Pro-MB, Day One

So we have a couple of days left before you push this one aside.
You can always sell it to Bapu.
He'll buy almost anything.

Glad to know that you're enjoying it Dave...

I think the major illusion is in "preset" madness...
Most want to put in on...pick a preset...and boom...there ya go.
They fail to realize that a preset is merely a "guestimation" to get you
somewhere close.  After that, then YOU have to do the work to find 
"The Spot".  The preset may have been written for a Jazz piece..while
you're doing a Heavy Metal song...

A plugin is just like hardware...you have to get to know it (I need to heed this myself)
and what each component does and how it effects the sound.

The REAL reason we end up using the ones that we took the time to learn is...


WE TOOK THE TIME TO LEARN THEM...LOL

I was a little underwhelmed by Trilian the first few weeks I had it, before I not exactly decided to RTFM but sat through Eli Krantzberg's Groove3 tutorials. It was only then that I realized I was only using 20% of its capabilities. I had similar epiphanies after watching the Groove3 tutorials for synths like FM8, Massive and Reaktor. I don't know why I seem incapable of learning this lesson...over the years I've had the same experiences with all kinds of software, notably Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator etc. I think when you grow up "techie" minded, there is this arrogance which tells you that you're more than capable of getting to grips with a new program without having to read the manual. Whereas someone who's always been a bit tech-shy will read the thing from front to back before they even twiddle a knob. And then they end up teaching you a thing or two about your favorite apps. 

That's why one should be skeptical with any review (including mine own) which says something to the effect of "well, I downloaded the demo of this thing...tried on a couple of projects and it RAWKS!!!!!...or, more often the case...it SUCKS!!!!!

Excellent point. It's been a pet peeve of mine for decades, for all software categories.
 
Professional reviewers typically cover far more products than they can possibly personally use, so most reviews are written by someone who's only had it for a day. I've seen many products downgraded because they were hard to install or get 5 stars because they were easy to install. Who cares? You only install it once! I want to know how people feel about it after a few months of daily use.
 
Another peeve is the lack of objective analysis. OK, so it transparently adds vintage warmth, clarity, smoothness and definition. WTF does that mean?

Now THOSE reviews would be useful...

"I found that, after 3 months of use, and really getting under the hood, that If I 
did "X" then it sounds 10 times better..."

That would be a useful review.  
 
Sadly, what we usually get is a re-hash of the product advertisement from the Company's mouth
in a review.

Also, there is a lot of "under the table" hanky panky in reviews.  This I know first hand.

Remember, the "objective" is to SELL!!!

Sadly, what we usually get is a re-hash of the product advertisement from the Company's mouth
in a review.

Ain't that the truth.
 
I googled "Pro-MB dynamic filter" in hopes of getting a better understanding of that mode (which is the one thing that makes Pro-MB different from all other multi-band compressors). What I got was page after page after page of identical copy-and-paste excerpts from a FabFilter press release.

I think that it takes me a long time to form an opinion about the stuff that I buy. It is one reason I buy good stuff and try to live with it. For my circumstance, it is not rewarding to demo or audition stuff. The short time that those opportunities provide, and the inability to apply the tools to a wide range of application makes demoing seem insufficient for me to form an opinion that I think is useful.
 
Since you are speaking about FabFilter; I have a bunch of their stuff and I have been using it on every track and bus since last June so that I can work cross DAW and maintain some consistency with the effects. Fab Filter stuff doesn't seem, to me, to be any more or less special than any of the simple stuff that I have used. I'm still getting used to Pro-L (the limiter) and I don't think I actually like it compared to some of the other limiters I have. I had forgotten that I own Pro-DS because it doesn't seem as effective as Waves' ancient De-Esser. (I rarely use De-Essers but sometimes I force the wrong mic into a situation just to learn more about the mic). The Pro-C Compressor seems OK, it seems like it has a lot of visual feedback features but I don't think the visuals illustrate what I hear very effectively so I have been closing my eyes and using it *by ear* more than I thought I would when I first considered all the cool visuals. The Pro-Q EQ seems like an EQ. Timeless seems very, very special, but I rarely use delay effects so it will take me years to get enought time on Timeless. I have been using them since last June on every track I have worked with. Maybe they will grow on me. :-) I may buy Pro-MB some day but I think that I tend to use microphone and pre amp selection to accomplish the same goal.
 
Anyways, tools is tools, parts is parts, time is time, etc. etc.
 
all the best,
mike

One mans tool is another mans part?
 

"Our tools don't adapt to our demands. I've been having this argument with my guitar for about fifty years."
- Clint Swank

Looking forward to that Maserati link, olpal. 
 
I'd long thought of multibands as remedial devices, something you use to mitigate mistakes. 
 
I've since broadened my view and now also see them as creative tools and mixing aids. I started down that path with Meldaproduction's MDynamicEQ, when I discovered that it could be sidechained. That led to subtle ducking effects that work wonders for bringing an element out in a busy mix without actually turning it up, and it's become a favorite technique. (Pro-MB, despite its name, is, in its default mode, actually a dynamic equalizer very much like MDynamicEQ.)
 
A multiband can serve more than one function, even at the same time. On the vocal bus I mentioned earlier, Pro-MB replaced two compressors (one for de-essing, the other for leveling) and an equalizer and tamed an annoying but intermittent 1KHz resonance. Four birds with one plugin. As a bonus, it also reduced overall CPU usage, which my aged computer thanked me for.
 
I haven't even gotten around to creative effects yet. Even though stuttering gates and pumping bass are not my style, I've been thinking that Pro-MB should be able to do that stuff easily. And that maybe, just maybe, they could have some uses even in my conservative genres.
 

clintmartin
How many of the FF plugins were you able to get? I have four. Q,C,L and Saturn. I'm starting to like Pro-L more now that I've had time to adjust it to my liking. I do believe the gui and metering are what sets FF apart. Not sound quality. 

I've not actually made purchases yet. I'm running Pro-MB in demo mode ATM. FF gives you a fully-functional demo for 30 days - no noise bursts, dropouts or crippled features. I wish everybody did that.
 
Pro-L gets a lot of use here, but not always as the final limiter. For perhaps 60% of my projects, I'm still quite happy with what Ozone does with almost zero effort. Put it in Transparent mode, set the threshold and you're done. Ozone's no longer the darling of the online community it once was, but IMO it's still one of the greatest plugins of all time. Where Pro-L gets used most is on drum and vocal busses, either for peak-catching or for fattening.
 
As for what I'll end up spending my gift on, it'll definitely be Timeless and Pro-MB. If FF comes through with the promised educational discount I'll be able to add another one, so I've been demoing and reading up on all of them. And discovering some unexpected possibilities in the process.
  
As Mike says, most FF plugins are nothing special, sound-wise (the obvious exception being Saturn). They're just clean, easy to use, light on the CPU, with ergonomic UIs and informative visual feedback, and offer every feature you expect to find. Nothin' special, really. 
 

I got their educational deal, you get 50 percent off! Very cool. Still learning the finer points of the more complicated ones.

Funny comment about the Waves DeEsser by the way, I have the same experience in the sense that with the Waves one it's easier for me to get rid of heavy sibilance, BUT with enough tweaking and lots of trial and error the FF one gets me the same amount with less track destruction.

"PS: I'm such an idiot I don't know to copy and paste a link with my iPad...if you go to www.waves.com there's a link on the front page to Tony's tutorials...you'll see the one about MB compression on vocals."

The iPad is pretty new to me as well, Ol'Pal. I love viewing and responding to threads while using the iPad, but I haven't figured out how to get it to do a lot of the things I normally do on a computer. Simple things like BOLD text, smileys, insert a picture and quotes.

Interesting discussion guys. I have been following this one from the sidelines.

I certainly wasn't knocking FF's sound quality. I actually find it pretty hard to use anything else, but that's because of the incredible way they are laid out. Pro-MB is over my head. I would screw things up worse than I already do with a multiband. Sometimes it's just fun to use another tool. I like Klanghelms DC8C a lot for example. Anyway just wanted to clear that up if I was misunderstood.

****...
 
One day off and about to check out FF compressor to restore some 4 track tapes..
 
Downstairs leak between the floors, exploded water pipes. Nothing puts the breaks on artistic persuits like survival catastrophes in the real world.
 
..........