Ii. t – Slate Digital The Virtual Console Collection User Manual

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Slate  Digital  Virtual  Console  Collection  

In   order   to   precisely   reproduce   the   dynamic   nonlinear   characteristics   of   the   analog  

desks,  Slate  Digital  CTO  Fabrice  Gabriel  has  developed  innovative  new  analog  modeling  

techniques  that  combine  circuit  path  modeling  with  actual  hardware  response  testing.  
The  result  is  a  digital  plugin  that  recreates  the  analog  properties  of  the  consoles  in  an  

extremely  realistic  fashion.  

ANALOG  

VS

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DIGITAL  MIXING  

Despite  the  digital  revolution  in  the  pro  audio  industry,  many  of  today’s  top  albums  are  

still  mixed  on  analog  consoles.  When  we  asked  some  of  the  world’s  top  mixers  why  they  

still  preferred  to  mix  into  an  analog  console  rather  than  have  the  ease  of  digital  mixing,  

the  responses  we  received  were  universal.  
“Mixing  into  an  analog  desk  just  sounds  better.  Everything  sits  better  in  the  mix,  there  is  

more   weight   to   the   bottom,   and   the   overall   sound   is   more   three   dimensional,”   says  

Grammy  award  winning  producer  and  mixer  Jay  Baumgardner.  
After   hearing   this   same   answer   from   so   many   mixers,   our   first   assumption   was   that  

there   must   be   something   “wrong”   with   the   summing   of   a   digital   mixer.   So,   we   built  

several  digital  mixers  so  that  we  could  test  them.  We  also  ran  some  tests  through  analog  

consoles  in  order  to  test  hardware  summing.      
The  result  was  surprising.  What  we  found  was  that  there  was  absolutely  nothing  wrong  

with  digital  summing.  In  fact,  it  was  fairly  straightforward  math.  The  problem  was  in  the  

analog   summing.   In   all   cases   of   analog   summing,   we   noticed   that   the   analog   circuits  

imparted  nonlinear  artifacts  to  the  audio  such  as  harmonic  distortion,  noise,  crosstalk,  

and   component   saturation.   However,   we   soon   realized   that   these   nonlinear   artifacts  
produced  a  sound  that  was  sonically  pleasing.  
The  Virtual  Console  Collection  plugins  recreate  these  analog  nonlinearities,  giving  your  

DAW   the   classic   “vibe”   of   the   real   desks.   You   may   notice   that   when   using   the   Virtual  

Console   Collection,   your   mixes   take   on   a   subtle   enhancement   in   punch,   glue,   and  

dimension.  
 
 
 
 
 

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The   Slate   Digital   Virtual   Console   Collection   reproduces   the   sound   of   classic   recording  

consoles  using  a  dual  plugin  package,  consisting  of  the  Virtual  Channel  and  the  Virtual  

Mixbuss.    Each  plugin  allows  you  to  choose  from  five  modeled  consoles.  

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