(This is a guest post from Nick Wilke near Chicago Illinois)

I’ve been tinkering with recording since i was 13 and had an old tascam portastudio (1996) and it’s been a big part of my life ever since. I started with Pro Tools 6.8 and a USB Mbox. Back then i didnt give a flying shit about plugins, i used the stock Avid stuff for years, EQ7, DYN3, DVerb and Mod Delay were literally the only plugins i used from version 6.8 until i started using PT8. To me plugins were always just tools, means to an end, they weren’t sexy, they were just what they were. I honestly didn’t get swept up into the plugin buying madness until well after i was old enough to know better, and hot damn if i didnt get sucked in, the amount of money ive spent on plugins in the past 4 years borders on the shameful.

VTM was the first Slate plugin i purchased, which was rapidly followed by VBC, VCC, and VMR (first week it was out for VMR) and i was pretty hooked, but i used a bevy of various manufacturers.

This is the era when i finally left the dark scary halls of Gearslutz and entered facebook audio groups, a welcome reprieve from the grisly posts that riddle GS. Well somewhere along the line i started paying attention to the companies that produce these digital toys i was spending all my extra money on, and time after time i see Steven Slate in the trenches, defending and promoting his products, answering direct questions that would make most tech companies piss their pants, i’m not saying there hasn’t been disappointments and missed deadlines there certainly has, but still to these, the man always answers and doesn’t hide behind generic responses written by a 5 year employee in the marketing department., and in the face of constant detraction by old curmudgeons who derogate products they’ve never even tested, maintains a rational and logical approach. To me that speaks volumes. Simply Put.

I think people genuinely root for the underdog (unless you’re from New York) and the underdog vibe / charm of Slate Digital certainly was part of what drew me in, but it’s the confidence and hunger this company has that’s got me rooting, Feels fresh, and exciting, and that’s invaluable to me as a pro audio consumer. Compared to Waves who come off as a bunch of old men that don’t know how to use the internet, and wanna keep re-charging me for the same tired ass old plugins ( Q10 i’m looking at you, would a new GUI for that old hag really be that hard?) everytime there’s a format change. To me it’s a no brainer, i’d rather be let down by a leader who keeps trying, than pacified by a monolith that does the barest of minimums to maintain it’s coffers. WUP Plan my ass M****r F*****s, and such, I use Slate and Metric Halo (another wonderful company i love) almost exclusively. Back to my roots, simple tool set. Mix Music. Rinse. Repeat.

Anyways, ill wrap this up, I don’t know if ya hear it enough from these forums, but Thank You, keep up the damn fine work and i’ll keep “Drinking The Slate Water” as a fellow engineer and Slate user Galvin LeDaris McKinney would say.

Cheers Gentleman, Here’s to happy mixing.