MixBox is available in all the usual plug‑in formats, but also as a standalone application offering up to eight simultaneous processing chains for use in a live‑sound environment. This one, as the name suggests, is very much targeted towards mix engineers - but not just in the studio. More than 20 years after the launch of T‑Racks, IK have now introduced a third modular environment. Once again, a single plug‑in provides both a wealth of processing modules, mimicking everything from Marshall heads to vintage fuzzboxes, and the freedom to connect them in interesting ways. IK’s other long‑established plug‑in environment is Amplitube, which adapts the same modular concept to guitar amp emulation. In response to this trend, IK made most of its processing modules available as separate plug‑ins, giving users the choice as to whether they load up an all‑in‑one chain within the T‑Racks host, or a single T‑Racks compressor or EQ as part of a diverse plug‑in chain. As the stock of virtual equipment in T‑Racks mounted up, engineers began using it not only as a mastering suite, but to process individual tracks at mixdown. This has been continually improved over the years and now provides an exhaustive compilation of classic hardware emulations, advanced digital processors such as the excellent Stealth Limiter, and much more. IK Multimedia were early and enthusiastic adopters of this concept, initially with their T‑Racks mastering suite.

As well as leaving the rest of your plug‑in slots free for other effects, this approach permits an entire processing chain to be saved and shared as a single plug‑in preset, and it allows the vendor to implement routing features that might not be possible within the host DAW. Within these environments, the user can arrange multiple modules to form a complete processing chain. Insert slots in your DAW are usually used to host individual effects, but some manufacturers have also developed plug‑ins that are hosts in their own right.

IK’s latest modular processing suite brings a whole new meaning to the idea of ‘mixing in the box’.

Ik multimedia mixbox review