Is there a RE or VST for A/B-ing mixes against referencetracks?

[elMisse]

There used to be SampleMagic AB-VST, but I don't thing it can be purchased anymore... (?)
That plugin seems to have really cool features for fast AB-ing : )

Thanks.

[Electric-Metal]

Maybe this helps.

https://www.propellerheads.com/shop/rac ... cv-switch/

[reddust]

Do you mean something like this?

https://www.masteringthemix.com/products/reference

iZotope Ozone has also a similar feature:

[pongasoft]

The free RE A/B switch I wrote can do what you need https://pongasoft.com/rack-extensions/ABSwitch.html if what you need is to be able to switch between your track and another one instantly to compare them side by side.

If you want more than 2 tracks, you can use the A/B 12 Switch, another free product https://pongasoft.com/rack-extensions/AB12Switch.html

Yan

[bxbrkrz]

There used to be SampleMagic AB-VST, but I don't thing it can be purchased anymore... (?)
That plugin seems to have really cool features for fast AB-ing : )

Thanks.

https://www.propellerheads.com/shop/rac ... -analyzer/

[elMisse]

The idea with Magic AB plugin was, that you could drag and drop a tune from your harddrive to it and (perhaps make it loop a certain part?)
Then you could loop your own song in background and use A/B-button to switch between then instantly.
Seriously well thought out plugin for comparing your sh*t to a professional mix.

Will try Pongasoft freebie in a minute! Thanks for the tip

[NekujaK]

The developer of Magic AB went on to create this, and is now published through Plugin Alliance:
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... ricab.html

Currently on sale for $49. It's an excellent tool with lots of helpful analysis features that go way beyond just switching between tracks.

MetricAB.jpg (102.25 KiB) Viewed 1989 times

[elMisse]

The developer of Magic AB went on to create this, and is now published through Plugin Alliance:
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... ricab.html

Currently on sale for $49. It's an excellent tool with lots of helpful analysis features that go way beyond just switching between tracks.

MetricAB.jpg

Well that's it

You can even get additional 20$ off with "PA-MEGA-SALE-20-OFF" voucher! (Until july I guess...)

Big thanks man!

[tobypearce]

Matrix AB Plugin Alliance is the one you need. On offer right now - fantastic piece of kit.

I use it for its metering even when I’m not referencing other tracks.

[Boombastix]

You could put 8 loops in a DrOctoRex and use the Ponga A/B to switch between an OctoRex loop and your mix. Trim your rex loops (1,2,4 bar, whatever) and they will even play in sync. You can jump around in your Reason song, they still play the same loop...in sync. Add a couple of free RP RESpec, and you've come a long way.

The Matrix AB by Plugin Alliance looks super nice, but almost too much stuff, you can get lost in tech and loose focus on listening. And, it won't give you good ears or a good process. It won't tell if the kick is heard in the mix, or if the vocals are too low, if the hi hats are dull or harsh, etc. You still need to learn that. It won't tell you if you need to side chain out bass frequencies, or add bus limiters...

I prefer to mix on small computer monitors first. Won't fatigue you, the volume is low and it is harder to make everything heard, so you need to mix better so all elements are balanced. Crank up the volume and you will hear stuff that is too low in the mix, so you think it is OK, and louder sounds better, your ears fatigue and you increase treble too much. Then once it sounds decent take it to a couple of other sources, incl head phones. Check the lufs, make <80Hz mono, add mid stereo spread if needed, lift the mid EQ range if needed, low pass filter the highs if needed, cut the sub <30Hz if needed. It's like flipping pancakes, learn the process and repeat the same steps each time and you will catch it, until then you may have to pick something off the floor
Your listening venue matters, bad acoustics will throw you off (especially when bigger speakers are involved). But a great mix starts with great sounds, no point in trying to mix a song with crappy sounds, unless you try to salvage someone else work.

A device I have not found that could be useful is a spectrum analyser that shows a time average difference between the track and a reference. If the line is close to zero, then you have something very similar, would be a good help to balance the sub frequencies while working on small speakers. Anyone seen this?

[mcatalao]

You must be careful with A/B in reason because all the tracks will pass trough the master bus compressor. You can disae routi g trough the master on the back of the mixer channel and feed the master throu the A/B before getting the audio to the output.

[tobypearce]

Izotope's tonal balance is the closest I can think of.

[ScuzzyEye]

I really like the Flower Audio Loudness Meter for this. I stick it after the master output so I can get an idea of the final levels of the mix. I load the reference audio into its own track, and use the Direct Output from that mixer channel to the Reference Inputs. So when I select Reference, I hear only that audio, and can also see the levels of the reference track.

[Boombastix]

Izotope's tonal balance is the closest I can think of.

Hmm, they think in the right direction, but not the right implementation.

Having moving spectrums of two audio streams (possibly also out of sync) is not helping much more than running two spectrums side by side.
But if it was in sync so the kicks hit at the same time, and the spectrums shows the difference and you can set the rate of update/resolution then you can visually see where you are off.
To fix a low/high mid with EQ, you typically only need to adjust it by 1-3dB, so two lines on a 100dB scale, that is way bigger than what is useful. A diff display should be pretty easy to implement in any spectrum display unit.

[tobypearce]

How about fabfilter pro Q3? You can have that display two different tracks at the same time. It doesn't sum and display only the difference, and I'm struggling to think of one that does.
Interesting!

[Boombastix]

This one maybe? Much cheaper than Ozone, and it actually has a 5 band +/-5dB level comparison with the ref track and much more, comparing dynamics per band, stereo width per band...
Mastering The Mix - REFERENCE https://www.masteringthemix.com/products/reference

Provided it works in Reason, ANIMATE from Mastering The Mix does not work.
Anyone use it?