Hi All I have been using Logic Gold now for about 1 year, current version 5.5. Being on a small budget and working from home I do not own a lot of hardware, in fact only a small mic pre-amp (DBX). I decided until I need to Master professionally (i.e.: pay for mastering). I'll make do with software processors. This is my area of concern. What do you think of the internal processors of Logic? Compressor, Limiter, EQ. And what task would you set them for? Have any of you tried others, Waves C1/C4, Ren Compressor...etc. What's your Fav? What do you use it for? Why? (tech) I have tried the Ren Compressor and though it seems to have a different sound to Logics, and I like the sound, it certainly is pricey. I am reluctant to pay out a lot on other company bundles when Logic has quite a few internally. Life would be a bit easier if I had money to lash out on different processors and I realise, some of you do that, as most middle to large production houses carry a number of different options. So if any of you could spill your collective experience on this particular area. If you had to choose a minimal amount of processors for a budget studio trying it's best to achieve a good sound... Compressor, Limiter, EQ, Gate, Mic pre amp..... ..What would you use? ..What task? ..Why? (tech) <snipped by admin> I do read as much as I can about products in the market place. It is always helpful to find out what people are using and relying on everyday. Any comments or experience shed is most appreciated, ; ) Midimantra Xcelmusic

--- In logic-users@yahoogroups.com, Paul Abrahams <xcelmusic@b...> wrote: > > What's your Fav? > Even the makers themselves don't refer to them as "mastering" plugs, but on a budget you could do a lot worse than the PSP MixPack (www.pspaudioware.com) for $100. I'm madly in love with the Mix Saturator, which alone is well worth the price; throw in the excellent compressor and the treble and bass enhancers and it's a screaming deal.

> >What do you think of the internal processors of Logic? They're good. Not great, but useable. > >Compressor, Limiter, EQ. And what task would you set them for? I use the Logic compressor as my 3rd or 4th choice compressor, it has a sound, it's not particularly pleasant, but if a channel needs some grit or graninyness to stand out, the Logic compressor works nicely. I probably wouldn't want to run an entire mix through the Logic Compressor. I did once with a metal band that was after that "Louder than everybody else sound", we got it but it wasn't a very pleasant sounding mix. But they liked it. I use Logic's Fat EQ for basic eq, it sounds better to me than the EQ on the channel strips, which I mainly use for lowpass/highpass filtering. I don't have Logic 6 yet, so I can't comment on the new EQ. > >Have any of you tried others, Waves C1/C4, Ren Compressor...etc. I own the Waves bundle, PSP Vintagewarmer and the Mackie/UAD powered plugin board. I've just started using the UAD, so I may be a bit over-infatuated with it at the moment. > >What's your Fav? That's like asking what your favorite spice is. Cumin is great in lentil soup, but not in apple pie, it really depends on the context. Waves C1 is very transparent, it's great for smoothing out levels without imparting a signature sound. I'd say the same about Waves C4 and L1, great for adding volume if the tone is already perfect, though, IMHO, both start sounding flat at high levels of compression. And they're relatively light on the processor, heavier than the Logic compressor, but reasonable. I've never been a big fan of Waves RenComp, it's pretty resource heavy, and I'm not fond of the sound. PSP VintageWarmer sounds VERY nice at low levels of compression, like 3-6 db or less, and tends to get uglier at high levels. it's great for warming up anything that runs through it, the EQ is very musical, and the interface is pretty great for dialing in a sound quickly. I've used it to rescue some badly recorded vocals, as a bus compressor on a drum submix, for making guitars huge, etc. I've also used it as a mastering compressor on rock tracks. One trick I've found is to use a Waves L1 and the PSP inline for mastering compression, using the L1 for most of the gain, and the PSP for the tone and smoothness. The main problem with the PSP is that it's a resource hog, I can run about 2 instances of it on my computer (G4/733) before crippling it. The UAD Powered Plugins sound amazing! I'm still getting used to them, but their LA2A emulation is just about the nicest sounding compressor I've used (and, no, I've never been able to afford the real thing). Their 1176 emulation is great on drums! the bad thing is, it takes a $600 card to run these plugs, but considering what 16 channels of "real" LA2A would cost, it's a steal. > >If you had to choose a minimal amount of processors for a budget studio >trying it's best to achieve a good sound... > >Compressor, Limiter, EQ, Gate, Mic pre amp..... For a budget system, you can't beat the FMR equipment, their RNC compressor is very nice for <$200, and while I haven't used their RNP preamp, it's high on my shopping list. In a computer-based system, I'd argue that outboard limiters, gates and EQ are lower priorities, you can do that within the computer much better. A good mic, a good preamp, a compressor to keep levels in line are all you really need in the analog domain, I know there are those who will argue with this.