Do you use CW Console Emulators on all tracks and buses

Since I got them, I've used them on every track and bus, getting a feel for them. I like them. They don't cause me any troubs at all. They don't add much overhead. I 'think' I can tell a mix with them as opposed to without.... for me to get a good AB, I add them to all tracks and busses and bounce down... then normalize > apply multiband compression I like > normalize > a little boost 11. Then do the same without them...

When I AB those two final bounces it's apparent and pleasing to me.
 
As far as what type of music uses expensive consoles, I think the answer is expensive musicians can use expensive consoles. :-)
 
Not typical for $5 bands.

I don't use them at all.  It's not that I have an opinion that they are good or bad, it's more that I'm after a specific sound and I know what specific plugins do to the sound and how to achieve the sound I want.  I tweak to taste.

The problem with the console emulation is that it's so darn subtle, I can't tell if it's helping or hurting my mix.  I think they're a little like the emperors new clothes.  People are afraid to admit they can't hear what they are doing, so they won't speak up for fear of looking stupid.

Well, I'll be honest and say I have no idea what they do to my mix, so I find no value in using them at all.  Yes when you sum it all together there's a difference, but is it better or worse?  That's just not the way I operate.

GIM Productions


Hi Erik,console emu is awesome.You must put use an every tracks couse its effect is cumulative.To sim a large console preamp you must put CE channel on first place with post fx unchecked and CE bus at last with post FX checked.To sim an analog summing console you must put CE chan at the last insert with post FX checked and the same for CE bus.Best

Define "awesome".  What does that mean?  The thing that made many of those old consoles so great was the non-linearities and idiosyncrasies in the EQ section.  These console emulators are utterly incomplete if they're not modeling that.


I dunno, but here I was thinking we were investing in state of the art ADCs/DACs so that we could avoid the crosstalk, inter-modulation distortion and poor SNR of the old world consoles.


I'm not averse to a bit of nice tape saturation, but most of the emulation and "tube" plugins leave me cold.

I disagree though I don't state it on here much.. There are many that are happy with the console emulation, fine, I am happy you like it. To me, all I hear is basically a harmonic exciter, It hops up the highs and kinda sheens the signal which would be OK if it sounded good but in my opinion it sounds like crappy high frequency digital distortion. You want a nice sheen? Record it right 1st, then EQ it to taste, ya don't need some emulator plug and it's not going to fix a lousy mix or make a good mix sound like it was done on an SSL. That's my take. Played around with them for about a half hour once, haven't touched it since & doubt I will again.

The developer of the Console Emulation (Overload) said it was modeled on the summing aspect of a console.  Not the console as a whole.  That's one of the reasons I put it last on the tracks, and on busses.  On the master, I put it after EQ etc, but before any limiter etc.
 
As for the idea that it just "hops up the highs" or adds "Crappy digital distortion" - I don't hear, or see this.
 
A lot depends on how you use it.  If you crank everything up, then it will not be pleasant.  You may well get some of these symptoms.  The idea is to use it subtly.  I, and others, have found gain staging very important.  Craig Anderton pointed out that if any of the modules are clipping, the console emulations will make it worse.
 
And be sparing of the drive and trim knobs.  The drive knob effects how much of the signal goes into saturation, and the trim knob is not like an input trim, it effects how much the emulation is applied to the signal.
 
Turn everything up to eleven and it may sound pants.  I don't think half an hour is enough time to truly evaluate it.  I've been playing around with it for weeks, and am only just getting to know it.

I did upload a picture with previous post, why don't I see it??

Yes, you do click post for it to work.

I hear a diff with & without...And I treat it like "Franks Red Hot Sauce", I put that sh!t on everything...lol

There's SO much I could say on this topic...but I have too much work to do tonight. Short form:

After the first hour I experimented with the Console Emulator, I figured I'd never use it again. Then I saw the comment about inserting it in every channel FIRST, and mixing through it. I tried that, and thought it had promise.

Then I ran some tests to find out exactly what it was doing. That helped me figure out how to apply it better. More importantly, Quick Group is your friend with the CE. It lets you bypass/enable all of them at once, as well as adjust the trim and drive controls simultaneously.

I wrote my next Sonar column on the CE. The first third is about how consoles affected the sound, why that mattered, and why you might want to emulate some elements of it. In particular, the CEs emulate some of the characteristics of transformers. One of the very few instances where I use the CE NOT as intended is as an effect on bass with the S-type module to emphasize the transformer emulation aspects.

I currently have two songs posted on my YouTube channel (subscribe! share the links! ) that use the CE extensively. One is called "When the Grid Goes Down" and the other is called "Little Pieces." I also posted an A-B comparison with the CE bypassed and enabled as it plays an excerpt of "When the Grid Goes Down." The alteration is subtle, but definitely audible.

Bottom line: I was raised during a time when the Aphex Aural Exciter was rented out by the hour. The CE accomplishes the same sort of thing from a conceptual standpoint - it can add an extra 5% of coolness to a piece of music when applied properly.

Thank you for your input Craig:) Very nice of you to test the CE.

Where can I read your Sonar Column? 


PS - like your songs, well produced:)

Anderton


There's SO much I could say on this topic...but I have too much work to do tonight. Short form:

After the first hour I experimented with the Console Emulator, I figured I'd never use it again. Then I saw the comment about inserting it in every channel FIRST, and mixing through it. I tried that, and thought it had promise.

Then I ran some tests to find out exactly what it was doing. That helped me figure out how to apply it better. More importantly, Quick Group is your friend with the CE. It lets you bypass/enable all of them at once, as well as adjust the trim and drive controls simultaneously.

I wrote my next Sonar column on the CE. The first third is about how consoles affected the sound, why that mattered, and why you might want to emulate some elements of it. In particular, the CEs emulate some of the characteristics of transformers. One of the very few instances where I use the CE NOT as intended is as an effect on bass with the S-type module to emphasize the transformer emulation aspects.

I currently have two songs posted on my YouTube channel (subscribe! share the links! ) that use the CE extensively. One is called "When the Grid Goes Down" and the other is called "Little Pieces." I also posted an A-B comparison with the CE bypassed and enabled as it plays an excerpt of "When the Grid Goes Down." The alteration is subtle, but definitely audible.

Bottom line: I was raised during a time when the Aphex Aural Exciter was rented out by the hour. The CE accomplishes the same sort of thing from a conceptual standpoint - it can add an extra 5% of coolness to a piece of music when applied properly.

ErikDeluxe


Thank you for your input Craig:) Very nice of you to test the CE.

Where can I read your Sonar Column? 


PS - like your songs, well produced:)

Anderton


There's SO much I could say on this topic...but I have too much work to do tonight. Short form:

After the first hour I experimented with the Console Emulator, I figured I'd never use it again. Then I saw the comment about inserting it in every channel FIRST, and mixing through it. I tried that, and thought it had promise.

Then I ran some tests to find out exactly what it was doing. That helped me figure out how to apply it better. More importantly, Quick Group is your friend with the CE. It lets you bypass/enable all of them at once, as well as adjust the trim and drive controls simultaneously.

I wrote my next Sonar column on the CE. The first third is about how consoles affected the sound, why that mattered, and why you might want to emulate some elements of it. In particular, the CEs emulate some of the characteristics of transformers. One of the very few instances where I use the CE NOT as intended is as an effect on bass with the S-type module to emphasize the transformer emulation aspects.

I currently have two songs posted on my YouTube channel (subscribe! share the links! ) that use the CE extensively. One is called "When the Grid Goes Down" and the other is called "Little Pieces." I also posted an A-B comparison with the CE bypassed and enabled as it plays an excerpt of "When the Grid Goes Down." The alteration is subtle, but definitely audible.

Bottom line: I was raised during a time when the Aphex Aural Exciter was rented out by the hour. The CE accomplishes the same sort of thing from a conceptual standpoint - it can add an extra 5% of coolness to a piece of music when applied properly. 

Sorry, forgot to mention the Sonar column is in Sound on Sound magazine. Not sure of the issue, maybe January or February.


Glad you like the songs! The response has been very gratifying.