Cool New Channel Strip from Nomad Factory

Jaysplace101 · Post by **Jaysplace101** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:17 am

monkey man wrote: Should MOTU not redefine built-in-plug quality soon, I'd be sold.

Great find, RA.
M

Do you have any reason to believe that they would? -- just wondering if you have some indide info.....

j

Jaysplace101 · Post by **Jaysplace101** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:18 am

inside

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:02 pm

I just tried the demos of all the new Nomad BlueTubes 3 stuff, and its all good - I think it's a huge improvement from version 2 in terms of functionality and good sound. Trackbox, in particular, is very nice. I like having the ability to blend in only as much of the tube emulation as I want, not to mention the coloration adjustments.
The EQ and compression are also nice, and the phase button makes a bigger difference than in some other ones I've tried.
The BT3 EQ pack is impressive - smooth transitions and lots of options if you need them.
The compressors in the dynamics pack are also good, but for my needs are not as essential, since I have some compressors I already like.
I'm wondering if a lot of people might opt for Trackbox instead of the other packs despite Nomad Factory's statement that it's not intended to replace the BlueTubes bundle. It's really very good and seems useful for a wide range of tasks.
By the way, in case it wasn't already mentioned, the demos are fully-functional for 10 days.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:28 am

Jaysplace101 wrote:
monkey man wrote: Should MOTU not redefine built-in-plug quality soon, I'd be sold.
Great find, RA.
M
Do you have any reason to believe that they would? -- just wondering if you have some indide info.....
j

Sorry Jaysplace101, I don't.

The market for EQ/Comp/Reverb has matured considerably since MOTU's last significant plug-update, MWEQ excepted, of course.
It's hard to imagine their not following up on MWEQ with an HQ reverb and perhaps a multi-flavoured compressor.
Probably just wishful thinking, but MOTU must know that the factory plug quality's lagging behind that of other DAWs, sometimes embarrassingly so.
Lastly, for those who can't afford the dough or the risk of installing 3rd party add-ons, an entirely updated plug suite would be heaven.

Cheers Jaysplace101
Monkey resumes praying for the new precision vintage suite...

PS: Thanks for the mini-review, Mike.
As soon as I have my driver's liscence, I'm in!

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:43 pm

Hey everyone... I installed the demo and liked it, so I purchased it on the Don't Crack site. I'm trying to register, only for the life of me I can't find my "Digital ID" anywhere that's required to register. Perhaps Nomad sends it to me, but it wasn't in the email when I registered the demo either as far as I can tell. Any suggestions would be cool. I emailed Nomad already and maybe they'll get back to me on Monday.

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:52 pm

James: you should get an email from dontcrack.com with a number. I just bought the Analog Signature Pack from them last Sunday and got their email almost immediately.
I had a question for them a few days later, when the group buy became available, and they got back to me quickly. They seem to be attentive and friendly to deal with, so if you didn't get an email with a number, you might want to send them an email.

wvandyck · Post by **wvandyck** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:31 pm

James: NF respond quickly so you should hear from them on Monday.
I usually purchase directly from the NF website because they accept PayPal. Don'tcrac[k] doesnt.

The Digital ID comes in the e-mail from NF.
The whole process of online purchase, installation, and authorization takes only minutes resulting in more or less immediate gratification.

So it is strange that you didn't receive it from don't crack.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:31 pm

Hey thanks! Turns out the confusion for me was because the Don't Crack site refers to the Digital ID as a "Serial Number"... so I was looking all over for the Digital ID.

Also Nomad got back to me right away which was amazing... on a Sunday. Somehow the Authorizer app was no longer on my disk, so they told me to download the disk image, run the authorizer and hold down "command + ctrl" to force the challenge window to appear because I was still on my not-yet-expired demo authorization.

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:52 pm

ahhh! Sorry, James, I forgot to put that in my post about serial number versus Digital ID. I had to read that part twice, myself, but it worked for me, too. Hope you're liking the new plugins.
And lots of thanks to flashgerkin for some good discussions about these and other plugins over the past few months!

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:15 pm

I still like WaveArts TrackPlug a whole lot, but I found on my vocals that the TrackBox imparted a little bit of analog "smear" perhaps? It's very hard obviously to describe sound in words, but it did impart a coloration that I liked!

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:21 pm

Whew! Glad it wasn't just me who liked the Trackbox.

Nomad is in Los Angeles, so for us L.A. guys that is great - even better that they responded on a Sunday, James!

Yeah, I kinda wonder too why you'd really want the Blue Tubes bundle after getting the Trackbox -

mikebeckmotu · Post by **mikebeckmotu** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:22 pm

No, you're definitely not the only one, Dave. The more I experiment with the demo, the more I like it.
I'm thinking the same thing as you, James - I have WaveArts' TrackPlug, FinalPlug and MasterVerb, and the TrackPlug is great for clean adjustments, but the Nomad Trackbox adds nice flavor, like butter on popcorn. Or something. Um, I should probably quit writing before I sound too much like a fanatic about these things...

inukshuk · Post by **inukshuk** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:29 pm

I already have the Blue Tubes version 2, but after checking out the updates, I'm not even going to demo. As soon as I get home I'm upgrading to version 3 for $99.00 which will include the new Analog TrackBox. Wow it looks awsome. Timing is good to finish off my last project.

OOPS

I just noticed a discrepency. I emailed them about it.
Conflict:
On your web site under products it says version 3 includes:
* Blue Tubes Dynamics pack
* Blue Tubes Equalizers pack
* Blue Tubes Analog TrackBox

But when you click on upgrade it says
* Blue Tubes Dynamics Pack
* Blue Tubes Equalizers Pack
* Blue Tubes Effects Pack

Please explain. They are both version 3, but different??

mongoose · Post by **mongoose** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:40 am

inukshuk wrote:I just noticed that on version 3 a lot of effects from version 2 are no longer available...
I emailed them to see if the new version overrides the previous version or just installs along side of it.

It installs alongside it--I'm still using the V2 effects with version 3 in action.

I read somewhere (but of course now I can't find it, brr) that there's going to be a BT 3 "Effects Pack" which will presumably update the missing plugins. Not sure when it's due or how reliable that info is.

-m

inukshuk · Post by **inukshuk** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:54 am

mongoose wrote:
inukshuk wrote:I just noticed that on version 3 a lot of effects from version 2 are no longer available...
I emailed them to see if the new version overrides the previous version or just installs along side of it.
It installs alongside it--I'm still using the V2 effects with version 3 in action. This is good news.

I read somewhere (but of course now I can't find it, brr) that there's going to be a BT 3 "Effects Pack" which will presumably update the missing plugins. Not sure when it's due or how reliable that info is.

-m

They say that Effects Pack will be available in Dec.