Slate Digital FG-X Mastering Processor

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Now that I have the paid version, I have to say that I love the way we can customize meters and knobs, this is a fantastic idea! (always bugged me to have to look at a 20db scale when all I apply is 0,5 to 1,5 db of gain reduction... Congratulations on that as well!

 

[avrinder]

speaking of customizing those meters...I fucked around too much, and not digging the way it looks now. any way to reset the knobs?

 

[morpheusmultimedia]

The FG-X works pretty cool for me. It's much easier to get a loud but still balanced master with it compared to my previous tools. But it all depends on the mix - if there are problems it will show up instantly as soon you raise the levels. When I am printing out pre-final mixes I throw the FG-X on them crank it up and listen to the artifacts (if any). then I tweak the mixes according to theese findings. this way I rule out most of the stuff that f*cks up the mix.

 

[nwright]

I'm having better luck with it this go round than I did with the demo. I run the mix into my Finalizer first to get that sound and beef up the mix a bit, then grab FGX for my last 3-4dB of loudness. Digging it so far.

 

[ahjteam]

hah, it can make the mix go up to -2.1dB RMS. nice.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

And so useful

 

[acappa]

These are my first tries with FG-X, just EQSat from TC Powercore and FG-X reaching -9db RMS
It´s two PanterA covers from last Dimefest III (Mixed by Arttu);
YESTERDAY DON´T MEAN SHIT: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4255918/YESTERDAY DIMEFEST III.mp3
HERESY: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4255918/HERESY DIMEFEST III.mp3

 

[ahjteam]

And so useful

well, if someone wants it louder, atleast I can say I CAN DO THAT, but I hope they realize it will sound like shit

 

[nwright]

I'm liking it, but I'm having some issues with the crackling guitars at times and crackling toms. My mixes seem balanced to me, though. If I do the slate recommended ITP at default, dynamic perception at 5 and lo punch and detail both at 0, i get the crackling. I have to either lower the ITP or the dynamic perception (or a combo of both in different degrees). I feel like I can get a cleaner, clearer loudness from Ozone and even L2 at the moment (although in the case of the L2 it changes the mix a tad).

I'm running the comp REALLY light, though. Taking off maybe .5dB's.

 

[Slate]

Hi Nate! Start with lower ITP settings, and find the one that gives 95% of the mix a smooth ride. Then automate an ITP "drop" at the offending tom hits or guitar chunk. This works really well, and also forces you to listen!

 

[Kazrog]

Got home tonight and immediately installed FG-X in my studio. Tested on a variety of sessions from the last 2 years. The main thing I can say to sum it up is I wish I had this plugin years ago.

FG-X has swiftly replaced the following plugins on my master buss:

• Waves SSL Comp
• Voxengo Elephant
• Apogee Dither (included with Cubase 5)
• Sonnox Limiter
• Sonnox Inflator
• etc...

Essentially, if you get your mix right, this plugin is all you need on your master buss. A one-stop shop, and it sounds better to me than any combination of the above plugins on any source material I've got - it makes them totally obsolete for me (with the exception of the excellent Waves SSL comp, which I will still use on individual tracks or subgroups, but not likely on my master buss again.)

I know there are a lot of varying opinions out there, I'm just giving mine. The only downside to FG-X is that it's a bit of a CPU hog, even on my quad-core Intel Mac. Such is progress, though - and one thing we can be certain of is that the next generation of plugins will all eat up substantially more CPU power than we've ever seen before.

 

[nwright]

Got home tonight and immediately installed FG-X in my studio. Tested on a variety of sessions from the last 2 years. The main thing I can say to sum it up is I wish I had this plugin years ago.

FG-X has swiftly replaced the following plugins on my master buss:

• Waves SSL Comp
• Voxengo Elephant
• Apogee Dither (included with Cubase 5)
• Sonnox Limiter
• Sonnox Inflator
• etc...

Essentially, if you get your mix right, this plugin is all you need on your master buss. A one-stop shop, and it sounds better to me than any combination of the above plugins on any source material I've got - it makes them totally obsolete for me (with the exception of the excellent Waves SSL comp, which I will still use on individual tracks or subgroups, but not likely on my master buss again.)

I know there are a lot of varying opinions out there, I'm just giving mine. The only downside to FG-X is that it's a bit of a CPU hog, even on my quad-core Intel Mac. Such is progress, though - and one thing we can be certain of is that the next generation of plugins will all eat up substantially more CPU power than we've ever seen before.

I still like the Waves SSL comp for mix glue. But man, the compressor on FGX is really great. I wish is had a few more tweakable parameters, though...And it'd be nice if there was a subastantial drop in CPU usage when only using one aspect of the plug at a time.

 

[nwright]

Hi Nate! Start with lower ITP settings, and find the one that gives 95% of the mix a smooth ride. Then automate an ITP "drop" at the offending tom hits or guitar chunk. This works really well, and also forces you to listen!

Yeah, I've read those recommendations many time, just kind of a bummer to think I have to do MORE work on a plugin touted as being easier to use, haha.

But I'm getting there. I'm getting a feel for it more and more. The bigger issue with it all is I find myself ending up with a final RMS level that is just too loud, which means I'm pushing all the bad stuff into the sound unnecessarily.

 

[Kazrog]

I still like the Waves SSL comp for mix glue. But man, the compressor on FGX is really great. I wish is had a few more tweakable parameters, though...And it'd be nice if there was a subastantial drop in CPU usage when only using one aspect of the plug at a time.

Sure, I do too, and I may still use it on some mixes in front of FG-X. My point though is that FG-X is really an all-in-one mastering solution, assuming your mix is good. So many of the tools on the market assume your mix sucks and that you want to somehow un-suck it at the mastering stage (which never really works.)

 

[morpheusmultimedia]

I'm liking it, but I'm having some issues with the crackling guitars at times and crackling toms. My mixes seem balanced to me, though. If I do the slate recommended ITP at default, dynamic perception at 5 and lo punch and detail both at 0, i get the crackling. I have to either lower the ITP or the dynamic perception (or a combo of both in different degrees). I feel like I can get a cleaner, clearer loudness from Ozone and even L2 at the moment (although in the case of the L2 it changes the mix a tad).

I'm running the comp REALLY light, though. Taking off maybe .5dB's.

The crackling toms and guitars are the most obvious artefacts on loudness. I had theese issues also when sending out files to master by and ME. However both have a cause that's in the mix. The toms tent to crackle if there is too much low-end in them, especially the floor tom or they are too loud in general. The crackling guitars problem is pretty often - now I am used to automate all the guitar staff in parts where there are only guitars playing. just back it off 1/2 db an it will stop.

and you are right with the comp. Once it did more than 0.5 db reduction I felt it flattens the mix way too much.

 

[Josh Burgess]

I'm still not too sure about this thing after buying it. waves ssl is punchier (while glued at the same time). ozone seems cleaner with less distortion. eh...

 

[rvs0002]

If anyone wants to have a go using the FG-X on a song for me and saving me a trial download and ILOK purchase I'd love to hear it. Here is the link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/hfs0k1

Thanks to anyone who gives it a shot, I appreciate it!

EDIT: Nevermind, Kev was kind enough to hit me with a sample!

 

[nwright]

doh, misunderstood

 

[blackcom]

I read in some post that some people likes to put a clipper or limiter on the drums submix in addition to mastring plugins on the 2bus, what's up with that, does everyone here do it?

 

[AboutBlank]

I don't think anyone here puts a limiter on the drumbuss, it's some kind of counterproductive, cause it ruins the transients more than everything else.

I personally don't use clippers on the Drumbuss, sometimes on the Snare, but that depends.

There was a cool thread about the pros and cons of clipping, I'm shure you'll find the thread.