When I adjust the drive control pot on the Pro Channel console emulation plugin (Bus variant) I cannot hear any difference in the sound.... low level harmonic distortion etc
It seems non functional.   The trim pot does work correctly with the channel variant but I get the same seemingly non functional result with the drive pot.
Compare this to wave NLS plugin which has a wide range of analog coloration with the drive pot and you can really hear the difference.
 
Has anyone using the PC console emulation plugin noticed this?
Craig

I mostly use WAVES NLS myself so I did not notice ...
 
Mind you, changes maybe very subtle and not audible on a soloed track. Maybe either (A) try to A/B for a group of tracks, (B) run through a high resolution analyzer or (C) bounce an audio track to new track with the trim pot up and flip phase, adjust the pot on the original track and check if they sum to zero (silence) - if you indeed get silence, then the pot is non functional as you assume ...

Those top console manufacturers would have given an arm to achieve the specs of any modern DAW.
 
Simulating their barely perceptible residual shortcomings is a bizarre concept.

jpetersen
Those top console manufacturers would have given an arm to achieve the specs of any modern DAW.

Yet Solid State Logic and AMS-Neve still make and sell analogue desks and outboard analogue hardware and their digital consoles contain emulations of their analogue eq and compressors.

It seems people often actually do prefer a certain kind of gentle distortion/harmonics change/phase shifting to a "perfect" recording. One of the quirks of psycho-acoustics.

Though cranking an emulator of any of the consoles modelled by NLS or Cakewalk's console emulator to the point you can hear it make a clearly noticable effect on a single track is hardly emulating how the consoles are usually used. Even much cheaper consoles make an inaudible difference to a few tracks at a time, any change an emulator of a high-end console makes to the audio should really only show up as a lot of tracks are summed.

Cranking the emulator is not the way that I would use it. If you compare the waves nls to the cakewalk version and crank the drive on each the end result is worlds apart. The cakewalk version has no audible effect. 
My test mix had all channels (40 tracks) and busses (12) with an instance of the cakewalk console emulator.  I used quick groups to 
link all 40 drive pots together and when cycling them thru their full range there is no audible difference with 40 tracks. Busses ....same results
 
The same test using waves nls plugin will give  you a distorted mess.
 
It doesn't seem like the Cakewalk  console emulation is working when using waves nls as the standard of what a console emulation should be.
 
That is not to say that the cakewalk emulator has no effect on the mix. If I A-B an identical mix ,each channel and buss with the proper emulator the mix is softened just a bit but the drive pot has no audible effect in my A-B Test.
 
I like the prochannel implementation of the plugin with quick groups control over it's settings. The NLS version is a little more cumbersome to set up but at the end of it all you have the drop down VCA groups console accessible from any instance so control is easy. 
 
Hey.... I like the Pro Channel.  Hopefully more plugin manufactures will port their plugins to Pro Channel.
 
Craig

jpetersen
Those top console manufacturers would have given an arm to achieve the specs of any modern DAW.
 
Simulating their barely perceptible residual shortcomings is a bizarre concept.

On the surface, yes, it does seem odd. However, slight non-linear differences between channels can expand the soundstage somewhat by accentuating the difference between the right and left channels, which digital doesn't do natively. Also in my tests, it seems the CE emulates what audio transformers do. Many people consider the character contributed by these inductor-based components as desirable. For example, Wendy Carlos added audio transformers to her Akai multitrack to take off that "digital" edge.

CSW
...The same test using waves nls plugin will give  you a distorted mess.
 
It doesn't seem like the Cakewalk  console emulation is working when using waves nls as the standard of what a console emulation should be.....
 
Craig

if waves nls plugin gives you a distorted mess when over used why would you use it as the standard of what console emulation should be.

We really have to remember that the analog world was trying to achieve transparency! Though essentially impissible in the analog world. So the residual imprint of analog gear are the difference in the sound of one piece compared to another...

Craig... I remember you pisted a very nice way to hear this difference by enabling/disabling an entire mix of faders with emulation all at once... The difference is very noticeable this way...

After you've worked a number of SSL/Neve/Trident/etc boards you really get an idea of how they sound for various tasks relative to each other...

For example, I like tracking drums and guitars/basses through a Neve board while I prefer an SSL for piano...

rabeach
 

if waves nls plugin gives you a distorted mess when over used why would you use it as the standard of what console emulation should be.

Wow........Your process of logical deduction.......
 
 

Keni
We really have to remember that the analog world was trying to achieve transparency! Though essentially impissible in the analog world. So the residual imprint of analog gear are the difference in the sound of one piece compared to another...

Craig... I remember you pisted a very nice way to hear this difference by enabling/disabling an entire mix of faders with emulation all at once... The difference is very noticeable this way...

After you've worked a number of SSL/Neve/Trident/etc boards you really get an idea of how they sound for various tasks relative to each other...

For example, I like tracking drums and guitars/basses through a Neve board while I prefer an SSL for piano...

It seems to soften the mix a bit..... but I thought there would be more of a difference. My only reference of comparison is the waves NLS plugin which really melts things together nicely.
 
Thanks. 
 
Craig