NI Solid Mix

Yeah Rain-- I too would like to hear from others about the NI Solid series and how it compares to Waves  SSL or UAD2 SSL or even the Black or White from IK.  

I figured I would wait until Komplete 8 goes on sale.  In the past NI would put their Komplete.x on sale just before the next Komplete (9) is announced and grab it since it has the Solid series and the Kontakt 5 included.

So this is a Bump to see if others will offer some comparisons for you (and us).

I've started testing them (NI).

Obviously, having to load Guitar Rig to use them is cumbersome. Then, GR's own noise gate is on by default. And in Logic at least, it loads in mono, no matter what, so it's a few clicks before you get down to business.

Other minor complain - Since they're all components of GR, you end up using more screen space than would be necessary but the actual plug-ins could definitely benefit from being a bit larger. Those knobs are tiny.

One obvious advantage though - you can save "chains" in GR - so you can set up a bunch of combinations and presets and store them.

Though I couldn't actually compare them w/ Waves just yet, after a bit of time w/ Solid Mix, I admit that I like it. It makes it very easy to just dial something that works, at least for the stuff I'm working on. If you're after granular control, that's not what you need. This bundle makes for more radical action. As is the case w/ most models, it pushes you into a certain direction, which may or may not be suited for everything.

But for my current project/assignment, I was happily surprised to see how quickly and effortlessly I could get sounds that would just sit perfectly in the mix. Almost like, Wow! Did I just do that?! Man, that sounds like something.


So in its own right, it seems like a fairly decent suite. The Buss Comp I'm not as sure yet. It's been a long time, but I seem to recall that Waves' own made a more noticeable/desirable difference w/ almost no tweaking. But it could be related to the different material.

Anyway, March is here, Waves is supposed to lose the iLock anyday now, so if I can I'll A/B them. But the NI bundle certainly looks like an option.

Thanks Zo. I'm checking it out - as soon as it's buffered (streaming here sucks!) Unfortunately I can't quite do the same in Logic. That's an ingenious use of one killer feature in X1.

The Duende would be a no-brainer - they're the best I've worked w/. For anyone tempted to test them for themselves, you can download a demo which is fully functional for 30 days. Then after a month, you get another 7 days. And so on for a year. 

But they're also some of the most expensive. We'll see how far I can get w/o them on this project. If the results can justify the expense, Duende is on the top of my list.

Heq is one of the first thing I have my eyes on now that Waves is going iLock-less. 

Crossing finger that the project will do good enough for me to grab Duende.