Just upgraded my graphics card and BOY where do I start. This card is probably the best budget card for music creators if you can find it around $350. I had a deal so I basically stole it for $130. It's super smooth and all around Mac level quality for the low. You can run OBS no problem while you record and capture session moments without any interference. Video editing is a whole other level of easy with rendering speeds improving. I'm excited to start doing more video work now that I have the power. I can't be honest without going into the CONS. Nvidia is not the company it used to be. Support has weined and they don't seem to care with their "AI" push. That being said if you know your way around a computer you can fix most issues with some grit. The main issue they didn't figure out before launch is when you install this card many times you'll immediately go to a black screen if you have other graphics drivers from before installed. Best way to midigate the black screen is: download a DDU from Wagnardsoft. Put it on your desktop and enter safe mode. Run the DDU and uninstall your current graphics drivers. Shut it down and Install your 50 series card into your computer. Enter BIOS: Pcie/PCI Sub-system settings; set it to Gen 4. Boom. You just avoided my slight hiccup I had. You can also download the current 50 series drivers when you download the DDU to further be ready as soon as you install it. New builds should be good immediately when you install your card👍🏻

Ever been nose-deep in a mix, everything's sounding good, you think you're done— but then... MASTERING. You go to master your track and now everything is not sounding nearly as full or punchy as it was in your head. You scratch your head for hours trying to figure out what is going on and nothing seems to help. While a number of things could be the issue... a good mix is always key, here's a way you can enhance your mix in 10 minutes and feel like a boss while doing it. Most professional engineers have an analog rack that they will run their songs through before mastering. I know what you're thinking "but Zach:( I don't have thousands of dollars to buy gear or spend years trying to figure out what sounds good!"... I present to you option B. The SSL plugin subscription. They have so many plugins that are pretty close to the original analog tone for way cheaper. Here's how I utilize it in my mixes everyday. After I export my mix I open a new session this is called my mix bus. I start with the Vertigo VSC-2 at a 2:1 ratio (slowest attack & release) reducing 2-3 db of compression. You can use the SSL bus compressor if you don't have it. Next I throw on the SSL Fusion Transformer, for a crisp sound in the high frequencies. Use the mix knob so you don't overdo it. Sometimes I put the SSL Fusion HF compressor on next if I need to control the drums, it has a really smooth compression on drums and high frequencies. Next the SSL E Channel I turn on HQ and EQ barely if needed. Last I will use the SSL Violet EQ. it has a beautiful analog tone sometimes you can hit the FAT button for some bass texture. I usually roll off 20k a few db to gently smooth everything out. THEN I master. Remember your mix should sound near perfect before you do this. It should not save your mix— it should ENHANCE your mix. Hope this helps you keep crushing it.‼️

This plug in is a sweet gem 💎. The UAD Tube Tech CL 1B MK1 or (softube version if you don't have an Apollo) So transparent yet not at the same time. Able to smooth the punchiness of a vocal while also retaining the dynamics. The trick is in the 2:1 ratio. Dial that knob to 2:1 as far as it will go— make your gain reduction average -3 and peak at -5 max. On most compressors this would cause a squashing sound but the butteriness of the analog emulation paired with the 2:1 ratio sounds like perfection. Now sometimes you should adjust your attack and release if it is squashing the vocal. You want your needle to be "breathing" with the vocal in stride. I've recorded hundreds maybe thousands of songs using this method and I can't get away from it. Try it out for yourself.✅

The UA 610A. It is a super powerful plugin. I came across either a video or a subreddit where people were describing using a Universal Audio 610A into the Neve 1084. I had dabbled with this plug-in in the past but never took the time to study it— and boy was I wrong. I threw it on some vocals that already had the Neve 1073 printed. I put the LF (Low Frequency knob to -6, one song I left the HF knob that 12 o'clock the other +6. It added a super clean vintage Sheen to the vocals that I wasn't getting from my Neve 1073. Since I'm using a tube Microphone I was actually getting a lot of detail saturation especially in the high end, This UA 610A preamp smoothed out all of that in the best way. It brought a richness to the vocal I've been looking for, for a long time. Try it out you might be surprised.💯