I have plenty of individual plugins. I'm wondering where, how, and when channel strips may come into play and if I should get into them or stick to individual plugin chains. To name a couple, There are strips like the UAD API Vision that's known for its versatility, presets, and that API tone, The Avalon 737 that's known for its initial transparent processing of vocals and clean high end, and not to mention, the SSL strips that are for just about anything. How do these compare to creating the same/similar chains using individual plugins and are they worth it? It seems Channel strips offer lower CPU, encourage more focus offering simplicity, have processing or "circuitry" that's designed to work together, more powerful presets for getting started, and they often seem to be a good initial stepping stone to build off of. BUT, they lack the flexibility of individual plugins but may also limit the chances of over processing and making mistakes. They also lack a lot of the features that many modern plugins offer that aren't emulations. Another thing to consider is parallel compression, etc. I'm just really curious about y'all's experience with them, how/if they fit into your workflow, and how/if you use them, production included. And why, or why not?

Here’s the best mixing tip I can give you: Progress = Work + Reflection There's no way to get better at mixing if you just watch videos and learn mixing tips. You need to actually do the work and finish hundreds of tracks if you want to become a true pro. But there's another part to the equation, and that's reflection—because work alone isn't enough. Yes, you need to do a lot of work. But if you just work away in a vacuum and you don't reflect on the work that you did a year ago, two years ago, three years ago... then you're never actually going to learn. I remember one time I set myself a challenge to finish a hundred mixes over the span of several months. When I listen back now, a lot of those mixes sound really similar because I was just churning them out. I didn't take enough time to actually listen to them, reflect, and decide how I needed to improve. In comparison, I've had single mixes that I've learned a TON from because I shared them with a bunch of people and got feedback. And I've had mixes where another mix engineer has mixed the same track and I was able to carefully compare the differences. I learned so much from those single mixes because I was able to reflect more accurately. I was able to more easily identify where my weaknesses were and where I needed to improve. So don't forget—you need to put in the work, but you also need to take time to reflect and analyze your past work. Only then can you identify how to actually improve. — I originally posted this idea as a video on our Instagram account. if you're not already following us, you can check it out here. We're starting to post a lot more frequently and have some exciting videos coming up. Have a great week, Rob

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Hi guys. I have a question. I'm getting a lot of hiss (signal noise) in my mixes. I'm rooting around for the cause of this. Jake and Caleb recommend setting the gain ceiling at between -10db and -20db. However, I already record with peaks at no more than -18db, which means that prior to any processing, it's peaking at around -27db or so. My question is whether this is TOO quiet/low. Thanks, Jim

Knock, Knock, Knock!!!!! who's available to chat? lets share thoughtful ideas with other