Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

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Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by SteveK » Sat Aug 12, 2017 12:41 pm

I know of many producers who use EZDrummer2 and EZKeys. Any thoughts from successful TAXI members on using EZMix2 vs. plug-ins and side chaining? In other words, is using EZmix2 a viable way in making professional recordings as compared to using a seemingly endless list of plug-ins (can be expensive) as well as side chaining those plug-ins?

Thank you,
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Last edited by SteveK on Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:38 am, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: EZMix2 versus plug-ins and side chaining - Your thoughts

Post by Len911 » Sat Aug 12, 2017 2:40 pm

Oops! Edited
Last edited by Len911 on Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by mojobone » Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:31 am

My opinion, people jump into 3rd-party plugins too soon; you should be able to mix with the plugins that come with your DAW, depending on the genre and the DAW.


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I haven't tried either, but I think this is the better, cheaper option, at least right now, while it's $29. http://www.waves.com/plugins/cla-mixdow ... la-mixdown
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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by andygabrys » Mon Aug 14, 2017 1:59 pm

Most stuff that is sort of a like a one knob wonder can work great.......if the source material is well recorded, or you have picked the right sample sounds, and especially if you have objective ears, mixing experience and a decent listening environment.

But it will take some tweaking to get it to sound as good as a bunch of individual plugins that are chosen for their particular effect by an experienced producer / mixer.

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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by mojobone » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:11 pm

Yup, pretty often you end up eking out that last tenth of a percent that puts a mix into 'pro' territory by doing things like fader rides; what plugin is gonna do that?
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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by LOCK88 » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:49 pm

andygabrys wrote:Most stuff that is sort of a like a one knob wonder can work great.......if the source material is well recorded, or you have picked the right sample sounds, and especially if you have objective ears, mixing experience and a decent listening environment.

But it will take some tweaking to get it to sound as good as a bunch of individual plugins that are chosen for their particular effect by an experienced producer / mixer.
So well said Andy. It's amazing how far a great recording of a solid performance will go.
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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by Telefunkin » Wed Aug 16, 2017 1:46 am

Have to agree with all that's said above. I'm far from an experienced engineer, but what I can say is that every time I start with great sounds, mixing is easy and the end result is always good. Conversely, when I'm trying to mix poor sounds or samples and loops plus weak home studio performances all recorded with different ambiences, mixing is much more difficult and there is no magic plug-in or bundle or package that will fix the problems.

It is very tempting to believe that you must have more and more expensive plug-ins to get great mixes, but a great engineer would be able to get those great results with just stock DAW plugins. In other words, your engineering skills will get you much further than the expensive tools and toys will. You can get a long way with nothing more that a good EQ, a good bus compressor, and a limiter, and no doubt you've already got those in your DAW.

If you want to buy more, a really good bus/mastering compressor helps, and I was amazed by Cytomic's 'The Glue' - Thanks Marcus. Waves CLA Mixdown is handy as a simple bundled solution with a bit more going on (although without the finesse of The Glue). For some more $$ Ozone 7 is a brilliant package, but also a waste of money unless the rest is right. To repeat, NOTHING beats getting the raw sounds to work together as well possible in the first place. The rest is polish. I still get it wrong - often, but that merely reinforces the same lesson.

As a final comment, if a mix isn't working and I don't know what else to do, I'll take off ALL the plug-ins and start again mixing with just with the raw sounds (often in mono) to get everything to sit together well, then only start polishing when the mix sounds great. If it does, the last bit will go well. If it doesn't, I either start again or throw it all away :lol:
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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by Len911 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:41 am

To answer the question, yes imo it's a viable option. I think what you are actually mostly buying are the presets. Most all plugins come with presets. My guess is that what you may find disappointing, or not as preferable, are some of the plugins that are included. I don't think they are the be-all, end-all. For example, the guitar amps and cabinets, the reverbs, the tape saturators... Some plugins are fairly straight forward, though some I'm sure might not have the depth or character you might hope for.

It might get you to where you want to be sooner, but I don't think it will be the only plugin you will ever buy if you stay in this for the long haul.
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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by guscave » Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:45 am

I brought EZmix a few years ago and although it’s a cool product I find that most of these types of “preset plugins” are more work than just using your own compressor, limiter and EQ that already comes with your DAW.

I spent more time trying to fix what these plugins were doing wrong with my mix (ex: too much eq, not enough compression, etc.) instead of enhancing the mix.

However if you do want a one button type of mixing plugin that IMO works well 90% of the time, try Rob Chiarelli’s Mix bus lite. I picked it up a couple of years ago at the Road Rally.

http://www.finalmix.biz/Final_Mix_Software/Home.html

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Re: Is EZMix2 a viable alternative to expensive plug-ins and side chaining?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Aug 18, 2017 3:44 pm

I had the original version on my previous DAW PC...totally forgot about it when I reinstalled everything. I find with these things that are very preset oriented that if you're lucky you wind up finding a few that become your 'go to' plugin for certain types of tracks.

These Taxi deadlines have definitely made my mind up on quite a few things where I can be pretty sure I can just slap it on and it'll sound better :lol:

Sidechaining ? I don't think any preset is going to be an alternative to that technique for EDM if that's the sound you are after. Should be pretty easy to implement though with any compressor that has side chain capability.

Not all of these are expensive ...some are free...more often it's something that does one thing only than a multi plugin.

I've also found some of these that seem work great on their default setting ..no presets needed. I guess it depends on genre and how you like to mix too..some stuff I just use because the interface is better.

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