Best Exciter/Enhancer?

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moalla
Posts: 541
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26 Jul 2018

I´m looking for the final mastering plugin, but i would not pay 220€ and more for Izotope Ozone, wo what´s the best deal dear community?
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groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

27 Jul 2018

My favorite is Waves Infected Mushroom Pusher. I like how it makes leads sound "punchier", and a bit brighter.

My next favorite is Zynaptiq Intensity. Soundwise, Intensity is just amazing - but I have to pull it down a notch since it adds a 1024-sample latency.

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aeox
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27 Jul 2018

moalla wrote:
26 Jul 2018
I´m looking for the final mastering plugin, but i would not pay 220€ and more for Izotope Ozone, wo what´s the best deal dear community?
Exciters are just specialized saturation tools. You can make your own out a band splitter, saturation, EQ, etc.

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moalla
Posts: 541
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28 Jul 2018

Yeah Aeox that s right, i also realized after hours of sounddesign yesterday night with a simple saw sznthsound and my new 20Euros abbey road chambers effect and different routings, that the best mastering is at last a yoko splitter with different compression and saturtion plugs at the end. Hmm i also read a lot about this spezific top and at the end i noticed that more or less all professionals are saying, do not use auto dynamic fx, its okay mostly for hobbiest, but for serious soundesign its very limitated....

hmm okaz but now i own, two special plugins with air band options, wich is more than enough
and after installing the free bargain EQ GEM550 there are really outstanding options in collaboration with the latest abbey road fx uncoupling

Now i know why i have had these really instinctive antipathy against something like valley people dynamite... and their grandiose marketing texts... :lol:
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Reason12.5, Yamaha EG112, Ibanez PF10, RhythmWolf, Miniak, Ipad+SparkLE
SE2200t :arrow: VAS micpre MOTO:better repair-mod well made stuff than buy the next crap

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NekujaK
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28 Jul 2018

There are two saturators/exciters I often use on the master buss for finalizing a mix:

VSM-3 (Plugin Alliance): There's a bit of a learning curve to understanding how to tame this beast, but once you get how to dial it in, this saturator can elevate a mix or an individual track to a whole new level. It's pretty expensive, but occasionally goes on sale, and if you have discount vouchers from PA, you can get it for a steal.

Greg Wells Mix-Centric (Waves): This simple one-knob plugin is like sprinkling fairy dust on a mix. It instantly adds clarity, weight, and definition to any mix. It's crazy good, and almost feels like cheating.
wreaking havoc with :reason: since 2.5
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moalla
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29 Jul 2018

Thanks for your hint
VSM3 looks nice, but it´s really expensive and the cheap ones like aural exciter, or greg wells devices are realtivly poor loudnes tools, most mastering experts said.
So it´s more a question of mastering techniques were i am looking for, and hope to get answers and tips.
Especial which is the best usage of included tools in Reason. So i´m using mostly Re3Q to push up Synthvoices, but it´s realtiv harsh sounding thing with this air band emulation.
I hope that i´ve found a more subtil emulation with the EMI RS127 , in Abbey Road Chambers a mastering equalizing tool.
So my Moto is, don´t pay for things how are dispensable, or expensive toys!
I really like the abbey road waves EQ emulations of vintage stuff, or the king of delays like sandman pro, but with the years as Reason user i´ve learned, the biggest value is at the audiovisuell point,
what gives the biggest benefit, and I would say maximize the minimize, especial in terms of serious music (E-Musik)
http://www.barryrudolph.com/mix/abbeyro ... iance.html
https://soundcloud.com/user-594407128
Reason12.5, Yamaha EG112, Ibanez PF10, RhythmWolf, Miniak, Ipad+SparkLE
SE2200t :arrow: VAS micpre MOTO:better repair-mod well made stuff than buy the next crap

jimmyklane
Posts: 740
Joined: 16 Apr 2018

29 Jul 2018

moalla wrote:
28 Jul 2018

Now i know why i have had these really instinctive antipathy against something like valley people dynamite... and their grandiose marketing texts... :lol:
The Softube valley people dynamite actually sounds like that. It is a VERY “grabby” compressor that can be tough to use to good effect. The dB/second time constants also make it tough to comprehend. Overall I’d say that they nailed the sound 90%. The rest may be due to the original unit being quite old. I had 2 units up until fairly recently but they didn’t get enough use and so I sold them off to fund other equipment that I wanted (the Sony R7 and D7).

As for exciters, what I’ve ran into using software is the fact that rack processors like the Aphex Type C (of which I still have one) and the more esoteric EXR Exciter basically HP the signal and apply selected saturation as other have said....software is band-limited to avoid aliasing. If the plugin is designed to respond to higher sample rates (for example, I run my sessions @ 88.2kHz) then you can get pretty realistic results, however I’ve seen frequencies from simple synthesized patches from an analog synth that have been ran through the Aphex that go past 40kHz. I’m of the opinion that that upper octave may have SOME effect on the lower bands that it is a harmonic of. I’m admitting I’m on shaky ground with this assertion, but I *DO* know that the hardware and software somehow sound different.

Furthermore, I’d say that you use exciters on a full mix at very high risk of overcooking it!!! Even on individual sources it can be tough to judge unless your ears are fresh. The reason I keep my very temperamental EXR around is that even maxed out it is pretty gentle, more like an air-band eq than a true Exciter. The Aphex gets use on tracks like mellow Moog basses in order to bring out the 5.6kHz band and give just a touch of bite, and I’ll filter off the higher order harmonics it generates to target the distortion/excitation effect to the areas I need it in.
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