Brief Listen to both

I listened to both of the RND plug-Ins today by playing back a song on Cubase 5 (on XP machine) with 20 tracks or so, VST instruments etc. The music style was rock - ele & aco guitars, drums, keys etc.

I tried the EQ on the main output buss and it sounded very smooth and musical yet surgical if desired. On a Martin 12 string guitar I heard similiar positive traits. The interface displays a nice large frequency spectrum.

I listened to the compressor at the same time and on the main output it sounded smooth and balanced. The two feedback modes vary the sound from very smooth and rounded (relaxed) vs. tighter and maybe punchier but still very smooth overall. I also tried it on the electric bass (a Precision bass thru an amplifier) in the song. Both feedback modes could give a very powerful and balanced overall sound but one is rounded and the other tighter.

I am not exactly clear yet on the CPU usage of each. With project running, the Microsoft Task Manager indicated the CPU usage was in the low 60 % range and after inserting both RND stereo plug-ins into the main output buss the CPU increased to the low 70 % range.

Hi Willb,

thanks for your post and personal evaluation of the plug-ins. Really appreciated!

Thanks,
Timo

It has been a few days and I continue to be really impressed by the sonic characteristics of both of these RND plug-ins.

No, all plugins don’t sound the same. If they do all sound the same in your situation then I would guess something else is seriously wrong.

Downloaded them and have been playing with them for hours… I tried the EQ and Comp on various vocals I have recorded and each time I got better results in next-to-no-time with the RND Portico plugs. Normally I spend ages perfecting a vocal sound with EQ, sometimes 2 compressors and a “channel strip” This was so much easier and the results were better. On acoustic guitar it’s possible to add top EQ without edginess (well most things actually) and smoothness oozes through. The Comp I also tried on the main mix bus followed by a limiter version of itself and was back in the 70’s! Whilst not quite as effective as M/S mastering compression it certainly had charm. I come from the dark ages (started in 76) and have used Neve and SSL desks in different studios over the years and I had forgotten how easy the real kit was at getting good sounds… Of course those desks cost ££££££££’s and sadly in these days of valueless studio time even the CHEAP £600 asking price has to be carefully considered, even though you could run oodles of them in your mix… sad isn’t it?

Martin

I new I would be desperately unhappy when the trial period ended so I bought them. If you are in the UK Digital Village sells the bundle for £599 inc VAT as opposed to £671 inc 19% VAT on the Steinberg site.

Martin

I am not exactly clear yet on the CPU usage of each. With project running, the Microsoft Task Manager indicated the CPU usage was in the low 60 % range and after inserting both RND stereo plug-ins into the main output buss the CPU increased to the low 70 % range…!!!

This will depend greatly on 2 factors - the CPU and the sample rate.
Please see attached GIF file, which is switching these on & off on a stereo track at 24/96 resolution with an 8/16 core Xeon. I don’t think the CPU hit is all that high considering…
Portico CPU usage.gif