This looks great. As a glue I use Cytomics "the glue". A multi band of that would be sweet. I mean I've made one using FL Studios Patcher and crossover filters or you could always split into 3 mixer tracks...but it's always better in one plugin isn't it
I used it on a song and really like it. The only thing is the Logic Song was on an external SSD, and the "System overload - disk too slow" kept popping up. After moving the entire song to my internal drive it was fine. I don't know if anyone experienced the same thing but this plugin requires a fast SSD. I'm on a M1 Mac Studio Ultra so the computer should be fast enough.
I've just got it and it is SOOO good on the mix bus! It adds character even when off! I have FF MB too for more complex work but I find the G3 faster to use. Subscribing to the SSL collection has been one of my best decisions! Tx!
For a moment at 1.40 when questioning why its a must have, you did a perfect facial expression of Garth from Wayne's World. Why is analogue multiband hard, that sounds like another interesting video (like the oversampling one last week)
I own a few ssl plugins, it is the only brand where I do actually like the "hardware" look. But would like to see in the bottom window a curve of the signal instead of some kind of volume indicator.
Why do these companies always put the bypass button on the opposite side of the UI from the output knob? If they are not going to add autogain at least dont make it as hard as possible to AB and then adjust it.
That’s a really good fucking point! How much time and rsi would be shaved off during level matching, if the bypass and output knobs were always a tiny distance for a mouse to travel? Ironically, SSL is THE company that would take that to heart. Their entire existence, long before RU-vid existed and mere mortals knew their name, they’ve worked to make mixing more ergonomic by Listening to their users.
@Mansardian I use all the DAWs, but yes. Which is why I didn't think of what he commented. But essentially that's you and I working around a pretty common problem. As a UI best practices default, you Know that every plugin should be level matched. I hear lots of complaints about plugins Not including Auto-Gain in 2023. But I've never heard anyone point out that the two functions should Obviously be right beside each other.
You could use the Fabfilter Saturn 2 to add saturation to the Pro MB, a lot more versatile saturation options but also a lot more work to dial it in compared to the SSL, and Fabfilter having it as a separate plugin is their way of making more money! Great vid as always, thanks for posting!
This ssl multiband compresor sounds very good! It's give a warm that is really good to have in your Mixbuss. Sound really nice, the pro MB feel a little bit too flat compared to the SSL
Yes its all subjective but I agree. The ssl sounds more open to me and FF sounds nice but kind of closed up or flat as you say, which might be desirable for a certain type of song.
It's cool, but I'm definitely not paying $199 for that. Your favorite glue compressor (ex. Bx Townhouse) plus DDMF Metaplugin while give you even more control, plus excellent oversampling options. Heck, there's nothing preventing you from throwing ProMB into DDMF, in seperate band splits, combined with your sautrator of choice.....aside from that ProMB wins with its extensive processing ability, such as its sidechain toggle, excellent lookahed, mid/side feature set. Etc
I disagree about knobs looking analog. You say this a lot, and as a person ditching hardware "which I did love at one time for over 30 years" I love the 3d analog look. Its familiar to me and makes me feel like I losing nothing by going in the box. I think you dislike for the opposite reason which is it will encourage people to ditch hardware. The one GUI look I could do without is large wasteful edges with screw racks. Manufactures please dont waste screen space with extra edges and graphics.
It’s pretty hard to argue with the ‘sound’ of this plugin. However, in situations where I need multiband compression, 3 bands is never enough. Like I end up with only one band in the middle that actually has the flexibility I need. I find I want at least 7 so I can have distinct compression zones with uncompressed space between. Rarely do I want a band that goes all the way up or all the way down.
Great video as always!!!!! Man, please put the name of the group that you were playing. I know you mention them all the time but I think I'm spelling the name wrong. I need all their albums in rotation. They are dope!
I disagree with the looks thing... Not only because it's their distinctive style that is recognizable but it also eliminates the bias of some audio engineers tending to mix with their eyes... I dont really need to see much other than what I'm currently controlling... Making it pretty would just distract me from listening attentively.
I'm on vacation so I haven't tried the software for myself yet, but on their website it indicates it integrates with the 360 ecosystem, can anyone explain how? I haven't seen any information about it.
Wow it was great when you muted it and it actually sounded dull! Almost like you lost hearing. And the bands that got lost were so very soft that you gained!
The low end is kinda outta control. Bass is so hard to get right. With this dark I’d a bass tone, it’s already muddy, then compressing just makes it too boomy. Fat bottom end, but compared to other records it’s kinda crazy. I think that was more an in the mix thing
I like the ssl interface so much that I bought their channel strip even though I had 2. They work very well with my controller, and they just feel so natural and familiar, not to mention stable. Channel and bus comp on every mix for me.
My SSL G compressor is even gluier - so what you can do is to open up Waves Studio Rack - then add the Multi-Band-Split function x 5, and add the Waves SSL Buss Comp 5 times !!! Even if the Waves emulation of the SSL Buss Comp isnt the best this works well in a blind test !! - Enjoy !!
I think what makes the SSL G3 sound so sweet on the track is what it does to the kickdrum especially in the chorus. The kick sounds much heavier and punchier but in a very smooth way. One can feel the weight without it sounding to aggressive and jumping out of the mix. I really like that.
I have been doing this for a very long time by using abletons glue compressor. Duplicate so you have x3 and then use the sidchain function to set one as a low pass, one as mid and the last one as a high pass. Put a utility at the end so you have a main output. Group it together and there you go. You can do the same thing with abletons standard compressor.
It certainly added some magic dust to that track. I'm a big fan of SSL plugins, especially the native channel strip and bus compressor. Intuitive interfaces with just the right amount of visual feedback and they sound really good even without oversampling. I'll definitely be checking this out.
3 things the SSL G3 does in this clip that the Pro MB does not: 1) There's more click to the attack 2) The high band release is less transparent, giving it almost a Dolby B noise reduction sparkle 3) There's some weird pumping/breathing in a few parts of the song that don't happen with Pro MB To me, the Pro MB is very transparent whereas the SSL G3 sounds unavoidably compressed here.
Whyte, the G3 does auto gain when you hold the Shift key. Almost all the controls will auto gain with their counterparts when holding the shift key. 😊 After listening to your comparison with the Pro MB and can hear a clear colorization on the G3. It sounds more pleasant on G3.
A point missing about fabfilter is that you could add multi and drive with Saturn. The crossovers would have to be the same though, which could maybe be done by assigning Pro-MB and Saturn crossovers to a macro. 🤔
Well shit!...that's really good isn't it!. On top of that "SSL sound", the addition of the drive control is a deal maker!. You can almost remix a track.........but the best thing about it is, SIMPLICITY!. Everything is clear and right in front of you. No hidden menus or duel function "buttons". Anyone can understand this and make it work, from novice beginner to advanced pro. Well done SSL 😏👏👏............Dance Storm never sounded so alive!!
One thing I realized about the latest SSL plugin update - and especially the new ones like the de-ess and stereo mastering EQ (haven't tried the multibus yet so thanks for this review) - they have really went deep into sound coloring. Oh, and yeah - I use SSL plugins heavily for day-to-day work.
I like the sound out of this SSL comp, GUI semi-meh but not a reason why I'd not get it. I think they should have called it the SSL GGC, it seems like it is doing with audio compression what Gorilla Glue does to materials, it's glued together but good. G3... Glued 3 times? PS one of the things I like about your demo videos, you're doing it your way. Upside-down or whatever, no matter, keep doing it.
I don't see how a TRUE auto-balancing would be possible. Compression is not linear as distortion. Threshold doesn't do anything if peak doesn't hit it. Gain reduction happens only when peak hits the threshold, meaning there is time when GR happens and a time it doesn't. The time when GR happens it is not linear either - if a peak just hit over the threshold then GR is pretty much none until attack comes into an action. Same goes for release - it pushes down for a while when peak goes below the threshold then relives the signal and it becomes unity gain. I'd appreciate if someone could point out what I'm missing. All I see possible is to do a fake auto-balancing by different measurements or averaging them.
The Lindell MBC does the same thing but alot less muffled and flat sounding....Lindell MBC and Devious Machines...mulitband blows this thing away...their problem is all thier plugins have a very muffled plastic sound......smh.....
SSL, the best mixing consoles in the mid great music era... but they plugins?... meh, and meh... UAD still be the most accurate hardware emulation software. no more.
But the real comparison would be with FabFilter Saturn. Regardless of the sound (we don't want to judge that), the Saturn is many times more variable and verified.
I like the song, but the first thing I noticed is that the bass needs taming. I think you adjusted for it later on. I really enjoyed your review of the plug-in.
I was thinking of building this in 2009-2010 but didn't have the budget for parts (built only the casual bus comp in 2008) and then went totally ITB. Awesome to see them do this as a plugin :)
I´ll definetely demo this and then - maybe - wait for the sale...in the meanwile doing the multiband saturation/compressor thing with KBlue Cat's MB-7 Mixer might be worth a try. Here on the different bads you can use your favorite plug ins and build your own MB bus
I'm evaluating this right now, and I think it's an excellent tool, although I am wondering out loud about how other multiband compressor licenses that I own could largely fit the same bill... I would recommend comparison with PSP's Old Timer MB and McDsp's 6034 Ultimate MB. Alternatively, one could load multiple VST3 versions of SSL bus comp into Waves Studio Rack, but the user experience is very cludgy compared to the dedicated interface of this plug... In playing around with it, I'm struck by the excellent sound and workflow. My free trial ends in 2 weeks and it flips to rent to own... I'm leaning towards not interrupting that flip.
Never thought I'd consider something over ProMB. There's something about the interface that is concrete, what you see is what you get, and hearing the results speak for themselves. ProMB is very user friendly and efficient but does give the option to use many bands and overcook quite easily. I'm not sure I'm the greatest fan of ProMB's percentages for attack and release instead of time either, its a bit confusing considering every other plugin displays time.
Really sounds there is also going something on with stereo-linking on the compressor, when you A/B the SSL and the Fabfilter MB you can hear the mono channel staying very centered on the MB when the SSL pulls up a lot of activity from the side-channels
This SSL G3 is on my wishlist. The interface is fine with me, more important there's a nice jar of glue built-in. I'm not a fan of FabFilter, some sound like they're doing a good job, but there's something about them that makes me go meh.
Lindell MBC...is basically the same thing...but API.....I can this and Lindell MBC are probably the best idea on master bus because because You can Compress and Balance out your Highs lows and Mids at the same time
It's still their boring Duende buss compressor. No harmonics or analog character emulation. I hope you know that there's other more suitable multiband compressors out there, than the MB PRO? The Lindell API among a few others. Cheers mate. 😊
I like compression to be as transparent as possible.. Some hardware compressors can add a sonic dimension that's pleasing and in that case cool.. I don't know if I've heard a software compressor/multiband do that intangible pleasing sonic thang !
The plugin is an emulation of hardware. Hardware that they actually make. Why would they ever make it look like something totally different? There is nothing not to like about this interface. Its understated, classy, reminds you of the heritage of the company, is extremely easy to understand, no hidden menus and has a lovely logical left to right meta. At the end of the day, youre not talking about objectively negative things about the plugin, youre talking about your opinions about the look of a bypass button. It's honestly just such a waste of time, and no one with a functioning set of ears and brain is buying or not buying a plugin based upon the aesthetic design of an on off switch that functions completely as it is supposed to.
10:49 To my ears, it sounds as if "MB" is eating up all the fine details. While the G3 refines and emphasizes them. The lower frequencies also sound better in the G3.
Seems like you’d have to gain match each band individually and see if the volume has changed for the overall signal or even check the solo’s band’s peak before and after, but trying to gain match the whole thing at once is a mess.
I like skeuomorphs. I know that pure functional GUIs are very much en vogue, but I find them boring and I like the immediate familiarity you have with interfaces that mimic original designs. Add the UC1 to it and the experience comes close to using a console. At least for SSL’s channel strip, bus compressor and 4K B. And, hey, they didnt add fake wooden panels to the GUI ! 😅
