Slate Digital VMR is out!

  • I've got all the Slate plugins. After release, purchased VMR, too. These plugins are incredibly sound beautiful and with these I don't need to go UAD way. BTW AirEQ is still my fav. Q.

    Sound Engineer, Musician, Animal Rights Activist.


    Fender '89 Clapton Strat, EMG DG20, KPA, Martin, SSL, Neve, Manley, Tube-Tech, Millennia, API, Lynx, RME, Avid, Apple, Adam...

  • I've got most of Slate's other products and am currently using Revival (great!) on a project now. As to the rest of the VMR plugs, do I really need another EQ / compressor / etc? My cup runneth over. I suspect the Rack is going to be a way to lock users into a proprietary plugin packaging much the way that Cakewalk does with its ProChannel plugs. We'll be seeing 3rd party plugins to fit this architecture real soon now, if rumor is correct.

  • I've got most of Slate's other products and am currently using Revival (great!) on a project now. As to the rest of the VMR plugs, do I really need another EQ / compressor / etc? My cup runneth over. I suspect the Rack is going to be a way to lock users into a proprietary plugin packaging much the way that Cakewalk does with its ProChannel plugs. We'll be seeing 3rd party plugins to fit this architecture real soon now, if rumor is correct.


    I am afraid of the "locking" politic too, but I hope they make a send/return module that allows inserting 3rd party plugins as well. I love the workflow by I really think I wouldn't want to be locked with their plugins only, as excellent as they are sometimes you need some less analog sounding tool.

  • The compressors are nice and probably the main reason to get this right now, but it's not amazing me.


    I am working with AirEQ and Eventide UltraReverb and as a combo they are doing amazing things to my tracks when I need them.


    I've not seen anything in this that I can't already do with Waves. Although it is much cheaper. Maybe that's the catch.

  • He is calles Steven not Steve...but i also didnt find a wikipedia.
    But yes he is a L.A. engineer that first came up with some drum samples with so much success he started Steven Slate Drums...the other Plugins followed later when he did met Fabriece Gabriel.
    Fabriece is the main brain behind Slate Digital plugins

  • He is calles Steven not Steve...but i also didnt find a wikipedia.
    But yes he is a L.A. engineer that first came up with some drum samples with so much success he started Steven Slate Drums...the other Plugins followed later when he did met Fabriece Gabriel.
    Fabriece is the main brain behind Slate Digital plugins



    At least behind the emulations of analogue gear.

  • My review:


    The more I play with these the more I like them. I did't much at first, but then I took a song back to scratch tracks and worked them up and I could immediately see how good these were. Went to my friends house (who has the Waves plugins that I don't) to compare the ones that closely match the Slate plugins and these are my impressions using the MONO plugins on Acoustic, Bass and Vocal tracks and comparing side by side, tweaking for similar effects:


    Slate FG-401 > Waves SSLG: Slate's sounds much better, did a great job on this one.
    Slate FG-116 = Waves CLA-76: These are equal to each other. 1176's are common. I remember my UA being better than both of these.
    Slate FG-S >= Waves SSLEQ: Very similar, but Slates Presets are usable, Waves are not. Great for the quick mix.
    Slate FG-N >= Waves VEQ3: Both very good, but Slates is able to achieve a Presences and Fullness at the same time I could not get in the FG-N which can do either as well, but not at the same time. The Slate also seemed more, how do I say it, musical?


    Waves:
    - A few plugins are cheap (VEQ3 is like $29 and the CLA-76 set is in the low $100's) but Waves SSL set is about $390 right now. ouch.
    - Good quality, poor presets. You have to work them to get good results (have to really know what you are doing)
    - Unable on one plugin to be as musical, on another to get that upper presence and lower fullness at the same time.
    - Long history in the industry for this Israeli company so I expect they will be around to support these plugins for a long time.
    - Customer Supports costs money (like Avid) which I don't care for.


    UA:
    - Not Cheap At All
    - Great Quality
    - You are tied to Hardware, so not as versatile as a Dongle if you move between computers.
    - I have personally found them to support hardware for a few years,then move on, creating new plugins for the new hardware. While they allow you to sell the old plugins, you lose Equity because they lower the price as they create new ones, and eventually the old ones become obsolete. I DO NOT LIKE this model one bit, which is why I sold them.
    - Customer Support not to my liking. This American company started out with great customer support, but has gotten worse as they have grown.


    I was seriously NOT going to buy this plugin set, but...
    - Quality is similar to Competitors, Price is WAY lower
    - Speedy Quick Mixes with great presets
    - Low CPU usage
    - I called Customer Support on another plugin and they weren't able to help me. Small company I suppose. But they were nice about it.
    - Future Expandability with newer modules.


    So now I am going to buy it after all.


    (this said, it's always best to judge these things by your own ears, as my tastes in hearing is by no means universal)

  • Another big plus for Slate is that they (up to now, at least) provide updates for free! VCC 2.0 (with VMR compatibilty) should be here really soon, by the way, so you'll be able to have an authentic-sounding, full, analogue channel strip in the one plugin. Delicious!


    Cheers,
    Sam


  • Thanks for for the great review. I love slate stuff, but being on a TDM system myself I stick to waves and McDSP. I've held off on VMR just because I feel I'm not using the full potential of my system if I just use RTAS or AAX plugins and I love tracking through plugins. I know VMR has zero latency but I'm not sure how things would hold up if you needed to punch in on a mixed song

  • Interesting stuff but I'll stay with my UAD satellite for now.
    Once you've invested in a proprietary system it's hard to go back.


    That is sensible, as my memory of UAD (and the stuff I've recorded) has the upper hand on digital replication.
    For those without the pertinent Waves or UAD, this covers similar sonic capability for a fraction of the cost.
    If I owned the SSL and CLA plugins, I wouldn't see the need for this set as well unless I was working on an older computer.

  • Bought VMR about a week ago, soundwise , the Eq's sound better than any waves EQ or any other Co I've tried, and i've tried all the best Eq plugins out there.


    the high end , the mids , the lows.
    Once you mix with them that is when you realize how good these are, and I 'd try others side by side and they just blow them away ....just listening to demos doesn't cut it


    the comps are great too

  • I really wish I had the money to buy plugins. I know they can make a great impact on recordings. But I always feel I'm not getting the most out of the free plugins that come bundled with my software.


    So my question is, what's the compelling reason for many of you guys to buy new plugins? Much better than the bundled stuff, with more features? Is it stuff you can't find in most DAWs anyway? Did you attain a level of proficiency before buying, or is it something that comes with acquiring such plugins?

  • I recommend using your stock plugins until you reach a point where you feel your mixes can't get any better with the tools at your disposal, or where you feel you could benefit from different flavours or colours. Both of these stages of course come after you understand what the plugins do and how and when to use them. The mistake that a lot of inexperienced users make or have made, myself included, is slapping plugins on a track just because 'the pros do it that way', not necessarily because the track needs them. If you're still not sure how and when to use compression or EQ etc., I highly recommend reading this
    It should be mandatory for anyone starting out mixing or thinking of making a home/small studio. I've linked to this in another thread, but I'm not affiliated with anyone connected with the book; I just think it's absolutely fantastically well written, very beneficial and easy to understand for novices and more experienced folks alike.


    Cheers,
    Sam