Everything from guitar preamp modeling, vintage and modern-inspired EQ’s and compressors to pitch and time modulation, tape and transformer saturation and beyond. You can combine up to any eight of these “plug-ins within the plug-in” in series and intuitively drag them to try different chains. As in, “holy crap on a pita, that is a lot of modules.” We’ve all seen virtual amp packages that give you dozens of amp models, complete with matching graphics within the interface, but this is taking things to a stratospheric echelon for the mix engineer. IK Multimedia’s MixBox is a self-contained single plug-in that allows the user to virtually install and mix up to eight slots worth of virtual processors – either as a plug-in (VST, AAX, AU) or a standalone application.

Too bad it’ll run you about $50g to make the hardware version MEET THE MIXBOX And with IK Multimedia now stepping up with a virtual 500-rack of sorts, the temptation to stay all of the way in-the-box is bigger than ever. While the “is it real, or is it a plug-in” debate continues to rage on, the DAW has effectively closed the gap to the point that even the most uptight cork-sniffing analog die-hard can’t reliably tell the difference in a blind shootout. And given their modular nature, sometimes units get moved, sold or rerouted – leaving you in a pickle when pulling up a session before reconfiguring. Even if you print the results to a new track and take a picture of the settings, it occasionally happens that trying to get the exact parameter back later is never exact (manufacturers without detented pots, I’m looking at you). Mind you, the wayback machine is not without its flaws, namely recallability. Being able to go from an actual, analog API to a Neve to an SSL with a single click – routing instruments, tracks and busses through all that gooey old-school circuitry can give an otherworldly punch, crush or snap to an otherwise ho-hum signal. Now break us off a slice of that birthday cake while we tell you about their latest… ANALOG ENVYĪs the proud owner of not one, but two, completely full 10-slot 500-racks, many a co-conspirator and client have ohh’d and ahh’d at my garden of boutique preamps, EQ’s and compressors.

In the decade since, we’ve continued to enjoy IK, especially with their dedication to creating great software for the professional but priced for the working musician. The product? IK Multimedia’s “ T-Racks” software. Ten years ago, EverythingRecording launched with our first ever review.

Mixbox ik multimedia review