Understanding and Applying the Console Emulator

  I've been using it a lot and think it's great. N-Type for rock stuff and A-type for old timey acoustic stuff.  

Sticky?

Nice vid but what the heck do the Tolerance dealymadoodles do?

Kept waiting for that.

  I generally just turn tolerance on.

...edited because this was a separate blathering...

I don't know if my ears are just ultra sensitive or I'm completely bat shizzle crazy but I can hear the difference the CE makes on a single track. I actually don't even use it on every track because sometimes I don't like what it did to something specific so I exclude that element.  

@jb... Ha. That's weird. So if I'm reading that correctly someone sat down and wrote an algorithm to randomize something that at one point people were trying to eliminate.

What a werld... what a werld...

I still like it though. But I'm kind of random by nature. 

I think engineers like to try and eliminate what was not intended or what was an inherent limitation/issue/restriction to the "ideal design".  However, sometimes those very things are what we got used to hearing or added "character" in a pleasing and familiar way.

Those random elements might be enough to trick us into hearing those things again in a convincing way.  It all depends on how good the modeling is and how easily tricked we are or our inability to discern a difference.

Here's my take on it....
As we focus on DAW and the transition from analog to digital consoles, it's easy to overlook that we've dealt with this issue in the past.  At one time the goal of a guitar amp might have been to produce a louder, yet clean version of the input signal.  But once we got a taste for distortion, the designers set about creating amps that provide more of it.  Similarly some digital recording studios might play the tracks through an analog console or tape and record it back in again to get some "warmth".  The funny thing I suppose is that now we're trying to emulate analog behavior totally within a digital domain.

Just some "random" thoughts...

Thanks for the video, answers a few questions that I had.

LpMike75



I turn it on because it looks cool.  End of story

I have tried it and I don't like it. Personal I feel it's not in the top notch - high end stuff.


I'm sorry but if you comparing it to hardware SSL or NEVE converters/ Amp or console, Sonar emulation has little to do with that.
Hardware doesn't sound or behave as the emulation do. Sonar emulation actually kills the transient instead of enhancement them. The effect get even worse placing the console emulation last in the chain as Craig suggest in the video.

By saying all that doesn't mean you can't still use it if you like it. There are no rules out there to color your mix! Refer it more as an effect, a saturation effect then to compare it as real hardware. Anyway, that is just my thoughts. Have a great day!

LpMike75


I still can't hear it, nevermind trying to differentiate which type
I turn it on because it looks cool.  End of story

Actually , 




I agree with 100%.  Can't hear nothing. 




Looks pretty though. I guess it has that going for it.

LPMike75 wrote:"I still can't hear it, nevermind trying to differentiate which typeI turn it on because it looks cool. End of story".At this point i believe that you have a little monitoring problem.I hear the difference on my 40 tracks prj with a 20 euro in ears headphones much more with my studio monitors(Adam and K&H).Moreover i don't believe that an estimated Music Pro as Mr. Anderton say things unreliable.Best

Another thought ... maybe it is dependent on the frequency range of the material? Maybe we shouldn't be doing EQ rolloff's until after the CE? Edit: I have tried it both ways with no noticeable results.

I don't know ... there's got to be some reason why Craig can get such a clear result, and others can't.

Just brainstorming ...

GIM Productions


LPMike75 wrote:"I still can't hear it, nevermind trying to differentiate which typeI turn it on because it looks cool. End of story".At this point i believe that you have a little monitoring problem.I hear the difference on my 40 tracks prj with a 20 euro in ears headphones much more with my studio monitors(Adam and K&H).Moreover i don't believe that an estimated Music Pro as Mr. Anderton say things unreliable.Best

 
I certainly was not calling in to question Mr. Anderton's credentials, skills or hearing ability, to infer I was making a personal attack on Mr. Anderton is uncalled for.   I am simply stating for my case, I cannot hear a difference, I have may music pieces that are double and triple a "40 tracks count" and I still cannot hear a difference. 
 
If you can honestly hear a difference, than you must have very fined tuned ears.  I aspire to achieve that status someday.  I would like to see a blind test done with all the people who claim to hear a difference, and see how much they hear, compared to how much they believe they hear, because someone said it was true.  Then we could take it further, and see if they could identify which type of CE is being used, in the blind test.  Now THAT would be most impressive.  If we had even 10 out of 100 people accurately pick out the type of CE being used I would be very surpirsed.

@bub... Hmm, most everything I do is slathered with guitar so maybe it just responds more to stringed instruments.

And yeah, when it's noticeable it is quite nice. Takes away the clinical/sterile digital feeling a bit.