accl. revibe, impact vs outboard

[catfish11]

hey,
i am a hd3 owner thinking of going accl upgrade
i currently use an api 2500 buss compressor
and a ksp8 for reverb
but the conversion going in and out to my ears definitley degrades the sound
so i have been thinki8ng of going all in the box w/ accl impact and revibe
are the plugs there yet
opinions on this very important decision, thanks
joe

[GL]

Most every pro mastering engineer goes to analog and back. With great converters, this shouldn't be much of an issue. It is my opinion, as well one shared by many, that the converters in the 192 are up to the task, not to mention Apogee, etc. I switched from plug-in mastering software to a Tube-Tech SMC 2B Multiband compressor and Summit Dual Program EQ and couldn't be happier with the results. Impact reviews have been middle-of-the-road, while almost everything API makes sounds wonderful. Software reverb like Altiverb and Revibe, a big thumbs up though.

[Zep Dude]

With a good set of converters (in my opinion better than the 192) analog outboard gear is far better for the bus. No plugin compressor can even touch a high end analog (especially tube) unit. The Waves Mastering Multiband is about the best I've heard for a plug but it doesn't provide the texture or punch or "magic" of something like the Vari Mu. Of course, the Waves L2 is OK if used lightly just to get that last bit of level that ultimately sucks the life out of a recording (but we all do it anyway because we've gotten used to music with no soul).