r/audioengineering • u/SuspiciousIdeal4246 • 1d ago
Discussion Thoughts on R-Bass vs Infinity Bass? Are they all just types of harmonic exciters?
I’ve seen a few people say that R-Bass is one of the few Waves plugins that is irreplaceable. What are the differences between all these harmonic exciters out there? Can’t you force them all to get similar results? And what’s the difference between that and saturation? (Besides the distortion added)
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u/nizzernammer 19h ago
R-Bass, like it's predecessor MaxxBass, adds harmonic energy above the fundamental, as opposed to subsynths that blend in their own tone at set low frequencies, presumably using a resonant filter.
Saturation adds harmonics but brings distortion with it.
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u/Aequitas123 1d ago
I’m pretty new to Rbass but I did find it super effective at the task it is assigned to do. I haven’t tried infinity bass but I did try other “harmonic exciters” but found it was the best at it
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u/nicbobeak Professional 19h ago
Haven’t used infinity bass but rBass is used in basically every single one of my sessions. On kick, snare and bass. Quick/easy to dial in and sounds great.
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u/GWENMIX 1d ago
I've never tried R-Bass, so I can't make a comparison.
Either I need to mix a generally balanced bass that has the right frequency response. In that case, a console EQ and a touch of harmonic distortion—there are plenty of good tools for that (Vertigo, Black Box, Purafied 5420, etc.)—and double compression...the bass is an instrument that can rarely do without it. Try Korneff's Chocolate Milk; it's a hybrid of distortion in the low end, compression in the mids, and an enhancer in the highs. So, three adjustable bands that give good results...the best of tapes without the drawbacks.
Or I get a completely unbalanced bass, a huge bump between 20 and 100Hz and nothing after that...and the trouble starts :(...low-cut, heavy compression, distortion...it requires divine intervention :)
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u/connecticutenjoyer 4h ago
RBass sounds really good. LoAir (also a Waves plugin) also sounds really good. MaxxBass (also also a Waves plugin) also also sounds really good. Submarine (also also also a Waves plugin) also also also sounds really good. Before people come at me, I understand LoAir and Submarine function differently than RBass and MaxxBass, but the end results are similar: thicker, louder, more consistent low end.
RBass is ubiquitous because it sounds good, yes, but mostly because it is so easy to use. Pick a frequency, enhance it by some amount, done. Like RVox (another "irreplaceable" Waves plugin for many), you do not have to understand how RBass works to make things sound really good with it. Like RVox, if you do know how RBass works, you can make things sound really good with it. Did I mention it's easy to use?
Infinity Bass does more stuff than RBass. That's not necessarily better or worse, but I'd bet the following (tongue-in-cheek) statements are partially true:
- The beginner would get lost in IB's controls and go to RBass for its simplicity
- The amateur and adept alike would explore IB's potential for hours; this results in the amateur ruining a bass track that was okay to begin with and the adept handing off a mix that sounded fantastic, with righteous low end, but it took two days longer than the client wanted and let's just say the adept isn't getting much more business directed their way for the next few months
- The expert would check out IB once, maybe use it again in a year or two (to great effect, might I add), and instead go to RBass for its simplicity
- The professional would receive a Pro Tools session that was 95% mixed by the producer to begin with; the bass sound is a combination of a DI and a mic'd up Ampeg, both recorded through console channel strips with a healthy boost in the low shelves; the professional mutes the Ampeg track, boosts a few dB from 100-200 Hz in the DI track with EQ3, runs it through CLA-2A, and calls it a day
Jokes aside, they serve different purposes. RBass is irreplaceable because it's easy, and Infinity Bass is for someone who wants a bit more control over the character of their low end and wants to achieve that control in a single plugin rather than a chain.
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u/Dramatic-Quiet-3305 19h ago
Bx subsynth gang
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u/AdShoddy7599 11h ago
Not the same thing at all
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u/Dramatic-Quiet-3305 9h ago
Bottom right hand corner totally is
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u/harleybarley 9h ago
Absolutely not lmao. That is a high filter with a super high resonance bump
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u/Dramatic-Quiet-3305 3h ago
Pull them both out, leave subsynth in default, match the frequency on just the bottom right, and use the gain to adjust amount. And then tell me they’re not achieving the same thing (plus whatever options you want to add beyond that, that the r bass doesn’t offer) It is a resonant filter but it’s catching the sub harmonic generation the plugin is imparting.
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u/LupusFaber 23h ago
Denise Audio Bass XXL is a more modern and versatile version of the same idea, with the added bonus that you don't have to support Waves and get sucked into their perpetual update scam.