jkuehlin
New member
Jkuehlin, have you ever used the Slate EQs- FG-S (SSL), FG-N (Neve), Custom EQ, or his new FG-A (API)?
Personally, I think they're fantastic.
I used them pretty heavily when they first came out. I have nothing but respect for Steven and what he's doing with his company. And I think he's a tremendously gifted mix engineer and a great visionary.
I'll tell you why I don't use them anymore, but this by no means implies that you shouldn't.
SSL:
To me, the qualities that made the E,G,K and J series SSL consoles truly legendary has to do with the way the channel strip and summing bus interact as a whole. The reason I never use the FG-S is because I rarely ever use the EQ by itself. Usually what I do is load the entire UAD strip because the EQ gives you a breathtaking sound when the input source is pegging the saturation at the front of the strip perfectly.
Also, there's something unique about the way the dynamics push and pull on the EQ curve. I can't get that sound with any other channel strip or by stacking slate plugs say Virtual Channel (Brit 4K E) -> Filter -> Comp -> EQ -> Trimmer -> Virtual MixBuss (Brit 4KE) in the Slate virtual mix rack.
So when I tried to re-create the SSL sound that I know and love using the Slate VMR, the individual components (since they are all pretty much there) didn't give me the cumulative sound that the real SSL strip and the UAD did.
There's a couple of the SSL's I've worked with in past year. (They're both 9J's)
...those pictures are totally a pose (as you can tell from all faders down), but I have spent a good number of years with those boards.
Neve:
Regarding the Slate Neve, the lack of surrounding channel strip features isn't a big deal because the actual Neve channel strip is pretty bare. The reason is that going FG-73 -> FGN is usually the reason someone buys a 1073 or 1081 module. I grab the UAD one because I prefer the added oomph of the non-linearities (as mentioned above).
Custom EQ:
This one is a VERY amazing EQ. And when I first acquired the bundle, the Hi/Lo lift module was what sold me on the entire slate collection. I probably would have bought it just for this. Sadly, I stopped using it when I picked up the Kush Clariphonic Mk2...it does a very similar parallel EQ thing but I feel I have more control with the Kush. I also stopped using the Slate Custom because I picked up the UAD bundle with the Curve Bender, Millenia, Massive Passive, and Maag. All of those do a HF 'lift' in a real neat cool way.
I never tried the API....I didn't realize he'd added it! I'll go check it out! Hope this helps a little.