There are many software developers that make great, low cost and even free audio plugin effects and filters. I’ve written about a few and posted a list for reference of some of these free options. In this post, I’ll discuss a few more options, some free and others not, yet still worth a look. Mixwave […]
It’s hard to overlook the impact Solid State Logic has had on music production and mixing. This is especially typified by the iconic SSL 4000 and SSL 9000 series of consoles. Along with these, Solid State Logic has also designed and manufactured consoles for broadcast, live venues, and film mixing studios. Today the company offers […]
When it comes to high-quality digital plugins, FabFilter is high up on every mixer’s list of favorites. Earlier this year I reviewed their new Pro-C3 compressor plugin. At that time I couldn’t fully test the new Instance List feature, because I was running the previous version of their equalizer, the Pro-Q3. I’ve since updated to […]
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Another NAB Convention and Exhibition is in the record books. The Las Vegas Convention Center continues its remodeling, so the South Hall was closed and the exhibits and meetings were concentrated in the Central, North, and West Halls. Most attendees are technically there as ‘exhibitor guests’ and not actual members of the National Association of […]
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Storage is the lifeblood of the modern post-production facility. Each post house approaches the various solutions and how they implement their storage strategies based on the types of projects that they handle. Today, most facilities have embraced a hybrid environment with both remote and in-person editing and finishing sessions. How storage plays into these modern […]
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Sonible is one of the top developers working in the realm of modern digital audio plugin effects. Their intuitive interfaces are definitely not vintage – no faux buttons and knobs here. Sonible’s main product line of effects falls into three groups: smart, learn, and pure. The smart filters are the most advanced effects. Learn effects […]
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Editors often have the luxury of sending their mixes to an in-house or outside audio mixer. However, with many low to medium budget sessions, the editor is responsible for the final mix. In that case, no matter how simple or complex the mix, the editor’s prime responsibility is to make sure the dialogue is clear […]
When you talk about storied analog mixing consoles, SSL (Solid State Logic) and Neve come to mind. But right up there is Harrison Audio, which has now been in business for five decades. Company founder Dave Harrison invented the in-line console, which is the primary architecture for studio recording consoles to this day. Harrison consoles […]
A few posts ago I wrote about Mixwave’s analog emulations, including the D.W. Fearn VT-7 compressor. The companion to the VT-7 is the D.W. Fearn VT-5. “VT” stands for vacuum tube, because the original hardware is a vacuum tube-based stereo equalizer. While it’s technically a vintage device, the hardware is still sold and supported by […]
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Color Grading Central has been an innovative developer in the color correction ecosystem for editors – first with LUTs and then later in 2018 when they launched the Cinema Grade plugin. That has now been replaced with the newly redesigned CineDream. Although similar in style to Cinema Grade, CineDream has been rebuilt from the ground […]
Some audio plugin developers seek to produce effects that correlate one-for-one with vintage hardware. Others throw that playbook out the window and engineer intelligent software tools that make sense in the modern world. Musik Hack fits that latter mold. Its previous products – Master Plan and FUEL – combine several functions into each control. Their […]
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Mixers and recording engineers, especially those mixing music, will be quite familiar with the concept of Pan Law. Most digital audio workstation (DAW) software includes Pan Law settings to determine how you want panning to impact the levels within your mix. However, to my knowledge, no nonlinear editing (NLE) application offers the equivalent settings. Values […]
When it comes to unconventional effects plugins, Safari Audio is the king. Formerly Safari Pedals, the company has rebranded itself to better reflect its wider product line. Up until now, most of the Safari plugins have used interfaces designed to look like guitar pedals and are usually adorned with playful “Animal Cracker” style graphics. In […]
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The process of music mastering originated with the need to optimize recordings for vinyl LPs and singles. Modern audio mastering has become quite sophisticated and is a key part of shaping the recorded music that we enjoy. One of the top studios is Lurssen Mastering, a multi Grammy award-winning mastering studio in Burbank. It’s headed […]
Modern audio compression plugins fit into a spectrum. On one end you have plugins that model, emulate, or have been inspired by vintage analog hardware. At the other end, developers try to fit all of the compression functions into a minimalist, digital solution using one or two knobs. These are often aided by machine learning […]
Consoles from SSL (Solid State Logic) epitomize rock ‘n roll. In fact, Peter Gabriel was part owner of the company for a while and is still an investor in the current parent company, Audiotonix, which owns SSL, Harrison, Sonible, and numerous other audio brands. Mixing desks like the iconic SSL 4000 series are best known […]
Quad Eight MM-310, Electrodyne 511, D.W. Fearn VT-7 Many classic recordings came out of the 1960s and 70s. The vintage consoles and outboard gear from that era are prized for the color of their sound. Reconditioned originals and faithful modern recreations fetch top dollar. Iconic British names come to mind, like Neve, EMI, SSL, and […]
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To start out 2026, Apple dropped the other shoe on its software subscription plans. This started in 2023 with subscriptions for Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on the iPad. Now, we have Apple Creator Studio, which combines Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, Logic Pro, MainStage, and Pixelmator Pro, along with premium content for Pages, […]
Mixland is a boutique plugin developer that’s the brainchild of Grammy Award-winning mixer Jesse Ray Ernster and product designer Eddie Lucciola. In addition to their own plugins, the team has been behind other plugin products, including the popular UnFairchild compressor. Lucciola also partners his coding expertise with Purafied Audio and Kiive Audio, which you might […]
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There’s plenty to hate about generative artificial intelligence – from internet slop and AI plagiarism to the potential of job loss. However, genAI can also be a useful and effective tool. Adobe has been leaning hard into various forms of AI across its applications. For example. I’ve used Photoshop’s genAI fill to extend the edges […]
