About dNa

Make it sound larger than life! The why of these plugins.

During these past years as a recording-engineer i have had the pleasure of using and testing lots of very nice analog gear. High-end gear for me always gave a sound that is best described as: larger than life. It’s an almost esoteric character or buzz that i simply did not experience in digital processors. I’ve studied and talked a lot about circuits and techniques with fellow-engineers and in short: analog circuitry gives colorations and saturations, which we have regarded as unwanted distortion for a long time. These last years there has been an upcoming trend of emulating these distortions, because now we acknowledge that it is precisely that, that sculpted the sonic character of the sounds and recordings we are so fond of.

I could not find that in my digital toolbox in one simple to use “processor”. Okay…I could get a long way with several plugins combined, but that had flaws; sometimes the sound, other times to many windows and parameters…and that lack of buzz. My GUI philosophy: A lot of digital gear and it’s GUI is often a programmer’s solution to a creative problem. (I acknowledge: these last years that shifted somewhat…why would that be?). I think it is unwanted in a creative process that recording still is to keep tweaking and tuning endless parameters to get a sound. It must be very intuitive to use and just deliver you that exciting sound! Luckily Sonic Core has had a platform that already had a very pleasant sound to it, that a lot of people also acknowledge.

For me it was a perfect challenge trying to bring that character i was looking for into the digital domain; because one thing was clear: digital has certain pro’s and con’s over analog gear. Maybe i could overcome limitations, the sound and usability-issues, not just by emulation but by creating “my own” gear, with a pleasant sonic character, balanced features, and a intuitive user interface.

That was and still is my goal with dNa – Digital and Analog. Digital with a passion for analog.

Present day

dNa - Digital&Analog is managed by Ray de Jager, studio-engineer with a dedication and experience in tubes, microphones, audiogear, electronics, computers, designing and the Creamware, now Sonic Core, Platform.

A few years ago i had several ideas regarding plugs and audio and mastering techniques, but because of several things, also the disappearing of CW, they stayed on the shelf. During 2012 i got some vibes back, and contacted Sonic Core's Holger Drenkelfort about the plugs and gave some of my thought and ideas.

As then, i am still amazed by the sonics of the platform. I used Creamware's TripleDAT(win98se) before updating to Pulsar/Scope which I still use in my home studio, and have used my plugins for years keeping them to myself. It was too bad that they never came out then, we got together, and SC/Holger convinced me in bringing out the plugs. And now here we are. Revamping the plugs GUI, bringing them to 2013 and the future; for the community to enjoy.

Happy tweaking! sincerely, Ray.

History

dNa - Digital&Analog found its origin way before that. I was already working as a studio/recording engineer and collaborated with a good friend of mine, Ronny van Boxtel in making Dr&B/electronic music combined with all sorts of sounds and sampling. We named ourselves dNa - Digital&Analog aka Savvy and DioDe.

We both LOVED(AND STILL DO!) tubes and their sound! Our music is mixed listening to it on tube amplifiers (modded by Ray). I have put up some of our tracks in the MUSIC pages for you to enjoy.

This domain, the logo and the name is a legacy from that era. We work with both digital and analog techniques and gear and the greek a (alpha) represents a dna-string....but also the filament of a tube. So i keep that in honor with much love ;-)

Feel free in contacting me.
If you want to check out the studio: Check Studio Uden (dutch)