Mastering Plugin -- Help me Pick?

[Bree]

Hello... I'm having issues with Jamin. It works ... but it's too difficult to work with. I guess it's a hog on system resources and there's a big lag between using the mouse and setting parameters, so I can never tell where it's gonna land.

I've been considering the Harrison Mastering EQ LV2 plugin ... but I saw another at Tracktion that seems to offer a Linux VST option (which I prefer for a Bitwig workflow).

Are there any other options/tips/etc? ... also... of the 2 mentioned, which is better for quality? (I've been using Ardour so I can access my LV2 plugins, so I'm more than willing to go for the best quality option).

Thanks!

[Luc]

If you use Bitwig, you already have a pretty complete mix'n'master setup. You have the mixers, equalizers, compressor, and a pretty good set of basic effects. What else could you ask for?

If you want additional effects, they're generally available and easy to find.

[Luc]

Also, check out the LSP plugins. You should find them interesting:

http://lsp-plug.in

[sysrqer]

lsp plugins would be a good choice, they have mid/side, left/right processing in eq and dynamics. I think the only things you would be missing would be stereo enhancement if needed and some kind of exciter, maybe saturation/tape emulation. Most of these things can be found as individual plugins though so it would be a case of finding some that you're happy with. That said, the Harrison and Tracktion plugin bundles also look very nice.

[Bree]

Thank-you so much everyone:) Maybe it's my ears fault then... The only thing I haven't tried in the suggestions (aside from purchasing) was the LSP plugins. I tried to install the VST versions but they don't show up in (neither in Ardour). I'm not sure if I'm missing a dependency or not, but I really do want to try them.

[sadko4u]

Thank-you so much everyone:) Maybe it's my ears fault then... The only thing I haven't tried in the suggestions (aside from purchasing) was the LSP plugins. I tried to install the VST versions but they don't show up in (neither in Ardour). I'm not sure if I'm missing a dependency or not, but I really do want to try them.

The main question is how did you install them? What location did you use?
UPD
I see the similar report at tracker:
https://sourceforge.net/p/lsp-plugins/tickets/10/
Is it yours?

[varpa]

If you install new VSTs in Ardour you need to have Ardour rescan the VSTs. This is done in the Preferences->Plugins

[Luc]

If you install new VSTs in Ardour you need to have Ardour rescan the VSTs. This is done in the Preferences->Plugins

The same with Tracktion. IIRC, Bitwig rescans automatically, but it won't tell you when a plugin fails. You have to open Preferences and look for the plugin section, where plugin errors are logged.

[Luc]

Hmmm... You know what, I haven't used the LSP plugins (or made any music) in a long time, so I just ran a test and none of the LSP plugins show up on Tracktion or Bitwig.

Tracktion throws a completely unhelpful error message: "the plugins failed" and that's all.

Bitwig says:

Code: Select all

/home/luc/.vst/lsp-plugins-lxvst-1.0.18-x86_64/lsp-plugins-vst-sc-limiter-stereo.so

com.bitwig.flt.library.metadata.reader.exception.CouldNotReadMetadataException: could not read metadata: Could not read VST plug-in metadata
64 bit plugin host reported errors: Pluginhost returned non zero exit code 139
Error messages:

[ERR] Could not find VST core library lsp-plugins-vst-core.so

32 bit plugin host reported errors: Pluginhost returned non zero exit code 255

I also tried them in 32bit, with the same result.

[sadko4u]

Please read this topic:
https://sourceforge.net/p/lsp-plugins/tickets/10/

The main problem is probably that you've placed binaries at invalid place.

Also, currently LSP Plugins have serious UI issues with Tracktion (and other JUCE-based hosts) that I'm currently solving (UI doesn't react on mouse movement). So, sadly but LSP plugins are not well-usable under Tracktion now.

[Luc]

Please read this topic:
https://sourceforge.net/p/lsp-plugins/tickets/10/

The main problem is probably that you've placed binaries at invalid place.

OK. The "invalid place" was merely their own "LSP" subdirectory inside ~/.vst. I moved them all up and now both DAWs can see them.

But it's such a clutter now. Why does it have to be that way? I have other plugins in their own subdirectories, most notably the U-he plugins and the "fake" Airwave bridge .so plugins, and they all work fine.

[Bree]

YES! I finally got LSP plugins loaded:) I had them in their own directory. Once I took them out of the archive folder and rescanned, they appeared in Ardour, Bitwig and Carla:)

Soooo happy! Going to try them out today:)

[sadko4u]

Please read this topic:
https://sourceforge.net/p/lsp-plugins/tickets/10/

The main problem is probably that you've placed binaries at invalid place.

OK. The "invalid place" was merely their own "LSP" subdirectory inside ~/.vst. I moved them all up and now both DAWs can see them.

But it's such a clutter now. Why does it have to be that way? I have other plugins in their own subdirectories, most notably the U-he plugins and the "fake" Airwave bridge .so plugins, and they all work fine.

I think it's a good question. Never thought that plugins can be placed into VST path with subdirectories. I think I can extend list of directories for searching LSP Core to add possibility to place the whole directory into VST path instead of copying it's contents.

[sadko4u]

In 1.0.20 this option will be available (installation of plugins as single directory).

[Luc]

Terrific! Thank you.