Hatsubai « Good distortion »
Published on 06/22/11 at 22:05AIR plugins are part of the set of plugins that come together with Pro Tools. AIR stands for Advanced Instrument Research, and these are highly versatile plugins that really help expand the overall usage of Pro Tools. First of all, there are no compatibility issues with these plugins as they're made exclusively for Pro Tools. That means no unexpected crashing or weird bugs. I never read the manual on this, so I can't really comment on that. These plugins are easy enough to use that you shouldn't really need it.
I find that AIR Distortion works best for those wanting to add some slight grit to vocals or those working with electronica music. For guitars, this isn't something you want to use; guitars are usually already distorted. It's a powerful distortion that can get out of hand if you're not careful, so be sure to use it lightly.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
I never experienced any performance issues with these plugins, and the reason is that they're made exclusively for Pro Tools. Because of that, everything is rock solid. I use a Mac Pro Dual Quad Core machine, and while Logic is my main DAW, Pro Tools is what I've been experimenting with lately, and I can see why it's considered the best DAW out there. I never had any issues when it came to RAM or slowdowns, but it could also be because my machine is fairly hefty. I've only been using Pro Tools for a few months, so my opinions may change in the future.
OVERALL OPINION
I don't use this one quite as much because it's not really meant for guitars. I've used it on vocals with success, but since I'm not a huge electronica guy, I don't use it for much aside from that. I've used it on bass before, but I generally prefer using some sort of VST for bass recording instead of loading the buss up with built-in plugins.
I find that AIR Distortion works best for those wanting to add some slight grit to vocals or those working with electronica music. For guitars, this isn't something you want to use; guitars are usually already distorted. It's a powerful distortion that can get out of hand if you're not careful, so be sure to use it lightly.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
I never experienced any performance issues with these plugins, and the reason is that they're made exclusively for Pro Tools. Because of that, everything is rock solid. I use a Mac Pro Dual Quad Core machine, and while Logic is my main DAW, Pro Tools is what I've been experimenting with lately, and I can see why it's considered the best DAW out there. I never had any issues when it came to RAM or slowdowns, but it could also be because my machine is fairly hefty. I've only been using Pro Tools for a few months, so my opinions may change in the future.
OVERALL OPINION
I don't use this one quite as much because it's not really meant for guitars. I've used it on vocals with success, but since I'm not a huge electronica guy, I don't use it for much aside from that. I've used it on bass before, but I generally prefer using some sort of VST for bass recording instead of loading the buss up with built-in plugins.