Ultra for mixdown compression and eq?

F

famished

Member
Ok, I know technically it *can* be used as outboard gear for mixdowns, ... but I'd like to know if for compression and eq, stereo mastering, whether I can rely on the Ultra, or whether I should really make the investment in some standard analog rack gear, such as API's 2500, etc.? Anyone got any strong and well established feelings about this little dilemma?
 
The best general purpose compressor I've used in recent years is a Distressor. It is SPOT on with bass, drums and vox and I've used it on everything in between. In my opinion, for professional recording/ mixing, that is the go-to nowadays.

While I like the compression options in the Axe Fx Ultra, I don't find them to be as musical as a Distressor when professional recording and mixing of OTHER instruments is in order.



My $0.03
 
famished said:
What about eq also? Is an outboard analog rack going to sound more musical as well, all things being equal?
Click to expand...
For outboard use, the Axe does not add a tonal signature of it's own. As far as EQ goes, it will not add a silky top end like a Lang PEQ-2. As a compressor, it will not put hair on a bass track like a DBX 160 or an Altec 438.

The Axe is superb at processing where additional coloration is not desired. If you wish to call that non-musical I would have to agree.

Originally, the Axe was purchased with only guitar tracking in mind. To my surprise, it's proven to be way more capable than just that. I do a lot of large-format analog mixing of tracks that have been recorded ITB. Quite often tracks benefit from some flavor of analog processing and that's where the distressors, etc. of the world come into play. I also need tools that don't add a sonic print of their own and just plain do the job. That is what to expect from the Axe.

Here's a couple related 'axe as outboard' threads:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9119
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9062
 
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