PSP Audioware PSPaudioware MixPack2 - Detailed Review

PSP Audioware MixPack2 Overview

The PSP Audioware MixPack2 is a comprehensive collection of six high-resolution audio processing plugins, each designed to address specific aspects of audio enhancement and correction. Here’s an evaluation of its performance and accuracy:

Performance

• All plugins in the MixPack2 utilize 64-bit double precision floating point algorithms, ensuring high precision and accuracy throughout the entire signal path. This allows for support of sample rates up to 192kHz, which is crucial for maintaining high-quality audio.
• The plugins are optimized for various applications, including mixing, live tracking, and even mastering, due to their high quality and versatility.
• Each plugin is engineered to tackle common issues in digitally recorded audio, such as sterility and harshness, by emulating the sound and features of analog circuits rather than specific hardware models.

Accuracy

• PSP MixBass2 and PSP MixTreble2 are accurate in their respective frequency domains. MixBass2 uses a unique low-frequency compression algorithm and harmonics generator to enhance low-end frequencies, while MixTreble2 includes processors like hiss remover, stereo enhancer, transient enhancer, and harmonics generator to refine high-frequency details.
• PSP MixPressor2 is a precise dynamics processor with a wide range of features, including soft knee characteristics, peak or RMS level detection, and external or internal side-chain options. This makes it highly accurate for both subtle and extreme compression tasks.
• PSP MixSaturator2 accurately simulates the saturation characteristics of analog devices like tape recorders and valve circuits by adding harmonics and using dedicated filtering and dynamic processing. It offers seven distinct non-linearity curves, ensuring a precise simulation of various analog saturation types.
• PSP MixGate2 is a high-precision noise gate that can be finely tuned with high and low pass filters to control the gate’s trigger signal, making it accurate for noise reduction and special effects.
• PSP MixSync2 is designed for accurate time alignment and phase correction, which is essential for multi-microphone recordings and compensating for plugin latency.

Limitations and Areas for Improvement

• While the MixPack2 plugins are highly versatile, they do not require or use iLok licensing, which might be seen as a limitation by users accustomed to or preferring iLok-based authorization systems. However, this also means there is no need for an iLok dongle, which can be a convenience.
• The plugins are compatible with a range of DAWs and operating systems, but the system requirements specify older operating systems like Windows XP and macOS 10.5, which might limit their use on very modern systems without compatibility checks.
• There is no mention of real-time metering or detailed analytics within the plugins themselves, which could be an area for improvement for users who rely heavily on visual feedback during their mixing and mastering processes.

Conclusion

In summary, the PSP Audioware MixPack2 is a highly accurate and performant set of audio processing tools, each designed to address specific needs in audio production. While it may have some limitations in terms of system compatibility and licensing, it remains a valuable asset for audio engineers and producers.