Transient Shapers, Are they usefull?

[AcousticDreams]

Anybody here using Transient Shapers on Acoustic Guitar, voice or VI's?

I guess the real question is what are Transient Shapers using to get their effect? Are they in essence a form of compression/limiting? Or is there more to it?

Saw a video on the Soft tube Transient Shapers..which is currently on sale at Plugin botique for $29. Sounded reasonably natural without big artifacts.

[DupleMeter]

I use a transient shaper on acoustic stringed instruments frequently. I may have mentioned this before, but I really like the sound of a guitar to tape. It softens the transients in such a beautiful way. So, i use a little tape saturation & a transient designer to help recreate that sound in digital.

I have 3 that I use, depending on which one works the best on the source:
Metric Halo Transient Shaper
SPL Transient designer
Waves Trans-X

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

I use a transient shaper on acoustic stringed instruments frequently. I may have mentioned this before, but I really like the sound of a guitar to tape. It softens the transients in such a beautiful way. So, i use a little tape saturation & a transient designer to help recreate that sound in digital.

I have 3 that I use, depending on which one works the best on the source:
Metric Halo Transient Shaper
SPL Transient designer
Waves Trans-X

I also love what tape does to Acoustic Guitar and Voice. I always thought it was easy to get that strong, yet smooth sound when using tape on Acoustic Guitar & Voice. I do not feel that way about digital.
So if a Transient shaper can help me achieve that bit of tape sound that I love, I think I am going to have to try a Transient shaper.

I am starting to get a clearer picture of what is the difference between a compressor and Transient shaper.

Quote:
"A transient shaper automatically identifies incoming transient material based on fast changes in amplitude. It doesn't base detection on an absolute peak level—in the way that a compressor does. This means that you can use a transient shaper to sculpt the tonality of quiet transients and loud transients in a similar fashion, without drastically over processing loud transients."

Duplemeter, What are the main differences between the three Transient Shapers you mentioned?
If you were going to choose one of those for a Dynamic acoustic guitar player (Think "Pinball Wizard") Which one would you recommend.

Also do you add these directly in line, or do you parallel process?

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

Duplemeter, What are the main differences between the three Transient Shapers you mentioned?
If you were going to choose one of those for a Dynamic acoustic guitar player (Think "Pinball Wizard") Which one would you recommend.

Also do you add these directly in line, or do you parallel process?

My typical chain for a hard strummed acoustic like that would be:
EQ > Tape Saturation > Transient Designer > Compressor

These would be inline (on the inserts of the channel). I'm not a huge fan of parallel processing. I find it can add phase shift that people seem to ignore, making it harder to get a really good sound.

As far as the differences:

The SPL is the classic, based on the original hardware unit. It's great, but can get a little grungy on some really dynamic sources.

The Metric Halo is super clean. It's extremely powerful (as is all their stuff, software & hardware), but that also means a steeper learning curve, as it has granular control over the detection circuit.

The Waves falls in between. It doesn't get grungy as quickly, and is harder to push into the "too much" zone.

I would suggests starting with the Waves, since it can be had for the typical Waves $29 deal. Even if you decide on another one, this will be one you'll want in your toolbox, plus it comes with 2 versions: wide (single band) and multiband. The multiband version is great on synths, drums & samples.