The KT sounds just a touch more transparent. The WA does add some really nice heft that suits drums and bass well, but it also feels a touch muddy, like a blankets been thrown on top of the speaker, esp on the ac guitar. The KT really sparkles and keep the GR transparent in all applications. Both seem very usuable depending on the application. On the distorted guitars i got more note separation and detail on the KT while the warm sounded thicc and nasty. Both sound absolutely fantastic esp on vocals. Ty for the shoot out.
I very quickly preferred the transparency of the KT. I hear a real bump in the high-mid and 4kish area of the WA that just sounds aggressive compared to the weighty smoothness the KT kept bringing consistently. They both sound good though! I'm surprised at the tone of the KT by quite a bit!
KT sounds slightly and I mean slightly brighter than the Warm but the Warm is twice the price and its so subtle I think I can tweak the EQ a tad if needed? Although the drop tuning did sound better from the Warm. Just a touch... Cant find a reason to spend another $450 just for a touch? Thx for the comparison. I just ordered the KT from S Water! 2 thumbs up for the video man!
Transparency is more important for me ,i can all ways get the sound warmer with some eq ,but if the sound comes in warm(muddy)that is a problem .Just think 30 to 40 or what ever tracks ,all a little warm, the KT-2A is the best out the two. to my humble ears ,thanx for the video .
The Klark Teknik sounds a bit punchier and the Warm sounds a bit muddy, but in a good way though. I just bought the Teknik and glad that I did. Bought the KT-2A T4B OPTO ATTENUATOR along with it too. !!!
Damn, I really liked the KT on drums. It was close on the vocals, but I think I liked the Warm a tad better, and I definately liked the Warm on Bass and Drop guitars better because it retained the low end better, however I liked the qualities of the KT, it was just less low end, which may even be cool for some things! But I was definately more surprised with the KT then I thought I'd be!
Klark is more transparent and brighter. I think they´re both great units, but it will depend on the sound that you´re going for. I see myself using a lot more the klark. Cheers
The reason why people are hearing more transients and more highs is because there's more fidelity in the KT-2A, meaning more resolution. If you're ever worked with cameras, it's the equivalent of dynamic range. It's picking up more highs because there's more information overall being captured by the KT-2A. So if it were me, and I wanted a warmer sound, I'd opt for the KT-2A and roll off some of the highs. This allows for more fidelity but also a warmer sound, rather than the darker sound that actually captures less information. That's just my take on it.
The master bus compressor is the most important. That's where it will make a big difference. Get an analog comp and eq to master with and you're gold. One step further is a tube preamp/channel strip to bring life into as much source material as possible and end result will be night and day.
One more thing, close your eyes and listen to the drums without looking, interesting to say the least.Being that warm is first is a give away but honestly without looking i could not tell which was which lol.Interesting enough when you see change, you hear change, but i thought the klark had a more of a high end in the snare i was wrong i still can't tell which is which.
Funny thing is, i did exactly this on a phonespeaker(so without lows and allright i guess you know what a phonespeaker sounds like) and the difference was huge on drums so maybe try this test again with a more midfocussed speaker
I actually did that while listening to the drums. And heard a big difference. I was hearing alternatively the snare more forward and snappy and then washed out in the background. So, I listened again checking which one had the more present snare and it was the Klark Teknik. Listening on calibrated studio monitors here.
Pretty close. Its funny to read one is "warmer" than the other. Yeah, ok.... Price to performance ratio .. Klark wins all day! And in the context of a mix, you couldn't tell one from another.
I'd say both are amazing, but you get what you pay for, being add a couple ectra $ and you get a bit of "something" more. Might be just the very notion that you KNOW one is cheaper. Psyche usually works like that...
Update, now looking at both units investigating more about whats inside, how it looks tells me a lot. Warm has better components than this Klark, and is an obvious choice, i like the Klark but how long its components last is questionable ? one in mind is a toroidal transformer warm has, these are high quality no noise and hum transformers, Klark has some tiny one that i question will die before the audio board will.There's a reason as well just seeing the warms board layout is why its more expensive than klark, and will last longer in the end.I guess just waiting it out over a few years will tell me soon enough.
On drums the difference is pretty small, on bass I prefer the warm, on acoustic guitar I prefer the kt (it's more transparent to my ears), on electrics I also prefer the kt (it gives a nice bite to distorted guitars), on downtuned and vocals the warm gives more oomph (that I prefer)...Overall great and very enlightening comparisons! Thanks!
i can hardly hear any difference. despite the fact the Klark is around 300€ street and the warm around 800€. I‘d definately go with behringer, oh sorry klark 🤩🙌
Transient and attack heavy signal is handled way better by the wa2a. This is most noticeable on drums and drop tuned guitar samples. Other applications are very similar though.
Different settings for the same thing? Yeah, different companies! So what are you really hearing? If you did hear something different you could spend a minute and match the sounds. The difference is in the build quality and warm is better. If anyone says differently they are fooling themselves. You’d have to really really squint your ears to hear anything and even then it wouldn’t be better worse, just a split hair different. Don’t use the two as a stereo pair... buy whatever one you want for longevity of unit or longevity of your funds. I’ve got the UA, the WA and the Behringer Klark.... because why the hell not
Kt2a less muddy but Warm Audio would be better in some cases (bass for example..). I like to think La2a style compressors as audio levelers, so less color is better I guess!
Warm Audio WA2A wins in my opinion, if want brightness ill add in the mix, too much brightness in the Klark almost makes it sound too thin. WA2A sounds much closer to the original but hey close your eyes and listen for yourself
Personnellement j'ai entendu une différence assez marquante en faveur du Warm sur les drums . Les autres sonnaient très semblable et Klark pour la moitié du prix. Donc mon vote va a Klark
I haven’t been a huge fan of the KT 1176, but the 2a actually sounds pretty good to me. I could see the warm 76 and the KT2a pairing well together if you were going to use both on a vocal chain.
That’s what I was thinking. My vocal chain consists of TLM 103 > Avalon V5 > WA76. I was thinking of adding a 2a since I usually use a virtual one. The KT2a does seem nice and bright and transparent. I just don’t want to mess up a great thing by bogging down my signal with a budget process right at the end. But for the price it’s pretty much going to be worth experimenting with.
No........You picked out a clip with different settings in that moment......The difference is so slight it's basically like a tube swap.....minor stuff
@@ramspencer5492 nah it’s a bit more complex than that but I’m sure u could get close....at this point, after having the Wa2a for a few months, I’m looking into a stereo vca bus compressor.
@@Prodby_duke yeah. I didn't favor one over the other.... Though at times they were set differently. I've heard more flattering examples of the Klark on other youtube videos. Don't think the compression is spikey in it. Yeah I want a good stereo comp as well. Might just settle on the the art... Nice glue even if it's not the fastest comp or the most colorful...... But it you are going to use it on the 2bus you might not even want excessive color. True Iron is one analog sounding subtle color plug-in that sounds convincingly analog to me. Can't afford anything to high end.
One thing that I have noticed from all the Klart Teknik shoot outs I've watched is that the Klark gears lack warmth and real analogue characters. They always sound transparent which is not what you would want from an analogue gear.
I have a quick question. On drums, was that a mono track? Because I’m wondering how you would take a stereo track and go into a 1 channel compressor. Please let me know
Very subtle differences....literally about the difference that a different set of unmatched tubes would make to my ears.....could be the same unit sonically. RUclips's compression algo permitting honest audio......
i read a lot of comments of kt2a being more transparent than the wa2a, actually originals la2a are so dark in sound, making it fatter, in my opinion from the originals la2a that iv tried, i prefer the wa2a, cause its less darken sound, but a bit less fat sound, i think its the same situation with the wa2a vs kt2a. Also to point out, eaven this days, analogue equipment still sounds different from unit to unit, it apply to microphones too, thats why we have "Matched pair" titles on audio products. Just to point out, some compressors are famous because of their coloring sound to the tack you are runing in to it, in my experience, they are like tone boxes.
The KT is unremarkable in every way. I fell like you could insert it but it doesn't do anything to make it sound better. Neither one sounds like an LA2A
Wa2 feels more real. Clarity and depth more 3d.Something plastic about the high end in kt2a, does not sound as effortless. I do not think the klark sounds transparent, it sounds like well cheap chinese tubez, almost starved plate fatman style. I think boost 1db at 10khz for the warm and it has the same brightness but more detail. Just my opinion. This is apparent in vox and ac guitar.
I had one shot with this video originally but the gain reduction wasn't exactly the same so i removed it. I know if I had posted it with a slight offset in gain reduction people would lose their shit....take my word for it they sound very close.
Both are great. I'll probably get the Warm Audio because of the better brand name recognition of the parts inside and the unit might be easier to repair in the future since more repair guys are probably more familiar with Warm Audio name.
They’re basically the same if a repair guy or gal can’t fix one unit, then they definitely can’t fix the other one. That whole comment was plain stupid.
Honestly, the difference in quality between WA2A and KT2A is almost as great as the difference between the UA LA-2A. We are all splitting hairs and i guess it comes down to how much money you're willing to spend. I think the quality difference between the W and the K is big enough for me to get the W. I can't rationalize spending much more money on the UA LA-2A though. Does anyone have experience with a Black Lion modded KT2A?
They both sound like junk when compared to a real LA2A. The KT sounds narrow, slim and lacks everything that I love about an LA2A. The Warm leaves me cold. Neither of these units bring any of the classic LA2A velvet with them. You get what you pay for and both of these units sounds like junk. The singer sounds better without compression at all. Save up your money and get the real thing.
The acoustic guitar sounds very close to a song by Brand New called "Same Logic/ Teeth." This is a well done comparison. Torn on which one I would like to have now. 🤔
The KT sounds just a touch more transparent. The WA does add some really nice heft that suits drums and bass well, but it also feels a touch muddy, like a blankets been thrown on top of the speaker, esp on the ac guitar. The KT really sparkles and keep the GR transparent in all applications. Both seem very usuable depending on the application. On the distorted guitars i got more note separation and detail on the KT while the warm sounded thicc and nasty. Both sound absolutely fantastic esp on vocals. Ty for the shoot out.
You're right. I'm worried the Klark is too transparent for me. For the price, I might just get it anyway.
Me interesa este comentario ja ja desgraciadamente no sé inglés ni utilizar el traductor de Google alguien que me lo traduzca por favor gracias
I very quickly preferred the transparency of the KT. I hear a real bump in the high-mid and 4kish area of the WA that just sounds aggressive compared to the weighty smoothness the KT kept bringing consistently. They both sound good though! I'm surprised at the tone of the KT by quite a bit!
KT sounds slightly and I mean slightly brighter than the Warm but the Warm is twice the price and its so subtle I think I can tweak the EQ a tad if needed? Although the drop tuning did sound better from the Warm. Just a touch... Cant find a reason to spend another $450 just for a touch? Thx for the comparison. I just ordered the KT from S Water! 2 thumbs up for the video man!
Nice, Sweetwater is the best!
Transparency is more important for me ,i can all ways get the sound warmer with some eq ,but if the sound comes in warm(muddy)that is a problem .Just think 30 to 40 or what ever tracks ,all a little warm, the KT-2A is the best out the two. to my humble ears ,thanx for the video .
The Klark Teknik sounds a bit punchier and the Warm sounds a bit muddy, but in a good way though. I just bought the Teknik and glad that I did. Bought the KT-2A T4B OPTO ATTENUATOR along with it too. !!!
I would like to see a final comparison of the full Warm Audio chain Vs the full Klark Teknik chain. I have yet to see this done anywhere.
I'm thinking about it, but that would be a lot of work. If Warm audio and klark Teknik sent me the gear I'd be happy to do it.
Klark Teknik sounds more open!
Is it me or does that bassguitar sound slightly distorted?
LOL! :D
Damn, I really liked the KT on drums. It was close on the vocals, but I think I liked the Warm a tad better, and I definately liked the Warm on Bass and Drop guitars better because it retained the low end better, however I liked the qualities of the KT, it was just less low end, which may even be cool for some things! But I was definately more surprised with the KT then I thought I'd be!
Klark is more transparent and brighter. I think they´re both great units, but it will depend on the sound that you´re going for. I see myself using a lot more the klark.
Cheers
The reason why people are hearing more transients and more highs is because there's more fidelity in the KT-2A, meaning more resolution. If you're ever worked with cameras, it's the equivalent of dynamic range. It's picking up more highs because there's more information overall being captured by the KT-2A. So if it were me, and I wanted a warmer sound, I'd opt for the KT-2A and roll off some of the highs. This allows for more fidelity but also a warmer sound, rather than the darker sound that actually captures less information. That's just my take on it.
Whoever is listening to your album isnt gonna hear the difference.
The master bus compressor is the most important. That's where it will make a big difference. Get an analog comp and eq to master with and you're gold.
One step further is a tube preamp/channel strip to bring life into as much source material as possible and end result will be night and day.
One more thing, close your eyes and listen to the drums without looking, interesting to say the least.Being that warm is first is a give away but honestly without looking i could not tell which was which lol.Interesting enough when you see change, you hear change, but i thought the klark had a more of a high end in the snare i was wrong i still can't tell which is which.
Funny thing is, i did exactly this on a phonespeaker(so without lows and allright i guess you know what a phonespeaker sounds like) and the difference was huge on drums so maybe try this test again with a more midfocussed speaker
I actually did that while listening to the drums. And heard a big difference. I was hearing alternatively the snare more forward and snappy and then washed out in the background. So, I listened again checking which one had the more present snare and it was the Klark Teknik. Listening on calibrated studio monitors here.
The Warm seems immediately "bigger" and fatter sounding, but once I get used to the sound I could take either and not be bothered
its the other way around
Pretty close. Its funny to read one is "warmer" than the other. Yeah, ok.... Price to performance ratio .. Klark wins all day! And in the context of a mix, you couldn't tell one from another.
Klark wins because of price...... Could be the same unit with different tubes sonically to my ears!
In this particular video, both units sound very close. If both units were the same price, it would be a toss up. Perhaps a coin flip.
So I buy 2 of these and a couple of months later they put the terribly positioned pre-emphasis and meter adjust knobs to the front. :D nooo :D
can we get more info on that killer bass sound?
Blank Name its a jazz bass ran into a rat, direct into an interface with some eq rolling off the top end
I'd say both are amazing, but you get what you pay for, being add a couple ectra $ and you get a bit of "something" more. Might be just the very notion that you KNOW one is cheaper. Psyche usually works like that...
Both sound cool. Just slightly different. There, I said it.
Update, now looking at both units investigating more about whats inside, how it looks tells me a lot. Warm has better components than this Klark, and is an obvious choice, i like the Klark but how long its components last is questionable ? one in mind is a toroidal transformer warm has, these are high quality no noise and hum transformers, Klark has some tiny one that i question will die before the audio board will.There's a reason as well just seeing the warms board layout is why its more expensive than klark, and will last longer in the end.I guess just waiting it out over a few years will tell me soon enough.
christopher dunn It’s got 10 year manufacturers warranty so I wouldn’t worry about the components too much !
I feel like the KT2A is slightly more Hi-Fi than the WA2A. I like that better myself, but I could see where that’s a taste thing for most people.
Nothing special different.
On drums the difference is pretty small, on bass I prefer the warm, on acoustic guitar I prefer the kt (it's more transparent to my ears), on electrics I also prefer the kt (it gives a nice bite to distorted guitars), on downtuned and vocals the warm gives more oomph (that I prefer)...Overall great and very enlightening comparisons! Thanks!
i can hardly hear any difference. despite the fact the Klark is around 300€ street and the warm around 800€. I‘d definately go with behringer, oh sorry klark 🤩🙌
Transient and attack heavy signal is handled way better by the wa2a. This is most noticeable on drums and drop tuned guitar samples. Other applications are very similar though.
Different settings for the same thing? Yeah, different companies! So what are you really hearing? If you did hear something different you could spend a minute and match the sounds. The difference is in the build quality and warm is better. If anyone says differently they are fooling themselves. You’d have to really really squint your ears to hear anything and even then it wouldn’t be better worse, just a split hair different. Don’t use the two as a stereo pair... buy whatever one you want for longevity of unit or longevity of your funds. I’ve got the UA, the WA and the Behringer Klark.... because why the hell not
Kt2a is clearly more transparent, releases faster which i like but the coloration of the wa2a is of course better. KT2A for the price is excellent.
KT2A has more mid and warmer sound, WA2A has bigger sound and color..
Kt2a less muddy but Warm Audio would be better in some cases (bass for example..). I like to think La2a style compressors as audio levelers, so less color is better I guess!
Does the KT need to have the tubes replaced or are the stock tubes good for vocals?
Warm Audio WA2A wins in my opinion, if want brightness ill add in the mix, too much brightness in the Klark almost makes it sound too thin. WA2A sounds much closer to the original but hey close your eyes and listen for yourself
My thoughts exactly
Brightness is easier to add whereas “warmth” is almost impossible to add/emulate in the box so to speak
I’m trying to convince myself the Klark Teknik sounds as good but it doesn’t
better transients on the kt
kt does it proud no smear , no loss in mix
Tru!
Personnellement j'ai entendu une différence assez marquante en faveur du Warm sur les drums . Les autres sonnaient très semblable et Klark pour la moitié du prix. Donc mon vote va a Klark
I haven’t been a huge fan of the KT 1176, but the 2a actually sounds pretty good to me. I could see the warm 76 and the KT2a pairing well together if you were going to use both on a vocal chain.
I went with the Black Lion Audio Seventeen as my 1176 and got the KT-2A for vocals and they turn out fantastic.
That’s what I was thinking. My vocal chain consists of TLM 103 > Avalon V5 > WA76. I was thinking of adding a 2a since I usually use a virtual one. The KT2a does seem nice and bright and transparent. I just don’t want to mess up a great thing by bogging down my signal with a budget process right at the end. But for the price it’s pretty much going to be worth experimenting with.
What about WA12 MKII preamp + KT-2A?
Would that be a nice combination for speech/vocals with an SM7B or Rode NT1A?
@@MCEEZRjust because something is cheaper in price doesn’t mean it’s not good, plus all the other units you use are definitely cheap as hell also.
i am quite happy with my kt.... and the difference between them is minimal, almost inexistent
taturanabr i agree, thanks for watchin!!
taturanabr the slight difference in sound is probably due to the transformers and tubes used
Kt. T4bla optocell. Is more color
So glad I bought an LL2A compressor limiter from Little Labs. It murders these two units. But if I had to get one I'd get the Warm Audio version.
Yeah it's more than double the price so I'm not surprised.
KT baby
I gotta go with the Wa2a, sounds more controlled and less spikey.
$400 more dollars better?.....no.
No........You picked out a clip with different settings in that moment......The difference is so slight it's basically like a tube swap.....minor stuff
@@ramspencer5492 nah it’s a bit more complex than that but I’m sure u could get close....at this point, after having the Wa2a for a few months, I’m looking into a stereo vca bus compressor.
@@Prodby_duke yeah. I didn't favor one over the other.... Though at times they were set differently. I've heard more flattering examples of the Klark on other youtube videos. Don't think the compression is spikey in it. Yeah I want a good stereo comp as well. Might just settle on the the art... Nice glue even if it's not the fastest comp or the most colorful...... But it you are going to use it on the 2bus you might not even want excessive color. True Iron is one analog sounding subtle color plug-in that sounds convincingly analog to me. Can't afford anything to high end.
Je préfère KT2A 💯👍 contour is just mouah 🥰
warm audio the sound is more like the original, the klark are vey transparent not than original
its the other way around
One thing that I have noticed from all the Klart Teknik shoot outs I've watched is that the Klark gears lack warmth and real analogue characters. They always sound transparent which is not what you would want from an analogue gear.
thank you! someone who understands
I have a quick question. On drums, was that a mono track? Because I’m wondering how you would take a stereo track and go into a 1 channel compressor. Please let me know
Mono
Shred Shed Studios thank you so much!!!!
why does everyone say the warm units( even their 1176) sound "muddy/dark"? I don't get it? would it be the difference in the transformers they use.
Does the KT-2A & the WA-2A have to same tube compliment or does the cheaper version have less tubes? I'm asking for a friend.
Very subtle differences....literally about the difference that a different set of unmatched tubes would make to my ears.....could be the same unit sonically. RUclips's compression algo permitting honest audio......
i read a lot of comments of kt2a being more transparent than the wa2a, actually originals la2a are so dark in sound, making it fatter, in my opinion from the originals la2a that iv tried, i prefer the wa2a, cause its less darken sound, but a bit less fat sound, i think its the same situation with the wa2a vs kt2a. Also to point out, eaven this days, analogue equipment still sounds different from unit to unit, it apply to microphones too, thats why we have "Matched pair" titles on audio products.
Just to point out, some compressors are famous because of their coloring sound to the tack you are runing in to it, in my experience, they are like tone boxes.
you compare them different settings why bother??
The KT is unremarkable in every way. I fell like you could insert it but it doesn't do anything to make it sound better. Neither one sounds like an LA2A
The WA sounds better to me, but I don't know if it sounds $600 USD better.
Desgraciadamente no sé inglés lo siento mucho, cuál os parece que suena mejor? Gracias
How hard are you hitting the compressor? -3?
For the drums, are you playing Shock the Monkey by Peter Gabriel? Same beat.
not that I know of?
Wa2 feels more real. Clarity and depth more 3d.Something plastic about the high end in kt2a, does not sound as effortless. I do not think the klark sounds transparent, it sounds like well cheap chinese tubez, almost starved plate fatman style. I think boost 1db at 10khz for the warm and it has the same brightness but more detail. Just my opinion. This is apparent in vox and ac guitar.
@ewen lagadeg wound up trying the klark. Man it's good enough!
Surprising results
Do you know whyi have to bassically turn my gain all the way up on my premap for it to work
It is not a preamp it is a compressor so its expecting line level. You should go microphone to preamp to compressor than computer
kt2a win
Warm sounds better on drums, Klark Teknik sounds better on guitars. More ope. Glad I got the KT-2A with Lion Audio Optical unit
Absolutely. The Klark tends to affect the frequency response of the guitar less... You have good ears my friend!
I want to hear these vs a real LA-2A though
I had one shot with this video originally but the gain reduction wasn't exactly the same so i removed it. I know if I had posted it with a slight offset in gain reduction people would lose their shit....take my word for it they sound very close.
@@ShredShed luv u bb
Both are great. I'll probably get the Warm Audio because of the better brand name recognition of the parts inside and the unit might be easier to repair in the future since more repair guys are probably more familiar with Warm Audio name.
They’re basically the same if a repair guy or gal can’t fix one unit, then they definitely can’t fix the other one. That whole comment was plain stupid.
@@Gang-25j So you like insults on the internet
@@Gang-25j Warm Audio has a guide on repair on their website. Thus an average person is more likely to find a reputable repair with Warm Audio
Honestly, the difference in quality between WA2A and KT2A is almost as great as the difference between the UA LA-2A. We are all splitting hairs and i guess it comes down to how much money you're willing to spend. I think the quality difference between the W and the K is big enough for me to get the W. I can't rationalize spending much more money on the UA LA-2A though.
Does anyone have experience with a Black Lion modded KT2A?
Wow......not hearing that at all.......it is such a tiny difference.....Couldn't tell you which one I prefer even.
@@ramspencer5492 yup 100%. I think half the people hear what they want to hear, based on price bias
Did you mod the wa2a yourself to have the 2 functions moved to the front?
They come stock on the front panel
Damn
My original version they are on the rear..
HMM spend $800 more on warm Canadian or $800 less for a small bottom 3d less end ?
which do u prefer ?
Keep Movin Ent tha warm
😆😆😆 So whichever company is paying you.
@@DELLUEdotCOM none. I've never made a penny on a video
The KT-2A hands down for everything in the demo. The Warm audio unit sounds lifeless.
They both sound like junk when compared to a real LA2A. The KT sounds narrow, slim and lacks everything that I love about an LA2A. The Warm leaves me cold. Neither of these units bring any of the classic LA2A velvet with them. You get what you pay for and both of these units sounds like junk. The singer sounds better without compression at all. Save up your money and get the real thing.
Acoustic really shows the Warm has some mojo where the Klark aint doing much of nuthin'?
The acoustic guitar sounds very close to a song by Brand New called "Same Logic/ Teeth."
This is a well done comparison. Torn on which one I would like to have now. 🤔