For those of you who maybe didn't get the e-mail... 


 
Hi folks. So the response to the Sneak "Peak" (did anyone get the pun?) at VCC 2.0 was overwhelmingly positive and it's brought a great sense of motivation to us as we prepare it for beta (and NAMM).So there have been a few questions about VCC 2.0 that I want to address. Let's start. 
 
Q: Will the VCC 2.0 be back compatible with old projects? 
 
A: No, it will not. As I've said in many emails, the original VCC code was just pretty hopeless. It was written with complexities that made it hard to fix bugs, hard to add new consoles, and hard on the CPU. There was absolutely nothing we could do to save the backwards compatibility if you wanted new consoles (with more coming in the future), better features, cleaner, code, and less CPU. But fear not, your current VCC 1.x will not be affected. If you have old projects with those plugins in them, they will work as they do now. 
 
Q: Will VCC 2.0 modules be standalone or modules for VMR? 
 
A: Let me first start this by saying that the new VCC 2.0 workflow will be the EXACT SAME WORKFLOW as you have now if you choose it to be. But yes, the modules will work in the FREE Virtual Mix Rack. Now don't jump to conclusions, let me explain.
 
If you load VCC 2.0 in VMR and save it as default, you essentially have the SAME workflow as now. You go into your plugin list, you choose VMR, it loads instantly with VCC 2.0 on your screen, and you proceed in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY as you do now. No extra steps or problems, no monsters jumping out of the screen, all is the same, and you'll have some sweet analog console tone again! If your plan is to just use VCC (since you are under absolutely positively NO obligation to get any other VMR modules), then just pretend that it is now listed as 'VMR' in your plugin menu. That's it. 
 
Now, if you DO have VMR modules, this is gonna be a huge advantage for you. For me, I have several preset "dream channels" saved that I can easily pull up on tracks. For instance, the new Brit 4k E to the FG-S EQ to the FG-401 Compressor followed by some polish from Revival Sonic Enhancer is my go to channel for close drum mics. Heavy guitars are now US-A Discrete to FG-N EQ to FG-S EQ to FG-401. The cool thing about having VCC on your monitor with the entire signal chain is that you can really adjust its settings and gain staging in a much more intuitive way with the rest of your channel processing. You can experiment with pushing the output harder into the EQ to get more input saturation from the transformer, etc.
 
But again, you don't want to get VMR modules, no problem. Save VCC as your default module so it always pops up when initiated, and you're all good. So why did we do this? Do we secretly want to get you to buy new VMR modules?
 
Well, of course we want you get VMR modules, because they're awesome and we love them. But no that's not the reason we did this. We made the VCC modules for the VMR platform because if we didn't, you WOULD NOT be using VCC 2.0 for another few months. I'll explain. 
 
Pretend you just built a house. The house is all done, but it's empty. Let's imagine that this empty house is the VMR framework. So now let's imagine that the furniture that goes in the house is DSP code, like VCC modules. To make VCC 2.0 for VMR, we simply put the furniture in the house and spend a bit of time placing it just right. But to make VCC 2.0 standalone… we have to build another entire house! Yes we'd have to create another framework, put all our new framework code into it, put all our graphic and CPU optimization into it, put our grouping network into it, and then test it for a month or two to ensure it all works well, then get the VCC code in, test more, etc. It would have been a major delay. Whereas the VMR framework has already gone through this vigorous testing for almost a year and has proven to be extremely stable. 
 
So I really hope that this explains the VCC 2.0 situation, and you find comfort in knowing that if you want nearly the exact same workflow as you have now, you can have it. And I hope you understand that these decisions were made so that we can provide this update to you faster, which was very important to us. I look forward to seeing many of you at NAMM booth 6921 next week, and I once again thank for your support, patience, and understanding. I am grateful to have you in the Slate Digital family and promise to keep delivering great tools to help you make music. 
 
Cheers,Steven Slate
 
 
Personally, maybe it's an OCD thing, but it always annoy me to have a bunch of demos I didn't ask for. I'd rather have the shell and the products I own. But this seems to be a trend - install everything and authorize what you want. NI does it, IK does it... And now, Slate does it.
 

It looks pretty cool.
 
 
 

Yeah, looking good.

I'm pumped! I was so happy when i got these emails from Steven. And for those who want the low-down on what all this is about, Steven Slate has been updating his 'already world-class' plugins, and it's been taking quite a while, but now they're here. And the amazing thing is that he has added the option to switch-off the analog 'noise' which he had emulated from the consoles; i prefer 'no noise' at all, but previously we couldn't do anything about it, and the cumulative affect of using multiple instances of his plugins across several channels was making me very sad, because our noise-free 'Digital' domain was exhibiting analog-emulated noise from his plugins, but amazingly with these new updates Slate has added the option to switch-off the noise aspect of the emulation, yippie!! 
 
For those who want to know more, here's the other email he sent to us users two days ago. This email from Steven is the most exciting music-related email i've ever received because i cherish and revere is plugins for there phenomenal performance...
 

"The 'Brit 4k' is a model of a late 80's British mixing console. It's been a customer favorite and is perfect for adding that little bit of extra glue, punch, and width to the DAW's digital mixer.  Well, after we released VCC back in 2010, we started to hear rumors around Los Angeles of a small early 80's "E" series British Console that was supposedly the most amazing sounding mixing desk in town. After some research and some good tips from a few friends, we found this famous little desk and I ran about five mixes through it and compared it to the DAW summed mixes.  Wow is all I can say. This desk was incredible. It has a beautiful low end punch, but also really brought the lows together with a very unique glue.  The low mids became thicker without sounding muddy.  The midrange was more pronounced and transients were clearer and more articulate.  Everything in the mix had more of its own space.  The width increased and the mix became more exciting.  And you can push into the mixbuss to get a beautiful aggression. So this is the new model on the VCC 2.0, called the 'Brit 4k E'!  I can't wait for you all to experience it.  Overall, it's got a bit more color and vibe than the current Brit 4k, but it is not as overwhelmingly colorful as some of the other models like the Brit N.  I think you guys are going to love it.  It's become my new go-to VCC model on my mixes.
 
Next, you'll notice that the GUI's have changed quite a lot! Everything is now available on the front panel.  There are no submenus, and the grouping system is much easier and straightforward. You have an input and output trim, and a link switch.  By pushing the input and attenuating the output, you'll achieve new types of saturation sounds that will have a different effect than the DRIVE parameter.  Now, about that DRIVE parameter, it actually has an increased range so you can get even more color if you so desire!
 
Your'e going to notice a difference in the US-A Discrete model too. A friend wrote me saying "I have the hardware console and yours matches almost perfectly, except mine has a slightly bigger bottom".  So we analyzed this particular desk and I really did like how the bottom was slightly thicker and a tad punchier, so after some thorough testing, we updated our US-A Discrete Algo and I think you'll really enjoy the result.  It's a fairly subtle change, but one that I believe is for the better.
 
The RC-Tube has always been one of my favorite emulations and I use it on a lot of individual tracks for the unique effect that it creates.  However, the condition of the original hardware reference, the RCA BC6B, was in fairly poor condition. Well, since the RC-Tube was first released, we were able to examine a mint condition unit, and I thought it had some subtle discrepancies which I really liked.  So we applied some of these updates to the RC-Tube model, and you'll notice that it has a slightly warmer and richer low mid and low end. You're gonna love what it does to vocals, bass, and even on the mixbuss."

Looking forward to checking out the free update when it's done! 

Finally, something for free.

VBC 2.0 should get the same treatment :)

Fleer
VBC 2.0 should get the same treatment :)

 
If this actually does happen, i'll be off my fu_king face uncontrollable for joy, and i don't care if my wife divorces me over it LOL. She'll see me running around like a kid on Ice (amphetamines). However, i don't remember Steven alluding to this in any way. If he does actually do it, i'll happily slide off the highest cliff and fall to my death in bliss.

I'm afraid FG-X will get priority :(

FG-X is in the final beta stage and currently being tested, the release is imminent, so not to worry.