Audio Damage Phase 2 VST PC

I've been playing music for a long, long time, let me put it to you this way, I've got an old analog 16 track that I use and I had been playing music for 15 years when it was a brand new machine :)

I mainly play bass, and do vocals, but I also dabble in keyboards and play a little acoustic guitar. I do a lot of recording, both all analog, all digital and combinations of both.

I cannot remember the software version of the Phase 2 plugin but it's a fairly new plug.

I'm using it mainly with Sonar 3.01, the plug works very well and plays nice with my UAD-1 plugins and the native plugins I have from Cakewalk and Soundforge.

I just got the Phase 2, so I haven't used it a lot, but it's kinda cool on guitars mainly, but can be good on Keyboards as well. If you like a freaky thing on vocals it's cool for that too.

I still need to go back and run some drums though it, getting a Kashmir type of thing going.

I play rock and progressive rock, I like plugins that emulate vintage hardware because doing that makes them simpler to use....recording with computers is complicated enough, don't give me a plug with three dozen controls and parameters unless it's a softsynth.

My computer is a dedicated studio computer, purpose built by a vendor (Sonic Blade....great company btw), I'm running Win XP the system is a 2.8 gigahertz, one gig of RAM with a separate 160 gig drive for audio.

My main audio interface is a Delta 1010, but I also use a Mackie Onyx 1220 sometimes, both work fine with the plug. Midi is handled by a Midiman Midisport 8x8Usb.

I monitor on a variety of sources, two different sets of JBL studio montitors (driven by an Adcom), tiny JBL's driven by a Crown D-45, headphones (Fostex T-20's mainly), I can even route through my large triamped PA if I want to.

OK here we get into the actual product.....for the younguns out there this plug is a software emulation of a 70's hardware box called the Mu-Tron Biphase. It's a phase shifter so it's a pretty simple device but the Mu-Tron was the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona of phase shifters in it's day....back then when an MXR Phase 90 ran about $60, I believe a Mu-Tron BiPhase ran about $300....back then you could buy a new Rickenbacker bass for about $450 so $300 was a lot of cash.

The reason it's called a BIPHASE is it's actually two phase shifters, and you can run them in parallel, or in serial mode, and some variations of that based on how it processes and outputs in stereo.

In stereo it's a very evocative effect, I guess the closest hardware device to it (other than the Mutron itself) would be something like a Lexicon Vortex....both the Vortex and Mutron Biphase are great for audio havoc, the Phase 2 seems to be good at that as well.

I only used a Mu-Tron a couple of times and don't recall it a lot, other than it was way cooler than my guitar player's Electro-Harmonix phase shifter, but then again the EH only cost about $39 then.

The plug does seem VERY Accurate to the original as I recall it, purists might find issues with it vs. the hardware but I can say I A/B'd it to the phaser that comes with the UAD-1 card, and the phaser plugs that came with Sonar and SoundForge and the Phase 2 TOTALLY CRUSHES ALL OF THEM. It's deeper, nastier, thicker, you name it it just sounds way better.

The best news is it's a cheap plug....$49. Yeah it's a one trick pony but it does what it does very well, better than paying $300 for a suite of plugs that all suck.

If you like phase shifters (they are a very retro sound) then you should check this thing out...it really sounds cool.

Installation was painless, once I figured out the correct plugin folder to put it in....it came up right away, copy protection uses your serial number input into the installer. There is no packaging, it's a small company so you just pay your money and download the software and installer...it prompts you for the serial # which is provided to you with the authorization...input that and away you go.

It's a small company, making really cool off the beaten track plugins folks....please don't steal their products. If you can't support developers like this by paying a measly $49 then you shouldn't be making music.

Automation is supported but I have not used it yet, you can of course save presets, it comes with about 10 which are all pretty cool, from subtle to mild to wild to just insane.

Midi controller implementation is great, there is a "learn" mode so you just select the control, move your controller and it will automatically assign itself to that control.

All told there are six knobs and seven switches so it's pretty easy to assign up a set of controllers for it.

It's easy to get a good sound out of it, the presets are a good start, just call up one that is in the ballpark and start twisting knobs....like a hardware phase shifter it works best on mellow picked guitar parts or strummed cords, although if you really whack the controls it sounds bitchin on heavy power chords in a Trent Rezonor kinda way.

It's cool in that you can get shadings from subtle bubbliness to over the top screeching swoops, the only caveat is like a real phase shifter it does need some LF content to get a full sounding sweep, but at the same time too much low end is not good either.

The manual is great for content, but it's an online .pdf and for some reason it's formatted weirdly and hard to print right. If they'd fix that problem the manual would be stellar.

The only thing I'll pick on in the ease of use category is the interface is all you get, just the cel shaded knobs and switches, you cannot enter discrete values, just turn the knobs to approximate positions. Since you can save a preset once you achieve the settings you want this isn't a big deal, but knowing what combination of knob and switch values yield the best results would be nice.

I'm taking off a single point because it resembles the hardware a bit too much, you turn the knob to "about halfway up" and that's what you get, there is no setting for 55% for example.

It sounds great....I imagine the hardware sounds better (like most hardware vs. plugs comparisons) but you have presets, midi control, multiple instances and no noise (unless your source input has noise the on the track).

It probably works best as an insert, that's the way I've used it, but you can set it up on an F/X send too.

It works great in a mix, as you can either make it subtle or dial it up for over the top and then you really hear it. The cool thing about phase shifting is it kinda whacks out the frequency response of things so it actually opens up your tracks as the resonant frequency of the track you are using it on is always moving.

Presets are somewhat adequate, they are a great starting point...good grief you've got 6 knobs and 7 switches, just using the presets without changing them seems like you'd have to be really lazy.

Operation can be mono or stereo.

I think there is a demo version of this plug, check it out against the phaser plugs that come with your regular software and I think you'll see this thing is way better.

Well worth the price tag, I really like the UAD-1 stuff but other than the 140 Plate and the new Roland stuff they are making their time domain F/X plugs just don't do much for me.

I'm more of a hardware guy (I have 11 outboard F/X processors in my main studio rig, two in studio B and some live pedalboard type things as well) but I like ususual plugs that don't replicate hardware I already have (e.g. the Plate 140 is great as I doubt I'll ever own a real plate reverb).

The fact that I really like this plug and I'm a hardware guy says a lot.

I'm not aware of any dedicated phase shifter plugs on the market but I am sure there are some...I bought this one because of the specific Mutron emulation and the fact it was cheap...after the fact now I would have paid $99 for it, it's WELL WORTH the $49.

I love the way it sounds and the range of options you have but still at the same time not too many knobs or switches. I don't really dislike much about it, I just wish the manual were easier to print.

CPU overhead is very low, on my machine it seems like it was 2% or so per instance. Believe me, once you get two of these things going there is not much sonic space for more phase shifters, it's an effect that is best used sparingly.

It's never crashed but then again I have not used it a lot.

Compared to the UAD-1 card and plugs, installation and use is a snap, I wish all software were this easy to install and use.

Things I wish it had:

1. Optional "expert mode" that let you dial in specific knob values

2. Hardcover manual, or at least an easier to print manual....seems like it should print landscape but it doesn't, so you get pages with a little bit of writing and a lot of white space

3. I wish the panel were more realistic, like the UAD-1 plugs are...crisper graphics, that sort of thing.

I dunno this might be a copyright issue, in that making it look TOO much like the original Mutron might be a problem there.

Other than those minor gripes, it's a great plugin, HIGLHY RECOMMENDED, especially if you want to sound like Robin Trower ;)