Cranesong Phoenix

[JoshRose]

So I just got the Cranesong stuff. I've only had a little bit of time to drive it so far, but I'm not totally sure about it yet. I've found a few instances where it improved the quality of an instrument, but much of the time, I'm not experiencing anything audible from it.

How hard are you guys typically driving it? I am running the input at 0db, to get the maximum effect. But I've been running the effect knob at around -7 or so.

It might be as simple as needing to drive the effect harder. But as I said, I've had limited time with it so far. And I have a service tomorrow, and I don't think I'll have lots of time for experimentation. So I thought I might get some opinions. How do you guys typically drive it, and which settings do you prefer for different instruments and the mix buss?

Thanks!

[Scott Fahy]

Josh,

We use the Radiant, Dark Essence and Iridescent mostly. There is Radiant/Gold on the main buss and the groups. The electric guitar has a Dark Essence/ opal on it, keyboards both have Iridescent/Gold, piano has Iridescent/opal (our piano is pretty bright so we used the opal setting to warm it up). In some cases there is a noticeable difference in the sound when you take the plug in out, in other cases it is more subtle.

It really is just a matter of taking time to play with different things and finding what works for your situation.


Scott

[dstagl]

The Phoenix can be a pretty subtle effect at times, but on some instruments it can be pretty pronounced depending on how you have it set up. Phoenix, to me, adds a little bit of that analog character back in to the console. Sometimes I think the benefit comes from using more instances vs. just placing it on a couple of instruments. Try adding the Phoenix to some channels and build your mix. Then create a couple snapshots, one with the Phoenix turned on and one with it bypassed. See which one you prefer. Your mileage may vary.

Dave

[BradLyons]

It's one of those plugins that you don't hear much on a track or two, but collectively---you notice it.

[JoshRose]

I got through my first weekend with the venue... and with Phoenix. I definitely found a few instances where it made a noticeable difference. We had a guest Fiddle player, which is unique for our church, but dark essence really sounded great on it. There were a few other items as well.

On the mix bus, I think I was using radiant, and I had it at around 2 o'clock or so. It definitely added a bit of punch. However, I think it may have hurt my gain before feedback ratio on choir mics and lead vocals. Anyone every experience anything similar?

[dstagl]

Just remember that the Phoenix is going to add a little bit of compression whevever you use it. Like any compressor, it's going to raise your average volume level which could have an inverse effect on your gain before feedback.

Dave

[Scott Fahy]

Just remember that the Phoenix is going to add a little bit of compression whevever you use it. Like any compressor, it's going to raise your average volume level which could have an inverse effect on your gain before feedback.

Dave

Josh adding on to what Dave said ---

One of the things that was mentioned by Scott Lillo of Cranesong is to make sure you do your Eq'ing with the Phoenix already in place rather then adding it afterwards as it will impact GBF and tonal quality.

Scott

[bmadix]

Originally Posted by JoshRose

So I just got the Cranesong stuff. I've only had a little bit of time to drive it so far, but I'm not totally sure about it yet. I've found a few instances where it improved the quality of an instrument, but much of the time, I'm not experiencing anything audible from it.

How hard are you guys typically driving it? I am running the input at 0db, to get the maximum effect. But I've been running the effect knob at around -7 or so.

It might be as simple as needing to drive the effect harder. But as I said, I've had limited time with it so far. And I have a service tomorrow, and I don't think I'll have lots of time for experimentation. So I thought I might get some opinions. How do you guys typically drive it, and which settings do you prefer for different instruments and the mix buss?

Thanks!

As others have mentioned, Phoenix is a pretty subtle effect. I've had instances where I didn't hear much of a difference myself, and one or two times where I didn't like the effect at all. Having said that, I've had a number of times where it was a pronounced and obvious improvement. I think putting it across a drum buss is a place where it can really "warm up" an overall drum sound, for example. Like bouncing the drums to tape to add that little bit of saturation, distortion and nonlinear compression that none of us will admit that we really love I've had really good luck with it on acoustic guitars as well.