ZokZTM

40 minutes ago, Fleer said:

I’m thinking Fiedler Stage for a tenner. Or that TE-100 EQ. Or ...

Fidler Stage is good Fleer... I'm also eying TE-100 Eq or UA G8.

2 hours ago, Amicus717 said:

Yeah it does...wonder if this is the start of a whole set of solo string releases, including cello, etc...

Originally sampled as a quartet, the legendary tone of Native’s solo STRADIVARI VIOLIN will be followed by the CREMONA QUARTET release in autumn of 2020.

24 minutes ago, Hidden Symmetry said:

If I had only one AA to choose from it would be LIME. A great all around choice, broad strokes on the eq so it works well on different styles & material. (Amethyst is another that's overlooked not often talked about, should be updated soon I hope.)

Many would choose Gold, Pink, Magenta which are great as well, just more aggressive & forward than Lime/ Amethyst.

Could not agree more. I've chosen Amethyst due to the personal experiences with Amek Angela and Tac Matchless analog consoles. Lime was my favourite Neve, hence the recommendation above (didn't try Navy). Lime Eq was great and comp (one of the compressors. can't remember B or C) was very useful.

1 hour ago, Carlos said:

I sooo want Gold 😁

Maybe Lime instead?... More refreshing 🙂

13 hours ago, Zo said:

If a tool sounds killa but is a pain to use : ditch

Until you're on holidays!

13 hours ago, Zo said:

If a tool you don't know if you need it : not buy !!

Definitely ask your spouse first, he/she just might change your mind, swing it to the (only one possible) right direction!

13 hours ago, Zo said:

SORRY for the long post i wish we could tcaht live to talk those concept as this is where thing start to get real

@cclarry @Fleer @Zo @Piotr and everyone else...

Is this doable. Great idea if we could organise some kind of live chat group? Any thought, suggestions on how to go about it?

7 hours ago, Piotr said:

No matter what is true just tell to yourself you have everything you need and stop to look at deals

You will save lots of money and time and your soul

And have no fun what so ever, or lovely discussions with the super nice gals and chaps here... 🙂

9 hours ago, Carlos said:

Grr, been playing with Gold and Purple... idk if I need them... comparing with Pink and other stuff... sounds different, yeah, but I don't know if they would be my endgame or if I already have them.

Love Pink, Ruby use them all the time... never got any Neve stuff from AA. From What I remembered Lime was my favourite of their Neve's. Didn't try Navy.

1 hour ago, Piotr said:

I like purple but still anyway believe what top mixers are saying the only real gamechanger is not any particular plugin but our skills

But my GAS mind is whispering also 'but they help make it easier....'

@Piotr exactly... both are true 🙂. However keep in mind it is great to have different ''colours'' at your disposal, but not to the point of being overcrowded with the choices and lost in it.

I go like this: Buy few at the time to fulfil my appetite, spin them up thoroughly and learn them properly, and later on if I still find that I miss on something (realistically not just 'cause of GAS!)... I get me some more. This time around it was time for Ivory 4 and Bronze2. Stopped there!

2 hours ago, Zo said:

No nebula here , after early adoption and the messs i gave up , then had hope with last core engine but giving what we have with other brands , i didn t jumped back ...

thks for the link ...

You're welcome Zo 🙂!

7 hours ago, Zo said:

Yep , when i first tried taupe i had zipper noises just to find out that no 48 khz files were availlable , they then sampled the corresponding ones ...

Does this sound like a real 33609 or do they still fail in the comp area (specially the attack) ?

Well, there you go! I didn't notice anything as I'm @96kHz. Do you own N4? Try loading up the Acqua plugins (their N4 versions) inside the N4. It sounds better, it has it's own SR converter inside and additional buffer settings (the reason why they are sounding better than Acqua).

I don't own Navy, AA comps are hit or miss. We touched on this subject a bit here.

6 hours ago, Zo said:

Wanted to try navy 2 but sample rates 44 and 96 , no 48 !!

Is that so... Can't believe it. Talking about inconsistency !

16 minutes ago, cclarry said:

 I think I'm going to get N4, as it's the most bang for the buck
at the moment at 80% + my 20% of Coupon makes it $70.

Thanks Larry! Good plan!

22 minutes ago, Hidden Symmetry said:

The comp behaves weird, I think there's a few bugs. (Except for Tim P's & a few others I never gel with AA comps anyway, they're too fickle & inconsistent)

The eq's sound good but nothing I can't already duplicate with my other AA's. Even at $30.00 I'll probably pass.

Thanks Hidden Symmetry! Yes same kind of here... I do occasionally use Sand and Water comp but so that I don't even see the needle move, tiny bit only. They are really inconsistent, but higher the Sampling rate better they sound 🙂

@Carlos... Carlos, did you spin it up? Thoughts...

14 hours ago, Hidden Symmetry said:

From the unofficial master list:

The EAR collection
• ERIN EQ ST - EAR 825Q

• ERIN EQ MID - EAR 823

• ERIN COMP ST - EAR 660

Yes, this has been confirmed. Original hardware sounds great!

@cclarry @Hidden Symmetry... and everyone else!

Have you tried it? Have no time to try until in a few days... Any good?

1 minute ago, Carlos said:

PC. Reaper 6. I can tell right away looking at the Performance Window. I tested several Acquas.
Inserts.

Ah yes, I've heard that Reaper is ''probably'' the best in handling and distributing the load on DSP (sorry CPU) hungry plugins!

9 minutes ago, Carlos said:

On my end using Purple or Single parts of a Strip (like just a preamp or just an eq or just a compressor) barely uses CPU.
Versus using a Chain it goes for 3 to 5% cpu usage, no matter what.

@Carlos

PC or Mac? channel insert or Group/Bus insert? What Daw?

44 minutes ago, tom said:

Yeah for me, all Tim Petherick libraries outclass Acquas and I have nearly all of them now but they are an adjustment to my workflow, which isnt for everyone. I use Bluecat patchwork so each instance in a Comp or EQ opens up stacked up each time I open.  I freeze tracks a lot when using N4 and AA plugins, too much of a CPU killer otherwise

Likewise! However Acquas are really ''good enough'' compared to N4 custom stuff, as Hidden Symmetry stated above. Some compressors in Acqua (Ultramarine, Sand, Pink) are getting really good, but usually Native stuff and UAD for comps is the way to go. Preamps although useful in Acqua, get used not so often, exception being Cream & Water pres. Workflow is a buzz killer.

Another thing just came to my mind: Italian's know how to design the visually appealing stuff. Acquas look apart and that ''fortunately'' goes in line with the sound quality.

However, still laughing about when I had a Ferrari here in the studio for a video shot. We drove around (slowly) get some shots and then brought it inside the studio. Shot it for about 2 hours, had the lights on on that beauty so to capture the ''great looks''. It was a red one. Amazing car. Well towards the end of the shoot, battery ran out on the car. The dealer  (client) came to pick the car up, charged the battery... nada.. new battery... nada. Huge electrical error! All got totally bonkers. They towed it away from the studio. I've heard later on that they had to tow the car to the main Ferrari dealership in Helsinki (we live cca 300 km away) and got it fixed. The cost of fixing was over 3000€.

Still can't believe it... it feels almost same with those Acquas, when they work... boy what a pleasure... And the looks 🙂

1 minute ago, ZokZTM said:

So, installed some Acustica stuff on the brand new PC, and it isn't really a smooth sailing. N4 lost it's Repositories the very first day... still can get it to work.

Quick update... N4 Repository now works... and I can see the N4 versions of my Acqua plugins again. If anyone ever gets this problem of loosing N4 Repository  please follow this steps:

go to N4's ''Settings'' >  Engine MAST page (Basic) > set the ''SCAN BOOT'' to 1 recovery

42 minutes ago, Piotr said:

hm, so from such perspective better seems to use free N4 player than buying N4 ?

N4 brings lots of interesting possibilities to the table. You can load (the N4) version of your Acqua plugins within N4. This opens up the ability to create your ''setups'' - like presets from multiple sources etc. Also N4 give additional DSP buffer size option (in addition to your DAW). N4 has it's own S/R conversion and it will run properly at 384kHz as well (for those demanding mastering sessions :-). Also 3rd party N4 libraries are indeed great. Tim Petherick in particular. Apparently N4 Acquas versions loaded inside of N4 will for all those reasons sound ''better'' than their Acqua counterparts. Haven't tested this myself but trust the source very much (mastering engineer).

For those who are considering purchasing Acustica Audio's stuff. Please test the workflow properly before parting with the cash. Especially if you're on the Mac. There you might look at the Modula lite purchase to come to the rescue.

Also on the PC, do your testing guys - first. As the plugins look great (and sound very nice for the most part) temptation to purchase is indeed very high, BUT stability can be an issue, also CPU tax has to be taken into account. I use them less and less in the sessions as they were not worth the trouble. I'm primarily on the Mac. Got the Windows PC server setup just to try to run those Acustica plugs I've got. 

So, installed some Acustica stuff on the brand new PC, and it isn't really a smooth sailing. N4 lost it's Repositories the very first day... still can get it to work.

Just my two pennies

19 hours ago, Fleer said:

A hand made violin from the 1780s?

or did someone actually calculated the real age of the tree trunk in question?

23 hours ago, Zo said:

Yep i know the instances i always check those

UAD don"t have a need to work at 96 since they oversample internaly , hence the percieved instant quality for people working under 96 .

Also more than half the plugin are availlable natively , so that's another thing in have to put in the equation , that said i have 2 systems to upgrade each time and it start to cost money , i make sure each time i do i get at least + 50 % cpu power but even ....

One reason i consider it also is console 1 witch is use quite intensively .

Exactly! I have other reasons why I run at 96kHz. + 50% cpu power is a great way to think about upgrade as long as you aren't on the Mac... which I am. But then I add on to it with the PC server for an additional power. A good compromise of sort.

@Mesh @cclarry

Are you guys familiar with this Swedish boys?

Dirty Loops Hit me

31 minutes ago, Mesh said:

I'm a big fan of funk as well.

Check out the rest of that album……. excellent stuff! (TM Stevens is the bass player) 

Indeed...

''How do you stop'' and ''Living in America'' I'm familiar with as well as the ''Gravity''. We used to kill ourselves dancin' to this stuff in the days :-).

Prince, The Time, Tower Of Power, JB, Quincey Jones, Chaka Khan, Kool & the Gang...

Boy those were the days... 

That's what I call Funky! ... big fan