URS Channel Strip Pro

I've been playing with the demo of this one for four or five days now. I will definitely be adding this plugin to my arsenal. It's amazing value for the money, from what I've seen so far. Currently I just use Waves Platinum plus the URS Neve/SSL EQs. The Ferox tape sim plus a little stereo panner plug are the only other plugs I have. Ferox is nice but I was interested in something that provide more analog/tape/warming options. And RenComp/RenEQ and SSL/Neve EQs are nice, but I was wanting something that could also similate various types of classic compressors and EQs.

I was figuring I'd be buying four or give different plugs, which means for budget purposes I'd be buying one at a time for some time to come, since good ones are generally expensive. But this product basically provides all of that in one plug, with way more variations available than you could almost ever use. It's basically four things, all of which are optional

- The characteristics of many different tube and iron based pre-amps
- Low/high pass filters
- Very flexible compression that can emulate all kinds of vintage compressors and/or tube/tape characterstics
- Four band EQ, where each individual filter can emulate the characteristics of various classic EQs

You can mix and match all of these however you want, so it's like having a couple hundred thousand dollars of equipment in the rack. The native VST version is $500, but relative to what it provides you, that's uber-cheap. And the sound is very good. I make no claim to golden ear-ness, but the results are extremely nice to me.

I've been working on some production values stuff for my next piece. I don't know what it's going to be, I'm just working out how it might sound. I'd been working for weeks on drum processing, and bass and one guitar so far. I was using my usual comp/EQ stuff, RenEQ, RenComp, C1/Q10, L1, the stuff I have always used. So I started replacing those with the URS plug to see what worked. I didn't replace them all. The URS plug isn't always the best. But I've got it on the drum overheads and rooms, on the snare/toms/kick busses, and the main drum sub-buss, and on the guitar.

It made a huge difference in those applications, and I'm sure on others to come. RenComp is a great compressor, but you'll probably never get it anywhere close to an LA-2A or Fairchild 670, because of the unique attack/release characteristics of those units. And RenEQ is great but it's just one EQ, whereas you can select from 5 different types of EQ responses with the URS. And in terms of warming/tape sim and whatnot, it's got plenty of options from subtle to heavy, far more than Ferox, and more in line with stuff only available in the ProTools world so far, like DUY Tape/Valve.


It's something that you can over do of course. What sounds good on a single instrument, by the time you add it all up, can turn into a bit of a mush. But if used correctly, it can really make a big difference. In particular having all those vintage compressor simulations is a huge addition to the tool kit.

For instance, I've always had trouble with drums because so much of the sound comes from the rooms/overheads, but they also give the drums a really non-modern sound. You can really crank down on the compression with a short release, to try to suppress the roominess after a hit. But the characterstics really change between a soft hit and a loud one. Loud hits really get picked up by the overheads and rooms and make them sound much more roomy. The LA-2A type compression, because of the nature of the release characteristics, which responds differently based on the level of the attack, really does amazing things for the room/OH mics. They really pull that roominess out and do so in response to the level of the attack so they pull out more when there is more, but don't loose the attack either. It's really amazing, and unlike just the auto-release of most compressors. I can then undampen the drums more and get more of the natural resonance of the drums without making the rooms/OHs really bad. For snare, toms, and kick you have options for that LA-2A style, Neve, SSL, API, etc...

And for guitars, that LA-2A or Fairchild type compression, fughedaboutit. It sounds great when you are doing strumming type guitar parts. The way it reacts just makes it so thick and rich. Pretty amazing.

So anyway, I know this sounds like an advertisement or something. But I've just been really impressed with it, so I figured I'd do a little writeup. I'm definitely going to be buying this one. On my very limited studio budget, I have to really look for bang for the buck and this one is enormous bang for the buck.

TDM is the ProTools version that runs on their DSP accellerator card. You want the native version. I was saying $500 above, because that was what was on the URS web site. I hadn't actually looked at the other online stores for some reason. But if it's $300 street price, then that's just a complete no brainer to get.

Thanks,

So I guess I'll have to try the demo. Do you have a link to their web site? I couldn't find it on Google search. I'll look again.

Take care,


Bob

I agree Dean. I demo'd that awhile back (I own a few of the URS plugs already) and was blown away. I recently bit the bullet and bought a PCIe UAD card. Other than a few quirky things getting it setup it's been a dream. The LA-2A and 3A, 1176 and Neve EQ's are unreal. I also picked up the Fairchild 670 which is my new go-to for acoustic guitar.

I know a lot of people complain about UAD - and I think it's a shame they just don't go native so that we can use more instances of their plugs. I can insert dozens of Waves API/SSL VST's in my project but am limited to a very small number of instances with UAD (without freezing like crazy).

That said, the UAD stuff is pretty impressive. I was expecting it to be good - but damn. For $300 though - you are right - the URS Pro strip is a no-brainer. (I have their 1970's compressor which I'm not super impressed with - but love it on my drum bus).