Waves SSL Pack

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Level 2

370 points

Waves SSL Pack

Finished comparing these extremely great sounding plug-ins today.

We have an Analogue Desk (DDA AMR 24) which was made by the "old" SSL crew. The EQ's are pretty similar.

Anyway, these plugs are one of the best sounding music makers I've ever heard. Compression as well as EQ is ranking on my to 5 list.

In case someone should wanna try this adventure a downloadable demo is available at waves.com - u need an iLok though

Anyway, thought I'D share this

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.5), PT HD3

Posted on Apr 12, 2006 4:03 PM

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Answer 1

Aaron H

Level 2

400 points

Apr 12, 2006 5:51 PM in response to SteveDjokes

Thanks for the first impressions.

Any comments on the character of the compression across the 2 bus?

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Answer 2

SteveDjokes Author

Level 2

370 points

Apr 12, 2006 5:58 PM in response to Aaron H

I like it alot.... Reminds me of a G series that I mixed a cop. years ago....I couldnt tell you if it's the 100% real deal but judging by the sound of it - it is definitly SSLL sound. Well another one that does it xtremely well too is the Metric Halo Channel Strip.....I love that tooo

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Answer 3

Aaron H

Level 2

400 points

Apr 12, 2006 7:01 PM in response to SteveDjokes

Tempted to get an iLok just to check out the demo!

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Answer 4

Apr 12, 2006 7:22 PM in response to SteveDjokes

MH Channel Strip. good one. great eq.

G4 450DP Mac OS X (10.4.4) digidesign, motu, apogee

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Answer 5

mlehmann

Level 4

3,206 points

Apr 13, 2006 7:31 AM in response to SteveDjokes

Steve, could you tell us the difference in CPU usage betweeen the Waves and Channel Strip? Also, I know, we all want the nice SSL GUI but does the price difference between the Waves and Metric Halo is justifiable?

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Answer 6

Apr 13, 2006 8:20 AM in response to Aaron H

do you know how I can get demo? in waves site thet are want "login and pass"

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Answer 7

Apr 13, 2006 8:21 AM in response to Aaron H

I have to tell you, I have had no luck with the 2 buss SSL Waves compressor. It squashes the life out of everything, no matter what settings I play with. I always end up taking it off. Maybe on extreme rock or something, but it sure sounds like **** on anything else.

I do like the SSL Channel Plug in though.

TH

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Answer 8

SteveDjokes Author

Level 2

370 points

Apr 13, 2006 8:30 AM in response to mlehmann

Hi - I use the TDM versions -

Channel Strip : 50 % of one HD Accel Chip
Waves GChannel : 77 % Of one HD Accel chip

I cant tell u usage with the AU's as I dont have the AU channelstrip....Anyway I guess It would be about the same....

IMO - if I should choose one over the other and also look at the price i'd choose the channel strip. It sounds very good but it is a plug where you should take a day to get to know it and apply it on verious application material. The Channel strip is one plug-in

The waves SSL pack are three plugs...so maybe thats where the diff. in price is...i dont know... I have both and both can be set to sound very similar...However, the possibilites of the Channel Strip are more diverse than that of the SSL Pack.

You have a incorporated Side chain on the gate and the compressor in addition to the EQ - which u can set pre/post of compression.

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Answer 9

SteveDjokes Author

Level 2

370 points

Apr 13, 2006 8:34 AM in response to oceantracks

the buss compressor on the real ssl board is also somewhat drastic - that is what the original ssl sound is know for...

If you are used to use "normal" digital compressors the SSL 2 Buss is somewhat different....the attack is very fast and the the knee charactaristics are very uniqe...Try settings that only makes the needle move sometimes...on an ssl compressor the threshold and release are the keys to a good result:-)

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Answer 10

mino17

Level 1

135 points

Apr 13, 2006 10:10 AM in response to SteveDjokes

RE: the Buss compressor - I can vouch for the "needle moves just a bit" (if at all) technique. When applied correctly, it noticeably wakes up a mix, non-destructively.

The Channel Strip goes on most of my tracks, first insert. Fscking sweet it is, especially that EQ! Here too you gotta keep an eye on the compressor level... anything over one or two LEDs (3-6 dB?) is too much for most things, IMHO.

I bought the Native versions (for $479; I think they've increased the price since), and am thrilled with them. The CPU usage is actually very good on these.

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Answer 11

mlehmann

Level 4

3,206 points

Apr 14, 2006 8:15 PM in response to SteveDjokes

Thanks!

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Answer 12

Apr 15, 2006 1:19 AM in response to mlehmann

You may want to check this out...
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2948

Free your computer's CPU!!

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Answer 13

Apr 15, 2006 8:43 AM in response to mino17

The CPU usage is actually very good on these.

=========

Mino17,

So what does that mean?
How many tracks and how many instances of SSL are you using?
And where's the CPU meter on those x-amount of tracks?

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Answer 14

mlehmann

Level 4

3,206 points

Apr 15, 2006 11:22 AM in response to David Cousins

Yeah, I saw that. The problem is that I want to stay as much portable as I can.

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Answer 15

mino17

Level 1

135 points

Apr 15, 2006 3:16 PM in response to JH from NY

How many tracks and how many instances of SSL are you
using? And where's the CPU meter on those x-amount of tracks?

I just setup a quick test project: 16 audio tracks, each with one instance of the Channel Strip (which I assume is the most CPU-hungry of the three). I did the test twice, once with mono tracks/plugs, the second time with stereo.

Here are the numbers, on my dual-1.8 G5:

MONO ~40% total CPU utilization
STEREO ~70% total CPU utilization

Hope that helps.
_m

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