STUDIO GRADE Doctron & Stimming Instant Mastering Chain // Dawless Mastering Chain part #1

This mastering chain in a box stirred some discussion online when Stimming first spoke about this on his YouTube channel. It's a high-end device for a high-end price and because of its size one might wonder why. In this video I'm going to walk you through the sound of this device and how it can really help a live performance setup to gain more loudness and a glued mix. There's a lot of A/Bing to really show you what it does. I also use metering in LUFS to show the effect of pushing this thing.

It contains a compressor, EQ, and drive circuit.

Enjoy the video and don't forget to subscribe for more :)

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[andrewfisher]

this was a masterclass in how to review a piece of audio gear. thanks dave, wonderful demo!

[jehr]

Nice review. It’s a great piece of kit. Unfortunately, not attainable for many due to the price but obviously it’s a boutique item. In my opinion, the device that is on par with the IMC is the OTO Machines Boum. It’s got a vast range of compression, warming & distortion. It sounds really good and is also definitely a more affordable alternative. Cheers to Martin for coming up with this device, awesome work.

[mmafrance]

Thanx for this test Dave. I believe a comparison test is due with same range channel strips, like the API Channel Strip, maybe a Neve, SSL Fusion, drawmer 1978... Stuffs like that that are same price range or above, and also the Heat. That would be a lot of work for you but really cool.

[ivayloivanov]

Sounds good. It's comparable to small 500 series rack with SSL bus compress and some EQ of the same grade which will be about the same price.

Pros of 500 rack: potentially one more EQ bad with controllable frequencies and VU meter for the compressor. Cons: it will be 3-4 times bigger and heavier.

[zipnone]

interesting device! great demonstration too, even on laptop speakers you can get a sense of this machine's capabilities

[clxor]

Personally i got the TC electronic Platform to pump up the Octatrack, very versatile unit, you can use it for more subtle limiting or very very dirty with the drive options.

[ottohgonal]

I got a question regarding the compressor:
I thought for compression on the master it is adviced to have quite high attack times (between 20 to 30 ms) so your dynamics (e.g. the transient of the kick) can still come trough and it "glues" the mix. Why do you set the attack as low as .1 or .3? Is the compressor in this case acting more like a limiter so you can drive the signal more? And isn't it taking away the dynamics this way?

[theuntouchables]

thank you so much for doing this in-depth review of this unit . The best one I've heard out there on the IM .
Make me wish I had A spare 3 Grand . Unfortunately most people don't have 6 booking a year at Tresor Berlin . 
Though I wonder how much S500 module you could get for that price or comparing it with an other compressor in the Similar price point .
GREAT GREAT VIDEO keep 'em coming ...

[Chris-qqmt]

I came here after watching the Heat video. I know it's not fully fair to compare the two but was hoping you could say something about the pros and cons? To my ears the Heat sounds equally competent as this box, especially considering the price difference.

[alexyoungbased]

Hey Dave, If I wanted to recreate this effect with ableton acting as the limiter/compressor, what plugins would you use?

[acidjesse]

Great Demo Dave, thanks... the track you're using sound lovely & fits with my groove, what is it called? Is it out?

[spenzasequenza]

I watched Stimmings Demo and was like: No way I'm spending any money on that piece of s?"*. After watching your demo I now really want this! : )
However i'm still a bit on the fence: I could just put together my own mastering chain in a 500 format, but that will add up to about the same price and will be less compact. Anyway, great demo...

[mickolos]

I'd be curious to hear how this stakes up against similar devices in the market, analog heat comes to mind, plus there's plenty of much cheaper compressor boxes out there too, would be curious to know if there's a difference worth the extra 2500 quid.

[spiegelkind]

Sure it’s pricey but it’s up there with much more space consuming rack gear that you can’t really bring to a club setup.

Personally I’d try plugging it into the master insert of an xone 96 mixer, it would probably be a good final touch for a synth based setup.

[hymus]

Hey Dave, dank voor de toffe review! Ik had een kleine vraag; zelf heb ik een redelijk kleine setup (een eurorack case, digitakt, tone, wat losse synths en een Mackie Pro FX als mixer) en ben op zoek naar een mastering box voor een live-setup. Natuurlijk ben ik geneigd voor een HEAT te gaan, maar wellicht heb jij voor hetzelfde budget een betere optie? Dank alvast!

[impossiblemusicforce]

The idea itself is really great! I'm searching for a similar tool! But irs really to expensive in my opinion!

[deluge]

Great video. And nice tech. Though difficult to acquire) Im new to performing with gear live, do you have any suggestions to make a live set sound more competitive to mastered tracks of a dj?) I bought FMR RNC, thinking that it should do the trick, at least partially ) but still can't wrap my hand around how to set it up properly.

[rdean]

By chance is that a Microcosm just behind the IMC here?

[dreamsaremaps]

Not sure why so much hate in the comments. It is what it is, and costs what it costs.

[usernamenotavailable]

I thought you were a no compression purist, nice that you picked up on this review request. Super interesting piece of gear too but the price is pretty off-putting. Wonder how it compares to the competition