Looking for advice on channel strip plugs

Hi, I am puzzling over choice of the best channel strip plugin, given that I do a lot of sound design for theater, and compose/mix music in a very broad range of genres from classical to reggaeton. Budget says I can only pick one, and I’ve narrowed it down to the Scheps Omni, Abbey Road EMI, SSL E-channel and Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain plugs, or possibly the L3-16 Multimaximizer or F6 instead. Any advice on the best/most flexible bang for my limited bucks? I use LPX 10.4.4. Thanks!

Hi there @dcrand and welcome to the Waves Forum!

For such a wide range of applications you need a very flexible tool, from what you have described I would definitely recommend you start with our fantastic Scheps Omni Channel, with three types of compression, three types of saturation, EQ that is either surgical, colorful or both and a groundbreaking DeEsser you can do almost anything.
Any stage/s of your chain can be processed in Mid/Sides!
Check out this audio demo:

My second recommendation would be ourF6 dynamic EQ, but that is not really a channel strip.

What would you guys recommend for @dcrand?

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I would most definitely recommend to try out Scheps Omni Channel, it’s a gamechanger.
Also try out CLA MixHub. Apart from having a fully featured analog-modeled mixer in your DAW, you also get a powerful channel strip.

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If I was forced to choose only one, I also think that Omni would be the best choice. It is very versatile, including ability to host another plugin. TG Mastering would be my second choice. It is not exactly a channel strip, but can be used as one.

+1 Schep’s Omni Channel. It’s extremely flexible!
The ‘Insert slot’ in the Omni Channel to add an extra Waves plugin is a fantastic option! More possibilities! :slight_smile:

Omni Channel. I use about 20 instances of it live.

Plus you have the added benefit of being able to insert a plugin in it.

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Ah, I wish I’d seen these last night! I had to make a pick by midnight, and I ended up getting REDD. I liked the flavor of its distortion & analog modeling and its MS options too, but I wish I’d realized that bit about the plugin insert in Scheps. Does StudioRack or NI Komplete Kontrol give me that option anyway, and how well does it work there? In any case, thanks for the information, I’ll keep it in mind for the next sale!
dc

@dcrand, no worries, you can’t go wrong with REDD as it is faithful recreation of the console that so so many classic albums were tracked and mixed on. It is a great sounding channel strip with a simple workflow. I’m sure you will get great results with it.

StudioRack offers racks which you can save and customize, but without the benefit of the insert point in Scheps Omni Channel - there you can load a plugin in between the different processing modules of the channel and design your own signal flow… next time!

  • 1 on the Scheps Omni Channel!!!
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There doesn’t seem to be Much of a mention but I’ve genuinely heard nothing as characterfull as the TG12345. If you have enough CPU juice to take the load and do and entire mix on it , the dimension it imparts is next to none ! I have combined it with the TG of the NLS and as a duo they are so close to heaven !! :smile:
Am attaching a Verse of the song I’ve totally mixed using the TG 12345 and NLS TG on the channels ( along with other Modulation and guitar processors ). I Mixed on a Mac Pro cylinder 6 core Zeon.
All compression is from the TG strip except vocal having a CLA3a added . Hope this helps ( All rights belong to White mug and this clip is loaded with due permission )

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Omni if you need to use a bunch of them and need versatility (so “quantity” answer). TG Mastering if the quality if the sound is the main priority. Could suggest many others if non-waves is allowed to mention, but guessing it might not be here (?).