I Tried Smack!!

[dBHEAD]

Unfortunately, I can't give as comprehensive a review as I'd like. I had played with the demo version for about five hours when I ran into a problem. Click, click, click on the 002, no firewire communication, mute light stays on. Yes, the dreaded power harness problem. It's kind of like the flu...you see other people getting it but you seem to be avoiding so you think you're immune. Then...WHACK!

Anyway...what I did hear of smack sounded good. The description calls it "foolproof" and "musical."
I don't quite agree that it's foolproof (though it is close), but it certainly is musical. In the "warm" mode, I sometimes got a bit too much low end, but other than that it was probably the most interesting plug-in I've played with in at least a year. I should point out, there is a high pass filter, but it wasn't quite enough. Also, the low end I'm talking about here was only audible on systems with deep subwoofers and only on some tracks, not every track.

However, I nonetheless liked the warm mode and optical mode quite a bit. The optical mode has a very interesting release, particularly when you start pushing it a bit. For example, if you are pushing it to the point of getting, say, 6 or 7 dB of gain reduction, it releases the first 2 or so dB quite fast -- like a regular compressor, but the remaining gain reduction takes much longer to release. If you literally stop playing the track, the gain reduction meter still actually takes several seconds to totally release all compression. So it operates kind of like a leveler, giving you a more even overall level over time. And it sounded really good -- kind of like the track was recorded on analog tape.

I really loved the ability to add harmonic distortion - and especially to be able to choose between odd, even or odd/even harmonics. In this sense, it operates a bit like an Aural Exciter, but Digi did one thing that was really smart: they limited how much of this you could add, so the amount is not adjustable. The effect is very subtle, and I must admit in this sense it really was foolproof. People too often go overboard with Aural Exciters; Smack simply won't let you do that.

My favorite Smack technique was actually to duplicate a track and have one going through Smack in the warm mode while the other went through opto with even order harmonics, and then blending them. EVERYTHING I tried this way sounded better, and I used it on quite a few individual tracks plus whole mixes. You have to admit, that's pretty incredible. I did find, however, that you don't want to run something through Smack twice. In other words, if you use Smack on an individual track, it can sound bad if you then also put it on a master fader, so you kind of have to decide when you start to mix if you want to use it on individual tracks or on the master fader. It CAN definitely sweeten an entire mix, but I think I'd prefer to use it on individual tracks.

In a nutshell, Smack made tracks sound like they were recorded on much more expensive gear than what I own. I really wish I'd had more time to play with it. I did get the chance to bounce a couple of tracks, and if I can find some time in the next few days, I'll post them and the originals so you can hear the difference. It made an amazing difference on an acoustic guitar -- I mean we're talking people shaking their heads almost in disbelief.

Anyway, with what little time I had to play with it, on a very tough grading scale, I'd give it an A-minus. At 395 dollars, I plan to buy it. I'd recommend downloading the demo -- you'll have fun!

[dBHEAD]

Just wanted to add one thing: Digi says Smack improves the intelligibility of the audio and it does. The amazing thing is that even in the "warm" mode where it seems to cut some of the detail from the highs, the track still cuts through the mix better, especially if you use some of the harmonic distortion. And no, it's not the effect of compression itself. I'm not that stupid. These were tracks that were compressed with various compressors before, sometimes with more make-up gain than with Smack, but didn't cut through the mix quite as well. I'm not sure how they pulled that off but I was pretty impressed.

[letrev]

Thoughtful, detailed review - thanks!