(For more on this and a technical analysis of VCC, see the box by Hugh Robjohns elsewhere in this article.)
This means, among other things, that there's no emulation of crosstalk between adjacent channels, though it does emulate crosstalk across the stereo bus. In terms of audio processing, each plug‑in operates entirely independently of the others. Then after analysing all the measurements, I realised that it was not necessary to make the plug‑ins communicate any audio data, because the interaction was really within the audio signal itself, when it goes from the independent channels of the console to the mix bus.”Ĭommunication between different instances of the VCC plug‑ins thus extends only as far as providing convenient ways of grouping and ganging controls, which we'll come to in a minute. As Fabrice Gabriel explained to me: "At first we thought that it would have been necessary to emulate properly the summing process. I had expected that the main function of VCC would therefore be to provide an alternative means of summing channel signals together within a DAW, but in fact it doesn't actually do any summing at all. Many analogue advocates insist that the mysterious 'glue' is a function of the way in which signals from multiple channels are summed together at a mix bus, hence the current fashion for sending stems out of a digital system and summing them together in a purpose‑built rackmount mixer. A third is that it doesn't employ convolution or other CPU‑intensive processes, hopefully making it possible for VCC to be used on every track, even in large mixes, without pushing our computers over the edge. Another is that it was created through extensive measurement and analysis of specific hit‑making consoles. Slate Digital's Virtual Console Collection is available in all major native formats, and is worthy of special attention for a number of reasons, one being that its development was led by Fabrice Gabriel, the man behind Slate's remarkable FG‑X mastering processor and Eiosis's superb E2 De‑esser and Transienter. Sumthing SpecialĪll of which brings us to the product under review here, and the latest candidate for supplying 'glue' to DAW‑based mixes. And, like many modern plug‑ins, it's too demanding of system resources to use on every track in a large mix in any case. I don't find it makes mixes come together more easily, nor does it particularly help to 'glue' them together once mixed. It sounds great on bass and electric guitars, and occasionally I'll put it over the mix bus, but to me, its usefulness lies in the effect it has on individual sources. Take Universal Audio's Studer A800 tape emulation, for example. I've tried quite a few, but to my ears, even the best of them are often closer to special effects than to something I'd want to use on every track in every mix. Tape and tube emulations, mix bus compressors, non‑specific analogue warmth generators. All too often, such plug‑ins simply compromise rather than complement the good qualities of a digital mix, such as clarity, separation and accurate representation of transients. And on the sonic side of things, I've rarely been convinced by plug‑ins designed to reproduce the mysterious 'glue' that many people claim is missing from digital mixing environments. The precision of drawing in automation with the mouse wins every time over the limited amounts of real‑time control that you get from eight cheap faders and a few knobs.
On the ergonomic front, for instance, I've never enjoyed using small assignable fader surfaces. The latter has been expanded here to show the grouping controls.Īs a home‑studio owner who works digitally and 'in the box', I've always been a little bit sceptical about products that are supposed to make mixing on a computer more like mixing in the analogue domain. The Virtual Console Collection comprises two plug‑ins: Virtual Channel (left) and Virtual Mix Buss (right).
SLATE VCC 2.0 SOFTWARE
Can the failings of mixing in software really be solved by buying more software? That's the claim Slate Digital are making for their Virtual Console Collection.
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