Review: Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Racks

CAPSUN ProAudio has been releasing Award winning sample libraries and synth presets for few years now. Their recent add on to their artillery is a Producer tool for Ableton titled “Complex Racks: Ableton Fx and Mastering”, which is loaded with 7 racks and 8 macros each though each focusing on different, fast and effective approach towards getting a final polished sound.

Along with a heavily processed mastering rack for DnB style and 4×4 style pumping House it also has processing racks for bass, drums, vocals and FX with a vinyl emulation rack Vinylizer. With really easy to use hands on 8 macro settings and unlimited automation in Ableton, it makes the process of mastering and polishing a track very expressive.

List of Racks:

• DnB Mastering Rack
• House Mastering Rack
• Drum Processing Rack
• Bass Processing Rack
• Vocal Processing Rack
• FX Processing Rack
• Vinylizer

DnB Mastering Rack

Fast Drum and Bass Tracks tends to have loads of dynamics and movement and always needs a special treatment especially for drums and bass for creating space in the mix so that all the elements can glue together and sit in the mix properly. In this DnB Mastering Rack “Parallel compression” and “Limit” gives a nice boost to the overall sound whereas “Bass process” makes the bass tighter and cleaner. The “Top process” brings out the hi-hats and also other High-frequency sounds from the mix. It’s a very simple and effective tool but with automation, it can bring any track to live.

House Mastering Rack

House Mastering Rack gives the instant option for cleaning a mix by using “Less Mud” option along with “Air” and “Crack” setting by which one can achieve more space or headroom in the mix, even if we are using heavily processed sounds. “Warmth” setting is really suitable for more melodic style with less compressed and more transparent processing whereas “Thump” and “Multi Comp” provides instantly compressed club feel.

Drum Processing Rack

Undeniably effective on Drum audio or midi, by adding “Comb Amount” and “Freq” it converts the sounds into a more cohesive metallic texture, which can also be used as an automated Fx for making creative breakdown or build-ups or even fill-ups. All the other macros provide thrust to the element and bring it up front. Drum Processing Racks does what it says, using it in the mix can make a huge difference while mixing.

Bass Processing Rack

This Bass Processing Rack brings out the clean bass as well as gives the freedom to choose from various available settings from “crunchy” to heavy “Sub bass” within few macros. “Stereo width” is very useful for shaping Mid-range and high-range bass sound which can turn a small or thin sound into huge sound. “Wobble mod” can be used for creating Lfo effect which changes the character of the sound completely, along with these settings Lo Mid Phase, Lo Mid Distort and Low Mid Crush macros can be used for bringing out the extra harmonic distortion from the sound.

Vocal Processing Rack

Very impressive Vocal Processing Rack, now we don’t have to open up 5 or 6 different plugins for processing the vocals. With the functions like “De-Ess” [de esser] and “Space,” we can create very spacious vocals by still keeping the sound up front. “Add Body” and “Presence” does make vocals warm and make them sounding dense while “Phone Line” makes it sound like it’s downsampled. These setting along with “Compressor” and “Drive” make it all in one, ready to go rack for Vocal Processing. Also adding FX Processing Rack in the same chain can bring out more experimental stuff.

FX Processing Racks

Amazing Processing Rack for creating FX, try using it on vocal snippets or short samples to create new and interesting FX sounds. Combination of these presets can be really useful for creating fresh sounds, like by adding “Freq Delay” and “Pitch” you can record a long-tailed sample which if reversed can be used as an up-lifter or by automation of “Resynth Formant, Resynth Amount” and combination of any other FX from the available macro can be used for creating different sounds at a short interval of 4 or 8 bars each as a transition between loop based music which can bring out more dynamics and flavour in the Loop.

Vinylizer

Vinylizer emulates old vintage analog style grit, dirt along with the option of “warmth” which can be further modified with available macros like Stereo Phasing and Vinyl Warping. Simple and easy to use yet gives the desired results.

Conclusions

CAPSUN ProAudio Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Racks is a very simple yet extremely powerful Rack combination for Ableton, along with all the options available with only few knobs make this my ready to go Fx rack not just for mixing and mastering, but also for recording any other instrument or even while making samples for a track. If you are looking for an Effect rack or unit which can be used for processing almost everything in your track minus spending time on going through presets and settings, this is a must buy for you. It will not only save your time but also is highly capable of providing Inspiration and quick access to the essential processing.

Complex Racks is available at Loopmasters.com priced at £11.95.

More Details/Buy Link: Complex Racks: Ableton FX & Mastering Racks