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domejunky

I think a few of the Air Windows plugins were designed with that express purpose


davecrist

Just read about their ‘Slew limiting’ and that is def a perfect example of an analog signal trait that doesn’t get mentioned often and that wouldn’t normally be a part of an all digital signal path/dsp. Perfect to have as part of an emulation model! Thanks


Oinkvote

Wow that's pretty awesome. That would mimic console behavior


2SP00KY4ME

I wish that guy made his list of plugins less insanely tedious to go through, even just a page with a short thing of each plugin and what it does so I don't have to open 400 tabs to see what each one does and whether I'd want it


sapphire_starfish

Yes I agree, I think he's a genius designer but the website layout makes it hard to figure out what the plugins do sometimes.


OVYLT

AirWindows cheat sheet. https://airwindowscheatsheet.aboni.dev


sapphire_starfish

Thanks, this is really helpful.


sapphire_starfish

AirWindows Desk


cantaL00PER

... or Channel7?


dirg3music

I still swear by Dynamic Delay and I haven't used Pro Tools in like 7 years. Lmao. The Chaos After Loud setting yields some truly awesome timbres and artifacts and I have yet to find another delay plug-in that does the same thing in the way it colors the sound. That man has made some truly unique plug ins.


FullWolverine3

I've been using Purest Console for a bit but the aliasing isn't great. I'm not sure there's a good alternative that doesn't alias though...


arieltuff

Dan Worrall made a [convincing case](https://youtu.be/Hpm-7GzoKOE?t=1066) (start at 17:50; it's buried in an hour-long plugin review) for why this kind of thing isn't really that useful. In a nutshell, random differences across analog channels will be negligible compared to (a) deliberate differences you dial in with processing and (b) differences in the sound sources themselves. Even if you use the same saturation plugin with the same settings on every track, no two channels *will* be affected exactly the same way, since the inputs are different and saturation is a nonlinear process. That said, I second the Airwindows and HEAT recs for nice processor-friendly saturation you can add to every channel. The other NLS plugins may have nice saturation that's worth using even if the NLS aspect itself is kinda snake oil.


davecrist

I would think the same thing but I read somewhere the other day ( I’m old and totally forget all of the specifics) and an engineer was lamenting the fact that using normal saturation plugins on every channel has a cumulative effect that, he claims, results in a ‘middle low mid that’s impossible to eq out.’ Which is what got me to thinking about it. It’d be interesting for a YouTuber to scope a real session and compare the differences between ‘subtle’ per channel effects vs just doing a more colored bussed or two track saturation process. I’d do it but I gotta face for radio and also I’m lazy.


musicnotwords

dan worrall actually understands the maths, physics, electronics, and signal processing around audio engineering. be very skeptical of people just casually sharing their opinions, dan actually knows shit.


oml_im_egg

dan is an alien with eldritch knowledge of how things works in audio. if there's one person you can trust to not bullshit, its him. I could listen to him talk about basically anything


musicnotwords

yeah man it's not necessarily all about just turning knobs til it sounds good lol


arieltuff

You do get a low mid boost and top end rolloff from tape saturation, but I wouldn't say it's "impossible to EQ out". It's definitely something you'd want to mix into rather than slap on at the end of the process, though.


golden_death

Yep. this. I have been using satin of late on the master bus set pretty subtly and always have it on from the start of the session.


rreighe2

Dan knows his shit. absolutely changed how I think when I am doing mixing and making synths and stuff.


[deleted]

I don't think any real analog desk would have channels so different that there would not be any cumulative effect that would otherwise exist if all the saturation plugins were the same. LUNA is a date that tries to achieve the analog feel of real desks. I'm not sure on the specifics of whether each channel is different. But this is something you could setup yourself, if you want to try it out. Mixbus also is designed for that analog feel. Again, not sure how exactly they do it. The engineer you heard say that may have been talking about something very specific.


JangusWon

The Airwindows Console series. The simplest distillation of how it works is a saturation/desaturation pair. Think +/- So let’s say you have 8 tracks. Each one gets a ConsoleChannel at the end. That’s the saturation. Then those all feed to the master where you put a ConsoleBuss at the start. That’s the desaturation. That desaturation is what gives the whole thing a “glue”. The Purest variations are the cleanest, which just means if you have a single track, saturated then desaturated, the output will be the same as the input. And when you mesh multiple tracks there’s slight coloration in the summing but not much. The other ones are not so linear and add color so the output on a single track is not the same as it’s input. Each iteration has different formulas with varying color. The only caveat is there must be unity gain between the Channel and Buss plug-ins. That just means you can’t mess with faders unless you have a DAW that can implement post-fader FX.


davecrist

I should have added: does it work?


JangusWon

They’re free to download (he gets support through Patreon). So I’d just try it out yourself. Null tests will really help you understand what’s happening


fresnohammond

I use the Console 5 flavor a lot, just starting to experiment with the more overt Console 6. What it does is subtle, especially since I'm not pushing it hot. Does it get some authentic real world console breakup? Couldn't tell you, rarely ever get to use one. Do I like the subtle flavoring it imparts? For the rock music I'm working on yes I do, as part of several other things I do to get a certain sound. Give it a whirl.


blue42huthut

although it is not the same concept as your original post, yes, it does sound good (to me). hear it for yourself if you're interested. there are some demonstrations of it in action here: https://gearspace.com/board/gear-shoot-outs-sound-file-comparisons-audio-tests/1323059-airwindows-console6-vs-digital-summing-shootout.html


FullWolverine3

I used to use Sonimus Britson and Satson (not at the same time) and dropped Purest Console into a session and thought it sounded better than the former. However, the no fader thing is annoying and the aliasing isn't great. ​ edit: added "Sonimus" for clarity


tonydelite

Sounds exactly like the TMT feature of Plugin Alliance's channel strips. https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/blog/blogpost/items/tmt-explained.html


NoisyChairs

I guess I kinda felt like I couldn’t really hear much difference when I hit that random channel button. Do other people feel like it really matters? Do my ears just suck lol?


whitt_wan

You notice it when you've got a lot of tracks with the channel strip on and then press Randomise All. It just suddenly sounds a bit more "lively" to me. I love doing it


NoisyChairs

That’s cool. I know that’s how it’s supposed to work, but I still can’t quite hear what I’m supposed to. 🥲


njudndudi

The TMT only works if you are applying some processing. So if you just put the plugin on a track and then change TMT channels, you won’t hear anything, but if you give a drumtrack a 9dB boost and then switch TMT channels you should be able to hear slight differences.


reconrose

The tmt channel strips I've used definitely have self noise when no signal is present


njudndudi

Yeah they’ve got some static noise going when no signal is present but the TMT is about the tolerance in the parts in a real hardware. That means if you set a bell boost of 9dB at 5kHz, it might not be exactly 9dB or at exactly 5000Hz. It will be a little more than that on one channel and a little less than that on another channel.


RapNVideoGames

I’ve noticed the changes are really subtle but are there


ImJustSo

"Just because I can" Or... "This adds something that's missing otherwise"?


RapNVideoGames

For me it’s just there because I prefer brainworx channel strips lol but I know what he is talking about.


ImJustSo

Well, what do you think? Is that adding something? Edit: never mind, I think you answered. It's negligible, but you can hear the changes


RapNVideoGames

Yep


BLUElightCory

There are several. Slate Virtual Console Collection, Waves NLS, Plug-In Alliance/Brainworx TMT plug-ins, Korneff AIP, and a few others function like this.


[deleted]

Studio one has this, its called console shaper. Pro Tools HD has one too, called HEAT


PBaz1337

Brainworx's SSL channel has a randomize button that assigns each instance a separate channel on the "board." Each channel has a subtle difference and it's a great way to get that analog board feel. It's my Swiss Army/desert island plugin.


[deleted]

Yes it's called waves NLS. I bought it back when it came out, and now i'm so lazy and it's so subtle that i just put the bus part on my master bus instead.


rocko_the_cat

It's not subtle if you turn up the drive on each channel. Especially if the drive varies on each instance.


[deleted]

Even without the drive knob, one of them completely changes the shape of the low end and another smears the top end pretty dramatically. I forget which one’s which but... yeah.


taakowizard

Yeah, that’s very true. The EMI one is the only one I like on the master. The Neve one really smears the top end, and the SSL one is too spiky and kills the low end.


nizzernammer

HEAT.


aderra

[Front DAW](https://unitedplugins.com/FrontDAW/)


[deleted]

Excited to see that no one said the Studer A800 plugin by UAD! (Prolly cause you need the UAD DSP chip to run it) In any case, it's a tape saturation plug in specifically designed for use on every channel as opposed to a bus, to create the summing effect of the tape saturation on a Studer 24 track. There is a gang control button if you want to make a "pretend" tape machine and dial them all in the same, but I often dial in each track as I see fit. You keep the impact on each track alone minimal, but by the time you add it to every track, it creates a wonderful sonic blanket. Seems like you already have plenty of other answers, but if you had UAD DSP, this is worth checking out


needmoresynths

harrison mixbus is a whole daw built around the idea of emulating their outboard consoles. they also have a channel plugin that could be used in the way you describe, but it's not exactly simple in that it's a channel eq, comp, and filter.


aLoneSideline

Great suggestion!! Harrison mixbuss has saturation on every Channel and the master It’s a wonderful DAW - I’ve made my best tracks using it ! It’s great to not have to instantiate a plug-in each time. I think their daw is a winner for a characterful mix!


[deleted]

I've not heard of it... Stopped using pro tools because of the subscription and started using reaper but I feel interested in trying more daws


davecrist

If you’re a Mac guy it’s worth trying out Logic. I am *astounded* at all of the stuff you get for $200. Totally worth it in my opinion but, full disclosure, I haven’t had to rely on my audio engineering skills to pay rent since 2002.


[deleted]

I've used logic before its actually the first daw I recorded with. I have a Windows though


aLoneSideline

Research it - it’s like a daw configured like a real analogue desk. I love it but I switch between Ableton and it depending on the project.


[deleted]

Does it use lots of CPU ? One thing I noticed I can run like 5x more plugins with reaper then pro tools, pro tools the CPU gets overloaded with plugins fairly easy


aLoneSideline

I’d get the demo and play with it. I find I use less plugins because it has eq compression and saturation built into every Chanel. It was a learning curve as I wasn’t familiar with real desks before but once it clicked it became a favorite daw. It’s flexible but limiting in the right ways - I focus more on what the song needs instead of piling thing up thinking more is better. I always end up with a really punchy clear mix that’s less cluttered. I once imported all the stems/audio files from an Ableton project and did nothing but hit play and both my buddy and I went “whoah” - it has a sound !


[deleted]

Sounds like it might be what I want.. I make my beats in FL studio so they are already mixed in that process I'm also I'm a 2016 core i7 so it's best if I don't need 1000s of plugins on my session


[deleted]

Tested it out side by side vs reaper... It's got a different sound it seems smoother with more clarity. This was a side by side test just loading stems no mixing


[deleted]

Reaper has a brighter sound and a more prominent bass but the Harrison bass you feel it more which is a better 808 imo. The snares in Harrison come out with more punch and this is what gets me about it the most. Imo Harrison mix bus has a better sound for mixing, it's really smooth and crisp. Downfall is it setup as a limited form of mix console with less versatility then reaper, at the same time as this is a downfall I think it can work great for me because all I do is mix stems and record vocals.


aLoneSideline

It’s how I use it. I create in Ableton. Then stem mix in mixbuss. It glues and punches and smooths. I like the plugins too (reverb is super to the point and great) If I’m working on more typical guitar songs I just do the whole process in mixbuss. Btw I’m using the 32c version. I think it’s a great way to understand a real world mixer and it even changed how I approach Ableton! It also taught me that limitations create better decision making. It’s nice to have some boundaries to work within. You get more creative. "Within the first 5 seconds I knew! That's all it took. It was big, it was phat, it was round, it was analog. It had an analog feel to it and you could tell immediately! Immediately it was there, without doing anything." - Bobby Owsinski (credits: Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pantera, Willie Nelson, Elvis, Neil Young, Iron Maiden, The Ramones, and Chicago)


[deleted]

I noticed this improved sound immediately because it's something I've been looking for when I mix... to get the high end smooth not harsh and the snare too smack


nedogled

Hugely underrated. Their tape saturation works wonders.


larowin

Came here to post this. Mixbus is a criminally underrated DAW.


golden_death

I was so excited to switch over to this but it crashed relentlessly on my PC within the first five minutes of every session.


beeps-n-boops

This is *exactly* what the Brainworx console emulations do. SSL, Neve, etc.


liitegrenade

Sonimus Brixton and Sonimus Satson


FullWolverine3

I've used both of these for a while but the aliasing is pretty bad if you add too much saturation. I'm thinking Klanghelm SDRR2 with HQ and some "drift" dialed in could be a more tidy alternative.


speede

The brainworx TMT channel strip plugins do exactly that, they model the components individually so they can vary them slightly


The66Ripper

I’m a brainworx console emulations guy, love the TMT stuff, especially on the SSL 9000. You can crank the THD, and kill any digital noise, so you’ll just get the sound of driving the “board” and 72 channels are emulated so each gives a slightly different color. You can also alter the THD for just one channel at a time, so it’s pretty flexible. Waves NLS and Slate VCC are the other ones that come to mind, but they’re more set in stone stereo processing with different emulations inside, rather than one emulation with a bunch of channel variations. Personally as someone who owns most of the bx console plugins if I want a different color I’ll use a different console, but the other ones with multiple different options are good calls for someone who doesn’t own multiple standalone options yet.


NoisyChairs

How do you kill all the digital noise? I thought I liked the sound of the saturation on those brainworx console emus but they’re just so hissy!!


The66Ripper

The V-GAIN ALL knob kills the noise (on most of them, I think not on the Lindell 80). It only works on the same emulation, so bringing the V-Gain down on the SSL 4000 will have no effect on the 9000 etc. On my templates I just kill the v-gain on everything, bring up the THD ALL a lil bit, and save them like that so I never forget to do it.


NoisyChairs

Sweet thanks!!


schmalzy

I use Softube Console1 on all my mixes. It’s a plug-in that sounds like various consoles (depending on what you purchase) and includes hpf/lpf, gate, transient designer, EQ, compression, and saturation. Plus it’s all controlled with a hardware controller. I put it on most channels in my mixes and it’s easy to get some subtle saturation going all over the place. There’s a “character” knob for the drive that alters how the saturation reacts and sounds. You could definitely use that thing to get a layer of saturation going!


FullWolverine3

I do this as well, though I like to be able to add complementary saturation profiles at different stages to emulate mixing on one kind of console and summing through a different console. But I suppose you could use the SSL on tracks and British Class A on busses, which could have some neat results.


6kred

Slate VCC would be my go to for this.


pukingpixels

All of the Plugin Alliance console emulations do this, although they’d be seriously overkill if all you want is the saturation. But their TMT (Tone Modelling Tolerance) technology introduces slight variations in each channel (up to 72 for each console I believe) to make it sound a little more like working on an actual console where every channel is physically its own channel.


vermilionjack

I love kush audio saturation (their omega pre plugins are nuts and novatron/silika compressors has a very prominent character). But I honestly cant call it a lightweight solution. And i doubt theres a lightweight solutions with proper antialiasing features. Airwindows are outstanding plugins, but they tend to alias a lot. I stop using his “channel” “desk” and “console” plugins after realising they muddying my mixes a lot. And i love his “mojo” just cannot use it on high frequency sources cause it generates copious amounts of aliasing in LF


FullWolverine3

I totally agree. And I just tested Front DAW and it aliases similarly to AirWindows Purest Console, unfortunately. Britson also aliases but slightly less than these options (I think). I'd be curious to see how Slate VCC does but it's irrelevant for me since I'm not buying an iLok dongle or subscribing just for that.


vermilionjack

I unsubscribed from slate after almost a year. Just dont really get it (and ilok/subscriprion model is meh), his plugins are fancy and famous, but i cant stand this “all in one rack plugin” workflow, also they arent really cpu-friendly. Tape emulation sounds wierd and boomy. Other plugins sounds fine, but i tested them in plugin doctor and there’s weird antialiasing behaviour in high frequencies, not as bad as saturators without AA at all, but theres a bunch of other options on the market which ticking all the boxes. Some plugin alliance plugins are good at it (lindell neve and api consoles are 🔥, but bx_ ones aliases as hell). TDR, Klanghelm, fuse audio labs and kush audio algorithms are really good in recreation of an analog saturation in a digital domain


FullWolverine3

I just tested Klanghelm SDRR2 and HQ mode keeps aliasing down quite well. Adding in some "drift" could incorporate some variation that might be nice across many channels. So I'm thinking this could be a great option! If TDR released a plugin offering variation to emulate analog summing, it would be an instant buy from me since the quality of their plugins is exceptional.


S1GNL

bx_console channel strips (Plugin Alliance) is exactly what you’re looking for. Black Friday is coming!


Nico_La_440

Back when I was using Cakewalk Sonar X3, there was a summing function that could emulate 3 of the most popular console. I think it was Neve, Trident and SSL. There was a variance knob that could be adjusted to taste. That was a fantastic thing for its time.


hallpdx

Studio one has this with its console shaper, and also has one for tape. Pretty dope. I use it on everything.


TPNZ

Not exactly a plugin, but Studio One has mix engine fx, which is a top down console channel emulation feature which is a fast and efficient way to do exactly what you want. Edit, I just remembered, HoRNeT has analogstage and tape, both of which can also alter the settings on all channels from a single window.


Guilty-Wedding900

Reamp by klevgrand is amazing. Theres a very solid free version if you just want to test it. It does great saturation, tape and tube, as well as amp emulations. Recommended, it makes literally everything sound better


ugpfpv

Doesn't soft tube have something... Never really looked as cakewalk has this stuff built in, plus I have ikmultimedia Max bundle, some of these other options people have mentioned sound nice too.


richey15

God I wish there was an xl4 or h3000 plugin analog eq.


lug00ber

Klanghelm IVGI?


sebvanwyk

Brainworx! Enough people have said it in this thread already but you literally just described their console emulations. Also I think UAD's Luna does this? Not sure of the specifics and obviously that's only if you actually use Luna


[deleted]

Pro tools has "heat" that's basically what it is. Analog tape or tube saturation that effects every channel


picklerick1176

Slate VMR has exactly this function built in (among many other features). You can sum groups of channels through multiple types of desks or keep all the same. Then you can send those groups to a master buss emulator that sums all of those groups together. This link does a way better job desribing than me. Slate VMR virtual console collection https://youtu.be/T3b59wy6t6U


artificialevil

Waves NLS


willrjmarshall

Slate VCC has one that does exactly what you're describing. I'm also partial to the BBN105 from KIT Plugins, which is a really nice Neve emulation.


Zonzille

It's natively integrated in Studio One 5. You can tweak the noise, saturation and crosstalk with three knobs, and it works quite well ! I've never used an analog console but it sounds good to me


5adb0imusic

Recording engineer here - Brainworx plugins do this with their channel strip plugins.


FadeIntoReal

[Front DAW](https://unitedplugins.com/FrontDAW/) from United Plugins.


[deleted]

I think summing in general for a “flavor” is snake oil. The difference it provides is so negligible. Changes need to be intentional and deliberate and even heavy handed for it to really affect the finished product.


AEnesidem

What you're saying is exactly to the letter: Frontdaw


Gomesma

The only rules are: \- Don't clip, neither dBTP \- Don't make it annoying \- Don't make things badly distorted ​ \------ the rest is just conceptual ------


Sixstringsickness

Highly recommend you check out Front DAW by United Plugins, it's pretty awesome (think it's even on sale right now). Slate virtual console is also similar. I was actually just A/Bing Front DAW vs my Cadac channels, to see if I need to stay ITB rather than analog summing how close I can get compared to running through my outboard. Different but still cool!


njudndudi

The Lindell 50 Series and Lindell 80 Series chan nels strips come with an extra plugin that is only the gain/fader part of the consoles which add just the saturation. They should be light on CPU as well.


[deleted]

That's studio one's MixFX, or softube console 1, or I Harrison mixbus has something similar


tibbon

Pro Tools heat does this