Making the most of What you get.

[LarryB]

My limited budget dictates that I can not buy anything more for my Digi001 setup past what came with it.

All those nifty plugins that I read as "required": I would love to drop another $300 or more on some of them, but simply can't.

My question: Is it possible to make something decent sounding using the standard issue of RTAS and Audiosuite plugins that came with my Digi001?

I have recorded several tracks and several songs of our band. The one thing that I would like most to help out is to make the vocals sound rich and full - you know, just a bit of effects, just enough to round them out.

Maybe in a few months I can consider a new plug-in suite. (Maybe after I start running the Mac osX version of PTLE). Any suggestions for that time?

Larry

[VillageGreen]

My $0.02 is the first place to invest is the mic, preamp and compressor in the real world. I have mixed a lot of tunes with very few plug-ins because we took the time to get good sounds recorded in the first place.

It's easy to say, but the most important ingredient to get rich warm vocals is to record them that way. It takes patience and a little more work, but well worth the effort.

Of course more tools (plug-ins) means more options and I'm glad to have them, too.

[AverageJoe]

Yes, mic/pre combo is the way to get good vocals, but to answer your question regarding DigiRack plugs-

Yes. They are more than usable. They are actually good. I belive in the Digizine, Charles Dye even admits using them. They're not amazing, but everything that's stock on the 001 gets a worse rep than it deserves.

[luvmixnhigh]

Yes. Yes. Yes.
maximize your front end!
Getting the right sound up front will do way more for you than any plugin. Moving mics and shooting for a finished type of sound will do wonders.
Since I have moved from a conventional studio to 001 I have slowly adopted this philos. I know a lot of people will say "what if it is not what you want when you get to the mix?" Well....Then I usually have it retracked. This still tends to be quicker in most cases any ways.

I do not like most of the digi plugs but, they are usable. learn them. It will make you better informed when you go to add plugs to your system.

D

[LarryB]

...invest is the mic, preamp and compressor in the real world...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I hear you on this, but a lot of what I've read says to get the "good" take and then you can do all the processing post.

I've been having the experience that it is difficult to get a clean signal without being dow in the dirt and a hot signal without peaking. A "real world" compresor would help that. Can I get one for $50. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Larry

[VillageGreen]

I saw a Presonus Blue Max go fro $52.50 on eBay a few days ago. The ART CS2 (stereo) is going for 50-100 . None of them would be confused with an LA2A but would help tame your tracks a bit. The FMR RNC is going for $175 if you can swing it, it's sweet for a little guy.

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by AverageJoe:

Yes. They are more than usable. They are actually good. I belive in the Digizine, Charles Dye even admits using them. They're not amazing, but everything that's stock on the 001 gets a worse rep than it deserves.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'll second that, part of ther reason they don't get too much credit might be their 'uncool' graphics, lotsa folks listen with their eyes these days....The Digi delays are excellent, I also found uses for the compressor and EQs, they just don't add any vintage/ tubey vibe like other plug-ins do.
I can't live without the McDSP Filterbank, though....

Andi

[Dean G]

I find the digi rack compresser plug in to be very useful. I like squishing the bass drum at 100:1.

But to eq that bass drum you must have the filterbank. The graffic interface is so helpful to help you get a smooth sound (by drawing smooth EQ "waveforms", like helping you find the right value of "Q".)

D-verb! RealVerb was about $50. Hope you're not too late. You'll never look back.

Auto-tune! Even for just one word that was out of tune on all three takes. It's really the magic plug-in (that of course some yo-yos abuse.) It's hard to have the vocalist come back the next day and get the levels and mic distance, energy, and karma back to make the "punch in" not stand out.

And I'm not allow to spend anymore $ this year on stuff, but please look into the A/D conversion issue. I have thrown out all the tunes I recorded without realizing how important this issue is. Preamps, yes! but A/D conversion, hell yes! I will have two tunes out in less than a week that will shut people up. I am going to take people to the mat on this as a first priority.

Good luck!!

Old Timer [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Nraki]

You should know that you alreday have what you need to get professinal sound quality.

But if you get "better" quality, then I suggest you get more useful EQ. like Q10, Filter Bank, etc.
Waves Q10 is downlaodable at their site for $100.
The comp and limiter are enough good. You don't really need anything anymore.
Some people say D-verb sucks, but actually, it's not that bad, and it's very good for drums.
But, if you don't have a good sounding room, D-verb isn't enough, I guess. Alterverb ($440) is one of the best verbs in the market even though it's just a plug-in. I guess it's beyond the range, but it blows any plug-in verbs away completely.

This is a money game. better pres, better converts, better monitors etc.
We can never get enough. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]