Who mixes in the box, but uses an outboard comp on the master fader?

[bassmac]

And be honest... do you use it just because you already happen to have it sitting there? ...or does it really give you something you can’t possibly get from plugins?

Obviously this doesn’t apply to the “I only let the professional mastering guy do the buss compression” crowd.

Call me crazy, but I just happen to like hearing things sound as close to “finished” as I possibly can.

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[dave-G]

There are a few analog pieces that I like to insert on the master fader when I mix in the box.. Not as a matter of routine on every project, and not because there aren't some good-sounding plugins out there, but because there is some analog gear that just can't be duplicated, and sometimes the artifacts of the extra D/A-A/D conversions are outweighed by the benefits of using that gear

-dave

[sdemott]

I would say about 90% of the time I use my JoeMeek SC2 (the original one) on the master mix bus. Just does something so...well..analog...to the sound. I always describe it to clients as "thick & gooey". I set it so that the needle barely moves on the peaks. It is really doing more to control transients at that point...but it also adds some punch and meat to the mix.

[GL]

After having used Waves C4 and other plugs on my HD system mix buss for a long time, I auditioned various hardware units and ended up with the Tube Tech SMC-2B Stereo Multiband compreessor. Now I'm happy.

[Natural Sound]

I'm with the above two responses-
Usually a drawmer tube comp and sometimes a little BBE- Just enough to control the peaks, so that later, things like the L1 or whatever don't have to work as hard.- Minor adjustmenst at each stage seem easier to control instead of having to do major surgury later.

[Peter Duemmler]

I almost always put my STC-8 in the Master insert.
Couldn´t find a plug-in yet that sounds like it.

Peter