Channel Strip plugins have always interested me just because they are a category of product which makes perfect sense in hardware, but what I see as their raison d’être in hardware doesn’t really translate into software, yet in software the Channel Strip continues to thrive.
In my article 5 Reasons you Need Channel Strips I gave a potted history of the channel strip
“The Channel Strip phenomenon started with the trend of enterprising people realising that, as demand declined for large format consoles, there was money to be made breaking up decommissioned consoles channel by channel and installing individual channel strips into a suitable case with a power supply and appropriate connectors to allow them to be used individually.
The most desirable vintage consoles were ideal for this treatment and while many people were sad to see these inspiring vintage consoles get broken up, not many of those people were prepared to actually buy those consoles and preserve them! Many Neves and SSLs have received this treatment and it wasn’t long before manufacturers spotted an opportunity for new products.
Focusrite was one of the first with their ISA hardware channel strip. Based on the impossibly rare Forte console this 19” rack unit combined an equaliser and dynamics sections with the ISA 110 mic preamp. Originally a way to bring a classy analogue front end to an indifferent interface, this format has been replicated in software form as a convenient one-stop solution for utility processing and there are a great number of plugin offerings out there”
Having a quality preamp combined with EQ and dynamics processing in a single unit makes a lot of sense. But considering that while a software-only preamp model can impart a flavour of the preamp’s timbre, with the possible exception of UAD’s clever Unison hardware integration, a plugin preamp is a far cry from the hardware. The convenience of having EQ and dynamics in a single rack space also doesn’t really translate into software, and one thing most engineers aren’t short of is EQ and compression plugins.
However they clearly are popular, with a wealth of third party options and every DAW featuring a stock channel strip plugin. From painstakingly accurate recreations of classic hardware to all-original reimaginings. Check out a selection of some the channel strips plugins we’ve checked out recently:
Why Do People Like Channel Strips?
I’m not suggesting that everyone uses Channel Strips, but they clearly have their fans. What do they offer that using individual plugins doesn’t? The first reason I’d suggest is unified workflow. Compression, expansion and gating, filtering and EQ are distinct processes but they are all common tasks and while having to switch to a different window because you’d like to brighten the sound a little now that you have the compression dialled in isn’t as inconvenient as having to turn around to tweak a compressor in a rack, it’s the same problem. Bringing all the utility plugin processing for a channel together into one window makes sense in the same way as SSL offering dynamics on every channel of a console did decades ago, but without the gigantic price implications!
From the stock Channel Strip plugin offered with your DAW to any of the plugins featured above, this category also offers the DAW user a way to get back to something reminiscent of working on a console. Many channel strip users favour recreations of specific consoles, and by inserting one across every channel in a session an experience which at least references the experience of working on an SSL or a Neve is available. Add to this the homogeneity of sound offered by the use of the same EQ across an entire mix and there is something here which at least hints towards recreating the analogue experience.
Recreating The Console Experience?
In our article Can You Really Get The Analogue Experience From Software? we asked the team whether and to what extent software can recreate the experience of using analogue equipment, along with tape modelling and features like HEAT in Pro Tools and Console Shaper in Studio One, Channel Strip plugins are a popular choice for getting an analogue feel.
While emulations of many classic consoles are available, a mix and match approach is often, maybe usually, declined. Instead many users instantiate a single channel strip across all channels. This brings the control set of a large format console to individual tracks but the appeal of a console is being able to view and control all channels at the same time. Waves have a plugin based on this idea in the CLA Mixhub which offers control of up to 64 channels of SSL emulation from a single plugin via ‘buckets’ of 8 channels.
Tactile Control
For those who maintain that there is nothing like the ‘real thing’ when it comes to classic consoles. I’d have to agree. The mix of tactile convenience, the influence on workflow, the physical experience and the sonic fingerprint aren’t something which can easily be replaced. However the downsides are too significant for most people these days to ignore. But do the emulations actually sound close enough to the real thing? In our article Waves SSL EV2 Channel v Real SSL4000E we asked exactly that question and you can compare software to hardware by listening to the examples there.
What About Post Production?
Emulation of specific mixing consoles is principally a preoccupation of music mixers, who value the colouration of vintage consoles. Emulations of Post orientated consoles do exist, UAD’s emulation of the AMS Neve DFC and the Harrison MPC Channel Strip are both examples, but the format of bringing processing together into one unified window on a per-channel basis is a principal benefit for post users. Damian Kearns made an excellent point about the Channel Strip format in his article Professional Techniques For Mixing Dialogue To Picture:
“Often, I’m using compressors inside a channel strip like Avid’s Channel Strip, Universal Audio’s SSL 4000 E Channel or API Vision Channel Strip, iZotope’s Neutron 3 (Alloy 2 is still my favourite iZotope Channel Strip of all time), or McDSP’s Channel G Console. Channel Strip plugins are very convenient to use and what’s cool is there’s usually a quick button press to move an EQ pre or post compression to hear what sounds better. I really like that. I used this method on a recent mix with the UA API Vision Channel Strip engaged on some voiceover and settled, once again, on placing my EQ post dynamics. This doesn’t mean it’s always the right place to put an EQ but I do find if I’ve applied NR and filters, the compressor smooths things out and the EQ adds colour. “
This possibly is the underlying appeal of using Channel Strips, the convenience of bringing together those processes which are needed most frequently beyond level, pan and routing into a single window. The sheer diversity of channel strips available is testament to the fact that people use them for all sorts of reasons. From Avid’s stock Channel Strip plugin in Pro Tools, through the various flavours of SSL and Neve recreations, Softube’s Channel Strips designed for use with their dedicated Console One controller through to plugins such as Flux’s EVO Channel Strip which incorporates distinctly modern phase rotation. By definition they all share this single characteristic and that’s enough.
Do you use Channels Strips? If so, which and why? Share your thoughts in the comments.