Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Subforum for advertisements. Anything that might be interesting to the LinuxMusicians community is fair game here: hardware or software, Free or proprietary, go wild!

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

Post Reply
martibs
Established Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:06 pm
Location: Oslo, Norway
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 15 times

Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by martibs »

User avatar
sysrqer
Established Member
Posts: 2520
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:47 pm
Has thanked: 319 times
Been thanked: 148 times
Contact:

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by sysrqer »

I've been looking at this, seems really interesting. I'm quite impressed with their plugins so far.
WforWoollyMammoth
Established Member
Posts: 118
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:32 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by WforWoollyMammoth »

Does the moving graphic element on the threshold / knee window work for anyone using the Linux version? I'm not seeing anything move there, unlike in the demos I've seen of the plugin.
buerdman
Established Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:29 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by buerdman »

WforWoollyMammoth wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:33 pm Does the moving graphic element on the threshold / knee window work for anyone using the Linux version? I'm not seeing anything move there, unlike in the demos I've seen of the plugin.
Same here
User avatar
GMaq
Established Member
Posts: 2774
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:42 pm
Has thanked: 520 times
Been thanked: 555 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by GMaq »

WforWoollyMammoth wrote: Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:33 pm Does the moving graphic element on the threshold / knee window work for anyone using the Linux version? I'm not seeing anything move there, unlike in the demos I've seen of the plugin.
Is this the full version? Or is it perhaps one of the limitations of the free (demo) version? I purchased it while it was on sale but regrettably have not had time to do any recording since.. :oops:
User avatar
sunrat
Established Member
Posts: 915
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:08 pm
Has thanked: 151 times
Been thanked: 242 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by sunrat »

The line is to adjust threshold and ratio, not knee. It works to control the compression and sounds good, but I don't see the blue animated graphic which appears to be to show the amount of compression in different spectral bands. As this is the main unique feature of this plugin, it's unfortunate it doesn't show in the free version. The only limitation listed for the free version is that it disables the expander section.
Tested free version both LV2 and VST3 in Mixbus 32C v7.2.

I already own a licence for Harrison XT-SC Spectral Compressor which is wonderful, so I will stick to that for now.
buerdman
Established Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:29 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by buerdman »

Auburn Sound has released Lens 1.0.2. The change log says:
Fix lack of Gain Map display and wrong UI timings in Linux.
I haven't had the time to test it yet.
User avatar
sunrat
Established Member
Posts: 915
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:08 pm
Has thanked: 151 times
Been thanked: 242 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by sunrat »

buerdman wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 9:24 am Auburn Sound has released Lens 1.0.2. The change log says:
Fix lack of Gain Map display and wrong UI timings in Linux.
I haven't had the time to test it yet.
Just gave the LV2 free version a quick spin in Carla. Confirmed the Gain Map display now works.
I'm growing more interested in this plugin now, it has interesting possibilities. One must read the user guide to start to imagine them.
Here's a direct link to its web page https://www.auburnsounds.com/products/Lens.html .
Full version is still discounted from $105 to $49.35 for a few more days. Unfortunately I'm rather poor atm. Free version is fully functional except for the expander section so very usable. Although the expander sounds like an excellent function to have.

It's worth reading the comments on that Gearspace link in the OP. Some interesting potential uses and methods from current users, and the developer is quite active in responding and offering suggestions.
He's also very patient with the whiners. It's obvious why the place was called Gearslutz before. :lol:
This post from the dev is most helpful:
Some strategies to loose less focus and time when using Lens:
- Choose Selectivity before you begin touching the EQs. Ideally don't change Selectivity after you've started tweaking, since it changes the bands position. This would invalidate your EQ at least.
- Don't touch the EQ yet!
- Choose Link Bands for compressor before you begin touching the EQs. Towards 0% for balancing, towards 100% for "glue".
- Don't be too lured by low comp Release
- Normally both comp Attack should be around the same, at least it's somewhat safe
- Do have a favourite Ratio for the genre (1.8 to 2.2 seems to be nice). easy to overdo Ratio with Lens
- Tilt EQ ideally before rest of EQ?
- Expander cannot messed up by other settings.
- Comp threshold towards -30 to -25 is relatively common
- Tune SC width at the end
- Typically you can put too much EQ, use the EQ scaling tool to check your decisions again the baseline, or against the reverse...

I'm not yet sure of the best workflow order. Short of hiding the EQ, there is a high risk of loosing time and focus.

Normally after Lens your mix might be begging for full-band clipping, maybe start with the clipper...
novalix
Established Member
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2021 1:12 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 35 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by novalix »

Hi,

just tried out LENS on the Twobus of a recording of a punkish rock track which has only been roughly balanced out so far.

It does a lot to the sound, which makes me kind of cautious. I chose the highest selectivity, a slight compression ratio, a high threshold and a bit of make up gain. Then i raised the low end attack some nudges. It is not any louder than the unprocessed signal. I did not touch any of the EQ settings.

Compared to the unprocessed signal it really cleans out the masking frequencies and gives the impression of a "mixed" song. I am tempted to bounce out the processed signal and use that as a reference track for the actual mixing.

Interesting to see that Guillaume used some of Chris Johnsons code for this tool.
User avatar
sunrat
Established Member
Posts: 915
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:08 pm
Has thanked: 151 times
Been thanked: 242 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by sunrat »

Ok, I bought it. Have to see what it can do with the expander activated.
So much for the "don't buy any new plugins" resolution. Sorry, bank account. :lol:

I've been looking at what things like Gullfoss and Izotope Ozone do lately but they are not Linux and use impossible DRM like iLok which I refuse to use. Happy to support an independent developer of unique plugins which support Linux even if not FOSS, especially considering I don't know of any similar FOSS projects.
WforWoollyMammoth
Established Member
Posts: 118
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:32 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by WforWoollyMammoth »

I bought it too. There were so many positive comments on it on Gearspace that I jumped on the discount while it's still available (however, I had to pay VAT additionally, so the price was really about 65 e).

The moving graph now working helps a bit in understanding what the plugin does. I had wondered why a compressor plugin would be called "Lens", but the spectral nature of it becomes more apparent when you move the controls and follow what's happening on the graph. Apparently, the plugin is intended for introducing clarity into the mixes. It does that, but like the case is with some other Auburn Sounds stuff it's easy to go overboard and then wonder later what the hell you were thinking (their Panagement plugin is like that, in particular). Another person noted this too on Gearspace.

The additional expander module either doesn't do much or does a whole lot. It's intended to reintroduce punch to the drums and so on, but so far I've found use for it as a "deverber" myself. I had some dowmixes with 80s style reverberated snare drums and the expander module could be used to get rid of the excessive reverb rather well. Maybe the other expander style products out there these days do that well too, but at least when working with what was out there years ago I wasn't happy with the results.

The latency is terrible (50ms?), so you'll probably want to just use it during the later mixing stages. I've also tried it on vocals recorded with a Shure SM7 + RME Babyface Pro preamps (+ untreated room) and I liked the results. I think using the plugin is an improvement over just fiddling with EQ and exciters (although I think I might get similar results when tinkering with Airwindows plugins in series).

If you're just looking for "adding presence" to your mixes, you might be happy with the free version too. The exciter module I'll probably use "to repair" old stuff that I wish sounded different in retrospect.
User avatar
sunrat
Established Member
Posts: 915
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:08 pm
Has thanked: 151 times
Been thanked: 242 times

Re: Auburn Sounds LENS Spectral Dynamics Plug-in

Post by sunrat »

Auburn Sounds Lens is on sale for $49 again!
I just got notification that a new version 1.2 has just been released. 8)

greatnewseveryone1.gif
greatnewseveryone1.gif (61.38 KiB) Viewed 803 times
Post Reply