Hey Friends,
Today I´m reviewing the Slate Virtual Microphone System (VMS). With VMS Slate is trying bridge the gap between professional studios and home recordists, by making the classic sound of the most sought after vintage microphones available to everyone.
How?
VMS provides you with a transparent condenser microphone and a neutral sounding pre-amp.
Slate has captured and modeled the sound of several highly-acclaimed vintage microphones and by using their VMS plugin, you´ll be able to transform your neutral and clean sounding microphone into any of the vintage models.
All of the microphones in this collection are widely considered the best microphones in the world. – Any recording engineer´s dream. Unfortunately most of them are hard to come by and a lot of them are priced well beyond $10 000.
Without giving you the exact names of the vintage mics their software is supposed to model, here´s a quick overview of their selection (I´m sure you´ll be able to find out what the original mics are pretty easily):
- FG 47
- FG 67
- FG 251
- FG 269
- FG 12
- FG 800
- FG 800M
- FG M7
There´s a lot of discussion going on about the VMS: Is it actually possible to recreate the sound of the best vintage microphones with software? To the point where you can´t tell a difference?
We´re about to find out! Check out my review and demo of Slates VMS below:
I hope you´ve enjoyed this demo and review. Download the Raw Stereo Audio Files HERE!
What did you think? Did the Slate VMS convince you?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing,
Warren Huart
I wonder if it would be a useful thing to change the mics on each layer and maybe get an even richer sound? What a pain that would be in real life as apposed to a few clicks with the VMS.
Hi @l_scott_knight:disqus What a fantastic idea! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Looks awesome so far! Thanks for the marvellous insight, Warren!
Hi @grprod:disqus thanks very much!! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
I use wool socks turned inside-out to protect my mics. doubled back when on the stand.
If I leave it on my NT1 it sounds just like a U47.
Just sayin’
Hi @duanebrocious:disqus Haha Yowsa! Goodness knows what 47’s you must have heard before! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
I’m loving the way this mic sounds.
Definitely going to grab one soon !!
Hi @disqus_FUOCpepdQd:disqus Fantastic! Yes I am very impressed! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Hey Warren, I love your videos – thanks for everything! I noticed you had the preamp simulation BEFORE the mic sim in VMR. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
Hi @disqus_6KieoPtw8F:disqus yes indeed! Pablo my assistant set it up like that, I believe he assumed that as there was already a mic pre then it must follow that the emulation should come next! C’est la vie! Luckily it doesn’t effect the print at all, just the playback! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
The VMS sounds good. It has a more forward midrange than the real 47, but it does sound nice anyway.
Thanks @musicmann1967:disqus I agree! Ultimately it’s 1k for a huge amount of emulations! Very impressive! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Thanks for this nice review Warren. I was keeping an eye on this system for quite a while and now i have decided to buy one (when available in NL because it’s always out of stock). For me it’s not all about emulate exactly e.g. the 47 or C12, but having the quality sound of a very good mic (i think if you tweak long enough it will be very close sounding to the original). At the same time it’s the ease of use on different instruments making it very, very versatile. It will be a joy to experiment with different mic’s and settings on the same vocal track. That alone is worth the fair price in my opinion.
Hi @plap-disqus-96b9bff013acedfb1d140579e2fbeb63:disqus great stuff! Let us know how you get on with it! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Thanks Wazza. The most affordable way to own a bunch of quality LDC mics, you’d get 10 x Slate VMS for 1 x Valve 47 or 2 x FET 47,
and you get a quality pre amp to boot. But there are contenders on the block, the first one which you probably know of,
http://townsendlabs.com/products/sphere-l22/
you should hit them up for a review, compare modeled mics.
But for those who have to have the original $10K – 15K for a 47, (Bashed up 50 year old mics that still sound [better than most] great)
or get Gunther Wagner to build you one, it will cost about the same. Can recording budgets support this level of investment, or is it an investment like Artworks, if so why are they not in a gallery?
Seriously, it’s only for the chaps with a Rothchild budget, for us daily folk VMS, with a great array of choice.
Warren you’re going to have to use Melodyne for more than MIDI notes mate! Cheers.
Hi @plap-disqus-43ec517d68b6edd3015b3edc9a11367b:disqus great comment!! I find myself every day saying that I would never do this again, buying all of this gear! Now I would have a lap top a VMS, great plug ins, a nice Mic Pre, condenser, ribbon and dynamic mic! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Hi Warren, thanks for the great review. Personally, i liked the real 47 on your vocal better, it opened up the sound more, the VMS sounded a bit forced and got worse with eq. Your 47 really has a very smooth and nice sounding top end, but as you said for 1k the VMS is just the reasonable way to go. So much great emulations in one package is awesome. BTW interesting question about the order of the preamps and mic simulation, does it make a difference if the mic comes before the preamp emulation? Have to ask Steve the question on his Fb-group, or maybe you can find it out for us?
Hi @bertrandgrichting:disqus I agree my U47 is special, however all 47’s are not created equal! They are all so very different, I’ve never found two the same! The Mic Pre simulation should have come AFTER the mic! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Thanks Warren for another great review. This one looks like fun. My ears listening on an Altec, (tweeter, mid, and sub) PC setup, thinking the VMS did a really good job, and in much of what I heard as a non-expert, I think the VMS cut through the mix with a bit more presence. Oh yeah, great vocals..
Thank you @chucksadosky:disqus!! You Rock! Thanks for the great comment! I was very impressed with the VMS! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren