Wave Arts TrackPlug
Contents
1. most channel strip modules In particular you can configure up to 10 bands of EQ and each band can be any one of 7 types bandpass notch highpass lowpass high shelf low shelf or parametric though obviously some of the types might not make sense in certain positions Only the settings for a single band are displayed at any given time though TrackPlug provides the ability to manipulate the key settings for any given band i e frequency height or gain and width directly via the graph It also allows KI Petete adding but not deleting or disabling enabling bands via the graph Also instead of B fred Negi wian Rewting having to tediously toggle the band button to get to say band 10 if you re O O currently on band 1 you can just click directly on the band 10 node on the graph E EEE A and the band 10 settings will immediately be brought to the fore In addition to providing direct manipulation of parameters via the graph and knobs for manipulating the three key EQ settings per band other than EQ band type TrackPlug provides direct keyboard entry of numerical parameters Keyboard based users can also tab back and forth between numerical fields in the TrackPlug interface but curiously cannot access any of the buttons via the keyboard This may make TrackPlug a non starter for users who cannot or prefer not to use a mouse The EQ section shows up to the left of the dynamics processor sections in the TrackPlug user interfa2. E Eo 0 Originally published on CakewalkNet com September 25 2002 Page 5
3. SLAT Arts TrackPlug 1 Bass TrackPlug Review cwp Presets Bass Attack Track P lug Detect Lookehead Wawe A Thresh Ratio Gain O of ES e 24 Thresh Ratio Dyn Input 20 50 100 200 500 tk 2k Sk 10k 20k D let m B d io t e t e E 0 1 Aaa Derete Bana EEE eS eo e Type Freq Height Width Routing Attack Release Output Ae O amp GC O Came Damas omen me in lined S6 48 24 R 6 3 0 3 Ka ca ma EI Eo a 04 0 2 Review WaveArts TrackPlug by Rick Paul 25th September 2002 When mixing a large recording project in the hardware environment be that with a traditional analog mixer or a modern digital mixer hardware limitations can come into play Those expensive vintage compressors gates and outboard equalizers can t be used on every track other than maybe in the highest of high end studios anyway A common compromise especially with digital mixers 1s to reserve the high end processors for strategic tracks such as vocals and lead instruments then use any processors provided by the mixer s channel strip for less critical supporting tracks In a PC DAW environment such as that offered by SONAR once you own a plug in effect or processor you can use it on as many tracks as you like so why not go for the high end stuff at least to the extent your plug in arsenal provides on every track right Well maybe but there are a few reasons to consider other possible appro
4. aches too Perhaps the most obvious reason for considering other approaches is that it is often the case that the higher end plug ins consume a relatively large amount of CPU power and using that vintage compressor emulator and vintage EQ emulator on every track might cause you to run out of CPU power before you run out of tracks to include in your mix In such cases you could of course submix then work on the additional tracks but having to do a lot of submixing tends to cause compromises in flexibility at later stages of the mix and even if you aren t in a position where time is money time is well time and I d venture most of us don t have huge amounts of that to spare Another possibility is that while that vintage high end sound may be just great sometimes a little bit goes a long way Even if you could have it on every track is it desirable Or for the particular project you re mixing at the moment might the contrast of treating some parts one way and other parts another way make for a richer sounding overall mix Then there is the convenience factor With many projects a large percentage of the tracks will need at least a compressor and an equalizer on them and possibly also a gate Rather than using 2 3 plug ins it might be more convenient to have the equivalent of a channel strip that bundles all these functions together in a single plug in That way for tracks that can use this approach you make all the relevant adjustment
5. agine that a mix with lots of subtle details in it could benefit from the greater clarity of the TrackPlug mix And as I indicated above the differences were subtle Originally published on CakewalkNet com September 25 2002 Page 4 Performance Since one of the key selling points Wave Arts makes for TrackPlug is its being relatively light on the CPU while providing excellent sound quality I was eager to see how it would stack up to other plug ins on the performance side My test involved using the same mixes compared above for sound characteristics and observing SONAR 2 0 s CPU meters to note the comparative loads of the two mixes On the particular mixes in question I was comparing the load from 8 instances of Ultrafunk s Sonitus fx compressor and 1 instance of fx equalizer in one mix with 9 instances of TrackPlug in the other Had any of the tracks in the first mix used fx compressor and fx equalizer back to back in a plug in chain I would have substituted one instance of TrackPlug for the two plug ins However the only track I had with both plug ins on it had an amp simulator in between so I had to use separate instances of TrackPlug for the compressor and equalizer functions Over the course of the roughly three minute song SONAR s CPU meter varied considerably in both versions of the mix Since there are no statistics in SONAR to provide an average reading my results are decidedly unscientific However as best I could gauge based on w
6. atching the meter throughout the course of both songs the Ultrafunk mix tended to average approximately 75 CPU consumption while the TrackPlug mix tended to average around 70 CPU consumption I might note that this was on an AMD Athlon XP 1600 system with 512MB of RAM running Windows XP In both mixes I imagine much of the CPU load came from other plug ins that were in use e g Alien Connections ReValver on both electric guitar parts PSP s VintageWarmer on the master output etc Given that the Ultrafunk plug ins are themselves no slouches on performance it would appear that Wave Arts performance claims have some justification Overall Impressions All in all Wave Arts TrackPlug is a solid performer both on the sound quality and performance fronts If you re could use a channel strip plug in with a relatively transparent character TrackPlug is definitely worth a look My only real complaints are that the user interface could be a lot more intuitive and could provide even better feedback than it already does Rick Paul is a songwriter living in Southern California You can contact him at http www RickPaul info Ejwave Arts TrackPlug 1 Bass TrackPlug Review cwp Presets Bass Attack Trach Plug Wawe Anta RO GK 50 50 100 200 500 ik 2k Sk 10k 20k gt E t z re 6 4 36 3 24 Type Freq Height Width Routing Attack Release Output DE ee O O Dre nae Ome aan a dma 96 48 24 2 6 3 0 3 aA ES Ge EL
7. ce However when it comes to signal flow it can be configured either before or after the dynamics processor section While users of individual plug ins have come to expect this kind of routing flexibility it isn t something that can be taken for granted in the channel strip world and is thus a welcome feature of TrackPlug Gate TrackPlug s gate section is technically an expander in that besides the typical gate Sotos F005 Lamnances 2 os controls 1 e attack release and threshold it includes a ratio control Thus instead of simply turning signals that go under the threshold off as a simple gate does TrackPlug provides the option of working like the simple gate or reducing the signal by a ratio which can create more natural sounding transitions when using gating for a simple form of background noise reduction A dyn input dynamics input gain control allows raising or cutting the level of the signal feeding the gate or if the gate is bypassed the compressor Perhaps the main value of this control is for serving as a makeup gain or cut when the EQ is ECE cE configured before the dynamics section In addition to the ratio control and the attack release and threshold controls for the expander gate functionality the gate section features a knee control with three settings soft medium and hard Unfortunately the effects of the knee setting are not reflected in the dynamic module s graphic curve so you will need to rely on
8. erous 30 day evaluation period To truly evaluate a plug in like this requires using it on at least one real project and while I m generally satisfied with anywhere from 10 days on up as an evaluation period sometimes unexpected scheduling conflicts can arise that make even a 2 week evaluation period overly cramped The longer period here may even allow potential customers to try TrackPlug on more than one project thus giving time to overcome any initial learning curve issues not that I expect TrackPlug should present any significant ones to most SONAR users TrackPlug includes an EQ a gate and a compressor We will get into the features of the individual component sections of TrackPlug below but it is worth noting first that in terms of audio signal flow the EQ can be patched either before or after the dynamics module section Within the dynamics module section if both modules are active the gate is always patched prior to the compressor which is the logical order for most practical situations When you first bring up TrackPlug you will notice it has a fairly large interface with two large graphs four meters and a bunch of knobs and buttons While the size of the module helps cut down on clutter somewhat and for example makes knobs relatively easy to grab for even those whose mouse coordination skills are somewhat lacking it also makes TrackPlug take up a lot of screen real estate While I had no problem fitting TrackPlug on my 1024x768
9. fic job to be done TrackPlug is decidedly of the transparent variety If you are looking for that warm analog style compressor or EQ you won t find it here On the other hand if you are looking for crisp clear processing where the nature of the sound emanating TrackPlug is as close as it can be given whatever processing is going on inside to what you put into it TrackPlug is an excellent choice In the process of writing another review for Cakewalknet com I d recently remixed one of my recordings using Ultrafunk s Sonitus fx plug in suite For comparison here I decided I would substitute all cases of Ultrafunk s fx compressor and fx equalizer with TrackPlug to compare both the sound of the result and the load both mixes put on my processor The differences in the sound of the two mixes were somewhat subtle but still noticeable As best I can characterize it the TrackPlug mix was slightly clearer with the detail of individual instruments coming through to a slightly higher degree By contrast the Ultrafunk fx compressor fx equalizer mix was a bit smoother in the sense of the blend yet a bit punchier overall Which was better Well that is a matter of taste and will also depend somewhat on the style of music being processed For this particular mix which was a country rock song complete with distorted and acoustic guitar sounds I preferred the Ultrafunk mix However that could well be a function of the type of music and I could im
10. or settings in this module What may not be obvious from the shared controls is that the readings and adjustments relevant to these controls are taken prior to the audio signal s entering the gate There is no separate reading between the gate and the compressor section This creates economies on the plug in performance side and should not affect what is being read in the compressor module since the gate cannot increase the level coming into it only decrease that level and only in portions of the signal which are below the threshold where the compressor would kick in anyway The compressor also features a knee control this time separate from the gate s similar control As with the gate settings are soft medium and hard and the effect of the knee is not shown on the compression curve in the dynamics graph Sound Especially with compressors but also with equalizers and even to a degree with gates there are two basic types of character found in different plug ins One type is the transparent type where what you get out is very similar to what you put in other than to the degree in which the plug in is doing its main job The other is the character type where the plug in imparts characteristics on the sound e g analog warmth over and above its nominal function Neither type is inherently better or worse and the decision as to which type of module to use will often come down to personal taste be it in general or with respect to the speci
11. s in one place instead of three Multiply that time savings by a large number of tracks and the savings can become significant This channel strip approach is not new Hardware based digital mixers have used this approach for some time now and Waves AudioTrack plug in which takes this same approach in software has been out there since at least early 1999 What is new is Wave Arts entry into this arena with TrackPlug list price 129 95 on sale until September Originally published on CakewalkNet com September 25 2002 Page 1 30th for 89 95 as well as the no compromise approach Wave Arts takes in offering up to 10 bands of EQ where most channel strip providers provide 3 or 4 bands Let s take a look The Basics TrackPlug is a Windows DirectX or VST or Mac VST plug in that provides an up to 10 band EQ plus a compressor and gate all in a single plug in interface Since Cakewalknet com is oriented at users of Cakewalk products such as SONAR 2 we will be focusing on the Windows version of the plug in and specifically on the DirectX version since it is fully featured and is the version most likely to be used by users of Cakewalk products It is worth noting though that the Windows version of the product includes both the DirectX and VST versions of the plug in A fully functional 30 day evaluation version of the product is available for anyone who would like to try it before buying I commend Wave Arts for providing the very gen
12. screen I could not fit two instances on that screen without obscuring at least one or two controls or meters on one of the instances This might make it challenging to use for trying to work with several tracks at once in cases where being able to visually reference one track s settings while working with another track s settings is desirable Even when using one instance I found myself having to move it around the screen a bit more frequently than I would have liked in order to access areas of the SONAR Track View that TrackPlug was obscuring However to a degree this is unavoidable when combining the features and interfaces of three modules and Waves AudioTrack only makes a small improvement over TrackPlug in this regard while presenting less information Global TrackPlug controls include an enable disable button for the whole plug in a question mark button that brings up product version information and further buttons for registering the plug in or accessing the on line user manual an output gain cut control and output meters with a numerical peak hold feature The overall layout is slightly confusing in that the output gain cut control is grouped with the gate s controls and section layout does not reflect signal flow layout even if you allow for the possibility of changing the position of the EQ to before or after the dynamics module In particular the top to bottom layout of compressor and gate respectively would give the impression the ga
13. te follows the compressor in the signal chain while it is actually just the opposite Also the dynamics module s input attenuator is on the righthand side of the gate s controls which would suggest it is either part of the gate s controls or comes after the gate in the audio signal flow when in fact it comes before the gate in the signal flow When you take any of the component modules off line the relevant graphs i e the EQ curve and dynamics module graph do not reflect their being taken out of the signal flow Thus if you use the useful visual setting information the graphs supply to help give an idea of how TrackPlug will affect your signal you will need to pay close attention the state of the individual module enable buttons and take that state into account in mentally visualizing the effects on the dynamics curve or EQ graph It isn t a big deal with the EQ graph since that is either on or off and the effect of disabling an individual band does get reflected in the graph Even there though I would prefer if I could see at a Originally published on CakewalkNet com September 25 2002 Page 2 glance that the EQ was disabled via a quick glance at the very visible graph It is more of a concern when one but not both of the dynamics modules are disabled and thus only part of the dynamics graph curve is valid Let s move on to the individual components within the plug in EQ The EQ module is flexible and powerful much moreso than
14. your ears to understand the effect achieved on the expansion curve There is also a lookahead control and a peak RMS button both of which are shared with the compressor section This lookahead control allows providing 0 1 2 or 5 milliseconds of lookahead which can be useful for avoiding chopping off transients when opening the gate Of course the cost is a slight delay in the output signal but that can Originally published on CakewalkNet com September 25 2002 Page 3 be compensated for since you will know the length of the delay The peak RMS button simply determines whether RMS or peak detection is used to determine when to open and close the gate Compressor The compressor follows the gate in the signal flow of the dynamics section of 2 camp ters 6 ae eteni raes Lovtenees 2 rmm TrackPlug It features the usual slate of compressor controls 1 e threshold ratio G attack release and makeup gain In addition there is an AMG Auto Makeup EEr EM EITI Gain button When it is enabled the AMG button automatically adds makeup gain O p3 as needed to ensure the output level corresponding to Odb stays constant while CR I adjusting the threshold and ratio controls The standard makeup gain control then becomes an offset gain control oy oo eee The dyn input control lookahead button and peak RMS button are shared with the gate section and function as noted above except that they are used for controlling compress
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