What's the best way to get a warm sound in Reason using Reason effects?

[mreese80]

I'm thinking audiomatic, scream, or the pulveriser can help achieve this.

[househoppin09]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

[mreese80]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

i have that. let me try than and see. i never use that anymore.

[mreese80]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

it brought out the low end really really nice but the highs are still awfully bright. I can eq the hi's a bit to tame the hi end but it's not that warmth im looking for. Of course i can bounce it and load it up in akai software and add slate digital vtm to it to get the warmth i'm looking for. I'm trying to find a good alternative in reason that gives something halfway decent so i work in the box completely. Thanks for reminding me of this because it really brought out the low end. wow.

[househoppin09]

Yeah, the low end on that thing is gorgeous! As far as "the warmth you're looking for", it's hard to say, because "warmth" can mean a lot of different things, technically. My suggestion would be, if you've got hardware or plugins in other formats that provide the warmth you want, try to find out how they work and what they're actually doing. Are they adding THD? Noise? Adding or subtracting frequencies? Maybe something with the stereo image? If it's not too much of a trade secret with those particular devices/plugins, you should be able to find out. Then you can go about figuring out what process in Reason will mimic that effect. Otherwise there's really no way for anyone here to know exactly what kind of "warmth" you're looking for.

[normen]

What house said, "warmth" doesn't mean anything really. "Valve warmth" is harmonic distortion, so added high-frequency content, so is "tape warmth". "Warm speakers" usually have a lot of bass response but less high frequency response, same for "warm microphones".

Often times though its simply added volume - especially in the case of "magic" plugins. Notice how most of these add just a smidgen of volume to the audio, like half a dB or so, even when they're nominally not doing anything - just to give the impression that they already do their magic. UAD plugins for example often do that.

[mbfrancis]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

it brought out the low end really really nice but the highs are still awfully bright. I can eq the hi's a bit to tame the hi end but it's not that warmth im looking for. Of course i can bounce it and load it up in akai software and add slate digital vtm to it to get the warmth i'm looking for. I'm trying to find a good alternative in reason that gives something halfway decent so i work in the box completely. Thanks for reminding me of this because it really brought out the low end. wow.

There's nothing like Slate VTM in Reason, no good Tape sim. Scream has one, and Audiomatic, but nothing like VTM.

[mreese80]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

it brought out the low end really really nice but the highs are still awfully bright. I can eq the hi's a bit to tame the hi end but it's not that warmth im looking for. Of course i can bounce it and load it up in akai software and add slate digital vtm to it to get the warmth i'm looking for. I'm trying to find a good alternative in reason that gives something halfway decent so i work in the box completely. Thanks for reminding me of this because it really brought out the low end. wow.

There's nothing like Slate VTM in Reason, no good Tape sim. Scream has one, and Audiomatic, but nothing like VTM.

I know, i just want a ok decent tape sound. The high end of sounds in reason are to bright for me. i need to tame that lol

[Catblack]

I don't know if this will help you, but a couple of weeks ago I ran across this Trident A-Range emulation attempt which has been pretty interesting. (The RE is way out of my budget, and let no one mistake me, I'm certain the RE sounds much better.) You can get the example RNS from that site if you sign up, and I'm going to include the combi from there in a zip here. It does use a bunch of Scream4s set to Tube, but you could switch those to Tape and see how it sounds.

Trident A-Range.zip

found at http://www.reasonmusic.ru/modules/songs/file.php?id=11011

(34.29 KiB) Downloaded 100 times

[Benedict]

I'm with Norman (and House) that "Warm" really is so subjective and often a result of exactly the opposite of what the person is complaining about. If rolling off highs with either an EQ or Filter is not solving your concern then I would think to look at instrument sounds, EQ & the mix as maybe your concern is really in one of those areas.

Also sometimes "thin" sound is a perceived lack of movement in the sound so doing something like popping The Echo across the mix (or instruments) and using the Wobble (tape Wow) feature can change perception hugely from flat and bright to warm and lively - like a 70's record (or horror movie if you get carried away).

The Echo as Warmer recipe

Mix 100% Wet
Turn off BPM Sync and set time to 8ms (I find less means less wow-room), also make sure right Offset is at minimum or you introduce Hass effect
Make sure Feedback is at 0 or you add a Flange/Resonance whine
Make sure LFO Amount is at 0 or you add stereo-chorus
Same with any Diffusion - it can change the sound nicely but not great for a Master mix
Raise the Wobble knob and anything under 50% should help change the overall sound without affecting EQ
If you want to add EQ then you can turn on the Filter and adjust center and width. This can add value to instruments as it centers the sound around the chosen freq and rolls off to either side as per the Reso knob.

Of course you could emulate this with any Delay line and an LFO. I would suggest tho that a pair of summed LFOS would do a better job than simply adding a single shape (even random).

[Aquila]

I'm very fond of Scream4's Tape setting. Very easy to get some luscious fat bottom warmth with that. Only problem is that it inverts waveforms so you have to correct that in the mixer.

[aeox]

Use a EQ to tame frequencies you don't like. (you said sounds are too bright in reason)

[Peter]

If rolling off highs with either an EQ or Filter is not solving your concern then I would think to look at instrument sounds, EQ & the mix as maybe your concern is really in one of those areas.

Use a EQ to tame frequencies you don't like. (you said sounds are too bright in reason)

OP says high end frequency content is a problem that needs to be tamed so we can agree that his definition of "warmth" here is simply having less high frequency content. I'm going to suggest utilizing the LPF on every channel individually instead of trying to have an "easy button" effect that could probably screw up a mix. People have pointed out how "warm" some of my mixes are when I don't do anything to purposely get "warmth" besides using the LPF to some extent on every channel. Besides using the LPF, I think "warmth" is gonna come more naturally depending on the timbres and what kind of music is being produced in my opinion.

[Gorgon]

I'm thinking audiomatic, scream, or the pulveriser can help achieve this.

Scream tape setting is really good.

[Gaja]

One thing that often gets overlooked is the tape delay in Kong. Set filter to max; resonance, Time, feedback, wobble to 0. Sometimes it's just what I need.


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[selig]

If rolling off highs with either an EQ or Filter is not solving your concern then I would think to look at instrument sounds, EQ & the mix as maybe your concern is really in one of those areas.

Use a EQ to tame frequencies you don't like. (you said sounds are too bright in reason)

OP says high end frequency content is a problem that needs to be tamed so we can agree that his definition of "warmth" here is simply having less high frequency content. I'm going to suggest utilizing the LPF on every channel individually instead of trying to have an "easy button" effect that could probably screw up a mix. People have pointed out how "warm" some of my mixes are when I don't do anything to purposely get "warmth" besides using the LPF to some extent on every channel. Besides using the LPF, I think "warmth" is gonna come more naturally depending on the timbres and what kind of music is being produced in my opinion.

I would suggest starting with a high shelf EQ rather than the more radical LPF. A shelf EQ allows you to better control how much you reduce the frequencies of interest. This is due to having not only a frequency selector but also a gain control. A shelf EQ will also color the sound far less than a filter.

The 'lowely' shelf EQ is often overlooked, but is really an incredibly powerful tool IMO.


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[Peter]

I would suggest starting with a high shelf EQ rather than the more radical LPF. A shelf EQ allows you to better control how much you reduce the frequencies of interest. This is due to having not only a frequency selector but also a gain control. A shelf EQ will also color the sound far less than a filter.

The 'lowely' shelf EQ is often overlooked, but is really an incredibly powerful tool IMO.

Ahhh yeah good point on the LPF being too radical for what he's dealing with. I was thinking too subjectively as most of my tracks are in the ballpark pre-filter and I just LPF for the very top end of course.

And right about overlooking the shelving as I really don't do much of that.

[selig]

I would suggest starting with a high shelf EQ rather than the more radical LPF. A shelf EQ allows you to better control how much you reduce the frequencies of interest. This is due to having not only a frequency selector but also a gain control. A shelf EQ will also color the sound far less than a filter.

The 'lowely' shelf EQ is often overlooked, but is really an incredibly powerful tool IMO.

Ahhh yeah good point on the LPF being too radical for what he's dealing with. I was thinking too subjectively as most of my tracks are in the ballpark pre-filter and I just LPF for the very top end of course.

And right about overlooking the shelving as I really don't do much of that.

I didn't mean to imply that filtering wouldn't work, just to suggest trying a shelf first (for both low and high frequency removal).

As a (very) general rule, I tend to use filters to remove crap I don't want to hear, and EQ to adjust tonal balances.


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[Creativemind]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

Was just gonna say that. I know adding even harmonics adds warmth to analog synths due to the tube circuitry so I'm guessing using Saturation Knob to add even harmonics may do it. Be good if you could somehow visualize this effect.

[Dante]

I use Tube Preamps for both vocals and guitar. Best warmers are real ones. Then you might not need virtual ones as much. However, I would like to try an RE version of UHe Satin

[selig]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

Was just gonna say that. I know adding even harmonics adds warmth to analog synths due to the tube circuitry so I'm guessing using Saturation Knob to add even harmonics may do it. Be good if you could somehow visualize this effect.

For the record, Saturation Knob produces both even and odd harmonics, in other words all harmonics.

[Creativemind]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

Was just gonna say that. I know adding even harmonics adds warmth to analog synths due to the tube circuitry so I'm guessing using Saturation Knob to add even harmonics may do it. Be good if you could somehow visualize this effect.

For the record, Saturation Knob produces both even and odd harmonics, in other words all harmonics.

No matter where you dial it or what setting?

[lowpryo]

is there some sort of saturation device that produces even harmonics only? and, would that even sound good or "warm" like people say? or would it just sound like you're adding octaves to everything? I often see the odd & even harmonics debate come up but never heard direct comparisons to really understand.

[selig]

It's not built-in, but don't forget about the free Softube Saturation Knob RE. One of the best, easiest ways to get warmth in Reason, without a doubt.

Was just gonna say that. I know adding even harmonics adds warmth to analog synths due to the tube circuitry so I'm guessing using Saturation Knob to add even harmonics may do it. Be good if you could somehow visualize this effect.

For the record, Saturation Knob produces both even and odd harmonics, in other words all harmonics.

No matter where you dial it or what setting?

Yes, unlike Pulveriser which starts with odd only distortion and then brings in the even harmonics as you increase drive.

This is easy to see by running a sine wave through the device and note the relationship of the generated harmonics. Odd harmonics will not contain any octaves, which is easy to see on the SSL spectrum EQ display because each vertical line represents an octave.

[selig]

is there some sort of saturation device that produces even harmonics only? and, would that even sound good or "warm" like people say? or would it just sound like you're adding octaves to everything? I often see the odd & even harmonics debate come up but never heard direct comparisons to really understand.

The Shaper in Thor can do this, using the Unipulse setting. Run a sine through it and you'll hear that same sine jump up an octave. This is because if you have ONLY even harmonics, you will not have any fundamental in the result. And to my ears, this is NOT a musical sounding effect! Try running a piano through Thor and listen to the difference between the BiPulse (or any of the other modes) vs UniPulse Shaper modes.

Even harmonics are generated when the waveform is asymmetrical to some degree. If you look at a scope while running a sine through Thor's shaper in UniPulse mode and you'll see the waveform is 100% asymmetrical (all positive values, no negative). This would imply that any waveform that is not 100% asymmetrical would also contain odd harmonics, which is true.

This means that in most cases there are both even and odd harmonics being generated to some degree. So when 'even harmonics' are mentioned it typically means in addition to odd harmonics, not "only" even harmonics!