I've tried Alloy and while it is nice, imho, it's not intended to be used as a basic channel strip if I judge by the CPU load. 

I also prefer to have access to everything at once on a single screen and not have to browse back and forth through tabs.

My conclusion was that if I wanted to be overly picky about sound quality, my best option was still to use a bunch of different plug-ins w/ the advantage of being able to keep them all open and tweak the parameters in each of them w/o having to browse through tabs.

As for channel strips, Mix Control fits the bill perfectly, imho, w/ its unified GUI and low demand on CPU. And t sounds good.

Waves Audio Track or Renaissance Channel aren't bad either, but I still prefer MCP and its larger GUI. Plus it has frequency display and more bands than both Waves plug-ins, and pretty much everything you need in a channel strip.

Rain


I've tried Alloy and while it is nice, imho, it's not intended to be used as a basic channel strip if I judge by the CPU load. 

I also prefer to have access to everything at once on a single screen and not have to browse back and forth through tabs.

My conclusion was that if I wanted to be overly picky about sound quality, my best option was still to use a bunch of different plug-ins w/ the advantage of being able to keep them all open and tweak the parameters in each of them w/o having to browse through tabs.

As for channel strips, Mix Control fits the bill perfectly, imho, w/ its unified GUI and low demand on CPU. And t sounds good.

Waves Audio Track or Renaissance Channel aren't bad either, but I still prefer MCP and its larger GUI. Plus it has frequency display and more bands than both Waves plug-ins, and pretty much everything you need in a channel strip.

Rain:  Thanks.  This is very, very helpful.  I did a side by side comparison of Alloy2 and Mix Control Pro and was impressed more by MCP; so, I just purchased it.  The only missing element is the Exciter and I already have Aural Exciter so I can get by, but it would be a nice to have an exciter included with the other effects all in one plugin.  Doing this A/B demoing made it clear that MCP was worth the $49 and it is gentle on the CPU; so it can be loaded on a bunch of tracks.  I can't justify to myself the $149 cost for Alloy2.

I upgraded and think Alloy 2 is very good.

It's like a precise prochannel. Very hi-quality with hundreds of presets and very elegant design. 

For $79 US? Can't be beat.

"Rain"
I've tried Alloy and while it is nice, imho, it's not intended to be used as a basic channel strip if I judge by the CPU load.

My experience with Alloy was (it seems) more positive than yours, performance-wise. Although I used it mostly when more processing was needed on a track (if only eq'ing, Fabfilter Pro-Q is my go to), and this to avoid overpopulating my Fx bin.

"Rain"
I also prefer to have access to everything at once on a single screen and not have to browse back and forth through tabs.

Alloy 2 comes with an "Overview" page taking care of that (new feature). I installed it last night btw..., and my first impression is very positive although the processing hit was more noticeable than with Alloy.

I've been watching the groove3 vid on this one (I'm an annual subscriber). If workflow is important for you this may be a step in that direction.

Are there better individual plugs? prolly

If you buy this will it matter? prolly not

Is anything a magic bullet? prolly not


I'm on the fence (I already have Alloy 1). I've scanned the MPC specs. That seems like a good one too.

Bapu - you've probably read that but MPC owners will receive the free upgrade to version 2 later this fall. ;)

Well I've just been doing some testing of Alloy 1 against Alloy 2 on a bass track.
I think it does actually sound a little better, but the main improvement is in the GUI - this really is a vast improvement - but is this worth yet another $79??? No doubt you can get results quicker with Alloy 2 than 1.
I have to say I not fully convinced just yet so will probably sit on this for a while.
Whilst I was doing this test I also tested MCP - very nice and on this Bass track a very similar result to Alloy 2.
However I can instances where Alloy 2 will be superior to MPC because of things like the multi band Transient shaper etc.
Have a few more days of the Alloy 2 demo to go so will try some more tests before making a final decision
Nigel

Helpful information Nigel. Thanks.

Remember the old console stereos back in the early 60's? Turntable, radio, amp, speakers all in one big wooden box. By the late 60's nobody was buying them, preferring to put together their own systems component-by-component. The result wasn't very pretty as furniture, but you could get the best of each component you could afford, and upgrade gradually.

I feel the same way about channel strips as I do about console stereos.

bitflipper


Remember the old console stereos back in the early 60's? Turntable, radio, amp, speakers all in one big wooden box. By the late 60's nobody was buying them, preferring to put together their own systems component-by-component. The result wasn't very pretty as furniture, but you could get the best of each component you could afford, and upgrade gradually.

I feel the same way about channel strips as I do about console stereos.

Your FX bins must look like the Salvation Army furnished them then?