I'm trying out the Overstayer MAS this week. I've been in search of the depth and cohesion that comes from mixing on the SSL 4000, and I was hoping to find some similarities in the way the MAS claims to "bend peaks" and add 2nd or 3rd harmonic excitement.
I got it in this past week, but just had the first opportunity to try it out on a dynamic, ultra epic M83 type instrumental track, heavy on the synths.
Lately, when mixing in the box, I've had about 6-8 plugins on the mix bus. Each does only a little bit. I find with getting your curve, generating some glue and dynamic pump, and adding some harmonic color, trying to push one plugin for each of those jobs ends up in a kind of sizzley mess. So I use multiple high quality EQs, compressor, exciters, and emulations to add up to something useful.
Generally it's looked like: UA Studer 800 or ATR 102, Slate VMB, UA SHMC, brainworx V2, UA Pultec, izotope exciter, McDSP ML4000, EQuillibrium, Oxford Inflator. Sometimes even DMG Limitless for a bit of clipping. The result is exciting and works for me, but I still sometimes miss the grandeur, cohesion, and depth of field from the SSL 4000.
So today I tried out the MAS, and after putting it through the paces, I really really like it. In fact, it did just what I had hoped, adding excitement, a little smiley curve, and cohesion...but best of all...it added depth of field and took some of the digital "flatness" away.
After experimenting with the aforementioned plugins to see which ones would play nice with the MAS, and also to verify I was really into what the MAS was doing, I found a chain that worked.
MAS (inserted in DAW through Apogee Symphony I/O DA/AD) > UA SHMC > brainworx V2 > UA Pultec (no boost or att, just for the mid range color it adds).
So the MAS effectively replaced the tape sim, exciter, EQuillibrium curve, multiband compression, and inflator. Plus it added its own depth that I really like.
I'm excited to hear it do what I wanted today, and am anxious to try it out on more mixes...especially some pop type mixes with vox.