John
So LA2A I take it you have tested the plugins you mentioned against the actual hardware units they are meant to emulate? May I ask how was this testing done?
In response to my assertions about Slate Digital plugins another forum member here, SvenArne, commented to another forum member "Normally, I'd agree with you, but in this particular case..?"
This forum member was obviously commenting in relation to the credibility of my own assertions, so i will make clear that this whole subject is really only a matter for those who are actually interested in the authenticity of certain plugins, because if you are happy to use plugins that just give you a similar vibe and character of the originals, then it won't be important to you what i have to say, that i understand. Nonetheless, clearly the comments made suggest that some members might not give much credence to my word as a music producer. Therefore lets put it this way, my word would probably not suffice or hold much weight with you guys, obviously my opinion would be of no consequence to you, regardless of any tests i've done, so don't take my word for it, take the word of industry experts instead, i'll show you what they have said; they would be worth listening to more than me, right? Lets see the words of respected industry experts and therefore i'll quote their words to help you understand what i'm saying about the Slate Digital plugins, you might take them a bit more seriously than me. I myself happen to be close friends with a Roland engineering consultant (he works for Roland corporation), and we have collaborated on a few tracks together, and previous to using the Slate Digital plugins, i had told him that i was using 'digital' plugin replications of the LA2A etc on some tracks (i was not using Slate plugins at that time), and although he is a wise man with extensive audio experience that does not mouth-off and get into negatives, he did comment to me that "these digital plugins don't really replicate the sound of the 'real thing'.
I was not surprised at all to hear him tell me that because i agreed with him, I already knew that, but anyhow I told him we'll just work with it for now.
But also, Rupert Neve himself made some statements not long ago which i will quote for you right here, these words came out of Rupert Neve's own mouth verbatim as follows... "The whole question of digital has been something which has worried me for some considerable time, and i never have thought that digital can deliver the depth and perspective of first-class analog: as we have listened to some of the plugin systems of others, I HAVEN'T BEEN IMPRESSED AT ALL, but having now listened to the VCM technology, this is something which i'm completely convinced that the new VCM technology actually delivers the depth and perspective and sweetness of sound which i've aspired to in analog. I now can't tell any difference between the two!"
These statements from Rupert Neve were referring to the Yamaha/Steinberg VCM technology behind some of their recent supplementary plugin offerings, but it proves that Repurt Neve is saying the same thing i have been saying about 99% of digital plugins 'previous' to using the Slate Digital plugins.
Since we have here another statement from Yamaha's own pro-audio website as follows... "Yamaha’s innovative “K’s Lab” division, is a circuit modeling concept that effectively simulates the most detailed characteristics of individual circuit components, right down to capacitors and resistors, resulting in astonishingly realistic circuit simulations that easily outclass conventional digital plugin simulations. But accuracy isn’t the only consideration, the actual musicality is essential as well, and VCM modeling delivers both."
So if you then still want me to qualify my assertions about the Slate Digital plugins, then don't take my word for it, take the word of Stephen Slate himself, either he's lying, or he is only the second person in history to accomplish the same end as Yamaha's VCM technology. Because didn't Stephen and his team say that it was all the modelling of non-linear response characteristics done at the component level, including the distortions and noise and cross-talk etc that they also sought to model, just like yamaha? Well yes, they did say that, and they took the same approach as the Yamaha VCM team, but then after the extensive testing for final approval before release, here are the exact words of Stephen verbatim as follows... "Either we re-create the 'exact sound' of what these machines are doing, or we don't release the plugin! It's either 100% or 0% (meaning we won't release it), we won't 'compromise' when it comes to analog."
Jay Baumgardner is a hardcore analog music engineer from way back when, he is a famed Platinum selling producer familiar only with real-world studios, but he said this following statement in response to Slate Digital's plugins as follows... "I now put these plugins on all my mixes, they 'totally nailed it'!
The famed mastering engineer Howie Weinberg, said himself that he initially called Stephen crazy for even suggesting that he could emulate the real deal, but after Stephen finished his work and Howie Weinberg took a listen, he said... "You know what, I'm crazy for not believing him, I'm in!"
Shall we allow Stephen Slate himself to qualify his own plugins? Lets see what he said as follows... "We don't stop, we don't release these plugins until in 'blind' listening tests people can't tell the digital from the actual analog pieces, and so that's what we've done here"
So now, I myself for example have used many Tape Saturation plugins of many kinds from Third Party sources, including Nomad Factory "Magnetic II", and yet i knew i wasn't getting the true sound of Tape, but i wasn't the only one who knew this; the head programmer for Stephen Slate, Fabrice Gabriel, said before they started working on their VTM Tape emulation... "Stephen and I were convinced that the sound of Tape was still not authentically modelled in the digital domain, in fact, it didn't seem that anyone had actually captured the essence and feeling of a real Tape machine, we wanted to change that scenario, so we designed an algorithm so close to the Tape sound that you can not distinguish a track recorded to a real Tape machine versus the same track processed with our algorithm"
Lets see what Sam Inglis said in his Sound-on-Sound review October 11 as follows... "Sound On Sound is not a monolithic organisation, and the half‑dozen or so of us who make and record music have wildly differing tastes like our colleague Hugh Robjohns, I had expected that Slate's VCC would polarise opinion within the office, but perhaps the biggest endorsement I can offer is that it did nothing of the kind. Everyone here who has tried it, regardless of their preferences or style of mixing, has independently reached almost exactly the same opinions I've set down in this review. I'll be using VCC on every mix I do from now on — and I won't be alone...
There you have it folks, these words hold more weight than anything i might say or any tests i've done. And also, remember, the proof is in the pudding, which becomes self explanatory, and therein lies the answer for the authenticity of Stephen Slate's plugins.
Remember, instead of questioning the validity of my statements, you can use the demos for yourself, and also listen to the previous words of industry experts who have tested Stephens plugins, and i'm sure you'll draw the same conclusions as me. The truth is the truth, right? Let the truth speak for itself. Any company who achieves such high levels of algorithm replication i will always endorse and give kudos to, and it appears that Yamaha and Slate Digital are the only two companies to achieve this. I have heard UAD plugs, i have heard Waves plugs, and there are free plugins that perform as good or even better than these companies, and why? Because these two companies didn't achieve 100% emulation, it's that simple really! If you A/B tests of the La2a emulations done by UAD and IK MUltimedia and Cakewalk, you will hear a big difference between these plugins, a difference in the modelling, which of them got it right? Well none actually. The difference between these plugins is vastly different than the minor inconsequential differences between the actual real-life analog units, so what gives?