Studio: Sepia's Digitally Controlled Analog Module Approach Ticks The Boxes For Me.

[László]

The Sepia rack system uses modules by the original hardware manufacturers. Instead of little knob controls as in 500 series modules that are not recallable like plugins are, here all analog modules are digitally controlled and instantly recallable for projects.

I took a fairly deep dive into it; it's exactly what I need, and will be my next studio investment.

Not only do they operate like plugins, but they are recallable for remixes, edits, etc., and can be configured as needed.

Picture, dialog and voice-over changes happen all the time on ad projects, and are a big reason I went 'in the box' with plugins (mostly). Clients want these changes same day now - when I started we had at least a couple of days to make changes and recall every setting on analog gear.

However, the truth is analog hardware sounds different from digitally modeled stuff. While the choice of which to use is a matter of preference, I prefer analog hardware by far. It's what I started with, and it's the real deal sound as far as I'm concerned (YMMV). On the other hand, I'd use both in a hybrid workflow. So I'm good either way, I have hundreds of plugins.

The rack unit itself is micro-fan-cooled (hopefully it's quiet) and said to be bulletproof. The prototype was tested for 9 months in a touring rig without failures. No cooling space needs to be left between the units if they're stacked due to the fan design. There are tube gear modules as well as solid state.

Having the original hardware manufacturers do the circuitry is huge, in my opinion. I don't care what you use, every manufacturer's gear sounds a little different. This is as true when comparing, say, a UA LA-2A with the very nice Warm Audio clone, as between plugins and hardware.

In addition, there are several output cards available: Analog, Assignable Analog, as well as Dante, AES and MADI networkable versions for larger studios with multiple rooms that need networking, or complex installations.

This video doesn't tell the whole story, but it does describe basically what it does. It's impressive, and compared with the cost of rack gear, inexpensive.

 

[laxu]

It's impressive, and compared with the cost of rack gear, inexpensive.

Which probably says more about how overpriced a lot of studio rack gear is. It seems you can get the UA 1176 module for about half what their own full rack unit costs.

I do like the concept of the Sepia, should be a great option for people who want fully analog audio but can control it from their computer. I think the Sepia combines some of the best parts of analog and digital without having a huge hulking rack unit because of hardware front panels.

It would be cool to see Synergy modules in this format. Since there seem to be modules that can take more than 1 slot at once, maybe they could do a 2-3 slot module?

Personally I care increasing less about what tech is generating the sound as long as I enjoy the end result, and enjoy working with it. Plugins are good enough for recording for me, and I mainly want knobs and curated UIs for my guitar gear.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I like the concept, although not sure this would be something I'd invest in for my needs. It'll be interesting to see how far it goes, but feels 10 or 15 yrs too late? I could be wrong though.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I’m also torn on this stuff. I love analog gear, but mostly for the tactile experience and for making decisions that I’m committing to. Analog gear is best when you’re using it with your hands and you land on sounds that you wouldn’t necessarily get when using a mouse and computer.

The trend of software controlled analog devices removes most of the things I’m looking for with outboard, and leaves behinds the things I don’t like:
- slower bouncing (especially when dealing with stems)
- limited instances in a mix
- having to double check delay compensation is behaving correctly, which annoyingly is never something you can totally trust
- the potential for component drift/noise/stuff that happens with analog gear
- having to still rely on software to behave to recall things correctly and keep up to sync

I have no doubts this sounds killer and gives you some colours and sounds that may not come intuitively. I’m firmly in the camp of loving plugins once I have things in the box. They might not always sound the same as analog counterparts m but if I’m using a mouse and keyboard, I don’t really care. I can get what I need regardless.

 

[László]

Which probably says more about how overpriced a lot of studio rack gear is. It seems you can get the UA 1176 module for about half what their own full rack unit costs.

I don't know the whys and there wherefores of their pricing, but I agree, you pay a lot for those front panels on some gear.

Personally I care increasing less about what tech is generating the sound as long as I enjoy the end result, and enjoy working with it.

I can't disagree with this, it's a good observation. However, I have a hard time liking an awful lot of digital emulations of analog gear, especially compressors, saturation boxes, emulations of mic preamps, etc. I spent too many years with good analog equipment and truth is I miss it.

Plugins are good enough for recording for me, and I mainly want knobs and curated UIs for my guitar gear.

For the most part I have no problem with plugins, and feel much like you do re: guitar gear.

 

[László]

I’m also torn on this stuff. I love analog gear, but mostly for the tactile experience and for making decisions that I’m committing to. Analog gear is best when you’re using it with your hands and you land on sounds that you wouldn’t necessarily get when using a mouse and computer.

The trend of software controlled analog devices removes most of the things I’m looking for with outboard, and leaves behinds the things I don’t like:
- slower bouncing (especially when dealing with stems)
- limited instances in a mix
- having to double check delay compensation is behaving correctly, which annoyingly is never something you can totally trust
- the potential for component drift/noise/stuff that happens with analog gear
- having to still rely on software to behave to recall things correctly and keep up to sync

I have no doubts this sounds killer and gives you some colours and sounds that may not come intuitively. I’m firmly in the camp of loving plugins once I have things in the box. They might not always sound the same as analog counterparts m but if I’m using a mouse and keyboard, I don’t really care. I can get what I need regardless.

These are all excellent points. It's really a personal thing.

My biggest problem with plugins is compression; I like to compress vocals and many acoustic instruments on the way into the DAW. While I have some nice plugin compressors, I think the analog stuff gives me more of what I want to hear - headaches and all. And I'm simply not a fan of the emulations of mic preamps using a generic preamp like the ones that come on most interfaces. There's not the same sense of space and headroom.

I also like committing with analog EQ for important tracks, like vocals, acoustic guitars, etc.

I'm less into the tactile advantage of hardware, though it certainly exists and I can definitely see why you feel that way.

I guess what I find with plugins is that they seem to reduce the immediacy/impact of what I'm recording in a way the hardware doesn't (this may merely be an idiosyncrasy). With plugins I have to use more processing to get the results I'm able to achieve without any fuss with hardware, especially going into the DAW.

My feeling is the Sepia system is a nice thing - it plays well with digital workstations, but gives me more of what I want to hear. So I'm thinking, what the heck, I'm going to go with it!

 

[Whizzinby]

The concept is really cool. I’d miss the tactile experience of outboard gear it’s offering, but I think it’s cool that companies are looking to find ways to delay the machine takeover.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

My biggest problem with plugins is compression; I like to compress vocals and many acoustic instruments on the way into the DAW. While I have some nice plugin compressors, I think the analog stuff gives me more of what I want to hear - headaches and all. And I'm simply not a fan of the emulations of mic preamps using a generic preamp like the ones that come on most interfaces. There's not the same sense of space and headroom.

I agree that analog compression is pretty wonderful, especially with how it handles transients and distortion. I used to struggle a bit with achieving results I liked with plugin compressors but over time it’s become better for me. Totally respect why it appeals to you.

Recently I had an actual gold can VCA SSL bus compressor and centre section from an old E series SSL console, and an Alan Smart C1 on loan. At first I was losing my mind over them and I was convinced that plugins just couldn’t do THAT sound. I was seriously close to just ordering a few outboard compressors on the spot. Dialling things in just felt more intuitive too, using both hands to adjust controls meant I could hear things there and then. With a mouse it’s basically impossible to get that experience.

Once I had things dialled in, out of curiosity, I ran some sine sweeps and compared against about 10-15 SSL plugins in a very level matched way. One or two plugins just immediately sounded and felt different - their envelope and release curves were just different. But for most of the others I could not hear any meaningful difference and I’d never be able to pick out the analog versions. That kind of confirmed to me that I don’t need to worry about things too much. I’m not sure I’d say there are no differences in sound, but I feel like for me, it’s the tactile aspect that makes me work in a particular way and leads me towards results I might not have landed on when using a mouse.

How do the Sepia preamp models work? i’ve never really enjoyed plugin versions of preamps too much, but I think cheap preamp+plugin is never going to compare to going straight through a nice preamp, especially with the impedance interactions affecting the microphone. I particularly love driving Neve and Chandler TG-2 preamps quite hard as they give a lot of tone by running them like that. When I’m mixing I almost never run things back out through HW preamps or line amps, unless I happen to be using an EQ that has line amps built in.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on on with them. No doubt you’ll be putting them to good use straight away and they’ll be a lot of fun to use. They look really slick and I love that they have the support of the original companies. And the price is a lot more palatable than the McDSP box….