The Mix Down

Just upgraded my graphics card and BOY where do I start. This card is probably the best budget card for music creators if you can find it around $350. I had a deal so I basically stole it for $130. It's super smooth and all around Mac level quality for the low. You can run OBS no problem while you record and capture session moments without any interference. Video editing is a whole other level of easy with rendering speeds improving. I'm excited to start doing more video work now that I have the power.

I can't be honest without going into the CONS. Nvidia is not the company it used to be. Support has waned and they don't seem to care with their "AI" push. That being said, if you know your way around a computer you can fix most issues with some grit. The main issue they didn't figure out before launch: when you install this card, many times you'll immediately go to a black screen if you have other graphics drivers from before installed.

Best way to avoid the black screen: download a DDU from Wagnardsoft. Put it on your desktop and enter safe mode. Run the DDU and uninstall your current graphics drivers. Shut it down and install your 50 series card. Enter BIOS → PCIe/PCI sub-system settings → set it to Gen 4. Boom. You just avoided my slight hiccup. You can also grab the current 50 series drivers when you download the DDU so you're ready the second the card is in. New builds should be good immediately when you install your card. 👍🏻

Ever been nose-deep in a mix, everything's sounding good, you think you're done — but then... MASTERING. You go to master your track and now everything is not sounding nearly as full or punchy as it was in your head. You scratch your head for hours trying to figure out what is going on and nothing seems to help. While a number of things could be the issue, a good mix is always key. Here's a way you can enhance your mix in 10 minutes and feel like a boss while doing it.

Most professional engineers have an analog rack they run their songs through before mastering. I know what you're thinking — "but Zach :( I don't have thousands of dollars to buy gear or spend years figuring out what sounds good!" I present to you option B: the SSL plugin subscription. So many plugins that get close to the original analog tone for way cheaper. Here's how I use it every day.

After I export my mix I open a new session — this is my mix bus. I start with the Vertigo VSC-2 at a 2:1 ratio (slowest attack & release) reducing 2–3 dB. Use the SSL Bus Compressor if you don't have it. Next, the SSL Fusion Transformer for crisp high frequencies — use the mix knob so you don't overdo it. Sometimes the SSL Fusion HF Compressor goes on next if I need to control the drums; it's really smooth on drums and highs. Then the SSL E Channel — HQ on, EQ barely if needed. Last, the SSL Violet EQ. Beautiful analog tone; sometimes hit the FAT button for bass texture, and I usually roll off 20k a few dB to gently smooth everything out. THEN I master.

Remember: your mix should sound near perfect before you do this. It should not save your mix — it should ENHANCE your mix. Hope this helps. Keep crushing it. ‼️

This plugin is a sweet gem 💎 — the UAD Tube-Tech CL 1B MK1 (or the Softube version if you don't have an Apollo). So transparent yet not at the same time. Able to smooth the punchiness of a vocal while retaining the dynamics.

The trick is in the 2:1 ratio. Dial that knob to 2:1 as far as it will go — make your gain reduction average −3 and peak at −5 max. On most compressors this would cause a squashing sound, but the butteriness of the analog emulation paired with the 2:1 ratio sounds like perfection. Sometimes you'll need to adjust attack and release if it's squashing the vocal — you want the needle "breathing" with the vocal in stride.

I've recorded hundreds, maybe thousands of songs using this method and I can't get away from it. Try it out for yourself. ✅

The UA 610A. It is a super powerful plugin. I came across either a video or a subreddit where people described running a Universal Audio 610A into the Neve 1084. I had dabbled with this plugin in the past but never took the time to study it — and boy was I wrong.

I threw it on some vocals that already had the Neve 1073 printed. LF knob to −6; on one song I left the HF knob at 12 o'clock, the other at +6. It added a super clean vintage sheen the 1073 wasn't giving me. Since I'm on a tube microphone I was getting a lot of detail saturation, especially in the high end — the 610A smoothed all of that out in the best way. It brought a richness to the vocal I've been looking for, for a long time.

Try it out. You might be surprised. 💯