Warmth
Had a couple of days off over the weekend, for various reasons. Half term was one, and going back to the doctors about the blood pressure thing was another. Wanted to have my blood pressure taken without having driven down the motorway from work. As it turned out, it was lower than last time (/90 instead of /100), but still too high. My ECG was normal, and they took some blood, so I'll see. I'll eat a pound of lard if my cholesterol is high - I just don't believe it's possible.
The time off gave me the opportunity to play with some things. One was the M-Audio Luna microphone. It goes out of its way to look a bit different, but really delivers in terms of sound. It manages to impart a flattering, valve-like warmth to a vocal, and a richness to an acoustic guitar. Of all the microphones I've tried over the past couple of years, ranging from a cheap Sennheiser dynamic (not enough output) and the Shure SM58 through condensers from Beyerdynamic, AKG, Rode, and SE Electronics, the Luna is the only one that sounds really different - and better, to my ears.
So that's now on my list of things to have, and I'd recommend that over buying an SM58 or even a Rode NT1A, which are both extremely popular home studio microphones.
The other thing I got to try this weekend was the Pro Tools LE versions of the Sony Oxford Plug-ins, including the fantastic Inflator. The Inflator does amazingly complex things to audio (changing the probability of the samples, apparently), but is really easy to use, with, again, a noticeable sonic improvement.
I had trouble getting the EQ to install, so I haven't used that yet, but I can thoroughly recommend the Dynamics, the Inflator, and the Transient Modulator. This latter can be used to make, say, a woolly bass sound more punchy, or pull a too-loud snare down a bit. Above all, it's great for fixing things that you can't, for whatever reason, re-do.
The Inflator can be used on individual tracks to make them sound fuller, warmer (e.g. acoustic guitar); or run across a whole mix to bring it up to fashionable loudness levels - but without the unwanted side effects of compression and limiting. It's £145 for the Pro Tools LE version, but if you only buy one good plug-in in your life, it's the one to have.
The time off gave me the opportunity to play with some things. One was the M-Audio Luna microphone. It goes out of its way to look a bit different, but really delivers in terms of sound. It manages to impart a flattering, valve-like warmth to a vocal, and a richness to an acoustic guitar. Of all the microphones I've tried over the past couple of years, ranging from a cheap Sennheiser dynamic (not enough output) and the Shure SM58 through condensers from Beyerdynamic, AKG, Rode, and SE Electronics, the Luna is the only one that sounds really different - and better, to my ears.
So that's now on my list of things to have, and I'd recommend that over buying an SM58 or even a Rode NT1A, which are both extremely popular home studio microphones.
The other thing I got to try this weekend was the Pro Tools LE versions of the Sony Oxford Plug-ins, including the fantastic Inflator. The Inflator does amazingly complex things to audio (changing the probability of the samples, apparently), but is really easy to use, with, again, a noticeable sonic improvement.
I had trouble getting the EQ to install, so I haven't used that yet, but I can thoroughly recommend the Dynamics, the Inflator, and the Transient Modulator. This latter can be used to make, say, a woolly bass sound more punchy, or pull a too-loud snare down a bit. Above all, it's great for fixing things that you can't, for whatever reason, re-do.
The Inflator can be used on individual tracks to make them sound fuller, warmer (e.g. acoustic guitar); or run across a whole mix to bring it up to fashionable loudness levels - but without the unwanted side effects of compression and limiting. It's £145 for the Pro Tools LE version, but if you only buy one good plug-in in your life, it's the one to have.
posted by Anonymous at
Monday, February 23, 2004
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