Retro Analog Studio Suite Nebula Pro
A collection of high quality
preset programs for Acustica Audio's Nebula plug-in.
Special thanks to Giancarlo and Velinas.
Giancarlo, thank you for making Nebula and making sampling available to users, and for your tireless debugging, answering of questions, amazing development, and for helping me to make this library the absolute best it can be!
Velinas, thank you for your contributions to Nebula, for being a support and knowledgeable sampler, coordination of events, and for creating Nebula-Programs.com for a whole new user community!
Manual Index
Forward
A Little Background
The Concept
So, What Is Missing?
The Signal Chain
Here is why
About the presets
The Full Signal Path
Equalizers
The Preamps
The Compressors
The Tape Presets
Preset Categories
Preset List
Forward
Thank you for purchasing the Retro Analog Studio Suite 1 library
for Nebula Commercial!
This is a collection of high quality presets to help you use your
DAW as a traditional analog studio by supplying your tracking
and mixing environment with the complete signal paths of several
ideal all-analog equipment set ups. In addition, I have created
several presets of individual pieces of gear to allow you to flexibly
piece things together as you wish.
If you haven't yet purchased this library, then make sure to download
the free preset versions for NebulaFree and Commercial!
A
Little Background
My name is Michael Angel. I have been recording since the bug
bit me in 1989, and completed my first professional project studio
circa 1992-'93. Since that time I have seen computer technology
give birth to a whole new frontier in recording. I began doing
CD Mastering in 1997, and just over a decade later, what used
to be a $600 4x CD Burner is now a 16x DVD-R/52x CD-R for roughly
$35.
The speedy technology and development in the world of sound recording
plug-ins is truly mind-boggling, and today we have the options
of completely software-coded 'concept' plug-ins to those that
are created by actual measurements of real hardware.
Still, there have been limitations that make both the simulated
and measurement-calculated approaches fall short to varying degrees.
The Nebula by Acustica Audio (Acusticaudio.net) is a truly phenominal
device that continues to evolve weekly. It operates similarly
to a hardware keyboard sampler. Elements of sound can be recorded
and processed by a complex playback engine that has recognition
and functionality for everything from waveform function to dynamic
timing and fluctuation, from LFO's to filtering and threshold
comparisons.
I first learned about the Nebula project in 2006-2007 when speaking
with developers of Impulse Response technology. I watched as months
and months of development began to yield the first free demo releases
of Nebula. Very different from convolution or dynamic convolution,
Nebula uses streams of sampled data kernels to recreate very realistic
reactions of recording hardware. Like others, I was amazed at
the quality of the equalizers, and the similarities in the compressor
to the original device. When I later spoke with Giancarlo about
my plug-in concepts and development, I was hopeful that there
might be some way to incorporate them into the Nebula system.
There will more than likely be future collections that I develop
as the technology allows even more complex manipulations in sound,
but I am comfortable in sharing the thoughts and process with
you now that this first library is complete! I truly believe that
this collection illustrates the amazing leaps and bounds that
Acustica Audio have accomplished, and I applaud them in their
giving of time, generosity in customer relations, and scientifically
embracing the sharing of technology over greed.
Thank you Acustica Audio!!!
This collection of original presets has been created for the Acustica
Audio plug-in "Nebula". I have been developing this
library in theory for nearly a year and a half. Many notes, studies,
spec. sheets, and endless hours have been invested in offering
you what I believe is an extremely bountiful collection of true-to-their-original
presets of equalizers, compressors, console signal paths, tube
and tape devices, and individual preamplification devices. In
order to create these presets, a truly vast range of techniques
were implemented, and if not for the months spent creating much
of the data and actual measurement filters ahead of learning the
ins and outs of sampling specifically for the Nebula, this would
not be getting released so soon. If this project were integrated
into any other company's product line, it would most likely still
be in development a year from now. That is to say, I am truly
blown away at the abilities of Nebula's engine.
The
Concept
Now, about the concept for this library. For the majority of the
plug-in industry, the entire focus is on emulating a single piece
of gear, or sometimes in multiple functionality, like programs
that offer separate equalizers and compressors within the same
tool. As other individuals begin releasing their amazing presets
for the Nebula, the main focus will likely be on individual settings
and overall presets of single pieces of gear.
I began my studies on this specific topic when I found that over
and over again, as a new plug-in or collection of plug-ins were
released, the anticipation was tremendous and initial reception
good, but the excitement would dwindle so quickly, and why?
Wasn't the plug-in succesful at what it set out to achieve? Was
the marketing a scam? Well, it seems that as time goes on, most
plug-ins do a better-than-average job at emulating the target
gear, and optimizations make them useful even if differing in
some ways. The ability to avoid noise floor and use multiple instances
almost always wins over outboard gear when a complex mixing situation
calls to order. But, as the crowds of home recordists and seasoned
professionals grow, all are focussed on the quality and dimensionality
of sound being replicated, and even in the best device emulations,
something seemed lack-luster.
Then it hit me, and the concept from there plagued me. Surely,
if "insert company name here" can create an amazing
emulation of an 1176, then people can use the presets to get great
drum bus and individual snare kick and toms, right? If "insert
company name here" can pack an 85% identical collection of
eq's and compressors into a USB-controlled device for well under
$1000 that should be it, right? No more quest for the ideal digital
studio, right? WRONG! And Why? What is missing?
"Why does 'such and such' sound so much better on vinyl?"
"Why did 'so and so's' release in the 80's sound so much
better than what I am trying to create now, since I am using the
same compressors and eq's and have studied 7 books on their producers
and mixing engineers and I have all the settings right, and my
microphones and preamps are the same models and they cost me a
fortune, so WHY?"
Here is my conclusion. Assuming that your recording technique
is not to blame, then neither is your collection of plug-ins.
The very devices that have gotten you into the recording process
are part of the symptom that holds you back. In the 50's, 60's,
70's engineers would have killed to have our bandwidth, storage,
conversion quality, zero loss in redundancy, greater than 100
dB of dynamic range, high end truly reading above 16 kHz, and
ZERO noise floor without DBX NR! But, they would have soon found
themselves embracing their familiar technology very quickly once
again, despite the callibration, cap replacement, down time, degaussing,
and loss of quality in overdubs, once they heard what pristine
audio truly sounded like! This is not to say that modern technology
is a bad thing. I am very enthusiastic what we are able to do
in converting high quality analog sound into very authentic and
dimensional digital files with amazing resolution and bandwidth.
I believe that we are blessed to have the capabilities of our
time, and we should certainly focus on the degree to which we
can use the quality of modern sound to push the envelope of clarity,
dimension, dynamics, and reality in reproduction (not even mentioning
the number of channels). But, if we are going to place a single
compressor on a single track, or use digital mixing software in
a traditional format like grouping and bussing, then we need to
take a look at what is missing!
So,
What Is Missing?
What is missing is not found
in a single hardware device. It won't be made up for in a whole
rack full of hardware devices. In fact, let it be stated here
and now that it will not be compensated with an HD system where
an initial track is recorded from mic pre to tape and then digitized
to PT. Using an analog summing device, although an excellent way
to go, will not bring back what is missing for "that"
classic sound! If it did, then everyone would be using them and
the search would be done. Everyone would be visiting forums and
groups just to tell each other that the search is done, and to
ask when somebody is going to make something new that no one has
thought of!? But, the search for excellent analog continues. The
reason is simple: people are not getting the results they expected
despite the hundreds or thousands spent on excellent hardware
simulations. I have no doubt that excellent recordists are out
there scratching their heads, wishing to achieve greatness. "I
know it ain't me, because I am doing everything right, using everything
I shiould, and it sounds great, but..."
I know, I know... "get on with it already." Ok, I will.
The Signal Chain!
Yep, that is all.
The
Signal Chain!
Let me ask you this:
If you have reduced jitter, optimized clocking, excellent preamplification,
and all of your bouncing of tracks is noise free, and you can
record source material with 20dB of head room without any loss
or added noise, then why would you even need to know about setting
up gain-staging? If you can take the time to completely automate
volume levels on every track AFTER it has been recorded and never
go OVER into distortion or under into noise, then why don't you?
That is what the compressor and limiter were originally created
for: controlling levels to tape to avoid distortion and hiss,
and maximizing levels to tape over and over. Even within the console,
gain staging was critical, because only at absolute zero, not
over or under, were the best specifications achieved. That means
you had to know your gear. The input comes into a gain pot, where
you set the level that gives you as much clean signal without
going over, as can be achieved, Then, the fader balances that
level as it goes out to it's tape track via a compressor to mazimize
it's setting either at zero, +3dB, +6dB, or if your technique
is radical, +whatever it can handledB! Well, a lot of folks are
using an analog console as their front end, and they hit it to
tape first. So, why doesn't that work?
Well, what happens then? The signal is preserved in the digital
realm and never has to leave for another piece of hardware, and
it is digitally grouped and sent to two track. Even if it passes
through an analog summing box, I bet that is the only analog left
in the chain before the master bus re-enters digital. I'm not
knocking it. It is a great process, and the best digital is GREAT!
But, if you are looking backwards at all, and wish you had "that"
guitar sound, vocal, or overall recording, then this library I
have created for Nebula is a response to what you have been waiting
for...
The true analog sound of earlier high end recording studios was
a phenomenon of necessity. We can hear the differences and qualities
of different technical schools of thought in design AND in the
amazing talent of producers, artists, and engineers by listening
not just to era's, but different facilities. The Beatles definitely
hit on "the Abbey Road sound". Decca definitely had
a sound. Neve vs. API vs. Trident vs. Putnam vs. SSL vs. Harrison
etc. etc. etc. They all have wonderfully distinct sounds. But
simply placing an excellent simulation plug-in of an individual
device in your signal path is not enough. You are not challenged
to get the volumes aligned correctly from start to finish, and
there are no consequences in going over or under. Even if every
measurement were taken at every volume, the device is not going
to interact with your pure digital signal chain the same as it
did with the signal chain back then.
Here
is why...
Microphone > Analog Channel Input > Gain Pot > Analog
Output to Analog Compressor/Limiter (or not) > Tape Track...
> Back into Analog Channel Input! > Back to Gain Pot >
EQ or not > Effect/Compressor/Limiter send or not > Analog
Channel Group Bus (if not bounce to other tracks first) > Master
Analog Tape.
That was just the minimal, typical signal chain for the mix. Then
it had to be mastered for vinyl, cassette, and eventually CD.
Depending on how many transfers were required, the high end frequencies
would be adjusted that much more, that much earlier in the process,
to account for what it would lose by the final stage. The absolute
best case scenario in multi-tracking in the traditional recording
studio was six full passes of input and output before a single
recorded element made it to the master track.
So, are you willing to emulate that many things in your signal
chain in order to achieve the target sound? Most likely if you
give it a try with your best outboard gear, you will hear more
of what they did back then, which is more the build-up of descrepancies
and limitations than the beauty that comes from them. We hear
these amazing recordings without the frustration of what had to
be avoided in order to achieve them.
So, with notes and specs in hand, I started using every tool,
program, plug-in, and piece of outboard gear that I have to study
the process and figure out just what parts of the gain-staging
process and complete signal paths were additively necessary and
convincing to the process. How small a change can build up to
something noticable in the final outcome? For months I created
preset chains of effects that each brought only what a particular
circuit would do in the process. I created before/after files
of preamps overloading at every conceivable setting, with and
without eq circuits engaged, and then used different combinations
of minimal settings inside DAW's and various plug-ins to create
templates to state my case that the signal chain "is where
it's at!".
It speaks oceans to the complexity of tiny alterations in sound,
that it is as hard for very well-developed software to achieve
the same final results as outboard gear in the same scenario.
But, I finally started finding some measurements in my studies
that seemed to result in the right conclusions sonically. Regardless
of which plug-ins I substituted in their position and settings
in my imaginary signal chains, the results were finally taking
the proper sonic form. I had finally created some analog-emulated
templates that sounded very convincing on different material,
and comparing the waveforms visually showed that all challenges
were being met.
The peaks in the recordings were being handled the same as the
analog treatments. The smaller peaks were also being limited or
harmonically 'puffed up' without main peaks getting chopped off.
The hills and valleys were not showing any signs of typical digital
short-cuts, and amazingly the eq side of things aligned well also!
My only limitations that concerned me were that I didn't have
the ability to effect exactly the same changes to phase correllation
as the original gear. I was affecting the timing results accurately,
but to do so down to the level of accuracy that the real hardware
did meant using an approach that I could not get into, which is
why I am so grateful for the Nebula technology! Being able to
actually sample the true variations of the actual signal path
and save only the data that makes the changes you want... wow!
I am very happy that I stopped shopping VST development companies
and held on to my thoughts and tests in secrecy until I could
use Nebula to develop them.
So, all of this has led me to the release of the Retro Analog
Studio Suite 1.
I know there are some people out there shrugging at the name,
but I am really happy to be using it in the proper context. This
collection is a retrospective, and only intends to look backward
at greatness achieved and offer it to you for a ridiculously low
price. This is ALL about analog gear. Every test at every setting
is about gathering the best, and most important additive results
of the gear represented. Yes this is a digital plug-in, but contained
under the hood are many actual signal chains recorded in analog,
along with extremely tediously crafted simulated signals based
on months and months of tests and research. When you pass your
sound through these presets, they are passing through the real
deal, along with technical emulations that model the process to
bring the entire picture into focus one detail at a time. It is
a studio suite, in that the entire point was to achieve a single
channel of what is truly in the older facilities. In addition,
there are individual elements for you to use, since variety is
important as well. But you no longer have to be without an actual
analog signal chain in your DAW!
About
the presets
The presets are broken down for you into four categories:
RAE: Retro Analog Equalizers
RAC: Retro Analog Compressors
RAP: Retro Analog Preamps
RAT: Retro Analog Tape
The primary achievement of my goal takes place in the equalizer
programs. They are not simply an eq emulation or sample, but the
entire process mentioned above is achieved in this category.
The following presets are my first fruits of my research in using
any means necessary to create the full signal chain to be used
channel by channel in your DAW:
Retro_02_High
RetroStudioLowEQ
RetroStudioLoCut
Retro_02_Mid
RetroConsoleEQ1
RetroHi_LoBoost
Each of these six presets places the equalizer filtering within
it's place in the simulated signal chain, where each element before
and after has been recreated from scratch, some using the actual
equipment, and some emulating it from a variety of programs, each
doing a very minimal task that it does best, in order to achieve
a VERY analog studio result. The Nebula input acts as a combination
of the gain pot at input, and as the channel fader. As the input
slider is decreased, the build-up of harmonic distortion from
input to eq > to output-to-tape, > return-to console channel-
> bus to group- > out to two track tape, is decreased at
the same time. When the input slider is increased, so are the
individual harmonic distortion characteristics, volume changes,
and frequency responses of this entire signal chain. Each device
in its proper order adds to the result of the device that follows,
and as a result the eq filters add and subtract from the devices
that follow.
So, if you increase the Nebula input slider, you are hitting the
console input and eq circuit harder, along with the simulated,
dynamically changing tape track. But, if you lower eq, then some
harmonics after the initial chain, like the tape track, return
to console, group bus, and master out, are also affected, while
the earlier parts of the chain, the input-to-eq circuit, are still
increased by the input slider! The Nebula's output slider control
acts as a digital master adjust, and does not affect the harmonic
balance of the preset.
If you are able to adjust "attack" and "release",
"liquidity", or "drive", then you may be altering
the preset from it's true character that it was designed to achieve.
I'm not saying to not make adjustments, but if you do so, make
sure you know if the preset was made to accomodate anything positive
in the result.
The
Presets
The
Full Signal Path Equalizers
Retro_02_High
This preset remains true-to-spec until about +1dB input gain,
where I allow the harmonics and frequency results to get a little
out of control, mainly because the result is interesting and cool
sounding, and because if you keep levels below zero input, you
are getting an awesome representation of an excellent early seventies
rock-and-roll inspired studio. Original specs, online information,
software emulation, and my own studies yield this combo console-eq-tape-master
studio.
To get the feel of hitting 'in the red' at input into the console,
I used a combination of Solid State and subtle Valve technology
to balance the signal coming in, so that a great deal of harmonic
content could be captured using only a few kernels of information,
and with very little audible distortion.
The eq circuit is a complex passive design inspired by the Helios,
but very different from the primary software emulation studied
in the sense that the eq interacts with the input at every setting.
Although the well-known software emulation was used for studies,
and to take measurements of how the eq should respond, the final
resulting eq is not an emulation of an emulation, but many different
programs were used to capture the essence of this part of the
filtering process, and I believe the result makes for a smoother,
rounder sounding eq that is perhaps less like the exact design,
but more like what we would WANT it to perform like. There are
very few noticable frequencies that will jump out at you when
using this preset. You should get a sense of the actual source
material changing form.
The eq curve is technically the same amount of dB's as one would
expect when used just as an eq, but some of this volume is exchanged
for the input's frequency plot. This character is rounded out
by how it changes when going to and from tape, because I believe
that the eq's usefulness is completely altered when used between
console and tape, and we would not choose to use the eq in the
same manner on it's own. The result is, I believe, a truly aesthetic
experience where I can imagine sitting behind the console and
watching the levels light up as the sound gets hotter!.THD levels
yield a SNR range from around -80dB to -25dB depending on how
hard you hit the entire chain. The end result of eq places some
of the filter load on the preamp and tape stages, which makes
for one of the smoothest "hot" signals I have heard
in the high frequencies, especially on a computer.
Negative attributes?
Here's a detail that probably won't be found by larger plug-in
developers! Because I created this stuff from my own abilities,
I don't think it all came out perfectly. If I did share the concept
with another developer, there are things I would hope they could
achieve better. Fortunately it mainly deals with design and controls
over sound. Since it took a GREAT deal of time and effort to get
the filters to react the way I wanted them to, it made it very
difficult for me to find a way that they reacted correctly with
the harmonic content before and after the chain while also changing
the volume balance from sample to sample. The result is that the
various eq curves do not leave the unaltered portion of the balance
at zero, but rather zero dB hover somewhere around the maximum
or nominal peak levels, which makes it obvious that I worked from
one tested, sampled, signal chain to the next, placing the importance
of how it should sound, over finding a way to achieve the proper
volume changes without eliminating the point in building up harmonics
in the proper order. So, the great thing about this, is that when
you get the sound you want, you can alter the input and output
to taste, and you will be doing so with a dimensionally accurate
representation of the true signal chain intact!
Many of these issues were further 'ironed out' in the Retro_02_Mid
preset, which is consistent sonically with the Hi preset.
Retro_02_Mid
This is the same characteristic as the High preset. The signal
chain is slightly cleaner than the high preset, to make interaction
with the wide changes of frequencies more accurate, and fall within
the limitations of my sampling capabilities, and with certain
confines of current Nebula technology made available. You can
still achieve an amazing amount of versatility in driving the
signal, and it only takes one input fader to control interaction
with the entire chain of events! It is completely dynamic, in
that changing the eq filter affects the tape, channel return,
group bus, and tape out that follow. The result is so cool I can't
believe it actually worked!
Negative attributes?
Well, I love the end result of this preset. If I had anything
I wish I could alter or change, it would be to add the actual
sound of 'breakup' at the tape portion of the chain, and I don't
believe it can be done at present, without messing up the transients
and taking a ridiculous amount of cpu, which means that some time
in the next year or two, someone will have an amazing tape preset
with all the goodies: I'm certain of it. Also, the peak is not
perfect. I wanted to provide the feel of a Helios in the middle
of an amazing studio signal chain, and in doing so I wanted it
to be parametric and not notched. I didn't get the perfect amount
of dB as what is marked, and the range from 700Hz to around 5kHz
is pretty much what I was hoping for, but I reduced some levels
between 5-6kHz to make it all come out correctly, and so I wouldn't
mess up any recordings in trying to get other things accurate.
For the best results, reduce the input and raise the output fader
when setting levels, THEN test the sound of driving the input
signal to see if it fattens up the sound or simply makes it sound
blurred. This mid range is so sweet on guitars, voice, horn sections,
bass... to me it is the studio I wished I had 10 years ago.
RetroStudioLowEQ
This continues the same studio presets into the lower frequencies
of the Helios-inspired concoction. Once again, the amount of distortion
range is slightly lower in order to help make the filters round
out and sound better from input to hitting tape. If you are looking
to just place the signal path on your multi-track channels without
eq'ing, then this is the preset to use. You get a true zero with
the additive frequency plot of the console to tape, return, bus,
out to master tape, along with corresponding harmonic distortion,
with a low cpu hit, and if using it on a lot of parallel tracks,
you can just lower the input slider to reduce the amount of distortion
added, and do so without adding a noise floor! Shazzam!!! Personally,
I cannot decide which band I am the most thrilled about, the mid
or bass. I like both of them better than the software emulator
that I had to study in order to make this Frankenstein come to
life.
I am really hoping that this eq will become a "go-to"
bass adjustment for a lot of folks. That is why I made it!
Negative attributes?
Some of the same scenarios as above. Also, I experimented with
creating flexible cut filters that never existed in the original
design, but truly they didn't make any sonic sense with the characteristic
boost in low end the real circuit produces. And, if I take that
bump out of the signal to create a cut that works the same way,
it no longer hits the rest of the chain similarly, and the whole
concept falls apart. Needless to say, the following boost cut
does what the doctor ordered in the original eq filter, but with
the style that comes from the rest of the chain. No wonder the
original Helios got used so much!
RetroStudioLoCut
50Hz cut from -3dB to -15dB. All the same attributes as above
still remain in this preset. You get approximately the same variation
of harmonic balance and simulated SNR as the high preset, and
using this at -3dB on channels that you may normally use a High
Pass gives you a lot of sonic control you never had before. Give
it a try. What's the worst that can happen? This is also a great
way to manipulate a virtual console's flexibility, by placing
this on your subgroups or individual group bus, where you add
specific low eq to each track, and then reduce the buildup of
all of them together while inputing the drive of the signal to
glue them together. I'm telling you, the analog studio has come
to town! Use it!!! No patching necessary.
RetroHi_LoBoost
Warning: Many innocent frequencies were injured in the tests done
for this signal chain!
I am so happy to be sharing this preset with you! This design
is THE Retro Valve studio in all it's glory! Still using very
little cpu like all eq's included here, this preset is designed
to add a feature that probably would not be present in the console
design of it's day. This console specs out at roughly -79dB SNR,
but can be driven well beyond that. The input and output sliders
of the Nebula are lowered on this preset because the low frequencies
are very powerful and I don't want you to freak out your subs!
The great thing about this preset, which is true of the others
as well, is that they are synchronized for use in parallel eq'ing!
You can place two tracks side by side and eq one while using the
original as a blend, or wait to blend until the final mix. In
fact, since the filters are essentially shelves in design function,
you can blend them with your hi and low cuts of choice for a lot
of interesting combinations. Settings on this virtual eq range
from 20Hz-20kHz, with five truly classic sounding eq curves to
choose from for each boost. The sound of these filters is based
on several favorite designs, ranging from the build-style of a
Pultec to the incredible drive characteristics of a Manley Passive.
The features that I aimed at capturing here were the very best
of eq and valve. I wanted the frequencies to react musically but
quickly, so that the huge boost in the lows would only ring and
capture the essence of the instrument's harmonics. The drive in
the low end would sound very rounded and not flabby or cheap.
All in all, I believe that you will find this to be an outrageously
useful parallel eq, and once you find settings that will work
without blowing your subs, you can freely increase the input to
drive the signal. The succeses in this design are in using the
benefit of first order even and odd harmonics to increase the
attack of the eq filters to make them quick enough to be great
for percussive and fast transients, but smooth enough to sing
along with extended instrument notes. The tape track and master
tape portions of the signal chain slightly alter the peaks in
a pleasing manner.
Negative attributes?
Well, I'm pretty thrilled with the outcome here. If it weren't
for Nebula, this type of preset would remain in my imagination
until I could afford a combination of ridiculous outboard gear
whose price I could never justify no matter how many songs I recorded.
I wish that we were five years down the road to where the lamest
computer was 5 times faster than a quad, and then we could try
the same design with several more variables than even the real
gear would personify, with harmonics exceeding that which could
be produced. But, that wish will eventually come true and should
not reflect negatively on this preset, right?
RetroConsoleEQ1
This preset gives you roughly 10dB of boost with some of the nicest,
smoothest, cleanest tube signal to and from tape, in as simplified
a form as can produce truly usable eq plots without going into
harmonics that would be so complex to recreate accurately, that
I would never get it done. This is a style-based studio. The wonderful
thing about the feel of an all-analog studio is that every decision
has a musical characteristic to it, like the actual music being
created. This is not the preset to use for accuracy, but it will
not screw up your tracks either. You could use this as your virtual
group bus if you want modern control on your tracks, but want
the feel of mixing down to a vintage tube-and-tape studio. To
get a feel for this studio, load up some drums, perhaps a loop
that has a straight forward mix of kick, snare, and cymbals. Lower
the output slider, turn up the input slider about 70%, set the
eq to 200Hz at about 7dB and A/B listen. Then bring it down to
the lower frequencies. Ahhhhh. That is the reason I set out to
create this collection! It makes being technical feel more like
an art form, and that is how I feel about the end result of this
preset.
Negative attributes?
If I could make this sound as good at +12 and beyond, then that
would be awesome, but it truly took too much time and combinations
of tools to make +10 work. I believe that this preset should make
the original Telefunken guys proud, could have been something
Putnam would've installed, and perhaps Groove Tubes would've designed
before the DAW era began. Since the highest quality tube balancing
does not generate massive amounts of harmonic distortion, the
fact that I'm working with only the first order works out great
for this concept here, leaving the rest for frequency variation.
You will get the massive tube/tape variations in the Preamp section!
1073Clean
The 1073Clean preset collection represents a 'what-if' scenario
that I would like to explain. What if a great, straight forward,
impulse response-style eq program were to emulate the analog signal
chain as described and represented here in this library, but only
as it pertains to the frequencies, and not at all as it pertains
to distortion, harmonic balance, phase issues, and limiting at
various stages? Well, the results of this lead to a very nice
clean, eq-only variation on a twist on a theme of an emulation
of a very-near-to-true-to-life scenario where the frequency plot
of an op-amp console input with xfo's is followed by a 1073 style
eq, altered by the frequency plot of an ideal near zero at unity
tape track, returned to the same characteristic of the console,
sent to a unity-gain setting at group bus, and out to a nominal
tape eq curve. The result is, interestingly enough, very close
to being the same as the eq curves of the original software emulation.
The sound is extremely close, although volume and other variations
do enter in.
Originally, I had not planned on including this set of presets
in the library. It is based around samples of a high quality software
emulation, where Every alteration in sound is based on real-world
frequency changes. I used the filter design included in this series
of presets for testing and studying. My internal name for them
would probably be labelled "You-Ayyy-Deee-Won-Enhanced".
In this scenario, I compared the original settings to other actual
hardware devices. I found that the way that the filters interact
with the preamp of the real gear is so crucial to the sound, it
didn't make any sense to me to try and simulate this. First, it
would not benefit the concept of the entire studio sound in a
single preset. Secondly, I had no desire of copying a developer's
hard work. Third, I have a nice outboard device that is very similar
to a vintage 1073, with some nice optimizations, and some slight
variations, and that device is sampled quite nicely for this library.
So, the reason that I am including these is to make their concept
available to you. My study also lead to further realizations that
when you add in real gear interaction with the characteristic
volume change, compressing of the signal, and growing of harmonics
separate from eq changes, the true benefits of any slight eq variations
come to life in a big, bold way. Both elements of eq and distortion
NEED eachother in order to sound authentic. So, this collection
provides you with a great 'what if' scenario with very little
cpu hit, and no dongle card required. Please let it be clear that
if you want a software emu 1073 of the eq only, and a near unity
pre setting that does not represent input drive, and you want
the ability to use tons of other amazing simulations, while powering
them offline from a card, then I strongly recommend the UAD-1
hardware/software as a great tool, reasonably priced, etc. Aside
from that, you really cannot beat what Velinas released for Nebula
in having an ideal 1073-style unit native on your DAW.
Silver73
These presets are the result of a ridiculous amount of testing,
retesting, sampling, studying, and testing once again. This is
a collection of presets from my Chameleon 7602. The cool thing
about this variation on a 1073 is that it is based moreso on the
vintage design rather than the improvements Rupert made in his
own designs over the years, as is what resulted in the reissue
AMS design. The 7602 then takes the design to a new direction
with added Hi Shelf frequencies to choose from. Also worthy of
mention, and truly the thing that inspired me to get this into
a library, is that the Chameleon has a little more SNR than an
original 1073, and a slightly higher output from the eq filters.
So, you get a slightly steeper curve, and nearly 4dB wider frequency
range on the filters. This combination of changes (improvements?)
makes for some interesting observations. Firstly, you cannot compare
the 1073 and the Chameleon at the same settings, either at the
preamp-only stage, or eq. The curves and volume are different
by design, but based on the same qualities. I have found that
using the line input set at one notch hotter on the 7602, with
the output lowered to compensate, then adjusting eq volume by
ear, you get the equivalence that one would expect. But, when
placing these variations on paper, and adding the actual range
of volume, SNR, and boost/cut range, you could have your comparisons
off by as wide a range as 11dB on the pre and 8dB in eq plots.
So, to make a long story short (lol), this is a truly classic
sounding eq and it belongs in this collection. Every setting was
taken with a heavy handed input signal, so this is not your clean,
unity-gain 1073. This is the character-drive 1073 eq with very
clean eq results, but with harmonics always driving the signal.
The "Drive" control has been left on for your experimenting
pleasure, but each preset is optimized to run at spec. You can
increase the drive but I only recommend doing so with the input
slider set to +2dB max. Beyond that, the frequencies no longer
represent the unit's settings. The drive control is removed from
the Low Cut to prevent a user defeating the purpose of cutting
their lows!
Negative attributes?
Nah, I'm pretty cool with having this preset collection on the
computer! It is awesome to give the real unit a rest until recording
next!
I guess if I had to find something negative, it would be that
I would prefer to have a true Vintage 1073, Chandler, and Wunder
all here at the same time: I think it would boost the 7602's ego
to proudly hold it's head high among the crowd.
There are eight carefully designed preamp programs contained in
this collection.
Three of the presets are completely based on the hardware being
sampled. Many dozens of hours of test sampling sessions were done
before arriving at the settings used for these presets. The volumes
and drive settings are optimized to give you a true sense of using
the preamps as an additive part of your signal chain. If you want
to load up a few tracks of Neve-Style channels in your DAW, then
you can do so, and use the input fader of the Nebula as your true
channel fader. If you want to group instruments together with
a touch of polishing and adding harmonics truly found in real
hardware, then place a preamp preset on your group bus!
One of the benefits of these preamps, is that you can integrate
them with the Clean73 eq's and Tape presets to create your own
virtual signal chains.
Here is some basic information on each preset.
Silver73_HiGain!
This preset uses a total of 8 kernels to accurately represent
the 7602 preamp under very specific conditions. The input level
is turned up so that it will react with personality, exposing
the sound of transformers and an extra stage of amplification.
The eq section of the preamp is turned on, and each eq band is
set to an "on" position, with it's respective volumes
set flat. This creates a slightly more unique frequency curve
relationship to the harmonics created, and the interaction of
the two gives you a very dimensional real-time representation
of truly driving the gain of the real device. Essentially, you
get a flat reading around 1kHz, with a 1-3dB steady boost all
the way up to 20kHz, and a very slight cut in the lows all the
way to 30Hz where it begins to drop off all the way down to 10Hz
where there is still signal present. Increased drive gives even
slightly more rise in the high end from 5-20kHz.
If used ahead of bus compression, you get a very aggressive sound
if so desired. Or, if used at lower input and sent to a mastering-style
limiter, you get a very pristine enhancement. This is a great
preset for treating multiple tracks in a mix when absolute flat
response is not your aim. Your dynamic range in regards to THD
is roughly from -113dB to -18dB.
Silver73_Smooth
This is a 10 kernel preset, and is not as cpu friendly. If you
want the feeling of running a complete DAW sessions through a
classic Neve console but cannot spare the RAM, then place this
on a Stero bus, and send each track there one by one, setting
levels to taste for each track. The eq plot is very similar to
the one above, but the input is fed a slightly softer signal to
achieve a more modest every day usage level of the 1073-style
channel. Keep in mind, that this is the reaction of only the channel,
and not a full studio chain like the eq presets.
Vint_API_Type
This is one of my favorite sounding pieces of studio gear that
I have ever owned. Several years back I was in a situation where
I needed to record a live performance, and I was not set up for
on-location stereo work, as everything in my rig was a permanent
studio installation. I found an amazing local contact that rented
an 4 Channel API and two U87AI's. I had three separate shows to
record and the equipment didn't have to be returned until a few
days later, so I became extremely familiar with the API's with
every microphone and instrument combination I own. When later
I was ready to purchase a new microphone preamp for personal recording
use, I was torn between a DAV BG-series, a Millennia HV solid
state design, a Putnam tube design, a John Hardy, or whether my
choices in the API palette would lean towards an OSA, BAE, or
a true API. Well, the bottom line came to the choice of buying
an AP-1 Custom Shop preamp from ADK, and I could'nt be more satisfied
with the decision. I bought my 990C op-amp directly from Mr. Hardy,
and an Avedis 1122 op-amp directly from Avedis (BAE), and decided
to go the route of using a Lundahl input transformer to bring
the most character out of each combination.
The reason I am sharing all of this, is because it only takes
one preset to get the character of this amazing combination into
the Nebula engine. This preset is an 1122 op-amp, based on a vintage
API 312 design. It is extremely quick and clean, but has some
edge in the mids, and the harmonics build up very quickly on your
transients, so the sound remains quick and clean, but with attitude.
If you cannot hear the personality right away, try adding moderate
amounts to some electric guitars and bounce them together. This
preset is awesome on individual drums ahead of compression, with
and without eq before and after. Use it on groups and individual
tracks and even set up templates in your DAW to run it like a
combo API with extended low end in the transformer. I have left
the drive feature available, althought I highly recommend challenging
yourself to use it at -30. This is an intentionally quiet preamp
design, and the op-amp/transformer combination lends you a boost
in extreme lows below 50Hz, and a rise in high end above 10kHz.
Retro-Valve 1
This preset gives you a relatively flat frequency response above
1kHz , with a slight peak from 250Hz to 800Hz, and a slight cut
from 150Hz to 20Hz. The dynamic range compared to harmonics is
well over 110dB at its cleanest setting, and when pushed to the
max there are only about -20dB of clean signal! Even and odd harmonics
are affected by the input level, with an obvious lean towards
the odd harmonics. I used 7 kernels to produce the harmonics in
this preset, and I believe the result is a powerful tube simulating
preset that is far from subtle, but never gets nasty or flabby.
The timing is nice and the effect is recognizable on many different
instruments. You should try it on a snare after eq, before heavy
compression!
Master_Leveler
This is a useful preset for instrument groups, full mixes, and
enhancement to individual tracks. Think of this program as a flexible
tube signal path that can run clean or slightly hyped and pleasantly
distorted, depending on what your need is.
If you want to go clean but add some character and sonic glue
to a bus or mix, then lower the drive and lower the input. The
overall frequency response is a 2.5dB cut from around 50Hz to
250Hz, with a slight rise in the high frequencies, which become
more animated and have more energy the more the signal is driven.
There is a smooth, extended response for transients that is characteristic
of tube-based amplification but it is subtle. Used modestly, it
makes for a great imaginary console if placed on all tracks (RAM
permitting).
33609_Drive
This preset emulates the gain structure of the 33609 Compressor,
without exploiting it's compression characteristics. Use the input
fader to control volume and drive. This is useful to place in
front of your limiter or compressor in bussing situations where
you want your program material to maintin sharp, fast transients,
but gain the appearance of being louder and more dimensional.
The sound remains very tight and punchy, but gets bigger. Distortion
is not audible unless you want it to be, and you can get as low
distortion as -115dB of clean level, or take it all the way up
to nearly all distortion harmonics. This is a 10 kernel program,
and it took a lot of changing, testing, and re-sampling to get
it just right. The magic truly is in the proper setting up of
multiple gain stages to get it just right! If you are looking
for a flexible SSL type bus sound, place this on your bus, followed
by a nice State Of Logic eq from Nebula, and hit your favorite
compressor settings.
Passive_Tubes
Here is a preset that I created to place in several positions
in your setup, depending on what you are looking for. There is
some very clean tube-inspired high end that rounds out your group
tracks very nicely, but this can be beautiful on individual tracks
after eq as well. If you are going for classy, style, smooth,
big sound, then try this as the last in chain on each track, and
use it at your bus as well. The input slider controls the amount
of volume and harmonics. It is set at a best-case setting, but
you can control it youself without too much over-exageration.
Valve_Drive
This preset is pretty clean, but very characteristic of using
a high quality tube-based signal chain where the input has been
passed to a digital device and back into it's analog channel to
bus. The overall frequency response is close to flat, with very
minute changes that reflect the variance that build up as the
chain is used. You can get a lot from a little with this preset.
To get a good feel for it, compare it to the others on the same
material. Use the input to increase drive.
Creating these presets was a labor of love, and they should be
seen as "inspired-by" designs. Consider the compressors
in this collection a bonus to the primary focus of true analog
signal chains. Sending signal chain eq presets to and from some
of these compressor presets, using the input and output fader
levels to vary the sound differences, will give you an amazing
palette of usable, controllable, truly natural, analog feeling
and sounding devices.
To recreate an 1176 software compressor that truly performs at
every setting the way the original does, it would require sampling
in more dimensions and with more settings than I think makes sense
for the purposes of this collection. I rather wanted to focus
on absolute quality over variety. There are so many settings on
an 1176 that make it sought after, but in my opinion there is
at least one device out there for every scenario that can do as
good a job or better. With choices from DBX, TLAudio, (Yakuzi),
FMR, Joe Meek, Emperical Labs, TubeTech, Thermionic Culture, etc.,
there are so many flavors of "classic" compression to
choose from.
Helpful Tips:
If you try various settings that you like which require changing
the attack and release settings that originally load with the
preset, I strongly recommend saving the changes as a new preset
with a new recognizable name. It is extremely challenging to create
the best starting-point combination of attack and release, and
the timing range labeled on the sliders do not reflect the actual
ranges on the samples taken. So, make sure that if you make a
new setting, that you do not save it over the original preset!
Also, no one single outboard device or software device was used
to create these presets. They are not sampled directly from any
single plug-in, and the correllation of reaction to volume and
transients are unique to the presets themselves, but have been
arrived at in order to be useful in the same manner as the names
would suggest. In many cases, I was more pleased at the new results
than I thought I would be, and the reaction from low to high input
gain is much more of an analog-feel than I could have hoped for.
So, when choosing the right settings, really try to imagine the
ideal sound you are after, and it is probably in there somewhere!
76_Drum_Slam1, 2, 3
These presets are closely related to each other, and as the names
suggest, are intended to give a nice range of uses primarily for
individual drums, and any situation that might call for parallel
compression. You can load up the original track or group tracks,
and copy them to a second track(s) with these presets and mix
them to taste. Threshold and ratio controls are not present, but
many characteristics of compressing harder and with varying ratios
can be achieved by raising and lowering the input fader. My goal
here is to make everything flow as if it is in a signal chain
or patched in position.
76_AllButtons_+
This preset gives you some of the benefits of using an 1176 in
"All Buttons In" mode, where the unit is sent into a
sort of overkill mode. You can pull back on the amount of signal
being compressed on the original unit when in this mode, and my
goal here was to provide a sort of 30% blend sound to the soft,
fuzzy, squashed room drum effect that the original displays. The
end result provides an awesome "WACK" snare quality,
and can easily be mixed with the original drums.
Bright_Fairchild
This is a personality eq-compressor signal chain to be used anywhere
that you are looking for something unique, needing something extreme,
or want to bring some life into the upper mids to blend in with
the original tracks. I wanted to include some qualities of the
Fairchild's pleasant moodiness, but I also felt that my sampling
capabilities in this area were best lent to creating a preset
that was more of an effect than a fine quality Fairchild emulation.
I do believe that the attack and resolve presented here is a great
example of the Fairchild sound, but it is preceded by a complimentary
eq setting that gives as much percussive edge to the signal before
compression, as could still be considered authentic in response.
Give this a try on snare, kick, percussive instruments with fast
transients, and blending with the original ahead of a limiter.
Spirit_Of_76_A
This preset provides a range of the 1176 sound from crisp to pleasantly
fuzzy. Much like the others, it is a personality compressor, and
can work for bus group and individual tracks, and may be ideal
for parallel compression in the right situation. I would say that
this preset represents a combination of the light pumping effect
of the 1176 along with the pleasantly hazy, almost fizzy sound
that can be useful for overheads and room sounds when needed,
but there is smoother attack and more linear response than the
actual unit, and no distortion is being measured. I think it will
find a great many uses in your mixing adventures!
Neve_HiGain_Comp
This preset is loosely based upon a 33609 within a signal chain
where the frequency characteristics model that of a 1272 line
amp feeding the comp at a 3:1 ratio and a 100 ms recovery time,
returning back into a channel to bus and out to two track. No
distortion characteristics are included, and the main emphasis
of the success of this preset is in the mid-range grab this provides,
bringing elements together while leaving the upper frequencies
and bass frequencies open to other processing from the original
track while giving a nice 'glue' to the mids, with varying control
available via the input slider. You are free to create settings
of your own by changing the attack and release settings, but make
sure you do not save over the original, as the entire basis of
the preset relies on the input/output timing factor to align with
the frequencies sampled, and adjustments will change not only
speed of impact on the audio path, but drastic eq and phase changes
that may not be what you are after.
Tube_Drum_Comp
The final preset in the compressor section of this library depicts
a scenario where a channel on a vintage valve desk is driven into
moderate distortion at the input, and passed onto an all tube
leveler/limiter. There is a smooth frequency scoop from roughly
150Hz up to 18kHz which is used in conjunction with the rate of
increase in responding to the input signal with compressing, similar
to how a passive eq would respond when being re-amplified by a
tube gain stage. Instead of accentuating the highs and lows, as
this chain is created to do for the drum bus in this scenario,
the passive version responds to the original low and high signals
at their clean, unaffected levels, while the amplifying valve
leaves the reduced eq curve alone and brings the extreme frequencies
back up to a virtual zero. This provides for a simulated limiting
and drive that is based on the devices used moreso than the instruments'
levels, which gives a very broad and natural effect that I think
is unique to most 'vintage' compressor plug-ins, and yet is fairly
simple in that it only reflects eq and dynamics without distortion,
which is your choice whether to add with another preset! If so,
I highly recommend the Retro_Valve_ 1 or Passive_Tubes presets
for driving the signal!
In harmony with the inspiration of the rest of the library, these
two presets are here to offer you some 'mix and match' flexibility
to use in combination with other presets or with your favorite
'go-to' plug-ins. These are not just simplified tape emulations
or samples from tape devices, but comprise the signal chain with
a focus on the interaction of the colored sound of tape frequencies,
harmonic balance, fluctuation of response based on transient impact
and overall changes in volume, and then the passing of that response
on to the rest of the signal chain, in combination with the original
signal being optimized by high quality tube preamplification channels.
You have the input of a channel out to tape, back to channel,
sent to bus, and out to two-track tape.
Group_Bus
This preset is not extremely heavy-handed, and can be used with
lowered input settings for crucial recorded channels and group
instruments, and can be driven fairly heavy with hotter input
levels with decreased output to compensate, if you are looking
to wake up the harmonics and glue things together more. The input
chain is based on a very high quality tube console, and there
is a lot of harmonic activity in the high end as your input levels
are increased, slightly balanced out by very minimal loss from
the two tape passes in the chain. The drive setting is available
for your use so that you can drive the input signal harder at
a lower volume, but is not recommended for taking things over
the edge, as the reaction slope is far too exagerrated, but hey,
you might find this effect useful (just not for any stable accuracy
by all means!). The harmonic balance is affected by the tube's
drive settings, and then both even and odd harmonics from the
tape signals react in addition to this. You can get some wonderful
individual instrument results with this interaction, so experiment
and do what sounds the best for the mix.
Channel_Tape_Low
This is a similar signal chain with less of an effect in the activity
and energy in the upper frequencies. You should try individual
instruments or vocals with this adn also try reducing and increasing
drive at low settings. Simply increasing the input volume and
reducing the drive gives you a very nice compensation for trying
to hit your tube-based console channel at unity, then essentially
unity at tape out, unity at channel return, and unity at bus and
tape out. The build-up of harmonics is optimized at each stage,
so levels aren't out of control, but you can easily take them
too far if pushing the signals in this manner.
Here is a range to consider:
With drive set to -30dB, input set to -3dB and output set to +3dB,
you are essentially getting a nearly flat frequency response with
subtle harmonic content.
With your input set to +3dB and output set to -3dB and drive at
0dB, you now have some balancing fluctuation in the lows and low
mids, and some increased energy around 3-5kHz, and a great deal
of harmonic distortion without going crazy. Even at higher settings,
the sound remains very true to the signal chain, as the timing
is very well orchestrated to give just the right bump in signal
to coincide with the type of distortion you get, so things don't
get jumbled, flabby, or cheap sounding even when pushed harder
than recommended.
Preset
Categories
RAE: Retro Analog Equalizers
RAC: Retro Analog Compressors
RAP: Retro Analog Preamps
RAT: Retro Analog Tape
Preset
List
Retro_02_High
Retro_02_Mid
RetroStudioLowEQ
RetroStudioLoCut
RetroHi_LoBoost
RetroConsoleEQ1
1073Clean
Silver73
Silver73_HiGain!
Silver73_Smooth
Vint_API_Type
Retro-Valve 1
Master_Leveler
33609_Drive
Passive_Tubes
Valve_Drive
76_Drum_Slam1, 2, 3
76_AllButtons_+
Bright_Fairchild
Spirit_Of_76_A
Neve_HiGain_Comp
Tube_Drum_Comp
Group_Bus
Channel_Tape_Low
I truly hope that this collection makes an awesome addition to your enjoyment of Nebula.
Thanks and God Bless You.
Sincerely,
Michael Angel
CDSoundMaster.com