"The 480L is the reverb unit that I used on Estelle's @EstelleDarlings vocals for the "All Day Long (Blue Skies)" song produced by Avriele “Avenue” Crandle on the "For Colored Girls" soundtrack. “A Plate” Bank 4 Preset 1. The 480L is a hardware reverb that once was Lexicon's flagship unit. It has now been replaced by the 960L which is also a great unit. The 480 is a dual engined unit which allows you to access two reverb engines independently of each other and is controlled by a custom remote called a LARC (Lexicon Alphanumeric Remote Control). The unit has two balanced inputs and four balanced outputs (mono in, stereo out). The 480 has 21 banks of reverb presets with 10 presets per bank. The reverb types include the standard halls, plates and rooms plus some others that's exclusive to Lexicon such as 10W-40 (Bank 3 preset 4). This unit is discontinued but can be found used for approximately $4000. The Lexicon sound is one of a kind and can be found on many hit records of the last 40 years. Lexicon has now released a PCM reverb software bundle which I will review shortly. Here's the link to the software http://www.lexiconpro.com/static.php?id=55 "
"It uses the latest ultra-high speed analogue design techniques to accurately duplicate the dynamic and harmonic properties of analogue tape and vintage tape recorders in real time with zero latency or any other time smearing artefacts.456 Tape was chosen as the model for the harmonic and dynamic properties and the A80 Studer Tape Recorder as a reference for overall frequency response with respect to tape speed, bias and tape head properties."
"I did a lot of listening tests, comparing the 456 with various plug-in tape emulators and saturation devices, and I've come to the conclusion that Roger is definitely onto something, as I couldn't quite replicate the sonic character of his box using any of my plug-ins. Which comes closer to actually sounding like tape is another discussion altogether, but when it comes to achieving what you really want tape to do (rather than what it sometimes actually does!), the 456 is extremely effective, producing musically satisfying results. For examples, real tape can't handle cymbals at high levels because of the pre-emphasis used in the recording chain, whereas Roger's circuit has no such limitation. Drums can be made to sound big and punchy with an apparently different sense of air around the sound, even at lower drive levels. Bass guitar also benefits, sounding somehow fuller and better able to sit in the mix. "
Read the rest of the Peter's article on the Roger Mayer 456 here."For stereo processing, I tried a pair of 456s via my DAW's main mix insert point and used the DAW's 'jellyfish' meter to ensure the left and right balance was the same as with the insert point bypassed. I also set up the DAW so as to maintain the same level when the insert bypass was operated. As with analogue tape, there's a sense of cohesion: mix elements feel better integrated, while the low end fills out somehow, without actually getting louder. Certainly, the forthcoming stereo model will be better suited to this role, and the lack of an output level control here made it harder to balance the levels for A/B checking, but it didn't take long to get good results. Because of the format of this particular box, I'd say that it's most useful for tracking, where it can soft-limit peaks before they hit your converters, or to insert on individual channels for processing during mix down."
Here's a short video explaining how it works:"Drumatom is the world's first microphone leakage suppression tool for multichannel drum recordings! It is based on the patent pending Advanced Audio Analysis - A3 technology and is the result of many years of research and development work."
"Trap Music is known for hard hitting drums and 808 basslines but a lot of the samples tend to sound harsh or tubby. I specifically went through every sound and tweaked them with EQ, Tape Emulation and a few other tools to get the cleanest, yet most aggressive sounds I possibly could......"
"These sounds were all recorded from analog gear into a pair of API 312 preamps. If you are familiar with API’s you know how wonderful the midrange is......"
"Waves Vitamin is a multiband harmonic enhancer and tone-shaping plugin that can make any track sound powerful and full of spark by mixing an enriched version with the original signal."
"Whether used on vocals, guitars, synths, drums or an entire mix, Vitamin opens up the sound in a way that truly complements and enhances the original signal, ensuring your tracks get the nutrients they need."
1 Original Cinemag input transformer.
2 All discrete audio path with high grade components.
3 Discrete Op-Amp output circuit, pin compatible with API* 2520.
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4 Original Cinemag output transformer.
5 Easy setup of 3 trimmers with a voltmeter, without iteration.
6 16 LED's gain reduction meter.
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"In 2004, Universal Audio released the Fairchild 670 Legacy plug-in, which was quickly heralded as the best 670 emulation available. Today, UA’s team of DSP experts have improved the original Time Constants and gain reduction curves, while modeling — for the first time ever — the complete tube-powered amplifier and transformer sections of their hardware counterparts. Far beyond other Fairchild emulations, only the new UAD Fairchild Collection is based on accurate circuit models of Ocean Way Studios' “golden-reference” units."
