Silver bullet

I'll give others the opportunity to chime in on the sound / reasons they like/love/hate? the Silver Bullet, but I can clear up some of the other potential misconceptions.

I view the Silver Bullet as essentially a 2 channel console. 2 Channels of Api, 2 Channels of Neve, and now, 2 Channels of SSL 4k. All of which can be cascaded in various ways to simulate working on real world vintage consoles from back in the day. A long time ago, a dear mentor of mine (Ronnie Capone - Stax, and way more) told me that if I could - I should track on an API, and mix on a Neve. Or vice versa. The combo of those two sonic imprints is the sound of so many classic records. That stuck with me a long time. We were way deep into the "only outboard, tape machines and consoles" era at that point.

As we entered DAW land, a single mic pre / compressor was not giving me the same juice that a console and outboard was - and I realized that there is WAY more circuitry in a console than just the mic pre. Often a dozen or more trips thru transformers, class A amplifiers, etc.. So I set about on experiments. The Silver Bullet is the culmination of those experiments.

It's meant to be a mic pre, a re-amping device, an analog saturator, a 2 bus processor, an EQ, Filters, an image 3D-izer, etc. It does a lot of things, but is designed to be elegant and simple in operation. It was designed to be used in every stage of your production. There are a bunch of guys here who have Silver Bullets, and Silver Bullet mk2's. They can fill you in more about the sound and how they use it in their particular workflows.

The High Voltage EQ is a more utilitarian type of typical EQ - what you would expect from an EQ. The Silver Bullet is more of a tone shaping EQ that is dropped into a console topology. Oh, and for clarification, the SB EQ is decidedly NOT a pultec style EQ. Actually, I like it way more than pultec's. It's a broad band Baxandall style EQ with an Air band that I am in love with, and a mid and low band to boot. Plus vintage filters.

If you've got any specific questions I'd be happy to answer. Cheers,

Maybe Darren drsax can comment about his particular workflow and the differences between mk1 and mk2 sonically.  And Chad just had a new experience with his son on the mk1 version and I think wants to add a mk2.  I know @teejay heard a recording Chad s son did and has been looking for that "air" for years and found it in Chad's son's recording.  There are dozens of stories out there.  And more than a handful of guys using it every day on this board.

drbill  Bill, :-)

Thanks for bringing this up! I was super pleased with how the Silver Bullet MK1 worked in vocal recording as well as prepping each track and running the SB on the mixbus for my son’s single he and I worked on together the last few weeks. And, of course, drsax (Darren) did an outstanding performance on the track!


Rather than wait until it’s posted on Spotify, I’m going to just add a link right here of the final master which features the silver bullet on several individual tracks, plus the mixbus:

spotify.link/cv8wdkepADb



👆🏼 Sometime in the future, I will replace this link with the streaming link, but for now, I don’t want to keep putting this off. It’s been mentioned by a couple of guys now, and I think Darren‘s performance alone deserves the attention!!


PS: And, yes, I now have a SB MK2 on order.


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Production Notes:

My son wrote/programmed the song on an iMac, using Logic Pro.

For this single, this is a list of the main pieces of hardware I brought in:

• MOTU M4 interface
• Louder than Liftoff Silver Bullet MKI
• Heritage Audio OST-4 v2 with these modules:
•     Rupert Neve Designs 535 Diode Bridge Comps (x2 - for mixbus / mastering along with Silver Bullet)
•     Serpent Audio Splice 500
•     Tegeler Audio Vocal Leveler 500 Opto Comp (THIS is amazing!)
• United Studio Technologies Twin87 (U87 clone) – We both prefer this set to "Vintage" mode.

Prepping for Final mix:

» PLEASE NOTE: Because of the simple setup, all re-amping of individual tracks included running through the Silver Bullet and then out of the SB's inserts to the various compressors. So, as I talk about hitting comps in the following bullets, it's understood that this always included the A » N mojo setting on the Silver Bullet.

» I ran the Kick & Snare out through the 535 for added "punch"

» Then sent his lead vocal out through the Serpent Audio Splice into the Tegeler Vocal Leveler Opto, both only hitting around 3-4 dB to just smooth things out, using the Black (D) circuit instead of Blue Stripe

» Also sent the Bass out to the Splice using the Blue Stripe mode, just because it sounded great.

» Got a rough mix completed & emailed it over to drsax Darren.

» A few days later, drsax Darren gave me then two files:
    A) Dry sax running through his Chandler Redd mic;
    B) His Effects send without the dry signal so we could mix the reverb/delays to taste.

» For the final mix, we ran everything out through the Silver Bullet (Driving A into N on the "MOJO" circuit), using the pair of RND 535's set to "Auto / Fast" on the SB's inserts, in order to make it punchy and to take the place of where I'd normally want to reach for an SSL VCA comp – Honestly, I like the 535's better than a VCA!  On the EQ setting of the Silver Bullet, we had the "Punch" turned off; On the EQ, the LF knob was at "0", HF knob was set to "Presence" mode, and boosting to about to the second line/marker (about 2 o'clock).

Hahaaaa!! See too!!!

Yes.  The C Mojo/Color slot comes loaded with Hitmaker4000 modules from the factory.  Standard.  Unless you have changed them out, the HM4000's are essentially the center/master section of a 4000 console.  Believe it or not.  LOL.  yup, on those little cards....    Brad went to great effort to make them as identical possible using SMT design tech to fit everything in there.  

Does the C-Mix knob impart a parallel processing type of functionality? If so, I'm wondering if how folks use it with the Hitmaker4000 module. Wouldn't there be phase issues if it's set to anything other than 0 or 100%?

Which brings a thought to mind (No doubt it's been suggested before, but just making sure) Wouldn't it be nice if the insert(s) had a dedicated Mix knob, especially seeing as none of my outboard gear has one. I'm thinking a lot of people are inserting compressors in there, and a lot of those don't have mix knobs ..especially the vintage ones. Mk3 maybe??

Yes - Parallel.  No phase issues.  It's all analog.

Again this discussion is WAY above me.
But...

The very first video I saw/heard of the SB blew me away!
Chris

I think it's all about aesthetics and production goals.
I demoed a SB and I thought it had a very definite sound and absolutely achieved that which it set out to do.

In the end I preferred the sound of my Thermionic Phoenix Mastering Plus and Swift EQ, both tube units (the Phoenix can be driven into and sounds truly beautiful)
I'm not personally very keen on getting hair on a stereo bus by driving solid state pre's - it's not a sound I particularly care for but I can
completely understand why people do really dig that sound.

And for anyone starting out on a budget with no pre's and no outboard then I think making a SB MK2 the heart of their project studio
would be a very smart move as it appears to be incredible value for money for what it offers.

Working with my son in his simple iMac based bedroom setup, I first brought in a pair of Rupert Neve Designs 542 tape emulators. We were messing with those on 30 IPS as well as 15 IPS and all manner of settings using red and blue silk. I love the 542s, but in this context, trying to find the right tone to mix into for the final stereo bus, these were not working. Bringing in the Silver Bullet instead, it was instant love. Super simple for us to dial-in the sound we were both hearing on his mixbus, and then we started running individual tracks through it, and how they were stacking up together was gorgeous.

Maybe not for everybody, but in this situation, I found the SB presented a much faster process of dialing-in the sound I had in my head. And that Bax EQ + Vintage mode rocks.

Hi, Greg! Thanks for asking.  Sure, I've now listed my production notes in this thread, and you should see it if you scroll up.

Chad

Yeah, I've got a pair of Colour Palettes and some modules.  I do dig that format and think there are some very cool sonics to be gotten out of it.  

So the Colour Module option on the Silver Bullet MK2 isn't a draw for me personally, having gotten those sonics for so much cheaper already.  

gotcha.  The real beauty for me is in the cascading, and how they work together as a "unit".  I've got 12 color hosts, but still value the ones in the SB highly.  BTW, of note, they are not JUST colour slots.  We are developing LTL mojo amps that will fit in a dual slot config that can go far beyond what a colour module can do.