The dampening effect of our economic times was noticeable at the just-concluded AES Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.
Even though it was a smaller show with less companies showing in downsized booths, enthusiasm and confidence coming from the big crowd was as strong as ever.
Everyone said they were doing great business so go figure.
PLUG-INS, PLUG-INS & MORE PLUG-INS!
Judging by the many fascinating and powerful new plug-ins offered, no software plug-in developers were out work.
Not only is the new crop of plugs more powerful, they seem to all be part of a new wave of super-beautiful GUIs that are wonderful to look at but also display more information in new useful and meaningful ways.
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Sonnox Restore Suite
My first stop was at Sonnox, who has introduced a revolutionary new suite of audio restoration plug-ins called Restore Suite.
This is a Native (RTAS, VST, AU) bundle of three plug-ins: Oxford DeBuzzer, Oxford DeClicker and Oxford DeNoiser.
They are all designed to accurately restore impaired audio recordings in a step-by-step process.
Sonnox Restore suite allows fast and extremely effective removal of pops, clicks, crackles, scratches, hum, buzzes and extraneous background noise from virtually any recording.
Notably, all three plug-ins have sophisticated GUIs that provide detailed graphical feedback and novel features new to the restoration field. An example is the specialized dialogue mode in the DeClicker.
It lets you program and automate an “exclusion zone” along the audio’s time line where no or less restoration is performed. The Sonnox Restore Suite will be available at a price of $1,995 in the fall of 2009.
More at www.sonnoxplugins.com/restore
Lexicon PCM Native Reverb
Another awesomely beautiful GUI is in the new Lexicon PCM Native Reverb plug-in bundle.
Finally, Lexicon has entered the reverb plug-in world with an amazing sounding processor that features seven of Lexicon’s most used and wanted algorithms for rooms, halls, plates, chambers, concert halls, and vintage plates.
It comes with hundreds of presets, a full EQ section, and a marvelous real-time animated display that shows the entire evolution of the reverb’s sound in both the frequency and time domains.
I know when my mixing clients see this on my Pro Tools screen; it’ll be ‘shock and awe.’
PCM Native is compatible with all platforms and DAWs
More at www.lexiconpro.com
WAVES Vocal Rider
Waves Vocal Rider may not win any beauty contests but this advanced plug-in will save time for professionals and help beginners sound better.
This is a plug-in that automatically performs lead vocal rides (or any other track for that matter) predicated on the backing track’s instantaneous level.
I’m over-simplifying here but know all you have to do is bus a mix of the backing track from an aux send into Vocal Rider’s side-chain input and then set the target range you’d like the vocal to ride above the track.
An obvious winner for rough mixes where you just don’t want to take the time to do a vocal ride, it works for master mixes because it also writes the ride moves to the automation track of whatever DAW you’re using.
This is sweet! You can go back a tweak to whatever level of obsessive compulsion you’re living with that day!
More at www.waves.com
iZotope Alloy
iZotope’s Alloy is a single plug-in with six essential mixing processors arranged in a signal chain.
Alloy is the mixer’s version of their mastering plug-in Ozone and it has a great selection of over 150 starting point presets for processing any track within your mix.
