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

[cosmicdolphin]

Sidechaining:

Way easier than setting up a sidechain compressor if all you are after is the pump.

You think ?

I have a couple of the other plugins you mention and I still revert to Pro-C SC most of the time because it will react to my kick ( or whatever ) and not just keep pumping all the while..I find it easier than automating the others.

[andygabrys]

Yup especially for passages where the kick drops out.

Personal issue no doubt but I hate having dummy tracks in my session to trigger sidechains.

They are both good but I think the auto pump plugins are more flexible for me.


But.....for bass, especially live bass I always use a side chained instance of "The glue" to make the bass and kick play nice

[LOCK88]

Yup especially for passages where the kick drops out.

Personal issue no doubt but I hate having dummy tracks in my session to trigger sidechains.

They are both good but I think the auto pump plugins are more flexible for me.

For years I used a compressor with side chaining capabilities to achieve the pumping effect. Then I had a track that I was really struggling g to get the synth to pump exactly the way I needed it to. Picked up the Waves one-knob Pumper plugin, and now it is just my go to when I need pumping. It is so simple to adjust and get the feel exactly right. Saves me so much time every time I use it. Currently on sale for $29. http://www.waves.com/plugins/oneknob-pumper

[Len911]

... 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,
Steven Bruce

There's an alternative, it's free, endless list of plugins, not easy, viable or not is debatable,lol! It's Csound. There's a free frontend
called Cabbage where you can even make your own vst's. There are even many "pre baked effects and instruments".

I bought a couple books and am dipping my toe in the water. It's piqued my interest.

What is I think many times overlooked, is that you can most of the time manually create in your daw what many plugins provide automatically, and also, you don't necessarily need to process the whole track with a plugin. There are basically just 3 things, gain, frequency and phase, that effect most processes.

[mojobone]

Um and to actually answer the question, if you're achieving a professional result, whatever method got you there is 'viable', lol. I do tend to like plugins that get me there the fastest; some of them aren't expensive, some are free.

[Len911]

Um and to actually answer the question, if you're achieving a professional result, whatever method got you there is 'viable', lol. I do tend to like plugins that get me there the fastest; some of them aren't expensive, some are free.

Postby Len911 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:41 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.

We answer the question, we drift, we come back and answer the question, it all makes for lively discussion.

[keithl]

I find myself wanted more control with the ezmix stuff. Also, if you want to continue to learn the recording/mixing craft, I definitely suggest using the "basic" ingredients and working with them.

For example, you could put the preset "rock vocal" on your vocal and it may sound great. But maybe taking the time to learn the ins/outs of compression, saturation and eq, you will be definitely more equipped for when that "rock vocal" preset does not work for the kick butt female rock singer.

I'm all about convenience, but I am more about knowing the fundamentals and constantly educating myself on the art of mixing.

[SteveK]

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.


topic134591.html



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

Thank you MojoBone!
SteveK

[SteveK]

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.

Thank you Andy!
SteveK

[SteveK]

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

Thank you Graham!
SteveK