SPL Vitalizer

[F5D]

I will get an SPL Vitalizer analog psychoacoustic processor / enhancer tomorrow.

http://spl-usa.com/media/Geraete600/V_Jack.jpg

Link: http://spl-usa.com/V_Jack/in_short.html

Does anybody here use Vitalizer and what do you think about it?
I will post pictures and sound demos when I get the thing. I am also planning to purchase SPL Charisma 2 tube limiter. :)

[djencode]

in the spirit of getting a new toy you should trade me your andromeda for my q. it's a limited edition q as well in the royal blue and orange. i've only ever seen this colour scheme in ONE picture, and thats on synthesizers.de. there is a light scratch where teh waldorf logo is, and one of the pots is missing a cap, but other than that its in mint condition.

[Khazul]

Do post on how you get on with it - Ive been on the lookout of a s/h vitalizer mk2t for a while now.

[F5D]

in the spirit of getting a new toy you should trade me your andromeda for my q. it's a limited edition q as well in the royal blue and orange.
:D Well, I could never trade my A6 to anything cause it's my no. 1 synth. The Q is on my shopping list too but in fact I don't have room for any more keyboards right now so I use my microQ for the Q-style sounds. Anyway, a nice try! 8)

Do post on how you get on with it - Ive been on the lookout of a s/h vitalizer mk2t for a while now.
I will... The mk2t would be even better (I guess) but the Jack-version which I'm getting was so affordable and I've been looking for one for some time so when I saw the advert, I didn't spend too much time thinking about purchasing it.

[Khazul]

Oh - someone did tell me once that all the vengence demos are stuck though one or a pair of of the really expensive tube vitalizers - cant remember which - its in his gear list - even second hand they are still damned expensive tho - grrr!

[F5D]

Oh - someone did tell me once that all the vengence demos are stuck though one or a pair of of the really expensive tube vitalizers - cant remember which - its in his gear list - even second hand they are still damned expensive tho - grrr!
I wouldn't be surprised if he used one because you can hear at least a very clear stereo spreading in his demos.

[MADSTATION]

Awesome :) Looking forward to hear some demos :)

[Vexx]

It'll be the big Gold SPL one, can't remember the name.

[F5D]

It seems that Vengeance music use Vitalizer mk2t (tube version):
http://www.spl-usa.com/V_MK2_T/in_short.html

[Vexx]

Ahhh I was thinking of this one

http://www.spl-usa.com/V_Tube/in_short.html

Lovely bit of kit

[F5D]

Ok, here's a short demo: http://www.quandace.com/spl_vitalizer_demo.mp3

I ran 2 apple loops thru the vitalizer at 24bit 44.1kHz. These loops may not be the best ones to demonstrate the unit but I guess you get the idea what it can do. At first I turn the "bass" softer, then add brilliance to the maximum and decrease it a little bit. Finally I use the stereo expander, again to maximum and decrease a little. You can hear the unprocessed and processed audio a couple of times in the demo.

The stereo expander works very well and doesn't rotate the stereo image left or right like some behringer stuff does (crap anyway). These loops may not demonstrate the spread the best possible way but it is very good sounding. The brilliance knob boosts the highs and may sound harsh if you turn it too much but it's very useful too. The bass knob together with process knob work well and you can either boost low frequencies and get that "oomph" or if the audio has too much it, you can turn the bass knob to tight which cuts the bass a little (I'm not exactly sure what it does).

Anyway, this is a good fx unit if you can find one used. I will be using this for mastering and for individual tracks. :)

Ok, I have to continue testing the uad1 neve eq now which I also bought today! Sounds super smooth... 8)

http://www.quandace.com/Neve1073.png

[Hollowcell]

I really like what that thing does to the high end F5D. Adds spice for sure. I would mind running something like that after my compressor actually.
How much was it?

[F5D]

I read the manual last night and it seems that the process knob affects both bass and high frequencies. You select with the mid hi-knob where a shelving filter starts (1kHz-22kHz) and it does some phase shifting on frequencies which are above that frequency and clears the sound somehow (very subtle but does it). The brilliance knob and stereo spread work without the process knob.

[Merlot]

Ok, I have to continue testing the uad1 neve eq now which I also bought today! Sounds super smooth... 8)

http://www.quandace.com/Neve1073.png

I would love to hear the difference between this and the logic channel EQ. I use logic and am looking for a different "color" of EQ. This might push me over the edge to get an UAD card.

[F5D]

Ok, here's a demo of the neve 1073SE. Please note that this is made with the low dsp SE version which needs about 7% to run instead of over 20% of the 1073 plugin. The difference between the SE and normal versions is not big. I use the SE plugin all the time and the high dsp version only when mastering or when I don't need much dsp power for other tasks.

IMO the 1073 plugin sounds pretty smooth and you get good results fast because there are not many knobs to twist and the frequencies which you can process are "musical" as they say. Unfortunately the loop which I used in this demo already includes some distortion on the hihats so it's not the best possible test audio clip but I guess you can still hear the smoothness of the eq.

http://www.quandace.com/UAD1_Neve1073.mp3

[Merlot]

F5D,
Thanks for doing that. i love how smooth sounding it is. Almost like butter! I think I may have to ppurchase one of these with a new mac pro. :lol:

[Khazul]

Thanks for the demo - might be tempted to add one to my UAD at some time :)

How are you getting on with the Vitalizer as well?

(Still scouring s/h adds daily here for the Mk2T)

[Khazul]

After bloody ages - finally got my grubby mits on an SPL Vitalizer Mk2-T.

Just been having a quick fiddle with and run a loop I was messing with through it - only had it for a day or so.

First half is raw dump from Live run through a UAD precision limiter just to level it, in the second its run through the vitalizer and the same limiter. Ive used some fairly high and rough settings on it just to make its processing very obvious.

The loop is just some semi-random drum loops quickly pulled up in Stylus RMX over a pumped low bass drone out of my KS-rack and a Virus Arp bass, so not even bothered to EQ or mix/pan any of it properly.

The first half is very dull - obviously needs alot of work etc.... In the second half with the Vitalizer in, you can hear how the high end is obvously brighter, but more importantly all sounds are so much more distinct with nice imaging in the high end and the bass fuller - I was using the soften rather than tight bass setting on the vitalizer. Prcess is set quite high, as was intensity and the stereo expander.

Have a listen (http://www.sirwarwick.hostinguk.com/downloads/mp3/Vitalizer%20Extreme.mp3).

[Hollowcell]

Yep, almost like you added a heap of new high end percusion. Sounds cool for sure.

[Khazul]

Yeh - seems to have that effect on alot of stuff Ive stuck through it, though all its doing is enhancing whats allready there, adding in some extra harmonics as well I assume.

One other thing - normally if you add that much high end boost to something it often gets really hash and fatiguingand doesnt relaly do that much for overall clarity, especially if later mp3 encoded. This doesnt seem to be the case with stuff Ive been running through it.

Oh yeh - Its a great way to brighten up a Virus instead of high eq boosting / low/mid cutting - actually I think the virus ought to have one built in after messing with this thing :)