Last week when we started mixing for Scratcher Dylan turned me on to a set of plug-ins by a company called DUY. I downloaded the Everpack bundle which includes DaD Valve, a physical-modeling-based classic tube simulator, DUY Wide, a stereo and multichannel spatial enhancer, Max DUY, a sound level maximizer, DUY Shape, a sound enhancer featuring 3-band smooth filters and DUY Z-Room an optimized-consumption reverb. I wasn’t able to get them working before the storm, but when I did I really liked the results. First off, the installation is pretty straight forward, unless you don’t read the fine print. You need I-Lok to authorize the programs, but if you are not using I-Lok you have to download special software to activate the plug-ins. I glossed over this in the “read me,” and was faced with endless windows arOnce I got over this I was able to get them working with Logic. These plug-ins are all pretty excellent sounding and seem to be aimed at getting an analog sound. I haven’t recorded analog since the beginning of the 90s, so my frame of reference is way out of whack. What I do know is that I really like the way they make things sound.
After playing with them all the Valve and Shape plug-ins are my favorites and am using them on the bass, kick, snare and vocals, and things are sounding hot. The valve simulator has a bunch of modeling presets for a wide variety of instrument types. You can mix and match to create some interesting sounds. The Shape plug-in is a complicated EQ. The controls are similar to the Adjust Curve tool in Photoshop. You change the EQ characteristic based on a curve which you can enter many points to fine tune your sound, or go really extreme with your sound. This also has a bunch of presets for different instruments and mastering applications. I haven’t found an application for Z-Room, I really like Space designer for reverb, but I may give it a shot to implement an idea Dylan has for the mix.
The programs are available in a bunch of places and directly from DUY but they are priced in Euro. Check the exchange rate before you buy, the dollar is down against the Euro right now so they are kind of expensive.