Studio Standard is a Mac (AAX/AU/VST3) and Windows (AAX/VST3) plugin that thoroughly captures and is seeking to recreate the sound of an oversized 4x12 cabinet from Petaluma, California loaded with various iterations of the manufacturer's proprietary V30 speakers. Six single channels each capable of selecting one of 82 single mic options or 96 pre-made mix options sum to a master out with an 8-band EQ, providing incredibly powerful tone shaping with masterful simplicity, originality, and familiarity.
THE studio standard for recorded guitar tones, no matter the paired source or music style!
The naming was intentional. While California Standard would have rightly implied the base starting point of the hardware configuration, this plugin is so, so much more than being just another run-of-the-mill cab sim. With its 27-point 3x3x3 outward facing voicing configuration options per channel, huge selection of 82 mic types and 96 pre-made mic mixes, novel and intuitive "sweet spot with knobs at noon" placement system, highly flexible yet fundamentally simplistic reference class proprietary equalization filters, superlative function programming and performance optimization with enormously beneficial quality of life features, and industry leading capture artistry, Studio Standard is a towering benchmark and milestone accomplishment in studio guitar tone that will excel at any DAW task where cabinet simulation is required.
Cabinet and Speakers
The source cabinet recreated here is a straight shell, slanted baffle oversized 4x12 from the famed Petaluma, California manufacturer that made their biggest splash in the 1990's and 2000's, becoming the amp and cab voice of rock and metal during that time. This cabinet's legacy of having a phenomenally well-recorded presentation has persisted through to the current day in STILL being the de facto 4x12 option for most studio recording situations, regardless of music style.
The speakers loaded in the enclosure are various iterations of the manufacturer's proprietary V30's, where changing the location and voicing options will switch between different specimens ranging in tonality from warm and soft to forward and aggressive, becoming appropriate for any source guitar, amp, or pickups.
3x3x3 Configuration Matrix
Speaker Location: Choose if you want the mic'd speakers to be on the bottom where the baffle is straight, the top where the baffle is angled, or a 50/50 mix of the two.
Speaker Voicing: Choose between darker and more vintage sounding speakers, brighter and more modern sounding speakers, or a nice even middle ground.
Mic Technique: Choose between a mic technique that is soft up top and great for bright single coils, hard sounding and great for humbuckers, or a median value in-between.
Mic and Mix Selection
All 6 independent channels allow for the choice of one of 82 unique single mic options or one of 96 unique pre-made multi-mic mix options, organized into the following subgroups for quick and easy navigation: • Quick Start - 6 single mics and 6 mixes • Auxiliary - 6 captures • Condenser - 22 mics • Dynamic - 37 mics • Ribbon - 17 mics • Mix - 90 multi-mic mixesAll selections are universally time and phase aligned for seamless blending of options throughout the multiple channels.
Additional Channel Controls
Virtual mic movement is provided in an innovative and original manner that differs from traditional placement systems, and in such a way as to not require any form of previous knowledge of mic positioning technique or mic model familiarity.
When the POSITION and PROXIMITY controls are at their default "noon" position (value = 0.0), the underlying captures - be it single mics or multi-mic mixes - are in their individually designated sweet spot location. So no matter how much you experiment, you can always find your way back home by just resetting the controls, knowing by doing so you're in a great position for having a balanced and possibly ideal sound.
When loaded on a stereo track and the plugin set to stereo mode, the PAN control lets you uniformly move the sound of an individual channel across the stereo field. Lastly, the LEVEL control allows 40 total decibels of adjustment from -28 to +12 for customizing the sound of your own multi-mic mixes while maintaining a consistent volume at all times.
Global Out with 8-band Equalizer
All six single channels route to the master output section in the center of the plugin, where they are summed and pass through the following 8-band EQ equipped with mastering grade proprietary filters:5-band "Mark Style" EQ: • frequency centers at 80 Hz - 240 Hz - 750 Hz - 2200 Hz - 6600 Hz • all bands are bell curve with +/- 12 dB of gain
Air Band: • +/- 10 dB in the "air band and chime region" for electric guitar tone
High and Low Pass Filters: • highly musical yet effective slope value • Low Cut range up to 220 Hz • High Cut range down to 8 kHzLast in the chain is the master output control, giving you +/- 12 dB to set your multi-channel mix just right in your track, and is equipped with a clip indicator to assist with making sure your levels aren't peaking, helping to keep your tracks clean and noise free.
Insert Operation and Preset Management
Studio Standard can be loaded into mono or stereo track inserts, and will automatically adapt to where it is placed. When in stereo mode, the option to collapse to mono is present should that be necessary for testing or artistic purposes.
Presets of custom configurations can be imported, exported, saved, and deleted, and changes to your current progress can be undone or redone in real time, all using the function icons in the header bar.
Platform and System Requirements
Host Requirement
This software is not provided as a standalone application, and requires a compatible host environment, such as digital audio workstation (DAW) software to be loaded into in order to run and function. Examples of DAW's are programs like Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper, etc. Please see your DAW host's documentation for information on supported plugin formats.
Pace iLok Requirements
A free Pace iLok account and free iLok License Manager software are required for license activation (3 activations allowed) and product usage. iLok machine and USB activations are currently available.
Computer and Operating System Requirements
Mac:
• Mac OS 10.13 (High Sierra) or newer (64-bit only) • Intel Core i3 or higher • Silicon M1 or higher • 8 GB of RAM or more • minimum 600 MB total free hard drive space • Host software capable of loading AAX, AU, or VST3 plugins
AAX
AU
VST3
Windows:
• Windows 10 or newer (64-bit only) • Intel Core i3 or higher • AMD Ryzen 5 or higher • 8 GB of RAM or more • minimum 600 MB total free hard drive space • Host software capable of loading AAX or VST3 plugins
For information on how to load plugin instances onto tracks or buses in your chosen DAW host software, please see their documentation or instruction sets on the topic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Due to the nature of this product, we do not offer trials or refunds. Our software has been extensively tested on all systems that meet the listed requirements. If you have concerns about compatibility, please ensure your system meets the specifications before purchase. As per our Terms of Service, all sales are final.
No. While it is highly recommended, USB iLok is not required. A free Pace iLok account and free iLok License Manager software are all that are needed for license activation. iLok machine and USB activations are currently available.
No, this software is specifically involving of the cabinet, speaker, microphone, and EQ components. As such, pedals, amps, and other distortion generating devices are not part of the simulated signal chain and would need to be provided from an alternate preceding source.
If you want the sound of a full electric guitar signal chain, you will need an amp in front of this plugin, either via an amp sim with the cabinet disabled, or from the line out of a load box that you have connected your tube amp to.
Word to the wise: make sure to never connect the output of your tube amp directly to your interface without a load or you'll be sure to at a minimum blow/melt the transformers in your amp!
No, this product is in plugin format and requires host sofware such as a digital audio workstation (DAW) to be used.
No, IR export is not a feature nor a design intention for this product.
This software and the inherent intellectual property is made to be used exclusively in a DAW host environment to make music with. If you are requiring of impulse response files to load into external systems such as digital modelers or IR capable amps, OwnHammer provides such products in the following locations and subsequent file formats:
No, this plugin is enclosed and will only load the options that are internal to it.
The default category that our plugins are assigned internally is "FX". If your DAW organizes plugins based on categories, this will be the area it is located. If your DAW does not have an FX category, it will assign it to a category that it determines to be the catch-all for cases where it does not have a category that matches what the plugin provides as the defined category. For example, in some DAW's it will then revert to place the plugin in the "Other" category. This will be different from DAW to DAW.
Yes! Simply set all 6 channels to the "Mic Off" setting, and the plugin can be used as a mastering grade 8-band EQ.
No. License transfers are not permitted and are solely assigned to the account from which they were originally purchased by and registered to.
No, as this falls outside of our ability to be involved.
Pace handles all situations related to their iLok system, iLok software, iLok licenses, and iLok hardware. If you have lost or broken your iLok USB and are as such without the related license(s), you will need to contact Pace to resolve the issue. Information on this topic can be found on the Pace website at:
Third Party Reference Disclaimer: Any and all third party companies and products listed or otherwise mentioned on this site may be trademarks of their respective owners and are in no way affiliated or associated with OwnHammer, LLC. Product names are referenced solely for the purpose of identifying hardware used in the equipment chain for impulse response capture or are examples of companion products. Use of these names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement.
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