Shattered Glass Audio's Code Red Free

[insub]

What are your thoughts on this new free british EQ tube console emulation VST/AU effect?

[hamish]

I just downloaded it. I have been having a lot of fun with their 'Ace' guitar ampsim, I imagine this will be just as good.

You should add it to the 'good free plugins' thread too. http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=563

[sostenuto]

Great to add and enjoy with many Nebula 3 emulations. Thanks much for sharing this!

[insub]

You're welcome.

I put this on a banjo track and noticed that this effect will also do some serious peak limiting with fairly heavy distortion, so if you don't want that you'll need to crush down those peaks before they get to Code Red Free.

[Retro Audio Enthusiast]

VST3 version 64-bit causes runtime error crash in Reaper, but the VST 2 version runs fine.
It's a nice piece of work and it's got the retro sound. The tube warming sounds authentic.
I think it's a keeper.

[sostenuto]

++ just tried VST3 same issue. VST2 fine.

[Dr Bob]

The VST3 32-bit also crashes Reaper 5.0 with a C++ runtime error.

The 32-bit VST2 is just fine.

dB

[kirk1701]

I'm definitely interested, but only in the 64-bit version. If it's crashing Reaper 5.0, that's a problem for me. *edit I just saw it was only the VST3 that was crashing. No problem.

[hamish]

Got the same VST 3 problem reported by others.

About the uses of this thing, what got me was this

Easily recognized overdriven sound of the Beatles' Revolution was created by chaining two preamps from this console.

Now I've found that guitar tone on 'Revolution' pretty incredible, so I had a quick mess around, chanined 2x code red, but I'm reporting that so far I haven't got 'that' tone, and I'm going to have to go back to the source.

I think it's probably the guitar (what was that? a rickenbacker?), then the chained channel strips, then a good dose of tape saturation. I'm not so confident that I'm going to get it digtally.

[b0b0]

The unit featured on the page doesn't have a donate button on the gui but the VST does, does the button and the "free" disappear if you donate?
I've only tried it briefly on a kick, not bad.

[insub]

Donating does not make the button go away. The devs said they would consider making it less obnoxious, but there are no plans for it to go away. However, they said anyone who donates more than a token amount could get a free upgrade to the paid edition if there ever is one. That's dependent upon if enough donations are made total to afford further development. More than a token amount is probably $30 or more.

[kirk1701]

I really like this plugin. Is it as good as the Waves REDD? Probably not, but it's damned close. It doesn't quite have the functionality of the Waves REDD, but it's as good as anything Bootsy makes. The tone is very early Beatles up to about Revolver. The REDD consoles were constantly updated throughout the sixties, so any plugin is going to be an overview or homage. I understand the Waves REDD is based on two specific consoles, neither of which can be tied directly to any of the Beatles' sessions. Tube gear is notoriously subjective. No two units are alike. That's the beauty and frustration of the technology.

However, I was eager to try this on my own mixes. As you guys know, I've been experimenting with recreating records in Reaper. I remixed "All My Loving" completely in mono, as it would've been at Abbey Road. I have only one Rokit 5 G2, so I set Reaper's output to mono and went to town.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kexa1ra4jx...0mono.mp3?dl=0

Compare to this:

https://youtu.be/9nr2AopiNBM

Again, this is a completely mono mix. I think it's as close as I can come at this point. Remember that all Beatle records were mastered on REDD mastering desks as well, so that sound will be missing from any mixing plugin. If someone were to make a plugin of an EMI mastering desk, that'd complete the Abbey Road experience.

[b0b0]

Originally Posted by insub

Donating does not make the button go away. The devs said they would consider making it less obnoxious, but there are no plans for it to go away. However, they said anyone who donates more than a token amount could get a free upgrade to the paid edition if there ever is one. That's dependent upon if enough donations are made total to afford further development. More than a token amount is probably $30 or more.

That sucks.

[tweezer]

I've been trying to download this Code Red for four days. Every time I get a "Size mismatch" error between 50% of the download and 62%. I've tried on a Win 7 64 bit using Firefox (with and without DownThemAll), Internet Explorer and Opera, on a Win 7 32 bit laptop using Firefox and Internet Explorer and an old XP laptop with just internet Explorer, and every time I get the same error. On the XP laptop it seemed to download it but when I tried to install it said the file was corrupt. When I checked I only had about 75% of the 4.4Mb download
So, how did you guys get it so easily?

[sostenuto]

Originally Posted by kirk1701

I really like this plugin. Is it as good as the Waves REDD? Probably not, but it's damned close. It doesn't quite have the functionality of the Waves REDD, but it's as good as anything Bootsy makes. The tone is very early Beatles up to about Revolver. The REDD consoles were constantly updated throughout the sixties, so any plugin is going to be an overview or homage. I understand the Waves REDD is based on two specific consoles, neither of which can be tied directly to any of the Beatles' sessions. Tube gear is notoriously subjective. No two units are alike. That's the beauty and frustration of the technology.
................
Remember that all Beatle records were mastered on REDD mastering desks as well, so that sound will be missing from any mixing plugin. If someone were to make a plugin of an EMI mastering desk, that'd complete the Abbey Road experience.

Brief listen, but need to have a more controlled environment (later, for sure). Have you been able to compare Waves REDD Demo VST to Code Red? I'm really pleased to now have Code Red and hopefully compare a bit myself. I also wonder if any Nebula 3 Console emulations get close? Hope you do some remastering with Pink Floyd. My favs in that era.

OT, but ... in your research, are ATH M50 so close to M50x that they are a solid choice fpr home studio mixing/monitoring?
Regards,

[Retro Audio Enthusiast]

I've lived with Waves REDD for some time and I've been using the Code Red Free since its release so here are my overall impressions.

First, comparing the two, in my opinion, Waves REDD has a cleaner sound while the Code Red sounds more organic.

If you use it in layers (use one on each submix channel and one on the master bus) you'll see what I mean. It has an aggregate effect over the entire mix that sounds authentically retro and analogue.

I've found the optimum way to use it is to adjust the input gain (ignore the output faders for now), until the loudest parts of the track are just slightly being saturated (not distorting though). You can push it a bit to be more trashy, but the difference will be between sounding like a typical 60's recording or modern retro-trashy rock or The Kinks turned up to '11'.

Increasing the output faders 'into the red' will start to smooth and compress the signal very naturally.
I used the 'judge with your ears and not your eyes' test here, and found that I could push the output all the way up and it was still pleasing, with no distortion or artifacts. If you push it to the maximum it will squash your output flat, but you can back off until just enough movement gets through. The effect is very pleasing and you can smooth over any track with natural tube compression this way.

As I mentioned, the aggregate effect of Code Red on several submix channels will give an authentic sound to the entire song. You won't get that period-retro sound by just placing a single instance of Code Red on the master bus, but then again, not everyone will want their music to sound like it was recorded in 1965. A single instance on selected tracks in a mix will do something nice (especially drums and electric guitars) and even just placing one instance of it on the master bus will un-digitalise things.

Another point of authenticity is that if your audio parts have spikes, it can push the Code Red's sensitive input into sudden distorted transient spikes. While this is a bad thing, it is also highly realistic, and reflects the great detail with which Shattered Glass Audio have gone to to recreate this circuit. In the early days, sudden spikes could overload the sensitive desks unpleasantly. This was the exact reason that compressors were used in the studio.
Electric guitars were particularly bad to record for this reason, and the heavy-compressed sounds of the 60's were initially as a result of necessity to avoid those sudden overloads. Placing a compressor before the Code Red solves this problem as it did 'back in the day'.

The EQ section is authentic and pleasing. This is not surgical EQ but old-school tone control, although it is very musical. Old-school tone control assumes that you recorded the source properly, and it will not fix or flatter poorly-recorded audio.

A minor gripe is that by default the mode is in unlinked stereo (ST). Activating linked stereo (LS) mode every time is a niggle. With the Waves REDD, linked stereo is on by default and is more practical.

Overall: I like it and it's a keeper.

All the best,
Ret

[sostenuto]

Unusually detailed and useful review. Having these comparisons is excellent for those who have only Code Red. Will being trying shortly as advised.

Many thanks!

[rcl]

So far i have been unable to get this to work. Vst3 crashes v5 64 and vst2 is not recognized after rescan. Any ideas from the gallery.

[b0b0]

Originally Posted by rcl

So far i have been unable to get this to work. Vst3 crashes v5 64 and vst2 is not recognized after rescan. Any ideas from the gallery.

Uninstall and install the VST2 only from the install options.

I've had it in standalone (savihost) today with a Les Paul and Boss CS2. Very nice. Speaking of which, you guitar guys got to try some of your plugs like this. Amp Sims like Emissary and Ace and VST's like vlad's Nova. Multiband Hell - I love it on guitar, Klanghelm MJUCjr, etc etc. The only plugin I found which doesn't work surprisingly is Distorque's Facebender. Their RangeBastard and Orange Squeeze work fine as do all other VST's I've tried. Even the Eventide Ultra Channel works standalone, the 80's guitar fuzz channel is awesome. Molot on your desktop how cool!

[rcl]

Originally Posted by b0b0

Uninstall and install the VST2 only from the install options.

!

Yeah tried that. Thanks for the quick reply, ill keep foolin with it

[sostenuto]

Dunno. Let VST2 and VST3 install normally with VST2 in C:\ folder outside Program Files where I'm now placing more .dll. VST3 crashes here too, but VST2 is fine.

Good luck.

[Serenitynow]

What's the main advantage of VST3's anyway compared to VST2?

[Retro Audio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by Serenitynow

What's the main advantage of VST3's anyway compared to VST2?

https://www.steinberg.net/en/company...gies/vst3.html

[insub]

Thank you Retro for that very informative review and comparison. Your tips on usage are profoundly more helpful than the Code Red Free webpage or user manual! I was surprised by the amount of compression you could do with this plugin, tbh.

Originally Posted by Retro Audio Enthusiast

A minor gripe is that by default the mode is in unlinked stereo (ST). Activating linked stereo (LS) mode every time is a niggle. With the Waves REDD, linked stereo is on by default and is more practical.

I thought this a little strange myself.

[bladerunner]

I've just been trying out this plugin. It's definitely on the better end of saturation plugins. It does yield a thicker/denser sound that feels fairly natural. It doesn't particularly open the 3d image but it certainly does a better job than most I've heard (some flatten it even further!). A great freebie.

[Kiwiburger]

Having problems installing all Shattered Glass Audio plugins, which is a bother because they are brilliant. I'm getting an error message when I scan my 64 bit vst folder (outside program folder) after install. Ace worked well on my old 32bit XP machine, but no go on new win 7 64. My new machine is not connected to the internet. Are java or any of those 3rd party OS helpers required to run this VST?

[kirk1701]

Originally Posted by sostenuto

Brief listen, but need to have a more controlled environment (later, for sure). Have you been able to compare Waves REDD Demo VST to Code Red? I'm really pleased to now have Code Red and hopefully compare a bit myself. I also wonder if any Nebula 3 Console emulations get close? Hope you do some remastering with Pink Floyd. My favs in that era.

OT, but ... in your research, are ATH M50 so close to M50x that they are a solid choice fpr home studio mixing/monitoring?
Regards,

I have no experience with any Nebula stuff. I can imagine you'd be happier with the TG12345 or any of the TG emus out there if you prefer Pink Floyd. The REDD emus don't have the EQ range or headroom the TGs do. I do believe there are TG-style Nebula plugins available.

I think any high-end headphone will do as well as the next. But in my research, an open-backed design will be better suited for mixing. It doesn't replace proper reference monitors, though.

[beingmf]

Hm.
Hm hm hm.

After reading this thread I tried it - and I'm definitely not hearing what you others are hearing. The EQ section is terrible IMO and the distortion sounds like ... vanilla "virtual analogue" distortion. If I want crunchy saturation, I'll use Klanghelm's SDRR, some JS effects or hardware, but this was one of those "can I please get back these 5 minutes of my life" experiences

[insub]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

Having problems installing all Shattered Glass Audio plugins, which is a bother because they are brilliant. I'm getting an error message when I scan my 64 bit vst folder (outside program folder) after install. Ace worked well on my old 32bit XP machine, but no go on new win 7 64. My new machine is not connected to the internet. Are java or any of those 3rd party OS helpers required to run this VST?

Nothing is noted of other required software on their website. I didn't have any trouble installing this plugin. I tried the 64 bit.

What exactly is the error message you get?

[bluzkat]

Originally Posted by sostenuto

OT, but ... in your research, are ATH M50 so close to M50x that they are a solid choice fpr home studio mixing/monitoring?

I believe the only difference is the detachable cable and it comes with a straight and coiled cord.

I think these are very nice, good value for the money. I used them for mixing for quite a while before I got my monitors. Still use them for tracking (I live in an apartment).

I would give them a big thumbs up!

[Tommy V]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

Having problems installing all Shattered Glass Audio plugins, which is a bother because they are brilliant. I'm getting an error message when I scan my 64 bit vst folder (outside program folder) after install. Ace worked well on my old 32bit XP machine, but no go on new win 7 64. My new machine is not connected to the internet. Are java or any of those 3rd party OS helpers required to run this VST?

I had the same problem with SGA plugs, --- Reaper would hang on scanning SGA and then blacklist it. The solution, as suggested by SGA for Win7/64, is to update the Win7 OS.

The KVR thread regarding this issue is here:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewto...rt=45#p5911730

My machine is an audio dedicated Sweetwater Creation Station which rarely sees internet connect, and then when it does it's only for plugin related downloads and licensing (XLN, UAD, etc.), so I was a bit hesitant to update the Win7 OS of a perfectly working audio machine with all that MS 'security update' nonsense which might wreck some crucial setting from the original Sweetwater installation. However, doing so did get the SGA plugs loading and working. And boy are they worth it !!! Haven't yet worked with Code Red much, but SGA1566 is an awesome sounding analog emulation which I'd put on every track if it weren't so CPU greedy .... there are some workabouts for that, but that topic is for another thread at another time.


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