Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
[Logic Pro] Compressor models
Logic’s compressors are pretty good. Better than pretty good actually IMVHO.
Here’s what they’re apparently modelled after:
Platinum Digital : Logic original digital
Studio VCA : Focusrite Red 3
Studio FET : 1176 Blackface
Classic VCA : dbx 165A
Vintage VCA : SSL G Bus
Vintage FET : 1176 Silverface
Vintage Opto : LA-2A
One cool feature is when you tab through the various modes of compressor the settings are maintained so you get to hear for yourself what the differences between an 1176 and a LA2A are (and what they’re good for)
For vocals try a Studio or Vintage FET (1176) with fast attack to just about catch the peaks then chain that into the Vintage Opto (LA2A) to smooth the vocals (classic combo for vocals). The silverface is more aggressive than the blackface.
Drive the FET (1176s) input hard to get a ton of saturation — great for smashing drums/parallel compression.
Drive the input of any of them a little then set distortion to soft for even more saturation/colour.
It’s like having 5 analogue modelled compressor plugins + stock digital all in one.
Comments
I really need to give those a closer look (on desktop). I'm still relying on Toneboosters' great apps for now.
Thanks for the tips. Good stuff!
Now we need one for stock reverbs, I’m not really finding one that suits my tastes.
Chromaverb ain’t bad at all.
2 tips.
Early/late slider (hidden behind the details button) is your friend. The presets overdo the earlies IMO. talking of presets, just make your own to suit. It’s not hard :-)
EQ. Get rid of muddiness by getting rid of bass reverb. Or a cut around say 300-400 Hz.
Chromaverb is worth perservering with i think.
Space designer is also good. Chromaverb is algorithmic, SD is convolution.
Nice rundown on the compressors - thanks. I'll be comparing the LA2 emulation against the one in Mixbox. LA2 is the best on vocals, much smoother than other types.
About the reverbs: there's a bug in Space Designer, in the manual it says you can tap on the orange Sampled IR button to load your own IRs, but it doesn't work.