ableton onboards effects, whats your opinion

[ciw]

I used to think that all eqs sounded the same to me. I listened to a number of different plugs, ran white noise through them, looked at the spectrum analyser, and decided that better production was about learning to use what I already have (ie the live EQ) better.

Then I tried the digital linear phase eq in ozone. Firstly it's cleaner - doesn't mess with the phase. Secondly it's SO much more precise - the steepness of the lo/hi cut curves is so much more than eq8 can handle (at least in live 6). Now I use it everywhere I need an EQ. I'm sure better things still exist but I don't need them yet.

Sorry I don't have any examples to show for it right now... but go on and try it!

[YILA]

i love eq8.. its really transparent.. and the compressors dont colour sound too much, the just do there job... if i need charachter i turn to the powercore

[Synthbuilder]

I voted 'good'.

I like the reverb and I also use on 'eco' mode. I love the resonator, beat repeat and new compressor.

I don't like the phaser. Sorry but it doesn't sound like a real analogue phaser. Its phasing, but its just too perfect and clinical. Its very much like the ones found on early keyboard workstations. GVST's PS-1 and Antii's Phaser are more musical to my ears.

The Chorus is mostly OK, but the Flanger is poor to my ears. But then many VST flangers aren't my cup of tea either. I think the Audio Damage one is the nicest sounding. But the comb filter in Thor and Vaz Modular are good enough to use a flanger type effect.

The Delay is good. However, the delay time when shown in seconds should be able to get bigger. I also wish the delay line had a L-R balance control on its feedback pot. Longer delays on one side of a stereo pair need less feedback otherise is will always be louder on that side.

In summary, they're good, but I'm glad there are other things out there too.

[krank]

- use "Eco" mode. ( yes, it will often be a better choice, even if it creates a technically cheaper reverb simulation )

A-ha! I've noticed this; less density, deeper.

[djgroovy]

The new compressor is the highlight.
Grain delay and resonator are good, beatrepeat get's a lot of mentions although i don't like it that much, but then i use Audio Damage Replicant which does more or less the same...
I think the delays, eq8, reverb and chorus are also quite usable.

[darkcatt]

i was wondering what most users think of the standard onboard audio effects of ableton. (reverb, chorus, etc)



I remember back in the days when I was making music with a dishwasher, a sampler and some shitty effect in the sampler.
What happened to those days. Now it's all about the VSTs and AUs and the STDs and the upgrades and downgrades and the bass and the sidechain.
Dammit Im going lo-fi on your asses.

wow thats some funny shit!

I am blind wo what brand effect i use, but I too am noticing that i use more and more Live effects.

Some times Lo fi crappy stuff makes the most unique sounds.

[icedsushi]

...and does anybody actually use EQ3? If not, cut it.

Even with EQ8 around, EQ3's type of filtering cannot be exactly duplicated with EQ8. Or at least I haven't got it to sound the same. EQ3 is intended to be more of a "DJ", low, mid, hi cut type of EQ for steep filtering effects. I remember Robert posting somewhere on here about it, wish I could find the post.

I run my tracks into 2 submixes and have an EQ3 strapped to both submixes. Then I automate turning the low or high bands off for filtering, like whan I want the low end to totally to drop out of the mix for a couple bars. EQ3 even when set flat, does color the sound a bit. Sometimes I'll automate it so that it's turned off when flat to make sure it's not affecting the mix. And other times I'll just leave it on all the time because I actually like the color it adds.

You'd almost have to use 2 bands of EQ8 in shelf mode at the same freq and automate them at the same time to get the same effect. Not as easy as just using EQ3 where it's simplified for you.

[Khazul]

I tend to use them alot because they are easy to use and obviously sit well within the overall Ableton UI which makes them more convenient than most VST plugins.

Where I have hardwrae equivelents, then my hardware is much better to my ears. Where I have other software equivelents, then TBH they tend to be alot better as well.

[jamester]

...and does anybody actually use EQ3? If not, cut it.

Even with EQ8 around, EQ3's type of filtering cannot be exactly duplicated with EQ8. Or at least I haven't got it to sound the same. EQ3 is intended to be more of a "DJ", low, mid, hi cut type of EQ for steep filtering effects. I remember Robert posting somewhere on here about it, wish I could find the post.

I run my tracks into 2 submixes and have an EQ3 strapped to both submixes. Then I automate turning the low or high bands off for filtering, like whan I want the low end to totally to drop out of the mix for a couple bars. EQ3 even when set flat, does color the sound a bit. Sometimes I'll automate it so that it's turned off when flat to make sure it's not affecting the mix. And other times I'll just leave it on all the time because I actually like the color it adds.

You'd almost have to use 2 bands of EQ8 in shelf mode at the same freq and automate them at the same time to get the same effect. Not as easy as just using EQ3 where it's simplified for you.

Interesting, thanks!

[icedsushi]

You're welcome. Also, I finally found Robert's post. Here ya go:

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... c&start=45

And, here is what they said on pg3 of that thread about how eq3 does a steeper more extreme filtering.

hi all,

with eq4 you can nearly do everything that can be done with eq3. but eq3 has a much more deeper steepnes up to 48dB per octave and for that you would have to chain 4 * eq4s. I like both of them.

kind regards,
matthias

When I do a low cut w/eq3, it seems that it really CUTS all the lows completely with a really steep curve, instead of just attenuating them a lot.
With that said, I do still wish sometimes that eq3 were actually flat with the controls zeroed. Then I wouldn't have to automate turning the effect on/off when I don't want it to color a mix at all.

That's kind of the workaround though. For example, just keep the lows cut all the time. And then just toggle the main on/off switch. When it's turned on, that's your low kill. But it's not such a big deal, because doing it this way actually saves CPU while it's turned off.

[evon]

I feel compelled to add my two cents..To tell the truth, I was realy impressed with the new reverb. Probably it has to do with the genre of music. For my reggae tracks it seems to fit better when I tried it first using the same settings I used before in 5 & 6.

The EQ8 I was looking forward to so not much surprises there. I havent tried the modulation effects much yet, but I do tend to use external fx for guitar modulation.

Still not certain about Side Chain which I was looking forward to..need to spend some more time with it. Dynamic Tube is great for reggae which I use to add that little bit of dirt to make it real.

[R.J.Dubya]

I feel compelled to add my two cents..To tell the truth, I was realy impressed with the new reverb.

What new reverb?

When I do a low cut w/eq3, it seems that it really CUTS all the lows completely with a really steep curve, instead of just attenuating them a lot.
With that said, I do still wish sometimes that eq3 were actually flat with the controls zeroed. Then I wouldn't have to automate turning the effect on/off when I don't want it to color a mix at all.

You should really try Wavearts Trackplug and see what you think of the brickwall filter on that baby. Now that's steep!

[evon]

I feel compelled to add my two cents..To tell the truth, I was realy impressed with the new reverb.

What new reverb?

OK...more correctly....I like how it sounds with with 64 bit summing

[Robert Henke]

I always find the discussion about EQ3 a bit strange. On one side people rave about analog summing, and about how great analog console X sound and in all these cases "sound" means, that what comes out is not (A*n) but something much more complex with added nonlinearities, phase issues, distortion, noise etc. And on the other side, users get totally confused by an EQ that sounds different when not in bypass.

So, why simply do not put in in bypass then and mix the rest around it. Or place one in each channel of your mix and never bypass any of them.

The funny thing about the DAW discussion is that there is no "real", "true" input signal, that needs to be passed unaltered. What is the theoretical difference between EQin to a signal you apply because you want it and EQin applied by the mixing desk itself? None. Of course, if the effect is so dramatic, that a voice piped thru the console sounds muddy or thin, you would not want this. But if you listen to your favourite track thru the EQ3 for a while witout touching it, you will not notice that it changes the sound, so it should be not such a big deal.

Anyway, we might one day come up with an EQ3 that is perfectly linear, just to end that discussion

Cheers, Robert

[krank]

I always find the discussion about EQ3 a bit strange. On one side people rave about analog summing, and about how great analog console X sound and in all these cases "sound" means, that what comes out is not (A*n) but something much more complex with added nonlinearities, phase issues, distortion, noise etc. And on the other side, users get totally confused by an EQ that sounds different when not in bypass.

So, why simply do not put in in bypass then and mix the rest around it. Or place one in each channel of your mix and never bypass any of them.

The funny thing about the DAW discussion is that there is no "real", "true" input signal, that needs to be passed unaltered. What is the theoretical difference between EQin to a signal you apply because you want it and EQin applied by the mixing desk itself? None. Of course, if the effect is so dramatic, that a voice piped thru the console sounds muddy or thin, you would not want this. But if you listen to your favourite track thru the EQ3 for a while witout touching it, you will not notice that it changes the sound, so it should be not such a big deal.

Anyway, we might one day come up with an EQ3 that is perfectly linear, just to end that discussion

Cheers, Robert

EQ3 is not... pristine.