Supersize my Plug-In: Rich's Look at McDSP's Channel G

At the top of McDSP’s website, the words “If it’s not Green It’s Crap!” proudly greet you upon first viewing. Founded in 1998 for the sole purpose of creating great plug-ins for the Pro Tools platform, McDowell Signal Processing (aka McDSP) now have a fleet of seven Plug-Ins in their arsenal; FilterBank (EQ’s & Filters), MC2000 (Multi-band Compressor), Analog Channel (console, tape/machine modeling), CompressorBank (compressors & limiters), Chrome Tone (Guitar amps, pedal effects), Synthesizer One (modular soft synth) and the latest – Channel G. This article will focus on the various aspects of Channel G; a stylish, ‘green’ console strip running TDM only on Pro Tools HD or HD/Accel at sample rates up to 192 kHz, on either the Mac OSX or Windows XP platforms. Channel G is broken down into four different plug-ins – G Dynamics, G Equalizer, G Console and the G Surround Compressor.

Above: It's not that easy being green, but it sure sounds good.

Gee Whiz! When first opening the G Console, you are offered an Expander/Gate section with Key inputs, a Comp/Limiter section with Key inputs and a Low Filter and High Filter section. Smack in the middle is a dynamic meter display showing IN, GR (Gain Reduction), DYN (Dynamics) and OUT – all in one easy to view section. Above the GR graphic sits an ‘E’ and a ‘C’ display, showing any expansion and compression you’ve got happening in your mix. At the top of the plug sits IN and OUT knobs, a phase switch and a choice of buttons for GPH (graphic view) or SIG (signal view) of the display – which contains either an EQ and Dyn section or a useful Signal Path flowchart. The Signal Path shows any setting or routing changes and updates in real time as you turn sections on and off. Also on the front is the button option to choose Dynamics or Equalization. By selecting Equalization, the GUI displays a five-band EQ (LF, LMF, MF, HMF, HF) with +/- 18dB gain range, as well as HFP and LPF filters. The filters have selectable slopes of 6, 12, 28, and 24 dB/Oct and are fully sweepable. They also have a notch mode with four notch variants. Note that on all sections, you can turn them on or off via a small button that lights up –green of course- as you select it. In the off position, it simply grays out. On the far right, there is a section called EQ with Console with various Music, Post, E, G, H and A setting options, each of which offers you a selection of presets. A nice touch is that should you choose to switch from the G Console to say, the G Equalizer, the appropriate settings are retained. The GUI will simply update itself offering whatever selection you have chosen. So, should you feel you don’t need the equalizer section of the Console, you could just ‘get rid of it’ by instantiating just the Channel G Dynamics.

Above: Channel G's surround compressor.

Surround... Ain't Nothing But A G Thing The G Surround Compressor is a Compressor/Limiter featuring four compression sets consisting of LR (Left, Right), C (Center), LsRs (Left Surround, Right Surround) and LFE (Low Frequency Effects). The plug-in control matrix allows the user to page select and set the key signal for each compressor individually, as well as set master and link options from a single source. There’s also a phase switch available for each 5.1 channel, as well as an LFE filter knob and associated graph. The main display shows the 6-channel IN and OUT, as well as GR for any of the four compression sets. Each compression set has its own display at the top of the plug-in, along with IN and OUT knobs for overall gain. The green circle lights along the bottom show which compressors are engaged. The small green ‘L’ lights show that compressor as linked and the small yellow ‘M’ light show that center channel compressor is the master and the illuminated Ls Rs button shows what page you are on. The blue LR and C lights next to the key label let you know that the Left Surround Right Surround Compressor is optionally keying off the LR & Center channels. Each channel can key of any other channel in the matrix.

Above: On top, a mini surround controller. On ebottom, Channel G's signal path manager.

In Use I first used the G Surround Compressor on my 5.1 Master fader in a Hall & Oates DVD mix I’m doing with the groups’ long-time engineer Pete Moshay. Moshay, who loves McDSP products, used the Analog Channel on many of the mono and stereo tracks, but this surround application was to control the overall mix levels and provide some extra punch. This plug-in is simply a joy to use. I prefer to ‘barely’ compress surround material, and the combination of a nice soft knee with quick attack, a touch of extra gain, and some LFE reduction gave me exactly what I was looking for. I like the phase buttons as well, which let me do a quick phase check of the mix. Overall, switching it in and out (the ultimate simple test) reinforced how much I like this plug-in. As far as the Channel G Console goes, I dig the SSL presets, but I really enjoy creating my own ‘consoles’. Quickly, it became a ‘go-to’ channel strip, especially on all the loops I do. It’s great to be able to drop in some heavy compression, pull out some highs, pump up some mids, filter the bottom and quickly make it all happen. As usual, the most important thing is sound quality, and like every McDSP product I’ve used, it delivered the goods. On bass, it kicked ass as well, again – doing just what you expect it to. I also like the fact that I can control both the compression and equalization in a hi-level fashion with the same plug-in. The graphic interface makes overall tweaking easy, the sonics are top-notch, and it works at high sample rates. Channel G is a winner in my book for sure. McDSP noted that while it is currently only TDM, a free update for RTAS/AS support would be available later this year. So go on and download the demo of Channel G at www.mcdsp.com and kick some ass with it!