Jim Roseberry

Why put it on every track?  Why not just buses? 

If you're modeling the whole console, you've got channels and buses.

Not only that, I would imagine if it is a good emulation, crosstalk is included.  Therefore, the more channels, the more the characteristic sound of the console is achieved.

vintagevibe


Why put it on every track?  Why not just buses? 

That's also a cool idea. There are no rules! Whatever sounds good... or best. If it sounds good, it is good!

Jim Roseberry

Why put it on every track?  Why not just buses? 

If you're modeling the whole console, you've got channels and buses.

In practice does that really make a difference?  I don't have any console emulation so I'm curious.

In practice does that really make a difference?  I don't have any console emulation so I'm curious.

Yes... it makes a difference
Whether you prefer that difference... that's an aesthetic choice.

vintagevibe

Jim Roseberry

Why put it on every track?  Why not just buses? 

If you're modeling the whole console, you've got channels and buses.

In practice does that really make a difference?  I don't have any console emulation so I'm curious.

I can't speak for Sonar, but with the Waves console emu each track will have a slightly different sound just as a real mixer would - no two channels are exactly identical in their response. And channels will have a slightly different sound than a bus. So in Theory no two channels are identical, in practice I have no idea how the Sonar emu is set up.

I made a simple Sine wave generator in Reaktor and put a Console Emulator (Channel-type) on that track and a Bus-type on the Master track.

In the three images below - the first has the two CE's off, the second has just the Channel one on, the third has the Bus one on.

Analyst shows the spectrum in each case.

I didn't post the other types of console emulation - they are slightly different, but similar.

There is a slight increase in low and high frequency components in all cases when the emulator is on.

You can load these images in a new window to see them full-sized (or Save as...)

NO CE:






Channel CE:








BUS CE:

Interesting visuals there, arachnaut - it looks like the CE is adding/boosting the upper harmonics.  It would be interesting to see how the bus CE responds to multiple instances of track CEs (e.g., due to summing, crosstalk, or variability between channels).

Here are some higher resolution spectrums:

Sine




Sine + S-type Channel Console Emulation




Sine + N-type Channel Console Emulation




Sine + A-type Channel Console Emulation

Of course, these are simple static tests, no doubt the emulation is dynamic.

A better test would be the 'invert and subtract' approach which nulls out the input signal leaving just the processed change.

Guitarpima


I agree with Tunekickers comment. The only thing is, I would have had to rebuild the mix entirely which would have skewed the results anyway. I though about it and decided that leaving the mix the way it was was the best way.

This would make A/B comparisons pretty hard, I recognize that. I just think a huge part of the A/B has to do with gain staging and mix choices when using one or the other. 


Honestly I don't really care about A/B comparisons. If I like the way it sounds when I add CEM then I will use it. I'm going to try a mix where it is the first thing I do, and if I like it that would be my MO moving forward. Then I guess we'll see. 


I use a lot of UAD plugins because I like warmth and tone. So if CEM is any good, I am going to like it a lot, and that will modify my workflow quite a bit.


Peace,


Tunes