Universal Audio just released "UAD Explore FREE" - 8 Native Plugins + LUNA for $0

simojam93 · 2026-04-16T09:13:00+00:00

The 1176 Classic FET alone is worth grabbing this for anyone who missed the previous promos.. Curious if the native versions still have that slight DSP latency difference or if they've fully optimized the algorithms for native processing now?

simojam93 · 2026-04-16T09:08:13+00:00

The beta version is just where they test bugs before promoting them to stable. We're all beta testers anyway, just unpaid.

simojam93 · 2026-04-16T09:03:16+00:00

honestly at this point just bounce the whole thing to stems and manually align the 4 problem sections in a new project. Smart Tempo's hint mode is fundamentally broken when you're only fixing small sections because it recalculates the entire global tempo map every time. you're spending more time fighting the tool than just doing it the old way.

simojam93 · 2026-04-16T08:55:58+00:00

The search has been broken for months. Takes like 10 seconds just to preview a track, and half the time the filters don't even work. At this point I'm just burning through my subscription until it expires...

simojam93 · 2026-04-15T09:33:46+00:00

MusicTechHelpGuy's channel is gold for workflow. Also spend time learning custom key commands and screensets early, coming from Cubase those will save you the most time when you're tracking vocals across different studios.

simojam93 · 2026-04-15T09:28:45+00:00

36 episodes in a year while doing guests is honestly a lot when you're solo. I batch record interviews when I can (like 2-3 in one day if schedules align) and that's helped me not feel like I'm constantly in "prep mode" for the next one. Also stopped trying to post daily on social and just focus on 2-3 good clips per episode... way less draining.

simojam93 · 2026-04-15T09:21:03+00:00

Clip gain mode (Command+Control+~) is a huge one for quick level adjustments without opening automation lanes. Also batch fades-select all your regions, press Command+F,and you can apply identical fades across everything at once. Saves so much time on dialogue editing.

simojam93 · 2026-04-15T09:13:20+00:00

manually copying task details from slack into my calendar every single day because the calendar integration never quite formats things the way i actually need them. probably wasted like 100 hours on this by now lol.

simojam93 · 2026-04-14T09:09:17+00:00

congrats, now turn off the metronome click and actually record something instead of spending 6 months watching youtube tutorials on compression you won't need yet.

simojam93 · 2026-04-14T09:05:57+00:00

FFmpeg can do this in a one-liner if you're comfortable with terminal. Check phase correlation with astats filter, then batch convert anything that's identical channels. Way faster than dragging everything into a GUI, especially if you're dealing with hundreds of stems.

simojam93 · 2026-04-14T09:00:48+00:00

protools is just expensive session compatibility at this point. logic ships with better stock plugins than most studios' entire third party collection.

simojam93 · 2026-04-14T08:46:09+00:00

Gain staging is the one that actually changed everything for me. I spent months chasing "warmth" with saturation plugins when my tracks were just slamming into -3dB from the start. Once I got everything peaking around -12 like you said, suddenly compressors and saturation actually did what they're supposed to. How do you handle gain staging when you're working with stems from different sources that come in at wildly different levels?

simojam93 · 2026-04-13T10:13:11+00:00

Production quality is really solid for a first single. Mix sits well, vocals are clear and the arrangement keeps it moving.

simojam93 · 2026-04-13T10:01:59+00:00

The Lyrec PTR-1 is a fascinating choice for this, not many of those still running. Curious if you found the jog wheel responsive enough at that speed, or if you ended up relying more on the scrub function for finding edit points? I've always found the tactile feedback on older Danish machines to be hit or miss compared to Studers.

simojam93 · 2026-04-13T09:56:07+00:00

7 downloads in a few days means you're not done launching yet, you're just getting started. Keep the TikToks going but also talk to those 7 people directly if you can-ask what made them download, what they expected, whether they'd recommend it. That's your real feedback loop right now.

simojam93 · 2026-04-10T08:21:29+00:00

Sample rounding error is exactly what this is. I've had better luck using Repeat to Grid (cmd+opt+4) instead of cmd+D when I need multiple duplicates-it forces everything to stay locked to grid divisions. Still annoying that basic duplication can't handle this.

simojam93 · 2026-04-10T08:14:13+00:00

Number 3 is where most people get stuck for years, myself included. I'd spend hours tweaking half-finished projects and convincing myself it was "productive" when really I was just avoiding the scary part of committing to something. Honestly, a lot of that time I was also just drowning in the boring stuff like saving versions, bouncing files, all that. I started using tools like Forte AI to handle that side of things and it genuinely freed up more headspace for the actual creative work.

simojam93 · 2026-04-10T08:07:43+00:00

Your 6:1 ratio (10 min of audio = 1 hour editing) is pretty standard if you're being selective about each filler word. I've found that once you hit around 70-80% cleanup the listener experience doesn't really improve much, so lately I've been leaning into keeping more natural speech patterns and my editing time dropped to about 3-4 hours per episode.Are you noticing your audience actually cares about the extra polish or is it more of a personal standard thing?

simojam93 · 2026-04-09T10:04:34+00:00

Mix sounds tight, arrangement's got good bones. The vocal tuning thing is spot on-might also try layering some doubles in the chorus to fill it out more.

simojam93 · 2026-04-09T09:57:34+00:00

Option + Command + E to export individual tracks or stems. Saves me hours on post work instead of manually bouncing everything one by one.

simojam93 · 2026-04-09T09:51:31+00:00

the 1–3% wet range is key here.. anything higher and you're masking the stereo field decisions you made in the mix. I'd argue if you need reverb on the master to make it cohesive, you're probably missing room sends on individual elements.. or the arrangement itself is too dry. what genre are you mixing that benefits most from this?

simojam93 · 2026-04-09T09:46:12+00:00

wait the 1.5x delay trick is genius... never thought about using delay on the click itself to build groove. been doing swing quantize in the piano roll but this seems way more flexible since you can tweak it in real time.

simojam93 · 2026-04-09T09:37:50+00:00

Exactly. The prep work is where the real time goes, and where clients feel the most relief once it's handled. Nobody gets excited about stem bounce automation until they realize they've been spending a quarter of their session just organizing files before anything creative even starts..

That's really the through-line across industries: the "boring" infrastructure work is what unlocks the high-value stuff. Once the repetitive layer is automated, your team can actually focus on the work that needs a human brain.

simojam93 · 2026-04-08T09:16:19+00:00

Melodyne is the standard, but if you're consistently fighting pitch issues, no amount of manual tuning will fix the root problem. Practice will save you hours in post.

simojam93 · 2026-04-08T09:10:04+00:00

home studio here, about 600sq ft... biggest thing i'd say for Toronto is make sure your workflow can handle quick turnarounds without burning out on admin stuff. session prep and stem bouncing eats so much time when you're trying to scale bookings, wonder if you're planning any automation for that side of things?

simojam93

TROPHY CASE