Hi everyone,
I'm mixing down several country ballads featuring piano, steel guitar, bass and acoustic guitars.  I'd like opinions on which emulator type you would use in this situation at mixdown.
 
Thanks. :-)

MickyD
Hi everyone,
I'm mixing down several country ballads featuring piano, steel guitar, bass and acoustic guitars.  I'd like opinions on which emulator type you would use in this situation at mixdown.
 
Thanks. :-)

I would also be interested in hearing some opinions on this subject. I just added the Console Emulator using Type "A" to a 20 track project just for giggles. With my tired hearing I didn't think I would hear any differences. I put the emulators in a group so I could switch them ON/Off. I was pleasantly surprised how much of a difference they made!
 
I would just recommend "Puttsing" around with the three options and check out the differences. Please report back.
 
Walt

Well... S-type is modelled on SSL consoles, N-Type on Neve, and A-Type on Trident. All of these desks have been used to mix any and all genres you can think of. Also, you're talking about a country-ish set of instruments, but that could cover anything from Shania Twain to The Gaslight Anthem.

Better to think in terms of the kind of sonic character you're after. This is all fairly subtle, but the A-Type is sort of warmer and more bottom-end-y, where the S-Type is typically sort of brighter, with the N-Type somewhere in between. Really, you need to do some experimenting, there's no real prescription for this stuff. To my mind, it's more useful in terms of what you find easiest to mix with. I get along best with the S-Type, whatever the material is.

IMHO..and I am by no means a console expert, I think S-type is the safe bet for most styles and that is probably why it is the default choice.  I have experimented with others , but I find the S type seems more "sparkly" overall.  If i want to warm it more, I can always dial it down or address during mastering stage.  I have used the N type for a few electronica and hip-hop tracks.

there are some infos here :
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Pro-Channel-Tape-Sim-Console-emulator-analyzed-Audio-geekery-alert-m2899028.aspx#2899395

Thanks for the quick input!  What I saw on the graphs at the cross referenced thread bears out what I'm hearing when I try all three.  I find the S type seems to give a more "live" performance audio, while the others could be very effective when mixing down for an album - if that makes sense.
I like all of them actually; I guess it depends on the "vibe" one wishes to create.
 

Get your headphones, hopefully they are fairly good and just shut your eyes and listen.  Use one track and turn each of the three emulators on and off.  Train your ears to hear the difference, then choose the one that is right.  Personally for me, I use all three across a mix, including the buss emulators too.  In this way I use the emulators as a bit of sheen but I am not dictated to by the notion that an SSL emulation across a mix because of the genre of music is correct.
 
 

BenMMusTech
Get your headphones, hopefully they are fairly good and just shut your eyes and listen.  Use one track and turn each of the three emulators on and off.  Train your ears to hear the difference, then choose the one that is right.  Personally for me, I use all three across a mix, including the buss emulators too.  In this way I use the emulators as a bit of sheen but I am not dictated to by the notion that an SSL emulation across a mix because of the genre of music is correct.
 
 

That's a really good idea.  But, I thought it's necessary to use the same type emulators across the entire mix.  If not, and the emulators still work well - it's great idea to use whichever emulator gives the best sound per channel and buss. In the Sonar X2 Power book, the section on using the emulators seems to imply the same type needs to be used all across the mix.  I will give it a try though and see how it comes together.
Thanks!

BenMMusTech
Get your headphones, hopefully they are fairly good and just shut your eyes and listen.  Use one track and turn each of the three emulators on and off.  Train your ears to hear the difference, then choose the one that is right.  Personally for me, I use all three across a mix, including the buss emulators too.  In this way I use the emulators as a bit of sheen but I am not dictated to by the notion that an SSL emulation across a mix because of the genre of music is correct.
 
 

I don't think anyone (at least I hope) thinks any of those modes are tethered to a certain genre.  I think most of us agree tha tall three modes could be used with any genre.  With that said, if one knows a particular piece of music contains elements that would benefit from the characteristics of one versus the other in an obvious way it helps.  It's no different in theory than certain audio engineers preferring to use certain consoles for recording one type of music than the other.

dubdisciple

BenMMusTech
Get your headphones, hopefully they are fairly good and just shut your eyes and listen.  Use one track and turn each of the three emulators on and off.  Train your ears to hear the difference, then choose the one that is right.  Personally for me, I use all three across a mix, including the buss emulators too.  In this way I use the emulators as a bit of sheen but I am not dictated to by the notion that an SSL emulation across a mix because of the genre of music is correct.
 
 

I don't think anyone (at least I hope) thinks any of those modes are tethered to a certain genre.  I think most of us agree tha tall three modes could be used with any genre.  With that said, if one knows a particular piece of music contains elements that would benefit from the characteristics of one versus the other in an obvious way it helps.  It's no different in theory than certain audio engineers preferring to use certain consoles for recording one type of music than the other.

 
Well your faith in humanity and audio engineers is better than mine!!  But there are times when you would use one console emulation for particular genres or songs.  For instance if you were a queen/type prog rock band circa 1973-5 you would use the trident emulator because those queen records were mixed and recorded on a trident.  And the same could be said of queen circa 1984-91 when they probably used a SSL (I'd have to look this up, I'm not a 100% sure of this).  So if you were after a particular sound then you would use these emulators across the mix.  Lets hope that Cake, do a couple of Redd emulators (Beatles&Floyd) for the pro channel.  These are the holy grail mixing desks!!
 
Ben