88RS' 'big console sound'

[Plec]

Rydan is correct... from 12:00 to 15:30 is only 7db of boost then the other 13db happens between 15:30-17:00 or so. I think it's no problem when you get used to it, but initially it can be a bit scary. No problem if you JUST listen though, but the visual and auditory together doesn't really work like on other EQs..

 

[rydan]

Yes, it actually felt a bit scary! =)

No, the main problem is that it's hard to make small adjustments (with resonable precision) around say +10dB of boost, but I guess it's mostly something to get used to.

 

[pogo]

It seems like many DAWs have a key modifier for making subtle refinements to interface settings. Have you given this method a shot? It might, perhaps, be helpful. Otherwise, you could take the laborious route and drop in some automation break pointes to tweak an area with a bit more precision?

Just a thought...

I still haven't taken the plunge yet, so I can only offer an outsiders perspective on the overall issue itself. No specific experience with 88 since the brief time I spent with the demo that expired before I could sink my teeth... I mean ears into it.

Best of luck


Cheers

 

[rydan]

Yeah, I'm on cubase, so it's just to shift-click-drag. No problem, but a little annoying. Yea, I'm lazy... =)

 

[djsynchro]

Yeah the curve is certainly weird... my guess is the real 88rs is like that so that's how they made the plug-in too?

 

[Guest]

That's what initially freaked me a little about the plug. The \"empty\" range of the controls. First time I used it I went to boost a kick around 50 and found that I had to turn the knob far beyond what I expected to hear what I wanted to hear.

One thing I really like about using the Waves SSL, is the precision of the controls. At least for me in Samplitude, when I grab a knob with the mouse, I like the way the Waves plugs work better than UAD. It seems like I can get a \"firmer grip\" on the knob, and a little dialog opens in the SSL plugs that show me EXACTLY what freq, Q, etc level I'm at. I can really boost EXACTLY 1.3 db at 2.2k if I want. With UAD it's much more of an approximation and you have to go totally by ear, which is OK, but I like the precision if I'm trying to match something.

 

[myonlineportal]

i feel... more often that if numbers and digits are shown,
the thing you mix will not be the sound you want.
If the digit jumps to far, you will often feel that you had added too much
the concept with all the buttons that uad has is the feel thing.
you get the right feel with the analog gears ?
in the age that you don't see so much digits ?
tuned them according to the feel....

 

[djsynchro]

Oh I totally agree! But on the 88rs you kinda go crank.... crank... stilll not hearing it... crank... BAAAMMM it kicks in!

Edit: I just tried holding down shift for finer control - works great!

 

[saemskin]

Didn't feel like starting another thread for this...

I just bought the 88RS because I was very impressed by the demo. The awesome thing was that with the UA moving sale (150 off) and the fact I'm completing my \"Neve Bundle\" (99 off) I got it for a whopping 50 bucks

Valid till October 1 everybody.

I'm so stoked. Bask in my glow....

I must admit, I'm having a hard time with the controls and shaping things the way I want to. Maybe that a good thing, maybe not, but I'm stuck preset mangling for now and I hate using presets.

 

[Horse]

@ Macc

Macc, any chance that you could put up a snippet of a track, one with the 88s on and the same with them switched off. Doesn't matter what else you got going?

 

[Eurocide]

just my 2 cents to this thread:
One mixer channel with the 88rs sounds fine, indeed.
But the complete magic of the 88rs is heard best when used in several channels. Then you get that \"console feeling\"

 

[mARTy]

creamy

I'll second the idea that the real magic of the 88rs is in using a bunch of them at a time. I have been using it on separate channels and freezing them in nuendo (as if I had recorded these tracks through a console), then routing channels to groups with it on as well (mixing through a console). cumulative creamy nevishness on everything. If this is anything like the real thing, I can see why these boards are desirable. I mix purely ITB with ITB summing and I can say that this plug moved my mixes way way way forward. I know it's my first post and all, but I have been a UAD user since before the Pultec Pro was released. This is the money plug. When used in tandem with everything else. gush.

mARTy

 

[Macc]

Yeah, that's exactly the point I was trying to make with this thread, the multi-channel Neve thing

@ Horse - http://www.immerserecords.com/macc/CH_S ... _TESTS.rar

There's some null tests in there, should be self-explanatory

 

[Horse]

Thanks!

 

[electro77]

Re: creamy

I'll second the idea that the real magic of the 88rs is in using a bunch of them at a time. I have been using it on separate channels and freezing them in nuendo (as if I had recorded these tracks through a console), then routing channels to groups with it on as well (mixing through a console). cumulative creamy nevishness on everything. If this is anything like the real thing, I can see why these boards are desirable. I mix purely ITB with ITB summing and I can say that this plug moved my mixes way way way forward. I know it's my first post and all, but I have been a UAD user since before the Pultec Pro was released. This is the money plug. When used in tandem with everything else. gush.

mARTy

Ok. I would like to hear the same mix A/B with a version that doesn't use any 88RS.

 

[XAXAU]

slapping on any UA comp or eq without touching knobs just makes everything so much nicer, so why should this one be any different?

i remember a couple years ago when there were wild discussions about the pultec, inducing magic or just bumping the volume a bit...

...its all magic baby

digital can never be as good as analog, but UA is doing a very nice job at replicating it. just as a math formula can never describe the universe, they (UA) can never get it right. but i like what im hearing and thats good enough for me

 

[LFranco]

digital can never be as good as analog

I respectfully disagree. Different yes, "as good", that's subjective. Anyone who says that a Pultec enabled on a track only adds volume to a signal, in my humble opinion, may have a weak monitoring chain, or inexperienced hearing.

 

[djsynchro]

Digital can be better than analogue, depending on what you want to do. It sure as hell delivers more bang for the buck.

For those of you that want to know every last detail there is to know you can download the manual of the real 88rs from AMS-Neve's website here http://www.ams-neve.com/downloads_all/files/Music/88RS_User_Manual.pdf

It (obviously) has a couple of pages about the channel strip in it, I didn't really learn anything new... The real deal has an external key input to feed a signal into the sidechain and turn the gate into a ducker... I would love to have that feature!

 

[mARTy]

Re: creamy

Ok. I would like to hear the same mix A/B with a version that doesn't use any 88RS.

Sorry electro77, but I am not going to unfreeze and refreeze 60+ tracks of a session for anyone unless they are paying for my time. Just trust me when I say it makes a difference cumulatively. heck, I put the 88rs on a piano track with nothing enabled, just because.

i remember a couple years ago when there were wild discussions about the pultec, inducing magic or just bumping the volume a bit...

I almost always have one original pultec (not the pro) on the master mus doing nothing, I have it set a certain way, but nothing boosted or cut. tube warmer anyone?

mARTy

 

[Macc]

Re: creamy

heck, I put the 88rs on a piano track with nothing enabled, just because.

Same here (not just pianos - anything that needs it!)

I almost always have one original pultec (not the pro) on the master mus doing nothing, I have it set a certain way, but nothing boosted or cut. tube warmer anyone?

Me too, although I do give the smallest possible boost at 30 Hz and 12kHz (thanks Paul). It's in my template so I am mixing through it from the word go 8)

I dunno about tube warmer, but I couldn't live without the pultec now, no way.