SKnote

I’ve used SKnote's SDC for mastering purpose, it perfectly completes my previous plugin list. I originally intended to buy UAD’s Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, but the SKnote’s price aroused my interest... :-D For a mere $29.99 (approximately €27), this plugins perfectly does the job, it’s good-looking, has a big GUI, very practical to use and remains in its competitor’s league. Acustica Audio’s Aquamarine also emulates the same, but for $199!!! I haven’t compare dit with UAD’s version yet, but at first sight (or hearing) both emulations resemble each other (I’ll give the UAD’s demo another try), though according to some review they remain under the real Shadow’s sound (which is quite reassuring in a way ;) ). I like the Mid/Side settings which I find very practical, it remains transparent and brings the track a very pleasant dynamics! Installation couldn’t be simpler – just copy a .dll to your VST foler and, voilà, no setup.exe or anything so everything is easily done. Available in 32- and 64-bit versions, ready to be downloaded from your user account just after purchase. Available for Mac... but not as an AAX, only VST !!! Regarding the DSP, my PC is getting old (a Quad core 2.8 Ghz running Windows 7 64 bit), so it’s a bit heavy on the CPU!!! Too bad that it comes without any preset, but you can save your own: I’ll have to try the UAD’s to see how they transpose. I believe one shouldn’t spend that much into plugins, now that I’ve discovered SKnote I’m quite happuy that I have as they are a reliable developper. A very good plugin by SKnote, I don’t regret buying it – especially considering the price!!!