Product: Focusrite d2 TDM Mac
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
07/27/2002
at
10:01am
by
Emmanuel Deruty
Email: emmanuel dot deruty<at>ircam dot fr
Reviewer Background
:
Been using this plug-in for 2 years.
Version 1.4.2 for ProTools TDM, Macintosh. Monitors : Genelec 1030, Amadeus MPB200, headphones Beyer DT931.
It is an all-purpose EQ - can be used for anything - and that's what I do with it. From pop music mixing to narrative talk, to sound design...
Bought it along with the d3.
Ease of Use
:
9
Well, the interface emulates the hardware D2 unit - the only difference is that there is a graphical filter curve added.
No difficulties altogether.
Quite efficient whatever you do. No problems.
Sounds/Sound Quality
:
8
Compared to all other plug-in EQs I have tried, this one is the better sounding.
Beats by far the Waves, McDSP and TCWorks EQs. Probably less interesting than the Bombfactory PulTec and GRMTools bandpass, but far more versatile anyway.
For an EQ plug-in, it can get quite drastic. Qs can be set to high values, and there are specific lo and hi cut which are very, very effective.
The basses are quite correct, which is rare with plug-in EQs. And the hi frequencies seldom get "hard". Furthermore, there seems to be an integrated overdrive processe, some kind of (very) soft sat, which is quite nice and makes the plug-in more easy to work with.
Maybe not as nice as analog plug-ins, but nice anyway.
Overall Rating
:
8
Considering that :
* it is very easy to handle
* it is quite versatile
* the sound is far better than correct, especially for a plug-in
* it is absolutely not resource consuming
.. it would be great without the following problem :
Sometimes the plug-in don't follow the automation curves. It is quite funny because you can see on the display, in different colors, the automation value, and the actual value.
The only remedy, it seems, is to create another track, copy the automation to this new track, and delete the former.
And this f***ing floppy disk authorization system !!! What are we supposed to do when owning a G4 ?
If it wasn't for these two problems I'd give it a 10.
