Waves Dorrough Meter Collection plug ins

Waves released a new plug-in collection bundle that features models of Dorrough most popular loudness meters. Developed in association with Dorrough Electronics, they provide precision loudness monitoring for every conceivable audio scenario.

Displaying both average and peak levels and in a single readout, Waves Dorrough Meters are the only meters which actually let you see the density of the sound. Finally we can see a product that was missed from the waves plug-in collection.

Features:

• Superfast Peak Response
• Sum and Difference Energies for Optimal Stereo-to-Mono Compatibility
• Left/Right Phase Correlation
• Displays Number of Overs
• Peak and Average Level Relations
• Three Selectable Styles: Horizontal (280D/240D), Vertical (380D/340D), and Arc (40AES/EBU)
• Three Selectable Sizes: Extra Large, Large, and Small
• Selectable Reference Levels
• Switch Between Display Sizes and Styles with the Click of a Mouse
• 40dB Scale in 1 dB steps
• Mono & Stereo Components

Controls:

• Meter Style Vertical, Horizontal, Arc
• Meter Size S, L, XL
• Reference Level 20dB AES, 18dB EBU, 14dB
• Peak Auto, Hold, Reset
• Overs Display, Reset
• Meter Mode Phase, Sum/Diff, Left/Right
• Phase Error LED
• Overs Error LED

Dorrough Meter Collection is available in TDM, RTAS, VST and AU plug-in formats.

Mastering Tips Do It Yourself - Part 1

Mastering engineer is considered to be one of the most difficult jobs in the audio world. Today I will try to explain some basic knowledge about it, And why the hell it is such a difficult task.

The first thing I want you to understand, is that to be able to do a good mastering job, you need to be a very experienced mix engineer, and with a lot of studio hours in your pocket. The second thing that you may already concluded, is that you can’t do mastering yourself, and you better leave it to professional engineer.

Despite that, you can learn and understand the basic master channel strip settings. and with some practice you can get some nice result. Of curse, it will not sound like a pro finished record but, if you want to play your demo tape to some promoters, or you are a “DJ” and you have some big "gig" it will do the job.

Ok, Now one very important rule before we begin, we need to produce a good mix. remember, if you can fix something in the mix process fix it, don’t leave it to the mastering process. It will be mach more difficult to fix, and the result you can get in the mix is better and easier to achieve.

Another important rule I always try to follow on is that the final mix will always be at 24bit and at list -10db. Its is very important rule because if we bounce our mix at 0 db like many beginners do, we will be left out of db range, and will not be able to use our compressor in the right way. To solve this problem put your best equalizer plug-in in the master channel and lower the volume to -10db within the “Eq” and not from the master channel itself. This way you manage to preserve more of your bit depth and sound quality. Because generally, if you use a good EQ plug-in, it works at higher bit resolution than your “daw” software.

Now. Let me give you some examples of master channel strip settings.

Example 1:

1. Limiter
2. Compressor
3. Equalizer
4. Compressor
5. Multi band compressor
6. Limiter
7. Dithering

Example 2:

1. Compressor
2. Compressor
3. Equalizers
4. Saturation plug-in
5. Compressor or multiband compressor
6. Limiter
7. Dithering

There are truly no magic settings. Its really depends on your audio materials.

Now, Let’s begin to explain the first example.
Sometimes I put limiter in the beginning of the chain to cut some picks, the attack need to be fast and the release should be very fast. I want to achieve about 2-3 db of gain reduction.

After that, I insert my first compressor. The goal will be to reduce about another 2db of gain. The attack and the release settings really depend on what you are trying to achieve, pumping sound or maybe very gentle result. Anyway don’t compress it to mach; one of the objectives via the mastering process is to achieve loudness. And we will do it very gently, by dividing this task between several compressors.

The equalizer is here to fix holes in your mix and to add air in the higher frequencies.

After that we put another compressor to glue things together, I usually don’t compress more than 1.5db gain reduction, this time the release is slow and the attack is fast.

I don’t always use multiband compressor, but it can be very usable some times, I prefer regular compressors, the sound is more natural in my opinion. However, if you experience some frequencies problems, and you cannot resolve this issues with regular equalizers, multiband compressor can become very useful. It can compress only the frequencies you want it to, and not the whole spectrum. So again it really depends on the materials you master.

The limiter:

It is usually last one in the chain. The goal of the limiter is to achieve maximum volume, and no distortion in the audio signal. And at the same time not to Squash it to mach. remember to be gentle, and don’t go crazy with it. Take into account the following thing; if it sounds louder, that doesn’t necessary mean its sound better.
In the second part of this article I will focus on more detail explanation about each element in the mastering chain. Feel free to mail me with any question or post your comment here.

Guide to the Home and Project Studio part 1

If you serious about music production read this article:

Nowadays with a little bit of effort and cash you can build your dream studio. You don’t need to spend a lot of cash on a fancy studio. Home project studios became very popular among many professional artists. And the entire industry tries to target home studio projects. There are many software and hardware companies, and the competition is growing every day. Every one tries to create the best product at most affordable pries. But the truth is that if you want to buy quality gear you need to pay for it.
The basic gear in you studio in most cases is the most important one. And probably the only one you need to start your home studio project.
If you are serious and you have some cash to spend I suggest you invests your money in the following order:

• Go and purchase good pair of near filed monitors
• Buy audio interface with some nice AD/DA convertors.
• Do some basic acoustics adjustments in your room
• Buy the most powerful computer you can afford
• And I also suggest purchasing good midi keyboard

This is the basic stuff you need for your home project studio, but I also suggest you do some market research about your main “daw” software and some nice vst plug-ins.

My recommendations are:

• Logic studio or cubase as your main daw software
• For equalizers, dynamics, and reverbs I suggest to purchase “Waves plug ins” or “Uad-2 card”
• And for your first virtual instruments buy the “korg analog collection”

Now lets begin to explain, on what exactly you are spending so much money:
The monitors and the audio interface are very important. They determine how good and clear you can hear your sound elements. And without them your tracks will be bad mixed and sound amateurish. I use “Adam p11 monitors” and “Apogee sound interface” go to your local shop and listen to all the monitors you can and then choose the best suitable for your eras. My advice to you, don’t compromised and buy the best audio interface you can. Check the following audio interfaces companies’ rme, apogee, tcelectronic.

After that, spend some time and do some adjustments to your room acoustics. It is very important factor. Remember, if you have bad acoustic in your room your new fancy monitors are useless!
Now if you planning to use virtual instruments and plug ins buy the most powerful computer you can, the more power the better. For your creativity and comfort go check some nice midi keyboard it will help you a lot when composing.

In the next part I will explain some more advanced stuff about your studio needs, in the meantime go do some market research about the gear and software you want to buy.

If you have some question feel free to mail or comment me.

What is the best Eq plug in?

Nowadays there are many good plug in manufacturers in the market. Today we will try to pick the best out of them.

And the five candidates are:

• Waves - Renaissance Equalizer
• Universal Audio - Cambridge EQ
• Sonnox - Oxford Eq
• Universal Audio - Pultec EQ Pro
• Sonalksis - Sv-517 Stereo Eq

The renaissance eq is very pleasant to the ear, it sound good and it offers 2,4 and 6 band versions.
The sound is very similar to analog equalizer, and in my opinion you can use it for all your surgical needs and also for your creative eq tasks. Waves did a very good job and spend enormous time in research and developing the renaissance series. And the results are one of the best sounding and easy to use eq in the market.


Sonalksis eq offer very similar characteristics of the renaissance and the Cambridge equalizers.
But to be honest with you, I don’t like it to mach, its sound ok but there are many better plug-ins and if I decide to spend my money, it will not be my choice. The sound is ok, but when you are boosting and try to do creative eq it sound pretty bad.



Sonnox eq is great. The sound is very pleasant and you have 3 eq emulations in one plug in. You can change it and play with it to find the exact sound you want. It colors the sound in a nice way and if you boost or cut only 1db you can hear it!
In my opinion it is one of best eq plug ins out there.




Cambridge eq.
Well the first time I heard it I could not believe my ears, it sound so analog.
This eq is my choice for the best sounding equalizer, its offers many great possibilities, great sounding filters, it’s so easy to use, and the sound quality is top notch.
The only disadvantage is that you have to buy a UAD card. And it will be more expensive investment, but believe me it's worth your money.



Pultec EQ Pro
This classic emulation sound very close to the real thing. Universal audio is the first company that tried to emulate this legendary eq. And they did a wonderful job. Of course it's not sound 100% like the real hardware, but for the money you pay for it, it’s a superb equalizer. The depth it can give to your sound, and the beautiful coloring it adds to the sound are just mind blowing.
It’s my number one choice for creative eq.


In conclusion:

If you have the cash go buy the UAD card.
And if you don’t have a lot of cash to spend, but you want to buy a good sounding eq, buy the Sonnox Oxford Eq it’s a wonderful equalizer.

Audio recording signal chain – How to record?

The most important thing in audio recording is the signal chain.
It determines the finished sound quality by 80%, and it is the most important element in the professional audio recording.
Many recording engineers don’t give it much credit, but believe me it is one of the most influential factors to the recording process.
Ok, the first and the most eminent element in the signal chain is the microphone.
If you buy a cheep microphone believe me you will lose a lot. There are many good microphones to choose from, but you need to understand there are no miracles, if you buy microphone and pay for it 500$ or you buy one that cost 1200$ there will be a big difference. So if you have the budget go buy the best you can, but remember microphone is only one of many elements in the signal chain recording, so you need to plan your budget.
Than there is preamplifiers, and it can take you to the next level in your production.
It is so important element, and if you decide to purchase one buy the best you can. And my advice is don’t buy one that has many emulation in it. There are many fantastic preamplifiers from Api, Ams-Neve, universal audio and more, and every one of them has its own unique sound color.
And finally, the last and the most underestimated element in the audio recording signal chain is the cables.
It is very important factor, if you have cheep cables your super fancy microphone and your fantastic preamplifier will sound half of their potential.
Remember, bad cables = noise in your recording!
Cables can add noise to your audio signal chain because of poor radio frequency and bad adequate shielding.

IK Multimedia T-Racks 3 Mastering Plug Ins

The new mastering suite from IK Multimedia is very refreshing. It includes new dynamic processor, Equalizers, new built-in metering section and mastering tools. A few years ago “T-Racks” plug-in was the first to simulate analog hardware. And now with the new released version of the plug-ins, “IK Multimedia” tries to close the gap with other software plug-in companies.
The most exciting upgrades in the “T-Racks 3” plug-ins are the firechild 670 and the pultec EQP-1A vintage emulations. IK Multimedia is not the first company that tries to imitate this legend classic. We all know about the incredible “Universal Audio” and “wave” clones of this classic. After comparing all the manufactures clones plug-ins, the “firechiled” and the pultec EQ, i can tell you without a doubt that IK multimedia did a very good job. The plug-in sounds very musical and it adds warmth to the digital sound. But it does not sound like the real hardware. It has lack of depth. And it has a deferent color to it.
In my opinion, the “Universal Audio” emulations sounds better, more musical to the ear. But don’t forget that they are a lot more expansive then the “T-Racks”. And you need to buy a uad card to run them!

Apple Logic Studio Review

Apple has done it again!!!
Logic studio is one of the leading daw software in the industry.
Its offers a complete package for your entire studio needs, and at affordable price.
The new upgrade from apple includes the main flagship Logic pro 8,Mainstage,
Soundtrack pro 2,Studio Instruments, Studio effects, and a huge library with
Apple loops, sampled instruments, channel strip and a lot more.
Logic studio is the biggest most advanced audio recording and editing package in the market.
It is everything you need and more for your daw.
Logic studio comes with a huge built-in library plug ins, including dynamics, equalizers, reverbs, delays, distortion and stereo image plug-ins.
Improved audio editing options in logic pro 8, and other many new possibilities.
And if its not enough you can always buy a third party plug-in and additional software.
But for beginners it’s all they need for a complete audio product.
From my personal view it’s the best audio editing tool collection for your daw.
And compared with other audio editing software like cubase or pro-tools it is the most advanced package at a reasonable price.


I have been a cubase user for about 3 years, but when I used logic for the first time its blow my mind.
It’s engineered very well and it has so many advanced features.
Don’t get me wrong here pro-tools and cubase are excellent audio editing software’s.
But I think that if you count the advantages and the disadvantages for the entire leading audio recording and editing software’s logic studio wins big time!
Logic studio is everything you ever need in every way and the last daw software you will ever use.

The Best Vst - Virtual Instrument Synthesizer

Well there are a lot of good vst's out their. But i try to pickup the best for you !

Number 1 on my list is The GForce MiniMonsta.
Believe me, its a superb virtual instrument.
Many people called it "Minimoog on steroids". Its so simple to use and the
most important thing is the sound quality. Its so good that you can't tell the difference
between the original minimoog and Minimonsta.
So if you dont have the cash for a real moog,
you can buy the minimonsta and it will never let
you down.
There are a lot of moog clone but, this syn is the best investment for your money.





The second Vst in my list is the Korg Ms-20.
Its my favorite synthesizer,
and korg did a very good job by cloning it.
many people don't understand this small black box
but when you play with it a little bit you understand the power it has, this little
beast.


It's sound so fat !!!!! So nasty, so analog. well, you have to try it and see.
The ms-20 Cut Off Filter is probably the best syn filter in the world.
"The prodigy" use it a lot in his production, so you can't go wrong here.


And finally my third pickup is the NI Massive.
Its such a complex syn and it has a lot of options. But if you don't want to go
deep, you don't have to. If you're a beginner or a pro this syn will make you satisfied.
And it sound good to. NI did a very good job here. With Massive you can make any sound you imagine.
From pads to nasty saw leed sound.
So you wont regret if you buy it. Its all depends on what kind of sound you like.
I like analog sound, so i prefer the ms-20 or the
minimonsta.
Massive is more digital sound syn, but believe me it can sound as analog as you wish.

Ultimately, what ever you choose from this three, will be a good choice. I hope i helped you a little bit to make a smart pick.