Waves L2 vs. Sony Oxford Inflator???

[CraigD]

I've been using the Waves L2 on my Master fader during my final mix bounce and have been relatively happy with the results. Mixes come out loud and full.

Recently someone mentioned the Sony Oxford Inflator for the final mix bounce.

Does anyone have any experience or advice on either. Is it worth it to purchase the Sony Oxford Inflator or do I have all I need with the Waves L2? Is there a huge difference?

I like a nice warm analog sound. I've been looking into the McDSP Analog Channel too. I was thinking of putting the Analog Channel first on my Master Fader, then hitting it with either the L2 or the Inflator.

Has anyone done this chain??? How were the results???

I've done this with T-Racks and the L2 and it sounds pretty good, but it seems as though a lot of people dog T-Racks. I'm guessing the Sony and McDSP plugs are much better.

Like I said, I've been pretty happy with T-Rack and the L2, but if the Sony & McDSP plugs are that much better... I can't wait to get them.

I guess the other option would be to save up and get an Avalon 737sp, then run my stereo mixes through that direct to CD. Then bring it back into Pro Tools and hit it with either the Waves L2 or the Sony Oxford Inflator. Wow, the choices!!!

The quest for that analog sound on a budget... what a motherf*%$er!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

[goldfinger]

The Avalon 737sp is MONO, consider that before hooking it up to your stereo mixes...
It still is a very high quality peace of gear.

I would also suggest let the mastering engineer do the job, this turns out far better almost all the time.
If you are happy with your Waves thingie, keep it and save the money.

I have made the experience that a $1000 in self-educating workshops or schools has ended in far better results than spending each nickel on new gear. but that's just me...

[pk_hat]

www.gearslutz.com
www.tapeop.com

I would check these forums before spending money on any outboard to "warm up your mixes", I think a little research would do you good. As for the plugs, haven't tried the Inflator but I really dig the L2, great ghetto-master-maker, though it still falls flat in comparison to taking your mix to a qualified Mastering Engineer.

I used to really dig T-Racks but the more I mess about with Waves and the PSP Vintage Warmer, the more I'm able to distinguish quality plugins. T-Racks just doesn't do it anymore, it colors the sound way too much, making you think your mix is actually better than it is. Just my opinion.

[JFreak]

I like a nice warm analog sound.

why don't you go to www.pspaudioware.com and try the vintagewarmer?

[mindnoise]

I´ve tried vintage warmer,

but though it is way better than T-racks and for the price/sound ratio Vintage warmer is a weapon in the budget/project studio I am not that impressed by the sound it creates.

What did impress me are the Sony Oxford and URS plugs, at this time of history.

regs

[Pete Weaver]

Hey Craig,

I have been using Waves L2 and McDSP Analog Channel together on my master fader for some time now.
I dont know if you're familiar with engineer Charles Dye, but I use his approach which is to put Analog Channel on the stereo master fader using preset "Console 3" before I even start my mix.
I then build the whole mix with this plugin on the master fader. In other words I mix through the Analog Channel plugin. I also place Analog Channel on various tracks to add warmth and saturation.
Bear in mind that this is a subtle plug in, it is not immediately noticable when you solo up a track, but the overall cumulative effect is great, especially on the master fader.

As far as dithering . . . I run my stereo mix digitally into an Apogee Trak 2 and use Apogee's UV22HR dithering to reduce down from 24 bits to 16 bits and simultaneously pipe that 16 bit mix right back into PTLE onto a new stereo track titled "16mix". Then I quit PTLE and launch Roxio Jam
and drag the 16mix R and L files into Jam and hit the cd burn button. This allows me to make killer
mixes dithered and avoid using the bounce to disk procedure, which hurts the quality of the audio
(In mine and other's opinion).

Best of luck!

Pete Weaver - Half The World
www.halftheworld.cc

[Yontz Sucre]

Just downloaded the demo of VintageWarmer...

It is a great plugin, especially for the price. Didn't smear away all the details. Not the quite same of thing as Waves 4.0, but a very nice sound. The demo is actually usable, the demo compromise (I thought it was a low level pop, but it is actually an occasional bypass) is enough to keep you from using it to make finished masters but low enough to tune it out and hear the product, unlike the T-racks demo.

Great tip, thanks..

Any other good budget level master fader plugins to tell about?

[CraigD]

Very nice info. gentlemen.

Which plug-ins are using the iLok key these days? I know Waves, T-Racks, Pluggo, Amplitube, and SampleTank do not.

I know McDSP & Sony do. How about the URS stuff???

Thanks Again!

[mindnoise]

URS does use iLok,

i love it, the URS, not the ilok

But they only make EQs.

regs

[john1192]

(As far as dithering . . . I run my stereo mix digitally into an Apogee Trak 2 and use Apogee's UV22HR dithering to reduce down from 24 bits to 16 bits and simultaneously pipe that 16 bit mix right back into PTLE onto a new stereo track titled "16mix". Then I quit PTLE and launch Roxio Jam
and drag the 16mix R and L files into Jam and hit the cd burn button. This allows me to make killer
mixes dithered and avoid using the bounce to disk procedure, which hurts the quality of the audio
(In mine and other's opinion). )

i hope you realize that when you bring the dithered signal from the Apogee back into your PTLE session that it is going to become 24bit again ... you cannot mix bit rates in your sessions ...

you are going out of a 24bit session using the Apogee UV22HR to do your 24 to 16 bit conversion and then returning that signal back into PTLE (still a 24bit session) and then taking that file (which you have named 16mix R and L) and dragged those into Jam ...

signal flow : PTLE 24bit - Apogee UV22HR 16bit - rerecording to PTLE goes back in at 24bit - file named 16mix R and L (but is really 24bit) is then dragged to Jam where it does another 24bit to 16 bit conversion ...

peace john