What was that piece of gear....?

[Rodgre]

I'll delete this when someone jogs my memory, but I just saw a piece of rack gear that I had totally forgotten about in a documentary on New Order's "Blue Monday".

What was that miracle digital rack in the early 2000s that had all sort of preamp and compressor simulations in it? It was light gray or silver and had a big display in the middle with a row of soft knobs underneath it. I'm drawing a blank...

Anyone old enough to remember the early 2000s? Ha!


EDIT: Colorblind and I figured it out. Focusrite Liquid Channel. Thank you. As you were...


Roger

[Colorblind]

Focusrite liquid channel? Just guessing.

[Rodgre]

Am I thinking of the Focusrite Liquid Channel?




I might be.

Roger

[A.David.MacKinnon]

TC Finalizer? Also just guessing.

[losthighway]

Focusrite liquid channel? Just guessing.

Are people still into that thing? I never tried it, and predicted it was flavor of the year, but that's unsubstantiated.

[Rodgre]

Are people still into that thing? I never tried it, and predicted it was flavor of the year, but that's unsubstantiated.

That's exactly what I was thinking when it popped back into my mind. To steer this thread into an actually interesting discussion, it's gotten me thinking about in-between gear that bridged the gap between the out-of-the-box and the in-the-box days. Late digital stuff that are now pretty much irrelevant and inconvenient because we have plug-ins that are more powerful, better sounding and we can have one on every channel in a mix.

I'm definitely not referring to anything analog, which can usually impart some interesting character onto a track (well, maybe not an Alesis 3630?). That sort of stuff is what plugin designers have been chasing since the 90's The stuff I'm thinking about is the later-era digital processors that are just... digital processors.

I'm thinking of things like the Finalizer and the rack version of Antares Auto-Tune... I have what I used to think was a really cool EQ, the Alesis PEQ-450, which is a digital parametric EQ with two independent stereo channels. It was a cool concept for the time but when working in the box now, who wants an outboard digital EQ?

Early lesser-expensive digital stuff, like Effectron and Korg SDD-series digital delays are still pretty great and useful, especially when tracking on guitar.

What other gear can you think of that has been lost in the mists of time because plugins have made them irrelevant?


Roger

[A.David.MacKinnon]

What other gear can you think of that has been lost in the mists of time because plugins have made them irrelevant?


Roger

There were all those Alesis MODfx digital stomp boxes that were the bomb around here about 2004-2005. I seem to remember them having about a 6 month to 1 year trip from notoriety to obscurity.

[losthighway]

I'm thinking of things like the Finalizer

That one and the Sonic Maximizer are two pieces that I never really knew what it was doing, but saw people using them.

I'll never forget telling one of the professors in the recording program at my college that I was probably going to have to save and get a dang ADAT to get my home recording going, he looked at me and said, 'No, no. Don't do that. Your computer will be better.' That was in 2000, not quite nostradomus, but he saved me many headaches and some wasted money. Another friend of mine got his start at the same time and didn't have the same good advice.

[numberthirty]

What other gear can you think of that has been lost in the mists of time because plugins have made them irrelevant?


Roger

There were all those Alesis MODfx digital stomp boxes that were the bomb around here about 2004-2005. I seem to remember them having about a 6 month to 1 year trip from notoriety to obscurity.

My brother and I recorded some songs for the "MKI" PRF Songrwriting Challenge. During the PJ Harvey week, he mentioned that he saw one vocal section having effects on the vocals.

Totally used the Modfx Bitrman on the vocal section right before an instrumental part in the middle...

https://prfsongwritingchallenge.bandcam ... oken-parts

[numberthirty]

Focusrite liquid channel? Just guessing.

Are people still into that thing? I never tried it, and predicted it was flavor of the year, but that's unsubstantiated.

If it's anything like the "Liquidmix" line, one of the issues was that software development just kinda fell by the wayside at one point.

From what I recall, it seems like you have to perform a magic spell while facing South to get it to work with anything past XP.

[winky dinglehoffer]

dbx DDP was Finalizer-ish, and not totally terrible, but now pretty much irrelevant.

[vvv]

I miss using my Midiverbs and Digitech DS128+.

OK, I don't, really, but they were cool at the time; now they are in the garage.

[winky dinglehoffer]

I miss using my Midiverbs and Digitech DS128+.

The Midiverb II was my first digital verb--I just can't get rid of it because of that sweet reverse reverb. I admit it's not in a rack at the moment, but when you need that sound, you need that sound.