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Sonnox Oxford Dynamics AAX Plug-in Review

sonnoxSonnox added the AAX version of their popular Oxford Dynamics plug-in so I’m ready to go when I upgrade to Pro Tools 11 HDX soon. It runs Native right now in my Pro Tools HD 10 rig and when I get the new HDX card, it’ll run either DSP or Native with exactly the same great dynamic control and performance. In fact, now both AAX versions can be used as a surround buss compressor/limiter. This was previously only possible with the old TDM (DSP Card) version in Pro Tools.

Based on algorithms from the Dynamics section of the Sony OXF-R3 digital mixing console, Sonnox’s Dynamics has six individual sections: Compressor, Expander, Limiter, Gate, Side-chain EQ, and the great Warmth sonic enhancer function.

Each section has fully independent controls with variable time constant curves (release and attack and hold controls) plus variable knee or soft compression. The AAX versions also have new metering with finer onscreen resolution.

The Sonnox Dynamics plug-in is my first “go to” compression/limiter/expander tool when I’m looking for very subtle—nearly invisible control. I like the sound of its modern feed-forward compressor design, the look-ahead feature and its logarithmic side chain processing.

For more about upgrade paths, demos and pricing, check out http://sonnox.com.

By Barry Rudolph

miniBio: Barry Rudolph is a recording engineer/mixer with over 30 gold and platinum RIAA awards to his credit. He has recorded and/or mixed: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and Robbie Nevil. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and also teaches recording engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. http://www.barryrudolph.com