Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of the most common FAQs about our service. If you can’t find what you are looking for please click on our chat widget or email us at [email protected]. Please visit our Support Page for detailed videos, the Analog Matrix user manual, equipment guides, and more.
GETTING STARTED
What is Access Analog?
What is the Analog Matrix Plugin?
What is the Standalone Application?
How can I try out this service?
How do I use the gear?
What should I know as a new user?
How do I save my processed audio?
features, benefits and costs
What are the benefits of Access Analog?
What gear is currently available?
How much does it cost?
Gear usage and wait time?
What is meant by “On-Demand use”?
Can I Create My Own Presets?
Connectivity and Technical Issues
What are my connectivity options?
What if I have connection issues?
How do I ensure a stable connection?
Are there latency considerations?
What is the uptime for the gear?
What buffer size should I use?
What to do about “buffer underflow”?
Additional Questions
Can anyone steal or listen to my audio?
Can I request a specific piece of gear?
Do you sell gift cards?
What support is available?
What is Access Analog?
Access Analog is a cloud-based platform that allows you to use real, premium analog outboard gear from anywhere in the world, right inside your favorite DAW or our Standalone Application.
No longer exclusive to pro studios, this gear is available to everyone through our Analog Matrix plugin service that connects you to a massive, robotically controlled rack of analog equipment as well as two mastering rigs designed by Grammy-winning producers.
Access Analog provides the full functionality of the most desired professional audio hardware in the industry while adding the benefits of full recall, presets, automation, and mobility that, until now, have only been available in software plugins.
What is the Analog Matrix Plugin?
The Analog Matrix is a plugin, but it’s not your typical plugin. The Analog Matrix plugin remotely controls the physical knobs, buttons, and switches on the audio hardware. Robotics are attached to each control and precisely track changes made in the plugin user interface, as well as all control automation created within the host audio application. Audio streams from the Analog Matrix plugin across the internet through the analog hardware and returns to the plugin in real-time.
Meters and indicators are precisely tracked and displayed in the plugin interface exactly as they exist on the hardware, in sync with the audio. All of our robotics are attached to the external surface of the unit. The hardware enclosure is never opened and remains in original condition.
With the Analog Matrix, you can build your ultimate hardware signal chain by connecting up to eight pieces of equipment in any order you like. Add, remove, and reorder hardware units in the chain in real-time while listening to the effect on the audio. The system will intelligently route the audio seamlessly.
When you have decided on your desired settings, record the processed audio as it streams from the hardware to your recording software. You can capture processed audio from the Analog Matrix plugin in real-time or choose offline rendering.
What is the Analog Matrix Standalone Application and when should I use it?
Similar to the Analog Matrix plugin, the Standalone Application allows access to all the features available with the plugin, such as gear selection, control, and playback. It is a native application and does not require a DAW. Install the standalone application like any other program, and you’ll be ready to access the audio gear.
Although the plugin can load and process files, the application provides a more direct and simple way to process audio files through the gear. If you are only processing files instead of DAW tracks, this is a more efficient way to process and bounce those files, as it does not involve the overhead of the DAW. The other advantage of the standalone application is that it allows for batch file processing. In other words, you can load a series of audio files into the batch processor and then bounce all of them using the same chain, with the same settings, without needing any intervention. It’s great for multitasking.
How can I try out this service?
- Create a free account.
- Download the Analog Matrix.
- In the plugin, follow our wizard to help you connect with your account credentials, learn to select gear, and then how to control it for perfect results.
How do I use the gear?
- First, create a free account.
- Next, pick your preferred way to access the gear:
- Option 1: Download the Analog Matrix Plugin which acts as your interface to the hardware.
- Load the Plugin: Load the Analog Matrix plugin onto a track in your DAW like you would any other audio processing plugin.
- Connect and use: Launch your DAW and load the Analog Matrix plugin onto a track. Log in with your account credentials, select the gear you want to use, and drag it into the routing panel. Your audio will now be processed by the physical hardware located at Access Analog.
- Option 2: Download the Analog Matrix Standalone Application which acts as your interface to the hardware.
- Open the Analog Matrix Application like you would any other application.
- Connect with your email and password then and follow the workflow shown on our video for the Standalone Application.
- Option 1: Download the Analog Matrix Plugin which acts as your interface to the hardware.
What should I know as a new user?
- If your connection is limited, use a 2500 ms buffer size and compressed 128k transmit format.
- This service uses TCP port 47300. If you cannot connect, you may need to allow this port in your firewall.
- If you are using Reaper, disable “Anticipative FX processing” under Preferences -> Buffering.
- The best way to save your final processed audio is to use the source and bounce panels on the left and right side of the interface. You will upload all of your audio to the server first, thereby avoiding any chance of a connection dropout from affecting your audio. This process also uses lossless, 24-bit audio, regardless of your transmit format setting.
- You can reserve a specific time on the website. The corresponding device will show as “Reserved” for you in the plugin at the specified time.
- You can buy and use credits. You can use any “Available” device in the plugin directly and your credits will be charged only as long as you are using it.
- You can purchase one of several subscription plans for the most flexibility and value.
- The one hour reservation rate and the credit deduction rate are the same.
How do I save my processed audio?
We recommend using the source panel on the left side of the plugin. You can upload your audio to the server inside the source panel, and then bounce that audio through the analog gear using the bounce panel on the right side of the plugin. These two panels are used together to create your bounce. This method will eliminate the risk of connection dropouts affecting your audio. The source/bounce panels use lossless, 24-bit audio regardless of your transmit format settings. Please consider viewing the Enhanced Offline Tutorial on the Access Analog YouTube Channel.
What are the benefits of using Access Analog?
- Access to high-end analog gear: Users can access over $350,000 worth of premium analog audio gear, from studio staples to rare classics and more modern devices. We offer an affordable way to use high-end gear that would be cost-prohibitive to purchase yourself.
- Unique hybrid solution: Access Analog merges the authenticity of outboard analog gear with the convenience of an in-the-box digital plugin.
- Convenience and flexibility: The service can be accessed from anywhere in the world at any time. Users can reserve gear for specific times or use it on demand. Users outside the United States can connect via Amazon Web Services’s private internet for improved connectivity
- High-quality audio: Access Analog uses pro-grade A/D and D/A conversion at 24bit, 96Khz sampling rates. The analog processors are calibrated daily to ensure high-quality signal processing.
- Cost-effectiveness: With our subscription plans and credit bundles, Access Analog is a fraction of the cost of owning and maintaining a comparable collection of analog gear.
- Unmatched sound quality: Access Analog gives you the true sound of analog hardware, which is often considered warmer, richer, more musical, and more pleasing to the ear than digital emulations.
- Wide selection: Access Analog has a vast and ever-growing collection of gear to choose from.
What gear is available?
Access Analog has a wide variety of outboard gear available, including compressors, equalizers, saturators, limiters, reverb, and more. New gear is added all the time. You can find a full list of the currently available gear on our Reserve Page.
How much does it cost?
Costs vary depending on how you access the equipment. Subscriptions start at $9.99/month. You can also purchase credit bundles, with bulk discounts available, or reserve specific gear for a set price per 30 minutes of use.
You can access the equipment in three ways:
- Subscription Plans: Choose from Credit, Explorer, Unlimited, and Mastering Chain plans, starting at just $9.99 per month. Credit subscriptions give you a monthly allocation of credits to use on any device. Explorer subscriptions give unlimited access to specific gear, and Mastering Chain subscriptions offer generous time allocations on professionally designed processing chains.
- Credit Bundles: Purchase credit bundles for maximum flexibility, allowing you to access available gear at any time.
- Reservations: Reserve your gear in advance to ensure exclusive access when you need it.
What is gear usage and wait time like?
There is one user per device at any one time. However, we have duplicates and a large selection of gear, so there’s rarely much wait time. You can make a reservation for a piece of gear, or use it on demand whenever it’s available. When utilization for any particular device averages 30% in a month, we will add a duplicate unit.
What is meant by “On-Demand” use?
“On-demand” allows you to use any available equipment instantly without a prior reservation. This works by simply adding the equipment into the routing panel of the Analog Matrix plugin. You’ll get a free 45-second preview to test the gear, after which your credit balance will be reduced periodically, equivalent to the hourly reservation rate.
Can I create my own presets?
Yes! You can use the ‘+’ button at the top of each individual equipment panel to create presets for that piece of equipment. You can also use the chain preset save feature by right-clicking to bring up the main menu and then use the “user” option at the bottom of the menu to add or modify your custom chain preset.
Can I recall my settings?
Yes! Each compressor, equalizer, saturator, limiter, has an independant control for every knob, switch, and selector. You can save whole signal chains for recall later.
Are there any special requirements when using Cubase?
You possibly need to set the Audio Pre-Record Time to 0.
Are there any special requirements when using Ableton Live?
Live has a feature to warp audio clips and adjust the timing to match the Live session. This can cause problems with your final bounced audio. After you use the plugin offline processor to capture your final bounce into a wav file, you may want to drag that bounced audio back into Live on a new track. In order to make the new bounced audio line up perfectly with the original track, you must manually disable “Warp” on the bounced audio clip.
Are there any special requirements when using Reaper?
If you are using Reaper, disable “Anticipative FX processing” under Preferences -> Buffering.
Are there any special requirements when using Logic?
Logic has a maximum delay compensation of 1000ms. Use a buffer size of 1000ms or less in the plugin if you are processing individual tracks where there are parallel tracks that require synchronization. If you are processing the mix/master bus, you can probably use any buffer size, because there are no parallel tracks.
Are there any special requirements when using Pro Tools?
Pro Tools has a maximum delay compensation of 340 ms. Use a buffer size of 340 ms or less in the plugin if you are processing individual tracks where there are parallel tracks that require synchronization. If you are processing the mix/master bus, you can probably use any buffer size, because there are no parallel tracks. A 340 ms buffer size will require a strong internet connection.
If you must use a larger buffer than 340 ms on individual tracks, you can manually correct for the timing mismatch by sliding the audio in the track. As an example, if you use a 2500 ms buffer size in the plugin, you would then select all audio in the track that has the plugin inserted, then pick Edit->Shift, then put in (2500 – 340) = 2160 ms, and shift the audio to the left (or “earlier”) by that amount.
Are there any special requirements when using Mixbus?
On a Mac system, Mixbus does not allow our plugin to access our website, which is fundamental to this service. Therefore, the Analog Matrix plugin is not compatible with Mixbus (on Mac), and as far as we know this is the only DAW with this limitation. Update: Some users have had success by hosting the Analog Matrix plugin within Kushview’s Element, and then routing audio from Mixbus to Element with Blackhole.
The Mixbus windows version works normally.
Why doesn’t the plugin work with Plugin Doctor?
Plugin Doctor has a speed setting that defaults to “Ultra”. Thus, it is trying to send audio through the plugin much faster than real time. The hardware converter at our server can only operate in real time. So, you just need to change the Plugin Doctor speed setting to “Real Time” and it should work normally.
What is the faster than real time error?
A user can receive an error on their plugin noting that the DAW or application is sending samples to our server faster than real time. This means that a plugin or application, such as Plugin Dr., is sending samples to be processed at a rate that does not work for real analog gear. Our service can only process samples in real time through the gear, therefore sending samples faster will overflow our processing queues and cause a disconnect from the service. To remedy this situation look for DAW settings, application settings or other plugin effects on the same track/buss that are set for oversampling or attempting to process samples faster than real time.
What format should I use?
You can first try the 24 bit format that matches the sample rate of your session. If the streaming is intermittent, you might try selecting “AWS routing” above the connect button. Additionally, you can drop the sample rate and/or use the 16 bit format. If the streaming is still intermittent, you should use a compressed format for real time streaming. When you are ready to capture your processed audio, you can use of the offline processor described in the user manual to get full resolution (lossless, 24-bit) 96 kHz audio.
How is my digital audio being delivered to analog hardware?
We employ real time A/D and D/A conversion at the server using Lynx Aurora(n) and Antelope Audio Galaxy 64 converters. Different devices are connected to each converter. The conversion being used for a given device is displayed at the bottom left corner of the device panel in the software interface.
How can I minimize any noise through the system?
What are the converters do you use?
On our main Access Analog rack we use Antelope Galaxy 64 and Lynx Aurora(n) series converters. For all converters, the input trim levels are set to 22 dBu. The output levels are set such that there is 0 dB gain through the converter. The Magic Garden mastering chain uses Mytek D/A conversion and Pacific Microsonics A/D conversion. The Infrasonic chain uses a Prism Sound Lyra 2 for D/A conversion and a Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Converter for A/D conversion.
How do I use two mono units in stereo?
We refer to this as “Dual Mono”. We have two devices for most of our mono units for this reason. To use them in stereo, use the “Dual Mono” submenu when selecting devices in the equipment popup menu. If you want to reserve them, you will need to reserve both devices for the same time slot on the website. Once the devices are inserted, you can switch back and forth between controlling left and right by using the L/R button at the bottom. If you want the left and right settings to stay in sync, then set Link to “Absolute” and the controls will be robotically linked. You can then control the left unit and the right unit will follow.
Has the analog hardware been modified?
Never. We use a wide range of cutting edge robotics to control the hardware from the front panel, just like you would if you were interacting with it manually. All plugin meters reflect the physical needles and LED’s of the actual equipment. We do not replace or change any analog component of the units.
What is a loopback cable?
We have two loopback XLR cables connecting two outputs back into two inputs of each converter, and these cables are available at no cost. When you reserve these and/or drag them into your plugin rack, you will stream audio through the cables just as if they were an analog unit. These cables allow you to learn the system and fine tune your streaming parameters without having to spend money. You can also use them to analyze the conversion quality.
What are my connectivity options?
2. AWS Routing – this is the second option and when selected our software will send the audio packet traffic to the nearest Amazon AWS network access point. Once the audio packets are received at the access point then they will travel over Amazo’s private high-speed network to an end point in the US near Access Analog. This guarantees higher performance connectivity.
What if I have connections issues?
If you have trouble connecting to Access Analog:
- Check Your Firewall: Ensure that TCP port 47300 is allowed in your firewall settings.
- Optimize Buffer Size: Use a larger buffer size (2500 ms) and compressed 128k transmit format for limited connections.
- Disable Anticipative FX Processing (Reaper): If you’re using Reaper, disable “Anticipative FX processing” in the Preferences -> Buffering menu.
How do I ensure a stable connection?
For optimal performance, use a wired internet connection and close any unnecessary programs or background processes. You can adjust the buffer size in the Analog Matrix plugin to compensate for latency or connection inconsistencies. We recommend using a 2500ms buffer size and a compressed 128k transmit format for limited connections.
Are there latency considerations?
Access Analog uses buffering to manage internet inconsistencies. You can adjust the total system buffer size between 340ms and 2500ms within the plugin. The plugin’s buffer graph helps you monitor the buffer levels.
For DAWs with limited delay compensation (like Logic and Pro Tools), a smaller buffer size might be necessary when processing individual tracks to maintain synchronization with parallel tracks. However, when processing the mix/master bus, larger buffer sizes can generally be used.
What is the uptime for the gear?
We strive for full 24×7 access to the gear. Moreove we have 99% uptime for every piece of gear. We are dedicated to ensuring the gear is ready for optimum performance all the time.
What buffer size should I use?
Visit our Support Page and click on the tab – “Buffering/Latency” – for a discussion of buffer size and delay compensation.
What should I do about” buffer underflow”?
- We recommend getting an accurate measurement of your bandwidth. Use speedtest.net, but make sure to “Change Server” and set it to “Nextlight Longmont, CO”.
- If you are outside the USA, we recommend using “AWS routing” before connecting to the service. You can select AWS routing right above the connect button.
- If your bandwidth is less than ~5 Mbit, then you will want to set the “Transmit Format” to a compressed format and set your “Buffer Size” to 2500ms.
- You may still have an inconsistent connection even if your bandwidth is adequate. Some providers intentionally time slice your connection with other users.
- Always consider using ethernet, or locate yourself near the wifi router. Packet errors cause streaming dropouts, and many errors are caused by wifi.
- Sometimes plugins before or after the Analog Matrix will try to run audio faster than real time, which is not possible in the analog domain. So, try removing plugins before or after the Analog Matrix to see if it has any effect.
- Sometimes our software has trouble balancing your buffering. Our system “learns” your connection each time you start/stop audio playback. Give the connection some time to learn, and try start/stop a few times.
- The “reset” button at the top right of the plugin also helps the system learn and adapt to your connection. After starting playback, try the reset button to restart your streaming.
- You should disable any VPN that might be active. Most VPN’s are not optimized for bi-directional low latency streaming.
- In rare cases, the system might not have an accurate value of your DAW sample rate, and therefore it is trying to stream audio at the wrong speed. In this case, the streaming usually lasts a few seconds before dropping, and it never comes back. The orange buffer graph at the top right of the plugin will also show linear increasing/decreasing buffer sizes (i.e. a ramp up/down). Use the DAW to set the session sample rate to a different value, and then return to your original value. This should update the plugin. Usually, the problem does not return after this.
Can anyone steal or listen to my audio?
Your audio is never routed anywhere on our server except through the analog unit that you are using. So, we can’t hear your audio, and it is no more vulnerable to theft than any other unencrypted data going across the internet. Encryption increases the load on the internet connection, so we do not offer it at this time, but it could be added in the future.
Can I put in a request for a specific piece of gear?
Of course! We want to hear what you are interested in. Please email [email protected] and let us know.
Do you sell gift cards?
Yes! Please visit our Gift Cards page.
What support is available?
You can usually chat with us using the icon at the bottom of this page. If that doesn’t work, please send an email to [email protected] or visit our Contact Page.
We also have a detailed Support Page with videos, a user manual, equipment guides, and more.