Slate has had this functionality for years but it remains much quicker than so many other console emulations I use that I want to take a moment to really highlight what a boon it is. Slate Digital made this process extremely fast and easy.

You can bypass the sound of the console for the whole group at once by pushing the group bypass button in the lower right.

Open any one of them and you can change the console used throughout the whole session with the center dial, both for individual tracks and the mix bus at once.

All the VCC 2.0 instances in your track are now linked, since they are set to Group 1.

Select the VCC Mixbuss module and set it to group 1 as well.

Put a new instance of Slate’s Virtual Mix Rack plug-in on your mix bus.

If you have a lot of tracks (for instance lots of different background vocals at once) and want to save CPU, you can use an instance per instrument or vocal type or section instead.

Copy this instance to every other instrument or vocal in your mix.

I suggest leaving input and output at unity (centered at 0) and keeping the drive all the way down at 0. Select the VCC Channel module and set it to group 1.

Put your first instance of Slate’s Virtual Mix Rack plug-in on any instrument or vocal track in your mix.

You’ll have the hang of it in a matter of minutes. When you’re first getting started and looking to familiarize yourself with the sound of each console, here’s how I’d suggest settings things up. So what’s the plug-in like in use?īefore we dive into the sound, I want to get into the process of using VCC 2.0 in a mix. Slate Digital will even provide you with the dongle for free if you rent VCC 2.0 as part of the company’s Everything Bundle subscription (which includes timed licenses for all the plug-ins they make, including new ones they release, for $14.99-$24.99 USD per month). Like the previously reviewed Virtual Tape Machines, the plug-in works across a wide variety of platforms, provided you have an iLok 2 (or the newer iLok 3) USB dongle. It benefits from excellent use of groups, making it easy to switch the console emulation for many tracks (and the Mixbuss) at once with a single adjustment, provided they are all set to the same group. The plug-in consists of two modules (VCC Channel and VCC Mixbuss) hosted in Slate Digital’s Virtual Mix Rack interface (which is also used by many of the company’s other plug-ins). Slate Digital Virtual Console Collection 2.0 (currently available for $149 USD or $169 USD when bundled with an iLok 2) emulates the sound of several consoles: the SSL 4000 E and G models, and less specifically specified Neve, Trident and API consoles as well as a vintage 1950s RCA tube console. VCC 2.0 makes it quick and easy to modify and unify the sound of a track or album with emulations of API, SSL, Neve and Trident consoles.

Slate digital vmr 2.0 virtual mix rack