Plugin Spotlight: Magic AB v2 by Sample Magic

Get an in-depth look at Magic AB v2 by Sample Magic, a simple yet powerful reference track tool for production, mixing, and mastering.

Magic AB Overview

Sample Magic has earned a strong reputation as being one of the world’s leading provider of professional sound samples, instrument presets, musical components, music production resources, and software to producers across a wide range of genres. Fueling their line of innovative products is the all-new version of Magic AB, an award-winning referencing plugin.

Simplicity is the core concept behind Magic AB. This extremely proficient and powerful plugin allows you to compare the track you are working on with up to nine pre-loaded reference tracks flawlessly. Magic AB is both an indispensable mixing tool and a serious workflow enhancer that excels at regularly checking how your mixes or masters stack up against other commercially produced tracks or tracks that clients have provided as benchmarks.

What makes this tool so amazing is its ability to reference tracks effortlessly without having to setup complex bus routings, inconveniently mute channels, or toggle between outputs. Even more, everything you need is available in one stripped-back interface that does one thing in as an efficient way as possible without draining your CPU resources. It can even be switched to a compact version that uses a minimum amount of screen space, perfect for when you need space for other plugins.

ABing full mixes is just one of the great feature sets of Magic AB. It can also be used on individual channels when working on a new track to help you emulate any sound you admire. For example, you can AB between the source material and the part you’re working on, and then regularly switch between the two as you hone in on the tone you desire.

Magic AB is also a go-to tool for mastering engineers as well, allowing them to compare in an instant the track they are working on not just to other commercial masters, but also to the other tracks on the album.

Magic AB Workflow

Magic AB is arguably the fastest and easiest way to perform instant AB references to compare the track you are working on in your DAW with any commercially produced reference track. It is designed to work best when placed at the end of the processing chain so you can mix a track using your favorite plugins and compare them against reference tracks without affecting the sound of the reference tracks with your processing chain.

Loading reference tracks can’t be any more simplistic. Quickly load a track by simply dragging and dropping an audio file onto a track slot or alternatively, clicking on the text box alongside one of the nine players to open a window that shows two options for loading and unloading audio. Once audio is loaded, you can effortlessly toggle between tracks by clicking the ‘Play’ button next to each of the nine players. Each player also features a ‘Focus’ button that enables you to select a track to view in the display without starting its playback as well as a ‘Gain’ slider to dial in the tracks volume and a ‘RAM’ button for deactivating tracks to ease your CPU load.

Magic AB goes beyond simple playback of reference tracks. This full featured plugin also sports three different playback modes and a host of options that let you hone in on the details such as zoom, play/cue, loop controls, and more. You can now define up to four cue points for each reference track with version 2, and then easily drag the Cue markers to a desired playback location. In addition, you can name Cue points from a list of structural titles such as Intro, Chorus, Drop, etc. for better navigation between Cue points.

No mixing tool is complete without output meters. Balance the relative volume of mixes with the high-res Peak and RMS displays that sports improved Mono/Stereo monitoring, volume faders, and large AB buttons for toggling between your DAW’s output and Magic AB’s reference stream.

Magic AB has workflow in mind at every move. Quickly compare multiple mixes by simply creating and saving your own ‘go-to’ playlists to radically speed up loading tracks or save presets that can be loaded anytime during a session. Magic AB also has the user’s needs in mind as well and features a ‘Bypass’ button to disable the plugin, and preference options that give you the ability to manually adjust crossfade times to give your ears a chance to recalibrate. Allowing your ears to recalibrate is especially useful when your monitoring environment or speakers are less than perfect.

Final Thoughts

Magic AB isn’t designed to enhance your sounds or directly alter your tracks. It is designed as a reference tool used to make the moves necessary to improve your mixes and streamline your workflow. After using Magic AB, I can’t imagine working without it to help me push my sounds into commercial quality territory. In addition, the Dubspot team loves this plugin so much that we use it in our Mixing and Mastering Program.

Key Features

Magic AB is both an powerful mixing tool and a workflow improver that allows the producer to:

• Perform instant AB references: compare the track you are working on in your DAW with any commercially produced reference track in a variety of audio formats (mp3, Aiff, Wav, m4a, AAC).
• Like the sound of a reference? No problems – drag/drop your chosen reference track/s into Magic AB then flick between them and your mix with a single mouse click.
• New in Version 2: three unique referencing modes: Sync to compare your current mix with older versions – a mastering must; Latch to follow the DAW timeline; and Manual for freeform referencing.
• Hone in on the details: cue the reference track from the precise point you want to hear and loop the section you want to focus on. New with V2: save up to four cue/loop points per track and work in detail with the all-new zoom.
• Compare multiple mixes quickly and simply: create and save ‘go-to’ playlists to radically speed up mixing and mastering.
• Balance the relative volume of mixes with extensive, accurate, easy-to-read metering (peak, RMS and crest values with adjustable peak fall time). The clear, ergonomically designed GUI with bold waveform display means you’re always comparing like with like.
• Compare stereo mixes or flip to mono to check mono compatibility.
• Give your ears a chance to recalibrate with manually changeable crossfade times. Flip in an instant, or allow transitions of up to 2000ms.
• Do it all ‘in mini’ with Mini AB – the same powerful feature set at a tenth of the size: ideal for those using smaller screens.

Availability

Magic AB available to download at Authorized Dealers and Sample Magic.

Compatibility: PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats compatible with 32/64bit DAWs.

 

---

Mixing and Mastering Program

Transform rough ideas and basic compositions into dance floor bangers and sonically pleasing commercial quality masters. Learn the well-kept industry secrets of EQ, compression, panning, level balancing, reverb and special effects.

About This Program

This program gives you everything you need to refine tracks into a clear commercial quality release, including special mixing and mastering techniques for dubstep, techno, house, trance, downtempo, hip-hop, and the gamut of electronically-produced music. You will learn to mix and master your tracks using the same plugins that top industry engineers use every day, including plugins by Izotope, Soundtoys, Sonnox, Altiverb, and more.

What’s Included

• Mixing & Mastering Level 1: Mix
• Mixing & Mastering Level 2: Modify
• Mixing & Mastering Level 3: Master

Additional Information

Visit the Mixing and Mastering course page for detailed information on this program here. If you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

/files/2016/10/Magic-AB-Thumb.png

The post Plugin Spotlight: Magic AB v2 by Sample Magic appeared first on Dubspot Blog.