Slate Digital VMS

Eight years on from its groundbreaking release, what’s new in Slate Digital’s Virtual Microphone System?

Where does the time go? It’s been eight years since my original review of the Slate Digital Virtual Microphone System, or VMS, which feels like more than enough time to check in and see what this somewhat pioneering product now has to offer. It was interesting for me to reread the original review and remember how keen we were at the time to unpick and generally assess just how authentic the mic emulations were. Indeed, we decided to focus the review on directly comparing some of the emulations to the real deal — which inevitably led to some mild Internet controversy around the test conditions and how valid the comparisons were, especially considering the natural variations between mics that are over 60 years old and may have undergone multiple services and repairs. My review was positive, however, and my closing thoughts were about being intrigued to see how this new technology would be received and developed in the coming years.

It feels like a different landscape now to when the original VMS was released, with most of us entirely comfortable about combining digital tools with our analogue ones. It is also fair to say, I think, that the development of very good‑sounding microphone emulations hasn’t sounded the death knell of traditional and vintage recording mics. My sense is that most engineers aren’t necessarily concerned with how authentic something sounds, and prefer to judge gear by the difference it makes in their day‑to‑day music making.

Perhaps in response to this shift, the team at Slate Digital decided to drop the hardware preamp side of the original VMS package and instead focus solely on making the microphone as affordable and simple as possible to use. So, while there are software preamp emulations included in the VMS bundle, the only hardware component now is the ML‑1 mic. This behaves exactly like a normal capacitor microphone, with users supplying their own preamp, while the software is neatly contained with Slate Digital’s Virtual Mix Rack plug‑in.

Overview

Losing the preamp side of the system seems like a good move to me, as I think most users want simplicity and to also feel like they are not having to use, or pay for, extra equipment to get good results. The mic itself is intended to provide a good‑quality ‘blank slate’ for the modelling software to effectively do its thing, and is a neutral‑looking mic that would be a fine centrepiece as the only mic in a smaller setup, whilst still looking at home in a studio like mine with multiple other mics kicking around.

One of my concerns in my original review was that users could end up getting lost in too much choice, and however you might feel about that aspect of modern production, the Slate Digital VMS now offers a total of 26 vintage microphone emulations. These are available in a few different bundles, or as a complete collection if you subscribe to Slate Digital’s Complete Access...