweet on acoustic guitar too but haven't tried it yet.

The FG-Red compression is nice too, but I swear I can hear it working way before any meter movement starts. Seems like a plug-in that's wanting you to 'turn knobs until it sounds good' and not rely on knob or meter specifics so much.

[Dan Worley]

I'm touching back on this topic with something for you guys to try. I recorded a song idea really quickly at a pretty low volume - Les Paul>Carr amp>AEA92 ribbon mic>API>Apollo (just for reference). I've got the FG-Red Drive at 10, no compression, make up gain at 14db and the color it's adding is really sweet. I'm recommending hitting the front end lightly and then using the drive and make-up gain for the color. Don't underestimate pushing the make-up gain as part of the charm of the thing. I'm not saying don't use the compression, just passing on the idea of using it as a 'coloring agent'. I could see this being sweet on acoustic guitar too but haven't tried it yet.

The FG-Red compression is nice too, but I swear I can hear it working way before any meter movement starts. Seems like a plug-in that's wanting you to 'turn knobs until it sounds good' and not rely on knob or meter specifics so much.

"It also adds emulated circuit paths including amplifiers and transformers."

[toodamnhip]

I'm touching back on this topic with something for you guys to try. I recorded a song idea really quickly at a pretty low volume - Les Paul>Carr amp>AEA92 ribbon mic>API>Apollo (just for reference). I've got the FG-Red Drive at 10, no compression, make up gain at 14db and the color it's adding is really sweet. I'm recommending hitting the front end lightly and then using the drive and make-up gain for the color. Don't underestimate pushing the make-up gain as part of the charm of the thing. I'm not saying don't use the compression, just passing on the idea of using it as a 'coloring agent'. I could see this being sweet on acoustic guitar too but haven't tried it yet.

The FG-Red compression is nice too, but I swear I can hear it working way before any meter movement starts. Seems like a plug-in that's wanting you to 'turn knobs until it sounds good' and not rely on knob or meter specifics so much.

Oh Man, now you’re really tempting me....

[philbrown]

Oh Man, now you’re really tempting me....

If you have an iLok2 you can demo it. If you don't it's a bit of a conundrum because you'd have to buy an iLok2 to try it or you can get it free if you buy but then you can't demo it first.

I'm between projects ATM so just goofing around with VBC so far and I've kinda fallen in love with the Red so I haven't put the other 2 through their paces. I foresee using the color of the FG-Red where I might have reached for a tape emulation before. I don't own any other Slate products BTW but I have both UAs tape plugs. I only got to use a real (Focusrite) Red3 once and that was long time ago but I absolutely loved the sound of it and have always wanted one. I have no idea how close to hardware this emulation is but I sure do like the sound of it.