Hammer Down Mix and Faux Master by Doug

[dcp10200]

SSL Master buss emulation on it rather than my usual Neve emulation.

Sounds legit. I find that when mixing toms you really have yo exaggerate the space to help them breathe in the stereo field. Everything sounds balanced, the LDGTR aren't overly loud, and I can hear the synths in you chorus' and everywhere else too.
I find that the Neve emulations are pretty colored and its like using a sledge hammer for putting up paintings. With this sound in particular harmonic distortion can work against you if used too liberally. I use console one for my emulations and Steven Slate what do you use?

Good Job dude.
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Thanks Wes, I use Waves NLS for my master buss emulation, it's old but it work well for what I need it to do. Generally I hate the SSL in that plugin because of how it interacts with the top end of the track (particularly the cymbals) as it makes them sound like hitting paper even on the most conservative of drive setting, for this mix it actually worked which is surprising although it isn't really a fair comparison because of the other aspects I did change but who knows. I was driving the Neve emulation very hard (8 out of 12 on the drive knob) which was killing the transients too much.

Side note: According to one of my friends who used to work at RCA Studios Toronto, the only reason SSLs got used was because the Total Recall system and automation was better and more intuitive than Neve Flying Faders, the pres in those boards aren't that great for tracking because of their relatively colourless sound. Hence the idea of tracking on a Neve and then mixing on an SSL, back in the day when budgets could afford that kinda thinking .

Cheers,
Doug