Make Believe Studios – MBSI (Windows)

Description

Make Believe Studios – MBSI | The Sound of Miami 1976

A Legendary Console, Reborn for Your DAW

MBSI is a meticulous and faithful channel-strip recreation of one of the most iconic custom-built mixing consoles in American recording history—the Criteria Studio C Custom MCI console, handcrafted by MCI technicians for Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida.

This console played a defining role in dozens of million-selling records throughout the 1970s, shaping the sound of artists such as The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Bee Gees, Grand Funk Railroad, and many others. Legendary producers and engineers, including Tom Dowd and Bill Szymczyk, relied on this very desk to craft timeless recordings.

In collaboration with Make Believe Studios and Bill Szymczyk, MBSI brings this historic console into the digital world for the very first time.

“I wanted to sonically recreate the sound of my favorite analog mixing board, and I think we achieved that. The past is not dead; it’s here, now!”
— Bill Szymczyk, Grammy Award–winning producer and engineer

Authentic Console Character

MBSI is not a generic channel strip—it is a precise model of the Criteria Studio C console’s complete signal path, including:

• Mic & Line inputs

• Overdrive mic preamp character

• Console dynamics

• Interactive EQ section

• Fader behavior

• Stereo output signal modeling

Simply passing audio through MBSI imparts the unmistakable boxy, punchy, unmistakably analog tone that defined an era.

Musical, Interactive EQ Design

The original console’s EQ was designed with a minimal component count, relying on natural circuit behavior rather than precision isolation. As a result:

• EQ bands interact with one another

• Filter Q changes with gain and frequency

• Controls behave musically rather than surgically

This design encourages mixing by ear, delivering fast, intuitive tonal decisions—just like a real console.

Classic Mode & Modern Mode

To honor history and modern workflows, MBSI offers two distinct operating modes:

Classic Mode

• Faithful reproduction of the original console

• Stepped controls

• Original shelving and filter behavior

• Vintage dynamics character designed for analog tape

Modern Mode

• Updated compressor inspired by 1176 and dbx160-style dynamics

• Continuous control with optional snapping to classic steps

• Enhanced midrange EQ functionality

• Simultaneous high-pass and low-pass filtering

• Designed to reflect how the console would be upgraded today

World-Class DSP & Workflow

MBSI combines vintage authenticity with modern flexibility, making it equally at home on individual tracks, buses, or the mix bus.

Key Features

• Faithful channel-strip model of the Criteria Studio C Custom MCI console

• Mic, Line, and Overdrive Mic Pre modeling

• Authentic analog dynamics and EQ behavior

• Classic & Modern operating modes

• New compressor module inspired by 1176 & dbx160

• 3-band EQ with interactive filters and shelving

• Simultaneous HPF and LPF (Modern Mode)

• User-configurable oversampling up to 16x

• Polarity invert

• Adjustable box-tone elements

• Adjustable UI scaling

• Extensive preset library

• MH Preset Manager for cross-platform compatibility

Why Choose MBSI

• Capture the sound of legendary 1970s recordings

• True console tone, not a generic channel strip

• Designed with direct input from Bill Szymczyk

• Encourages musical, instinctive mixing decisions

• Modern performance with authentic analog soul

Experience the Sound of Miami, 1976

From warm rock records to punchy rhythm sections and classic vocal tones, MBSI delivers the unmistakable sound of one of the greatest consoles in recording history—now inside your DAW.