hi. first post on these forums.. i've been finding them a great resource.. thanks to all!

so... right now i mix entirely in the box. i take my 2 track final and "master" it with UAD-1 plugs (i have all of them) and a Powercore firewire with the sony oxford plugs.

my chain usually consists of the Pultec, Cambridge, Precision Limiter (UAD) and the Oxford plugs (powercore). i mix at 44.1k/24bit and dither using Pow-R algorithm to 16bit. (though, i'm about to move my tracking/mixing to 96khz).

my music is very digital so i appreciate the color and warmth of the UAD plugs. i've been doing a lot of reading and forum lurking lately into higher end analogue outboard gear for mastering...

while i would love to be able to drop $20,000 on a whole setup of analogue EQs and dynamics (summit, LA2A, avalon, etc)... i can't afford that right now!

so my question is... is there any ONE piece of outboard gear that i could run my mix through prior to finishing it off with my software that would make a noticable difference to the mix.

if, for example, i ran my 2 track mastering through a Summit EQP-200B back into my computer and then processed the result with my UAD/Powercore.... would that make a perceptible difference to the overall roundness and "finishing" of the track? would such an outboard investment be moot ifi also did not have a quality A/D convertor (apogee, etc) (right now i would use my MOTU 1224/PCI424 for conversion, or, possibly the Capybara of my Kyma system, which has FANTATSIC convertors).

i thought maybe starting with one quality piece of outboard gear to run my mix through.. and slowly adding onto the system, might be a nice way to start.

do you agree? if so, what would some of your recommendations be for that ONE piece of outboard gear that's good across a mix.

thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'd say the Manley Variable Mu. Probably responsible for more quality masters than any other compressor. CraneSong's Ibis would be high on the list also.

And yes - Top-shelf converters are a must.

Originally posted by John Scrip:
I'd say the Manley Variable Mu.

That's what $3600 will get ya'...Or you could just get that there Faichild UAD-1 plug.

-Stixxs