Review: Slate Digital Virtual Console Collection

Over the last couple years, plug-ins like Mellowmuse’s SATV and CS1V as well as SoundToys Decapitator and Devil-Loc have made it so I can mix in-the-box and still get those gritty harmonic qualities of the analog gear I’d grown to love in my analog mixing days.

So, when I started hearing all the buzz about Steven Slate’s Virtual Console Collection plug-in, I was excited to check it out with the hope (if not expectation) that it would help further blur the lines between analog and digital summing, providing a depth and realism to my mixes.

TECH SPECS: The Virtual Console Collection (or VCC) is a Native-only plug-in for MAC and PC and retails for $249. Formats are RTAS, AU and VST and 32 and 64-bit where available. An iLok2 is required for the VCC and can be purchased separately or bundled with VCC at the time of purchase for an additional $20.

WHAT IT DOES: The Virtual Console Collection is a plug-in package designed from the ground up to model the characteristics of an analog mixing console channel and its summing amp. Individual channels and master sections of famous analog consoles were extensively measured, tested and captured to digitally recreate their dynamic response characteristics. Five different analog consoles are available to choose from and can be mixed and matched to create the ultimate console tailored specifically for your mix.

THE INTERFACE: The VCC consists of two separate plug-ins: The VIRTUAL CHANNEL for each of your individual DAW tracks and the VIRTUAL MIX BUS for your master fader, or any master bus.

Slate VCC plug-in - Mix Bus + Channel

The Virtual Channel features a simple but bold layout with a VU meter simulation at the top followed by the console selector knob. Below are knobs for INPUT and DRIVE as well as a GROUP on/off switch.  An arrow at the bottom of the channel pulls out a Group Mode section with 8 group selectors and access to advanced settings for calibration, output & VU, oversampling and display.

The Virtual Mix Bus plug-in is a simplified version of the channel strip with knobs simply for console selection and drive as well as a Group on/off switch and access to the same Group Mode channel pull out. Though the look is simplified, the Virtual Mix Bus plugin’s job is to dynamically produce analog summing – including the naturally occurring signal crosstalk – in the digital domain.

IN USE: I used the VCC on mixes for the first EP by NYC-based Americana band The Lexington Express. The recordings were done very quickly and feature lots of roomy drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, fiddle and plenty of male and female vocals.  Because I mix primarily in Pro Tools, VCC seemed like the perfect choice to take this vintage sounding band where it needed to go in-the-box.

While Slate Digital doesn’t expressly instruct any particular location for the VCC Channel in your plug-in chain, I’ve found that making decisions about the console, input and drive setting you plan to use can affect your mix a great deal and in my opinion should more often than not be the first plug-in in your chain allowing you to shape your mix based on the sound VCC is creating.

One note on CPU usage: For testing I enabled VCC on every fader of an 88.2/24 bit Pro Tools mix with approximately 62 faders including all mono/stereo audio tracks and aux inputs for busses and FX. The CPU usage of my mix without VCC was running between 41-42%. With VCC enabled on every track and the mix bus my CPU usage increased to 55-56%. I found the general CPU load even at 88.2 to be more than acceptable for a plug-in that’s designed to be used on every track across the board.

The VCC Virtual Channel GUI.

Because they were such an important reference for me while working and learning about the VCC, I will display here the consoles exactly as they’re described in the VCC User Manual and in the order that they’re selectable on the plug-in itself working clockwise:

Brit 4k

The most popular mixing console in the industry, this desk has a clean, punchy, wide, and slightly aggressive quality that has made it the go­‐to desk for rock, pop, metal, and hip hop. Push it hard to get some extra grit to the transients.

US A Discrete

One of the most sought after desks in the industry, this American made discrete console is known for a thick and fat tone with lots of vibe and midrange punch.

Brit N Discrete

This classic desk has been a staple of the recording industry for over thirty years. Known for a rich, fat, and warm sound, it can add some classic vibe to your mixes.

Ψ

Another classic British console, this desk is known for being the ultimate rock desk, with a wide soundstage, smooth highs, and fat low end. Push it hard for some extra fatness.

RC-Tube

The RC-Tube is based on a 50’s, all tube broadcast desk. It has a super thick midrange, smooth high end, and fat and warm bottom end.

I began by engaging the VCC Channel plug-ins across all of my tracks and the VCC Mix Bus on my master fader. I then started breaking my individual tracks into groups such as Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys and Vocals. In Group mode, the settings of all VCC plug-ins in your session that are set to group “ON” will be sync’d and can be controlled by any single instance of the plug-in. The Group layout allows the user to label each group, which is extremely helpful for keeping all your tracks organized within the VCC. Once your tracks are grouped the way you want, mixing and matching different console sounds and bypassing your groups to A/B the sound against the dry version is very simple.

Setting up the VCC properly will take a few extra minutes but is well worth the effort to maximize the effectiveness of the plug-ins.

The sound of the VCC (and thus your mix) is greatly determined by the DRIVE knob on both the channel and the mix bus. DRIVE increases the harmonic saturation of the selected console without altering the output level. Unlike other saturation plug-ins on the market that really increase the grit and distortion, the drive knob on the VCC is dedicated entirely to intensifying the harmonics of the console itself which acts more like glue for your mix when applied across the board than a traditional drive plug-in would.

Because the VCC is designed to work across all your tracks and shape the mix as a whole, I’m going to focus on the sounds I achieved across the whole mix through the VCC in my listening tests and then I’ll dive into some of the unique features of the plug-itself.

The mixes of my project ended up using a variety of different VCC consoles across different tracks. I chose the Brit Discrete N console for my drums, RC-Tube for my bass tracks, Brit 4K for most of my instruments and vocals and the US A Discreet for my Mix Bus. After mixing of the project was complete, I grouped every channel in one mix together and selected one chorus of the song and printed 3 different versions of the mix for each console available.

With each Mix Bus and Channel at the same console settings and set to 0 input, I printed the following:

– All console channels at 0 DRIVE and Mix Bus Drive at 0.  
– All console channels and Mix Bus at +6dB DRIVE (FULL).
– VCC bypassed completely.

This created 10 different versions of VCC processing (2 for each console) and one additional pass with VCC bypassed. I then imported these mix passes into a new Pro Tools session and began A/Bing in real time between each of them. This is where the real difference between each console became very noticeable.

I focused my first listening test of each console on the mix passes printed with the VCC Channels and Mix Bus at +6dB of drive which gives me the most “flavor” of each console possible. I began and ended each listening test by first listening to the VCC Bypassed mix in order to zero my ears out effectively.

In my tests, the Brit 4K console proved to be the most transparent console with the drive cranked on every channel and mix bus. Listening against the dry mix, the Brit 4K achieves great clarity in the top end without being shrill and the overall wideness of the mix is noticeably improved against the dry version. The resulting sound overall is clear and punchy but without a great deal of extraneous coloration.

The US A Discrete console also shows improvement in the top end adding noticeable color to the drums and guitars and a crispness to the cymbals. Vocals have a punchier and more pronounced mid range. This is also one of the more subtle consoles available in the VCC package but the results are a clear improvement over the dry mix.

The Brit N Discrete console is a beast. With the Channel and Mix Bus drive cranked, the low end is noticeably thick and present. The overall sound has a thick crunchiness to it that really emulates that vintage sound…the sound of an analog console being hit hard!  Listening to the Brit N Discrete console really opened my eyes to the possibilities of the VCC and how selecting the right console for certain channels or groups in your mix can shape the way you will end up working with your tracks. Using the Brit N Discrete just on your drums and bass for instance will allow you to thoroughly drive the rhythm section of the mix without overly processing other more delicate instruments like vocals and acoustics.

The Ψ console was also a major difference from the dry mix.  This classic British console in full drive mode provided a great deal of top end boost and crunch. This is clearly a rock console.  The sound proved too shrill and glossy for my Americana mix but the idea here is to really know what these consoles sound like so you can make choices about which flavors to use on your individual channels before you begin to get sounds.  Using the Ψ console on instruments or vocals that were tracked a little on the warm or dark side will instantly achieve better clarity before even addressing the problem with EQ.

The RC-Tube console takes things completely in the other direction. The mix has a very smooth and rolled off top end, thick dirty low end and ultra-present mid range. I’ve found this console setting to be awesome on electric bass amp mics to help drive home that vintage Ampeg type sound.

I’ve included two [uncompressed] audio files below that show examples of the VCC sound. The first is each VCC console in clockwise order as it is on the plug-in starting with the Brit 4K and switching exactly at the 5 second marks. The second is the bypassed dry mix vs. the Brit N Discrete and Ψ consoles, which are the most drastically different consoles available.

I should stress that all of these available audio tests are merely to help gauge the effectiveness of the VCC. The great thing about this plug-in set is its ability to adapt and shape the sounds you’re working with while allowing total user control over the amount of depth and saturation.

Console Shootout – (0:00) Brit 4K, (0:05) US A Discrete, (0:10) Brit N Discrete, (0:15) Ψ, (0:20) RC-TUBE

ConsoleShootout

Bypass vs. VCC – (0:00) VCC BYPASS, (0:05) Brit N Discrete, (0:10) VCC BYPASS, (0:15) Ψ, (0:20) VCC BYPASS

Bypassvs.VCC

For those who would like to get even more in depth with their listening tests of the VCC, I’ve provided a Pro Tools session (6.9 and above) and a set of raw audio files for other DAW users that will allow you to hear exactly what I was listening to when writing this review (linked below). The audio was originally tracked at 88.2/24 bit so your DAW must be able to handle hi-res audio. Otherwise, you can feel free to dither down on import.

Download the raw .WAV files

Download the Pro Tools session

There are a few noteworthy features worth mentioning in the VCC.  The first is the ability to hold CNTRL and select any grouped channel’s INPUT or DRIVE knobs and adjust them individually of the group.  I’ve found this to be especially handy for adding up to 6dB of input gain on a channel that was recorded a little low before beginning to shape the sound.

Select any grouped channel’s INPUT or DRIVE knobs and adjust them individually of the group.

The “Display Group Settings” feature is also smartly designed so users can access the settings for any group of tracks with just one plug-in instance open. This makes for a quick and efficient workflow – saving you the time of opening and closing separate instances of the plug-in.

A number of advanced tools can be found in the Settings section. Calibration allows users to tweak the global and/or group calibration levels of the consoles by – or + 6dB.  An extremely thorough and detailed explanation of this is available in the Pro User’s Manual.

Output and VU Settings allow for – or + 1dB of overall output volume control for each individual console as well as a clip LED threshold slider, LED sensitivity and VU ballistics control (slow, mid, fast). This is helpful as VCC’s default settings by design do not increase the output gain.

Oversampling settings allow for 2x, 4x, and 8x oversampling within all open instances of VCC. Slate Digital stresses that the default settings for VCC have very minimal aliasing and sound very good. Because the VCC is already working twice as hard or more when working in high-res at 88.2 or above, I’ve found the oversampling features to be extraneous for almost all big multi-track mixing sessions.  Higher oversampling settings are manageable and useful in mastering situations or for much lower track count sessions.

TO BE CRITICAL:  Because VCC is such a subtle yet powerful plug-in capable of shaping the entire sound of a mix, it would be very helpful to include a global bypass for all VCC channels and mix bus processing which is not an option as of this writing.  Oversampling seemed to be too much of a CPU drag under any of the circumstances I tried on a typical 24-48 track mix even with my relatively new quad core Mac Pro machine.

IN CONCLUSION: Slate Digital has created a powerhouse plug-in that has set the standard for simulation of analog summing in the digital world.  The VCC is packed with features and allows users to mix and match the best sounds from different large format consoles within one mix to create the ultimate console!

The VCC was an acquired taste for me, one that took a fair amount of experimentation and listening trials to understand. In my initial mixes I found myself feeling decidedly unsure about how much VCC was adding to my sound. However, after thorough listening tests and experimenting in depth with the drive capabilities, I discovered just how powerful a tool the VCC is.

As of this writing I’ve found myself using VCC on nearly every mix project I work on.  With a price point easily accessible to any engineer or musician, the Virtual Console Collection has made its way on to a very short list of plug-ins that I simply can’t work without.

Download a demo version of the VCC plug-in (iLok 2 required) at the Slate Digital website and purchase the plug-in ($249 or $269 with iLok included) at the Slate Digital online store!

Zach McNees is a Brooklyn-based producer/engineer/mixer and live recordist who’s worked with Björk, Rob Thomas, Julia Nunes, The Gregory Brothers, Pixies, Liars and Alice Cooper. Get in touch with Zach via http://www.zachmcnees.com.

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