But the bx_console SSL 4000 E and G plug-ins have proven how the technology truly allows adding specific flavors of the sounds that made the late 70s, the 80s and so on. The results in Brainworx' remarkable rebuilds of the classic SSL sound stand up against a very capable competition – SSL emulations are probably the most emulated channel strip circuits, with plug-ins available from Waves, Universal Audio and many others, including a native version from SSL itself.
Since the technology was first used, software plug-in developers have refined its use and it became clear that it does, in fact, add something important. Since a single console channel has more than 100 components, the sum of all these slight differences causes that each channel has its own unique sound.īrainworx has been making extensive use of the TMT technology, and currently we can find extraordinary versions of plug-ins available through the Plugin Alliance, from classic analog studio consoles, all the way to the most rare outboard processors. All analog components have manufacturing tolerances that state an acceptable range of differences, with tolerance variations ranging from 1% on some parts up to 20% in many standard electronic components.
This is what happens in a real analog console, where each channel has slight sound variances, due to circuit tolerances defined by each of the channels' components. This means that, instead of each plug-in instance duplicating the same characteristics, there will be audible differences between each instance. In short, Tolerance Modeling Technology takes analog circuit emulation to the extreme and introduces the same manufacturing tolerances that are found in analog components. When audioXpress had the chance to review the first bx_console plug-in, we were a bit skeptical about the TMT technology concept.