Like everything Slate Digital put out, it has to be as close to the actual thing as possible. Part of the reason VMR wasn’t released sooner was due to the perfectionist nature of both him and Steven Slate. These modules have been painstakingly created using “master of all things virtually analog” Fabrice Gabriel (the mastermind behind AirEQ). The modules are what really shine in Virtual Mix Rack and the guys at Slate Digital have picked some of the classics to begin with. The rack in itself is all well and good but without modules, you pretty much just have a nicely designed box that you can place on an insert. That icon tricked us at first because it appears to be a volume trim knob for the rack. Lastly, at the top of the rack is a small volume knob that allows for either linear or circular knob controls. If you would like a default rack preset to show up for each loaded instance, this can be selected under the default menu that drops down when you select the star. Depending on your host, the parameters will either be simple alpha numeric or actual names. Parameters can be seen by clicking the letter above each module in the rack and module. When using a plugin with swappable modules, automation would seem to be a daunting task but the rack takes care of this internally by assigning a letter and number system for each module. A lot of detail has been used to design this rack from the sleek inviting look, all the way down to the virtual module covers that protect your rack from “virtual dust” when not in use. Modules can also be cloned from rack to rack in a host by holding down the “alt” button while dragging to the desired destination. One great thing about the A/B comparison is you can rearrange your modules and compare the results between the two to pick the best fit. The rack comes housed with a solo feature for each module, A/B comparison, presets for each module, as well as a “global” rack preset.
The 500 series style allows for a vast combination of modules that can be used in classic as well as nonconventional ways. As it stands right now, there are 5 different modules available, but future expansion for many different types of mixing, effects, and mastering tools are sure to come. Virtual Mix Rack employs a 500 series style rack that up to 8 “modules” can be housed. Obviously this would be a must for a plugin who runs more plugins inside of it. VMR comes in all of the usual flavors of plugin i.e.: AAX32/64, VST2 & 3, AU, and 32Bit RTAS and also employs better use of native processing to allow for more instances to be used across more tracks. The flexibility of being able to chain together or audition each individual compressor in one window proved very useful, thus the concept was taken a bit further.
We all saw the beginnings of this approach in Slate’s Virtual Bus Compressors ( review here) when we were given the VBC Rack option to link all three compressors together. This may seem a bit redundant but once you see exactly what you can do inside of the rack, you will see why Slate chose this setup. No, these plugins cannot just be placed in an insert without the actual “rack” being used.
Virtual Mix Rack attempts what other software developers have tried to make catch on but unfortunately have not: a modular set of plugins housed inside of a proprietary shell. Virtual Mix Rack is here and we’re going to look under the hood to see if it was worth the wait.
Steven Slate, (who a friend of mine has called the “Criss Angel of Pro Audio”) excitedly announced VMR well over a year ago and the recording community have been tapping their foot in anticipation. Unless you’ve been living in some analog cave (which sounds pretty cool now that I think about it), you’ve heard about Virtual Mix Rack.