FabFilter

From an older topic:

A channel strip plug-in is definitely on our wish list! :-)
Floris (FabFilter) - Jul 11, 2014

Ok, let's get to work then! :-)

I bought iZotope Alloy 2 a while ago and have been using it a lot for mixing, it's really convenient to have such a flexible all-in-one plugin with such low CPU load, especially for its quality. Having said that, every time I use it I dream of FabFilter's take on a channel strip, so, based on my experience with Alloy 2 and various FF plugins, this would be my wish list for Pro-CS:

• The compressor + gate combination in Alloy 2 is extremely useful and compact. I love the peak / RMS and "digital / vintage" options (I guess the latter would be Pro-C's "clean / classic"), I think I've used all possible combinations depending on the track. The one thing I miss is an auto-release option.
• The multi-band capabilities of many of the modules and having two dynamic processors is nice but it's something I'd happily trade off for compactness and lower CPU load.
• Being able to put the modules in any order you like is a must.
• Some times I wish I had more than 8 eq bands and I really, really miss flat top bells (even if it was just one slope option, like 48 dB/oct) and auto-gain. In fact, more often than not I disable Alloy 2's eq and stick a Pro-Q2 on the track instead...
• The Transient and Exciter modules are great and I use them a lot, though again not so much in multi-band (and when I do it's more because I can than because I need to), and I wish the Transient module had at least some basic timing controls.
• The de-esser lets you define any band (unlike Pro-DS's 2kHz lower limit), which is extremely useful for many things other than de-essing, like bass fret noise and unruly resonances in almost any type of track, where some times controlling them sounds more natural than just eq-ing them out.
• The limiter is quite good for a channel strip but, well, it's no Pro-L... I'd be more than happy with a very stripped-down version of Pro-L with just one mode and attack and release controls. I guess Transparent would make the most sense and it's nice that you can tweak it to make it work as an "almost-clipper" too.
• Alloy 2 has an "Overview" where you have a very limited view of all active modules in a single window. I don't use it much, I'd rather have the option of opening the full window for more than one module at the same time, even all of the active ones. How about tabs at the top for each module that you can re-order as you like and have expand/collapse and bypass buttons?

Cheers,

VU meters for gain staging.

^ Of course, and gain controls, I forgot those... I'm still on the fence about Alloy 2's system. It's definitely as flexible as it can be, but also a bit overkill, with global input and output gain and individual input and output per module, like this:

Global in -> Module 1 in -> Module 1 out -> Module 2 in -> Module 2 out -> ... -> Module N out -> Global out

So it's two gain controls, one module, two gain controls, another module... And then in the dynamics modules you have yet another gain control in there! Maybe just global in and out and one out per module would be enough... What do you guys think?

+1