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Old 07-07-2014, 09:55 PM   #1
Garrick
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Default pssst, come in here, we talk about nebula. don't tell the mods

Bout time we had another nebula thread.

What's the latest and the greatest?

I'm really digging Alex bs flagship dynamics demo and will buy as soon as I can. I got the creamy compressor which is effen stunning

I'm going to to do a bit of recording tonight so I probably should start a thread but oh well

So there's cupwise, petherick, Alex b, Henry olonga, aitb, cdsm and Gemini. What other movers and shakers are there in the nebula world?

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Old 07-08-2014, 12:45 AM   #2
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Coolest title ever
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Old 07-08-2014, 12:58 AM   #3
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I installed Nebula Free to see what the fuzz was about,
mainly for mastering mojo.

Very user-unfriendly install,
but good help by mods on forum.

Tried some tape-emus but couldn't hear a thing.
The only preset that had any appeal to me was a high-band-eq. Sounded good might use it.
So, the demo should give me a good clue about the product, right?
Well, I don't think I'll buy.

m2c
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Old 07-08-2014, 02:15 AM   #4
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Don't forget about signaltonoize!
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Old 07-08-2014, 02:18 AM   #5
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yes I hear you gsun, the gui and the entire experience is really bad, and their forum is just as un-intuitive.

until you reach the sound.

I'm still a baby in nebulaville but whoever the guy is, he is one evil genius. One thing I have learnt is to pay attention to the levels going into the plugin, plus get some of the latest programs.

I have never been a big geek about sound quality, my experience of recording started in the 90s on a simple tascam 4 track and that is as sophisticated as it got. I missed that four track.

Until this creamy 660 emulation.
http://www.cupwise.com/cup/nebula-re...ressorlimiter/

and this http://www.alessandroboschi.eu/html/...p_dynamics.htm
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Old 07-08-2014, 02:22 AM   #6
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Don't forget about signaltonoize!
thank you, I knew there would be something that I missed
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Old 07-08-2014, 02:30 AM   #7
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Coolest title ever
Cheers alberto
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Old 07-08-2014, 07:27 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
I installed Nebula Free to see what the fuzz was about,
mainly for mastering mojo.

Very user-unfriendly install,
but good help by mods on forum.

Tried some tape-emus but couldn't hear a thing.
The only preset that had any appeal to me was a high-band-eq. Sounded good might use it.
So, the demo should give me a good clue about the product, right?
Well, I don't think I'll buy.

m2c
ummm actually IMO the pre's that come with the free version, which is intended really to let you see if it will run on your computer, do not give one a great sense of what is possible...

It really is the third part lib's that make Neb something special to use...
Then again, it may not matter to you...
User unfriendly... ummm somewhat... until you get used to its ways and means, and then it's not so bad.
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Old 07-08-2014, 08:16 AM   #9
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I use Nebula extensively. So much that I now help test for most of the devs and still purchase most of what I test (I support the technology that much). I am slowly eliminating many of my "algo" plugins now. User-unfriendly? have you ever worked with hardware? lol. I have adapted my work-flow and love using Nebula. Any small issues I have are superseded by what my ears tell me is good. And this IS audio, it's all about the sound for me.
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Old 07-08-2014, 08:23 AM   #10
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don't listen to richie... he will only lead you further and further down the Nebula rabbit hole and before you know it you'll find yerself lost in the tunnels and twists and turns... you'll be doing things like buying Nebula Setups and way too many third party presets... using various skins, making many FX Chains of various Nebula Presets, ... on and on....

...stop NOW while you still can!!!!!
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Old 07-08-2014, 09:35 AM   #11
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don't listen to richie... he will only lead you further and further down the Nebula rabbit hole and before you know it you'll find yerself lost in the tunnels and twists and turns... you'll be doing things like buying Nebula Setups and way too many third party presets... using various skins, making many FX Chains of various Nebula Presets, ... on and on....

...stop NOW while you still can!!!!!
And you'll instead listen to a guy named hoppy??
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Old 07-08-2014, 10:14 AM   #12
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I mainly use signaltonoze "Dolby trick" (nrA) library on drums. And I love what it does to sound. I have some third party libraries, but frankly, I rarely use them. I prefer to equalize using algo plugins with some spectrometer overlay (like tranquilizer from A.O.M) than Nebula.

I just really can't stand slow workflow (many Nebula instances needed to have one 4 band EQ) and latency that increases with every instance. I think that this technology has the future but now it is pretty useless to me. Maybe I should give it a second chance
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Old 07-08-2014, 10:44 AM   #13
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I mainly use signaltonoze "Dolby trick" (nrA) library on drums. And I love what it does to sound. I have some third party libraries, but frankly, I rarely use them. I prefer to equalize using algo plugins with some spectrometer overlay (like tranquilizer from A.O.M) than Nebula.

I just really can't stand slow workflow (many Nebula instances needed to have one 4 band EQ) and latency that increases with every instance. I think that this technology has the future but now it is pretty useless to me. Maybe I should give it a second chance
There is something for everyone, and Nebula is certainly not for everyone. Yes, the workflow is slower, and everything you stated as your gripes is valid. But my ears tell me the result is far better than anything an A.O.M Tranquilizer (or similar) can deliver. If your current algo tools help make your music the way you need it to sound, more power to you. But I like my results with nebula far too much to go back to my pre-Nebula work. I have even re-thought my client work to reflect my self-imposed work-flow (I charge per-project, not per-hour....)
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Old 07-08-2014, 11:12 AM   #14
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Ok, may I send my next mastering-file to one of you,
just for the console what-ever mojo?
And then I hopefully can get an impression of what Nebual is about?
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Old 07-08-2014, 12:01 PM   #15
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Ok, may I send my next mastering-file to one of you,
just for the console what-ever mojo?
And then I hopefully can get an impression of what Nebual is about?
You can absolutely send it to me. PM or email me a direct link to an upload. Do you have any console in mind (I have many....)? And do you want some tube/tape/anything else mojo?

Something to consider though.....
As with real hardware, you do not get much effect if you are running only a finished master file through. If you take a stereo file and run it through a real console, you will probably not hear much of a difference, even if the console is a more colorful one. The real beauty of audio through an analog signal chain is the cumulative effect from tracking, mixing, and mastering through these various circuits, tubes, transistors, tapes, etc. So even though this is a huge undertaking for me (I've done it for other people before...), the best way for you to hear what Nebula does to audio is for you to send me an entire session and I will reprocess the tracks and maybe do a quick mix so I can utilize not only the early processes (tapes, console channels, tubes, etc), but also the buss inserts, compressors, etc. I can still process a stereo file for you, but I predict that it will not be impressive (as a file run through a piece of hardware would be too....). Let me know what you want to do. If you want to send me a session, something simple would be awesome, and especially if it is one you know well so any changes will be easy to notice.
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Old 07-08-2014, 12:53 PM   #16
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I've been curious about nebula for years but never could get beyond the arduous installation and workflow.

However I've been tempted to try a few of the "standalone" free nebula based vst plugins:

Acquavox
Nice EQ
R2R
Arq A range EQ
Brimar Tube

Looks like they've taken the nebula DSP and wrapped a hardware style gui around it for single purpose FX. Good idea. I haven't tried 'em yet though.
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Old 07-08-2014, 12:58 PM   #17
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I've been curious about nebula for years but never could get beyond the arduous installation and workflow.

However I've been tempted to try a few of the "standalone" free nebula based vst plugins:

Acquavox
Nice EQ
R2R
Arq A range EQ
Brimar Tube

Looks like they've taken the nebula DSP and wrapped a hardware style gui around it for single purpose FX. Good idea. I haven't tried 'em yet though.
The newer "Acqua" plugins are amazing. They are releasing muti-band plugins now. Think of them as 3 or 4 instances of Nebula controlled by a single (and usually gorgeous) gui. Yes, these are CPU munchers, but like Nebula, there is a trade-off for THAT sound.
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:08 PM   #18
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Default Some Extremely GEEKY Nebula Info Video with Giancarlo (main dev)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9-pMQzPqbo

It's almost 2 hours long. This is from the UK AES convention (Audio Engineering Society...Their website: http://www.aes-uk.org/). Very geeky, very fascinating stuff (even if you don't use Nebula and never plan to).
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:12 PM   #19
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I've been curious about nebula for years but never could get beyond the arduous installation and workflow.
Would this be what is known as "BUY-curious"??

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Old 07-08-2014, 02:19 PM   #20
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Would this be what is known as "BUY-curious"??

hahaha

you'll have to excuse richie, he gets a bit hyper when discussing nebula

Rj Hollins, richie and ngarjuna are the main culprits,lead you to the darkside they will. And Mercado, he's the quiter one but i think he might be the ring leader.

Acqua plugins are fab, i havn't bought any yet, just tried the free ones from http://cdsoundmaster.com/

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Old 07-08-2014, 03:04 PM   #21
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And Mercado, he's the quieter one but i think he might be the ring leader.
You are beginning to know too much......


Quote:
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Acqua plugins are fab, i havn't bought any yet, just tried the free ones from http://cdsoundmaster.com/
The newest Acqua are "game-changers" (hate to use such cliches, but I agree with this one!).
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Old 07-08-2014, 03:09 PM   #22
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they're on to us !
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Old 07-08-2014, 03:21 PM   #23
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There are three reasons why I (and I assume many) haven't jumped on the Nebula train:

1. GUI is a workflow killer.
2. CPU consumption.
3. Fabrice Gabriel.

Reason 1 can be solved by spending more time with the plugin.

Reason 2 can be solved by hardware upgrades and freezing tracks.

Reason 3 is the path of least resistance and thus I don't care to solve Reason 1 or 2. I recall there was a heated discussion between AlexB and Fabrice on GearSlutz at the time of release of the VCC, that they were both so close that AlexB thought Fabrice ripped his SSL off.
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Old 07-08-2014, 03:38 PM   #24
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There are three reasons why I (and I assume many) haven't jumped on the Nebula train:

1. GUI is a workflow killer.
2. CPU consumption.
3. Fabrice Gabriel.

Reason 1 can be solved by spending more time with the plugin.

Reason 2 can be solved by hardware upgrades and freezing tracks.

Reason 3 is the path of least resistance and thus I don't care to solve Reason 1 or 2. I recall there was a heated discussion between AlexB and Fabrice on GearSlutz at the time of release of the VCC, that they were both so close that AlexB thought Fabrice ripped his SSL off.
That argument was very unfortunate. But what does Fabrice have to do with your reluctance to use Nebula? Maybe I just need to reread your post.... But regarding that, there are a few other Slate products that are alarmingly similar to a few other nebula products, one of which had Slate's being released much later (and the Nebula dev not ever going after him....) I personally don't care for Slate products anyway, they sound like every other "algo" plugin to me (although their GUI's are amazing....). To each their own, if Slate does it for you, more power to ya!! It's not for me, but thank goodness that we don't all agree 100%, that would be so boring.

But regarding points 1 and 2.....
I personally have not bothered "solving" since those are much less important to me than the SOUND. But that's what works for me.
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Old 07-08-2014, 03:44 PM   #25
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There are three reasons why I (and I assume many) haven't jumped on the Nebula train:

1. GUI is a workflow killer.
2. CPU consumption.
3. Fabrice Gabriel.

Reason 1 can be solved by spending more time with the plugin.

Reason 2 can be solved by hardware upgrades and freezing tracks.

Reason 3 is the path of least resistance and thus I don't care to solve Reason 1 or 2. I recall there was a heated discussion between AlexB and Fabrice on GearSlutz at the time of release of the VCC, that they were both so close that AlexB thought Fabrice ripped his SSL off.
I can understand reason 1 and 2 and yes it's not for everybody.

I'm not been nasty when scratching my head on reason 3 but it's like not buying Let it
Be because there was a heated discussion between macca and George Harrison.
I don't know of fabrice. Talented people have heated discussions all the time, that's why I avoid mirrors
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Old 07-08-2014, 03:46 PM   #26
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Talented people have heated discussions all the time, that's why I avoid mirrors
Crazy people should avoid mirrors too, but that's all I'm sayin'......
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Old 07-08-2014, 03:52 PM   #27
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I represent that remark

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Old 07-08-2014, 04:00 PM   #28
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I'm still learning the creamy 660 comp but I found a lot off goodness by lowering the threshold till it bites a little and then back off a bit, then dragging the second threshold to just under half way. I've read and re read the manual but still can't figure what the second threshold is for. But hey, it works. Anyone else have nebula goodness recipes?
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Old 07-08-2014, 04:58 PM   #29
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see? I did try and warn ya... and geeez richie... after all this time you can't even pronounce my name right? hoppy... OMFG...
...but more seriously guys... RJ and Richie can tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Neb and related subjects....

but really... get ready to either pull on yer boots or maybe better yet, go barefooted to follow them...
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Old 07-08-2014, 05:00 PM   #30
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I probably wasn't as clear as I should be with Fabrice Gabriel comment, it's not a personal thing, it's more his algorithms in the Slate products that I was using as my argument.

I did have a real good look at Nebula, and really considered buying it. Hold it up against any Waves "analogue" emulation, or the inconvenience of required hardware for UAD stuff (also CPU monsters), then for me Nebula is the go. However, having the Slate stuff makes me wonder if Nebula is nothing more than chasing the dragon - an investment that wouldn't result in a massive increase in quality of final product.

However, at the moment, the only outstanding thing in my plugin arsenal is a good EQ, and with AirEQ and Slate VMR nearly out, that's probably going to be it for me, everything else will be a 'nice to have'.

Agree 100 % it's all about the sound, that's the beauty and the suffering of this craft! Hopefully these comments are received as constructive, and not taken as an attempt to derail the thread.
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Old 07-08-2014, 05:25 PM   #31
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I probably wasn't as clear as I should be with Fabrice Gabriel comment, it's not a personal thing, it's more his algorithms in the Slate products that I was using as my argument.

I did have a real good look at Nebula, and really considered buying it. Hold it up against any Waves "analogue" emulation, or the inconvenience of required hardware for UAD stuff (also CPU monsters), then for me Nebula is the go. However, having the Slate stuff makes me wonder if Nebula is nothing more than chasing the dragon - an investment that wouldn't result in a massive increase in quality of final product.

However, at the moment, the only outstanding thing in my plugin arsenal is a good EQ, and with AirEQ and Slate VMR nearly out, that's probably going to be it for me, everything else will be a 'nice to have'.

Agree 100 % it's all about the sound, that's the beauty and the suffering of this craft! Hopefully these comments are received as constructive, and not taken as an attempt to derail the thread.
All good I understand now
I don't think you were detailing the thread, I am interested in what works for people, I have an ilok somewhere so when I get my new computer I'll try it on my current one.

I am no longer concerned that nebula takes a bit of work. A really good year is one that I wrote and recorded10 songs (never happened),so efficiency should never be a major concern. I'm slowly learning that having a fixation on efficiency in workflow had not made me more productive. I have a macro for this and that but for me, a home hobbiest, efficiency is the enemy of soul.
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Old 07-08-2014, 07:41 PM   #32
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....efficiency is the enemy of soul.
Thanks for my new signature (You'll be credited.....)
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Old 07-08-2014, 08:27 PM   #33
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Old 07-08-2014, 08:40 PM   #34
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How many "lol's" can do this justice??
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Old 07-08-2014, 10:00 PM   #35
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Thanks for my new signature (You'll be credited.....)
Hahaha ha



this gets 4 lols




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Old 07-08-2014, 10:06 PM   #36
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Dos LoL's
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Old 07-08-2014, 11:06 PM   #37
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When I left the 'hardware' world ... as that was ALL there was, and returned to an all digital format [only] ... I began the pursuit of finding plugins that sounded like the hardware.

I spent a small fortune in that quest. Sure ... the EQ's did what they said they did, but to my ears, the sound was missing the soul, vibe whatever you want to call it. The track sounded 'correct' I suppose ... but it wasn't what I expected to hear.

When I printed to 1/2" 30ips, my Master was expected to sound BETTER than coming off straight off the console. [One of the reasons we printed to tape, and used RDats as a digital backup [early digital daze].

OK ... so 'digital' is accurate .... but that is only PART of what we wanted as audio engineers.

We selected equipment both for its' function AND its audio majic.

After a while I found that plugins just didn't do it .... sure, they add some saturation or something, but it seemed so static and predictable. To the point it actually was a distraction.

Analogue gear .... even the most high end is anything but sonically predictable .... and the ear just loves it [musically] All JUST ENOUGH to now let us focus on the music, rather than some static, sonically boring 'enhancement' that the ear is extremely sensitive to.

An engineering buddy sent me a audio magazine with an included disk with some demo apps on it .... one being this NEBULA CM [if I recall]. ahh, just another plugin, for free .... after spending $$$ on what seemed the top of the line .... well, a couple months later, I inadvertently find the mag and disk, and decided to check it out :|

Whatever demo EQ came with it, I pulled it up on a track and began turning knobs ... my first reaction .... was a smile. Hey ... new toy, something different .... still a plugin .... maybe I was tired. I'll listen another day and reality will kick in ...

Well ... the next time was the same .... smile

I start to then compare to my Hi-$$$ plugins ... the A/B'ing .... sure the settings we not identical ... but that was NOT what caught my attention.

This was the start of my Nebula conversion.

They use to have a bulletin board of free presets [I think it was torrent driven], and I started checking these out ... there was much to smile about hearing these presets.

Things only got better from there, as I went for the Pro package, and then into the Server edition. And then the collection of libraries.

For me .... and after 30+ years in the audio .... this is the ONLY person that I need to please ... this is as close to what is ingrained into my sonic soul.

Do I hate the work-flow .... of course! Can it bring a old quad core to its knees .... in a whimpering heartbeat !

I've written a series of virtual MIDI controllers [the NVC-series] that has transformed my use of the fragmented Nebula pieces into a single coherent GUI package that gets me closer to 'hardware' operation .... along with some added engineer niceties, and Nebula extras.

I still get called to do multi-track mixing, but my main focus is Mastering.
And Nebula opens the sonic palette from clean to colors in a way that compliments.

Does it matter to anyone else .... don't know ... really don't care, because I first have to listen to it in my Mastering Suite. The tools we use should make things sound better .... even if its a NASTY .... it better be a GOOD nasty

I still have a select few 'algo' tools that are excellent in other ways. But I really like the span of sonic choices I now have .... from 'pure' digital to as close to analogue I can get without the huge electric bill, the staggering equipment maintenance cost ... nor having to fly to a different room to get on a NEVE or SSL, etc.

Needless to say ...

This is just between us ... so ...
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Old 07-08-2014, 11:43 PM   #38
ivansc
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Laaw of diminishing returns at play here.
I tried the demo version of Neb a while back and just dont get it.
You pretty much cripple anything short of a state of the rt i7 monster with Neb, it is an ugly SOB with totally non-intuitive interface.
I for one didnt hear THAT much of a difference that it made me want to rush out and replace all my computer kit and spend a bunch of $$ on tp plugins for Neb.
But of course that is why there is chocolate and vanilla.
For me, Nebula offered nothing I could not achieve cheaper and easier without buying a new computer.
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Old 07-08-2014, 11:56 PM   #39
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Unbeliever!!

Get him!
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Old 07-09-2014, 12:50 AM   #40
richie43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ivansc View Post
Laaw of diminishing returns at play here.
I tried the demo version of Neb a while back and just dont get it.
You pretty much cripple anything short of a state of the rt i7 monster with Neb, it is an ugly SOB with totally non-intuitive interface.
I for one didnt hear THAT much of a difference that it made me want to rush out and replace all my computer kit and spend a bunch of $$ on tp plugins for Neb.
But of course that is why there is chocolate and vanilla.
For me, Nebula offered nothing I could not achieve cheaper and easier without buying a new computer.
I can't disagree about the CPU devastation and work-flow bummer.... One of the things Acustica has not "fixed" is the fact that their free version of Nebula, which is their kind of demo, is not as good, as efficient, and as flexible as the paid for versions. I jumped in as a leap of faith after being so dissatisfied with digital audio. I think it was Mercado Negro who suggested that since I was from an analog past, maybe I should give it a try....(darn him for introducing me to Nebucrack.....). Maybe you are luckier than I, but I certainly can not get the results I want from only algo plugins. I would need to invest in real hardware if I did not use Nebula. The differences are cumulative (like mixing with hardware), you won't hear much if you slap an instance or 2 on your master buss and expect to be blown away.... But indeed, go enjoy whatever your favorite flavor is!!
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