Plugins that ACTUALLY sound ANALOG .. and even better!!!!
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- Plugins that ACTUALLY sound ANALOG .. and even better!!!!
This week I am summarising all of my plugins vs analog hardware shootouts so you can know exactly which are the best emulation plugins on the market
My name is Paul Third and I am a Scottish youtuber / audio engineer / mixing engineer / audio geek. I mostly cover audio engineering related content ranging from audio plugin shootouts / plugin comparisons (acustica audio plugins, universal audio etc etc) to actual analog vs digital / gear vs plugins plugin tests via access analog and mix analog. I even include ddmf plugindoctor tutorials in my plugin reviews so you can be your very own plugin tester and experiment and understand whats actually going on under the hood. I also discuss digital music distribution from time to time and like to give my viewpoint on online music distributors such as onerpm and distrokid.
All of my audio blind tests involving music production software are conducted in avid pro tools 2021 which is my main daw and I also use HOFA blind test 4U as my blind test software. In terms of my audio interface I record and monitor through my audient id44 and use an audio technica AT2050 for all of my voice overs.
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Видеоклипы
ANALOG HARDWARE VS DIGITAL PLUGINS: ruclips.net/p/PLmcBOB8VmXMI_rvJtWcGnXpnBbWDK8jQL
Full playlist of every shootout I've done included some not mentioned in this video 🤓
Ah, perfect, just what i needed ! Cheers Paul
I found all this torrent sites with nebula and they include all the plugs you recommended…cheers
Great video man!! Love what you stand for because it’s what I was taught. Use what you have and make it sound good🤙
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First time I’ve been recommended your channel, so good thing you made it.
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Love that you're rocking an ID44 MKII in the background, bought one note long ago! :) Great video as always man!
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another successful video !! Keep ‘em coming Paul !!
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Thank you so much for all this work Paul. We're unbelievably lucky to get someone trying and testing all this stuff for us for free.
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Sensational video, Mr. Third!
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Loving the videos brother! Content is on point
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Hey Paul, admirer of your work here. I’ve raised this before - chasing a sound set by the hardware, isn’t the same as using the hardware creatively. I suppose with enough dedication, time and patience and some amazing ears, you can replicate an end result of something, but this isn’t really what we set out to do in a session, unless there is a technical reason for doing so, mostly we just want inspiration and speed.
I personally find that hardware is much more encouraging in use, with more obvious sweet spots, in my experience its actually easier to find the settings on the plugins once you’ve used the hardware for a time, however, I think this might be the biggest difference between hardware and software. In practice, setting a real Pultec, is quick and easy, it provides forward momentum and everything sounds great, its more a question of which great you want to choose.
You are quite right to say as you have previously, that there is no experiment to test this claim, but I think this is the elephant in the room. Obviously, if you find you have a twin and were separated at birth, we might then see some sort of potential for a dual mix experiment. Now thats content!
There's definitely enough Paul Third in this world 🤣
Thanks Paul
I’m a total newby wing nut , and still getting tons of information on how to land the plane .
Keep up the great work.
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I appreciate your take on this subject! I’m less and less inclined to reach for my hardware after tracking unless my sounds need a lot of love and could benefit (dull sounding vocals recorded directly into an interface for example)
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Thanks Paul!!! You are right the debate is worthless nowadays, depends a lot of what you wanna to achieve.
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Thanks again Paul for a fantastic video. I have been influenced by you because I already have and use the plugins you features! 🤔
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I'm half surprised the 5500 made into your video! I've always thought that piece of gear was hard to replicate and to also get a sound subjectively better from any plugin based on it's intended uses. Great video and looking forward to more. Was great seeing the pie get a mention.
The main issue with "mastering grade" eq's is that they are built to be as clean and consistent as digital ie least tolerances possible, with increased headroom so you can push hotter signals through them without crapping out.
However this means that when the bells and shelves are standard with near to no band interaction.. Its basically the same as using a good digital eq. There isn't really much audible non linearities in play to give you a sound that can't be matched in the box.
When i stuck a sweep through 5500 it was as clean as a digital eq. It was SUPER clean which is mightily impressive in the analog domain BUT redundant when compared to digital which is as clean as one can get with nearly unlimited headroom
Another great video! Good Pauly T. That softube Mike E made me go buy the hardware unit. Would love to know what you think about DMG trackcomp.
Rated it very highly in the drum shootout i did with it years ago 🤓
@@PaulThirdjust got it, It’s really useful. I’d love to see you do a shootout with other La2a’s, 76’s, dbx’s, zeners and so on.
Thanks Paul, nice Vid! I have nearly all TIMP’s libraries and truly love them! I also have hardware and the way TIMP samples HW is amazing! They usually sits on my group mix busses and doing well giving that analog Vibe! Cheers and thanks again😊
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Hey Paul great video. Have you tried the analog in the box apeq which is a 550b emulation on nebula? I've been wondering how it compares to the uad version
Only nebula devs I've tried is Tim and cupwise
Wonderful video, Paul!! 🙂👍
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Thank you for this. Btw, I see looking fit, man keep it up!
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This channel changed my life. Not even kidding.
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You make new jump out of my skin every time you say HELLO!! 😬
Hahaha I thought you'd expect it by now 🤣 tbh most miss it these days due to youtubes autoplay when hovering over a video
I have Nebula TimP libraries but recently purchased an Audioscape Bus Comp (SSL G Bus NOS). Honestly, although i'm gonna keep the Audioscape, I would recommend everyone purchase Nebula and buy Tim's LComp instead. Audioscape gives me that final 5% saturation difference but the actual sound of compression is SO SIMILAR that Nebula is the clear winner for ease of use, 3rd party library costs, etc. I've been telling all my friends lol
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cheers bro, i love this channel
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Hi Paul. Have you used Tim P's DL1656 limiter ?
And have you compared Tim P's Pultec ?
Tim's pultec was comparible to the rest and I don't think Ive tried the dl1656
I have the UAD API Vision and the Pultec bundle and they are way up there among my most used plugins. So so good.
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You ARE the Bob Crampsey of the plugin world! Subscribed.
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How did you get the LCD-panel in the background flickering?
Probably the camera setting. I have no clue when it comes to cameras
Mr. Paul improved the background of his videos , nice!
Had to happen eventually haha
THANKS for summing it all up. Now I'm hunting for some stuff. LOL
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hi! i can only find the Magenta5, which looks like a channel strip! Do you know where i can find the 4? The acoustika website is super confusing lol
There is the magenta 5 which is the eq, magenta strip & magenta comp. All are installed when you install magenta 5
Man paul. your video production is on that waves upgrade plan or something?
Camera and lighting and background on point.
Invested a bit into the look of the videos haha
I actually like recording on my 4 & 8 track tascam cassette recorders with my old nasty Alesis 3630 compressor and my Aphex "dominator 2" analog mastering limiter. I love this setup, because it's unpredictable, you never know what you're gonna get or how the song is gonna turn out....The plugins are great, just too precise for me, no matter how "analog" they try to make them sound...
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Thank you so much 😊
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Cant seem to see the hardware in your studio, how was the comparison made?
Access analog. 2 were analog I bought myself (dbx 160a & aphex aural exciter) and sold after comparison
Hey, i went over to in the box mastering, too - just by the lack of real studios around. And yes, find yourself an introductory software comp that does the trick - hard to before ever going into multiband compression ( uuuuhh, just don't unless you do tv stuff)
Hey Paul!
Here are 2 questions or ideas to talk about in one of your vids:
1. What tape delay you use? I think tape delay is one of those thing that is dearly imposible to emulate, and the could generate a lot of aliasing, and delay the aliasing haha there are a lot of bad sounding plugins in this regard.
2. Talk about the TDR Nova. Is an amazing plugin that just sounds good. I'm currently working on a mix, and I tried DSEQ3 (kind of a cheaper and better soothe2), Reso, Trackspacer and spent a lot of time doing that. A LOT. I was suprised, none of those plugins sounded better than the free nova. All of those plugins over-do things and they could sound so unnatural so easily! Nova stayed in the mix, and I don't want to buy any automatic plugin! I mean, I don't have the money for a Fabfilter Eq3 or a soothe2, but I feel like I don't need neither of those if I learn to use nova.
Love your content!
1. I normally use arturias Roland space echo for that or an echoplex
2. Dan Worrals already done TDR nova on youtube. Nice sounding eq, well coded but nothing I would personally have a use for
The reason uad can get closer is there are inherent issues with convolution in general.
Correct Saturation models have their own envelopes/memories independent of the signal, loading up a circuit twice in a row with 2 separate spikes should result in 2 different outcomes as the circuit 'heat' recovers from the 1st.
Convolution can't really account for that in a truely dynamic way.
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UAD is overrated...
Softube, plugin alliance and arturia make amazing shits...
@@ojvic7297 I'm not bigging them up specifically, you'll see plenty of rants against them from me.
I'm specifically referring to Paul's comment when he was shocked the uad pultec was closest Vs a convolution unit.
I haven't used them for nearly a decade now but credit where credit is due they were the first to get virtual analog right.
Plenty of others just caught up.
I swapped to Slate when they embarrassed uad with the mix rack launch.
can you check out some Sknote plugins? they are great, would like to know your thoughts! also Positive Grid has the EQ series and Compressor series that are awesome in my opinion
Tried sknote years and ago and never gave me any reason to use their plugs. Wasn't anything special from what I recall
How are the TIMP plugins DSP (CPU load) wise? I ask because most Acustica plugins are very CPU heavy
Convolution is pretty heavy in its nature but I chain his libraries using metaplugin and for whatever reason it can be pretty low compared to acustica. The vari level is a good example
@@PaulThird Are you able to do a video how you do this? I've never used any of these plugins.
ruclips.net/video/7XMLi1bbJjs/видео.html
When you say "compared to the hardware" what exactly do you mean there? Like with the Pye, in my experience the Waves isn't even remotely like any hardware Helios comp that I've used. So perhaps in this exercise in some cases one could just be matching a really bad example.
Watch it and you'll see what I did. Set the hardware first to how you would intuitively set it in the context of a mix, then match the settings and gain reduction in the plugin. Then level match and listen over and over and tweak the plugins in whatever way you can till they can't sound any closer to the gear.
Do that on multiple sources, sum them all together, ensure that's level matched as well and then AB the results.
In my experience it's not
"one could just be matching a really bad example"
Its more
"one can be poorly matching the plugins to the hardware"
Its not a 5 minute thing. I take a long time with the plugins to get it right as looking at the meters and setting exactly to hardware never works in reality. Meters can be misleading so you've got to tweak with your ears at the final stage.
Eq's are easier cause I found a way of curve matching access analog gear with plugins in the daw so in that instance you simply just curve match, level match and then listen to the results. If it's a colourful eq then I'll also print a sweep to test harmonics so I know if I need to go into the plugin harder.
@@PaulThird Ok thank for the explanation on your process. I think what I'm pointing out in some cases though is you're matching crap to crap😆. There's some wonderous 1176 etc. out there, and then ones of the same model and year that sound like crap. I at least feel like that's what's might be happening with the Waves Pye. It's an accurate model of a Pye, but perhaps not a good one. A Helios comp, or even an 1176 or Varimu, is a much more varied thing than a dbx 160x. Enjoy the video all the same.
I love that Arturia 609 so much.
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When I watch a video from you, I first click the like button, then I watch it. I never had to undo my click. 😀
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The Waves Pye comp is awesome!
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I like analogue plugins for the simplicity of use and layout. No one listens to my music so it doesn't matter how it sounds in the end :p
As long you like it 🤓
Awesome video Paul…how do Analog Obsession plugins stack up??
Hit and miss
I'm interested to know what tweaks to the sidechain of diode 609 you're making to achieve more accurate emulation of the 33609.
Watch the video and you'll find out 🤓
@@PaulThird I did. When you spoke about it, you didn't divulge anything. You just said "a certain way".
The actual 33609 shootout video?
@@PaulThird aaaahhhh. Will re watch. Thanks.
I pulled those frequencies out of the detection via the sidechain as the plugin was being triggered too much by the snare so I had to tweak by ear till I had the snare punching through like the hardware but still getting a similar level of gain reduction.
If you want the hardware then tweak the sidechain eq till you hear the body of the snare coming through more and dial the input drive to taste
which plugins did you leave out of the video?
Pulsar 1178, HG-2MS & fetish from analog obsession
I totally agree Paul! N4 is amazig, TIMP, Cupwize, AlexB and AITB is very very good for every project.
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Have you tried the Mammoth EQ that's in Nebula? (The Manley Passive EQ)
Nah I just use magenta for anything manley
@@PaulThird thanks for letting me know
Allen Sides (Ocean Way Studios owner) he spoke here on YT about eqs and he was saying that UAD Pulltec is the only digital eq that he likes (above 10k about +4dB is what he was talking about specifically)....many people say it is a great sounding eq plugin...I have it and I love it as well. It simply has that analog sizzle and depth.
Regarding UAD ch.Strips...I have Neve 88RS and SSL E as well...I really like that Neve eq in higher frequency registers as well. Hopefully soon it will be native as well because I have only PCI duo. I have tried that API against Neve and did not really like it tbh. It didn't have that top end sizzle that I like....but still very nice sound and plugin.
Hi Paul! Love your videos. What about Lindell 80?
I like it, but I've not has much experience with the actual neve pre's, just the line amps which are pretty clean
@@PaulThird R u gonna make a video about new Lindell SBC?
Nah. Not unless mix analog & access analog add in a 2500.
I much prefer the UAD Distressor to my hardware Mike-E on vocals, so that’s really weird to me that you would prefer the softube Mike-e to a hardware Distressor
Just a subjective thing. I'd need to go back to the video to find out exactly why I did on vocals but I'm pretty sure I recall preferring it on everything
Man.... that's how I'm feeling about my Mackie fx12 versus the SSL SiX... because to some degree you can do more with the fx12 even though the SSL cost more
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I Have a Fx22 and had a SSL Six. Ended up with the Mackie. Summing my mixes through that mackie sounded better to me that the ssl six. Plus as you mentioned you can do more with a Mackie FX than the SIX
I don't understand what is Nebula and why this plugins need this to run, In the web is not explained, I cannot understand
ruclips.net/video/aWb-JPVyxnA/видео.html
What about the NoiseAsh Pultec? Saw you use it in another video (at least 1 other video).
If I want to add a bit of colour to something and eq it at the same time
@@PaulThird How about a NoiseAsh 533 EQ review? ;)
What do you think of STL Tones ControlHub?
Never used it
@@PaulThird I suggest you research. They claim to be replicating analog signal chains by award-winning engineers along with real console signals. I bought it, I am using it. Really true if I'm not mistaken :)
Danke!
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I have to ask, what’s the cpu draw on these?
On?
What about summing? Does digital DAW stands well against analogo summing mixers?
Dan Worral did a video about that. Id advise you check that one out
@@PaulThird thanks
Love the video Paul! I bought a Warm Audio Bus Compressor around the same time as I saw you saying that the TimP SSL G Bus was great. As I put the TimP on my mixbus, my face as I realised I'd wasted a few hundred quid = 😐. I already had Nebula from a deal (I think I paid £99 or something). Do you think I should sell my Warm Audio?
Me personally, yeah, unless you have room to use it for tracking. If your genuinely not going to use it.. Better selling it
@@PaulThird Thanks for taking the time to reply, Paul. I think I was holding back, somehow just thinking that although it's not as well regarded as the OG SSL, or X-Logic/G384 etc, it was still a piece of tangible, physical "hardware" with real live circuits and that therefore if I couldn't hear an improvement, it was somehow a problem with my critical listening (or hearing!). I could use it to track but for various reasons, I doubt I will do because plugins offer so much more convenience (I am on UAD Apollo X interface gear, so also have Unison etc.)
So, overall, I find this is a trend increasingly the case with the best plugins. It's akin to the esoteric world of hifi, where you can buy £35,000 Nordost speaker cable that actually might make things sound worse but the confirmation bias is so powerful, like £35K powerful, that it's a morphine hit where you somehow think it MUST sound better! That's why I think your analytical videos are so helpful to those of us on a budget. It's a sorry day whenever some poor sod (like me!) spends money on the wrong things that aren't going to make tangible mix improvements. Maybe that's a video for you - where should an aspiring engineer/producer be spending their money for the most significant positive impact. I know about a million people will scream "room" and another two million will shout "source" but for those of us that know those things ring true but are still going spend their hard-earned on more plugins and gear (#GAS!), well if you MUST do it, what's the first ports of call if your goal is making your mixes sound more professional? If you don't do it, I might even do a video on it myself but the world doesn't need to see another ginger haired audio geek (I don't even have your disarming youth!) now does it?
Tbh I invest in my ears. Gear is great for tracking if you already have the best listening environment and monitoring setup and don't want to invest in the UAD infrastructure, but if you can squeeze more quality from what goes into your ears.. Go with that all day long
@@jazzmastert I use mine for tracking and the odd insert at mix time.
Cheers Paul.. Like the red.. Stay Manky ✌🏽🎸
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Of You know It, what Is Your opinioni abouy Liquid Mix analogo emulations ?
Is that focusrite convolution thing from back in the day?
I have them, and they sound absolutely good. Different and better sound than algo plugs, and they have the compression action better than Acustica, but perhaps not TimP
@@PaulThirdYes old product but still competitive I think, curios of Your opinioni if You ever tasted It....
Nah never tried it
Hey Paul. Can you review Acustica’s lava please?
They reached out to me last week to see if I wanted to do a review but I personally don't think the video will be made.
Nicely nicely, good video. That Tim P eh, he's nae wallaper when he comes to them plugins
That he isnae!!
Paul do you have any recommends for high quality vocal plugins for radio/podcast?
I record with UAD, clean up with RX10 and do a bit of extra processing but not that much
@@PaulThird Oh cool, cheers Paul. Yeah just learning RX this week as it happens, solid tool
I use the advanced for the dialogue deverb. Not a fan of the other rx deverbs but that dialogue one is the best by far.
I refuse to limit my voice overs/podcasts past -16 lufs. Any more its just gonna bring out more of your room. I use a smart limit and it's been doing the job ever since I got it
@@PaulThird Yeah -20 rms / -16 LUFS is what I heard for podcasts. Looking into mixing podcasts for people lately, I think its a good area to freelance. Thats my reason to learn RX. Doing some training and also refining my plugin list for that. Fun stuff, as I’m not used to dealing with vocals. Not too concerned about noise floor or room noise with Spectral Denoise and Clarity VX being so good. But I don’t know theres a reason to go higher than -16 LUFS it seems like the standard.
Be careful with the denoise stuff though. None of them are completely transparent. Even the waves one. There's always some imprint on the audio compared to without. I don't use a lot in RX. 10-12% max. The more noise you have in your signal the more processing you'll need, the more processing, the less natural it'll sound and limiting will only bring that stuff up more.
For voice over its all about signal to noise ratio for me. Get up close to the mic and speak at a good level. always do what I can to limit noise in my signal as if its too much you'll start to get unnatural sounds with it via de-noise plugins.
Good signal to noise ratio combined with consistent speech and gating are your friends.
Its only when you limit to loud levels you really hear the noise floor.
That's why i like waves de-breath as its a gate as well as a debreath tool
I agree. The UAD Pultecs are the best, but Magenta sounds better than the UAD Manley stuff. I like that Magenta channel strip has settings for SSL Fairchild, and Shadow Hills too! I recently tried Viridian and felt it made most things sound worse, so I'm hyped to try the Waves PYE. Mostly not too impressed with their emulations, but I don't really care if it sounds authentic; just good. The only reason I could see to spend money on analog gear, at this time, is if you are working in/as a studio and you feel like having those things might get you more money from clients than you are spending on the gear. (I spent all my money on 'gear', but I don't mean the kind you plug in!) I recently got the Arturia Comp Diode. I'll check your older video for the tip. I love that their fully functioning demos last forever. I'm not saying don't buy their stuff...I'm just saying if you can't afford it now, you can get their demos (which last for 20 minutes before they stop working) and bounce down whatever you need to use them on. Thanks for the info!
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Viridan eq that emulates the Helios eq is just awesome.
The Viridian 2 sounds great ! and different than the PIE from Waves (i mean less agressive)
I just picked up the Apogee Pultec EQP-1A and MEQ-5.
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Paul... any chance you'd take a look at Fuse Audio Labs plugins on the channel? Underdog plugins, analog emulations of interesting gear, from a reputable coder. Think it'd be interesting. Cheers!
Sorry man, the whole rare analog stuff is not for me anymore. Truth is, I'm pretty bored by the analog emulation thing now unless it's a hardware unit that is a huge staple within the industry. I've just got way too many emulations to the point where I've genuinely bored myself with them 🤣
@@PaulThird fair play. Thanks for the vids!
Can you compare Antelope audio plugins vs Hardware?
Are they not dsp only?
@@PaulThird Yes, you will need an Antelope Audio Interface to access its plugins.
I don't have one unless Ed Thorne sends his across
I would love to see you compare that UAD API 500 Verses the Lindell 50
@@AJOrpheo Neve? Thats the Lindell 80
@@mentalprogram5256 oops! My bad I saw Lindell and jumped to a conclusion
Ohh ok I found it Thanks
That's why i linked the playlist in the pinned comments haha
Gordito, you need to put a quick comparison in this video!!
Haven't I done enough!!!!
Ciao, did you tried Liquid Mix by Focusrite ?
Nope
Have you ever played around with the analog obsession donate-ware plugins? I’ve found myself really enjoying them, and they’re free! The bugs tho can be annoying
I like Tuba, Fetish and LALA
@@EdwinDekker71 I’ve been really loving FRANK but after analyzing it in plug in doctor I think it’s a bit to saturated for most applications but on drum busses, really harsh lyrics, and other things in that category, it rounds things off really nice
@@AJOrpheo I'll have to give it a try, how do you like the britpressor? I think it's good but I don't find myself using it much
@@EdwinDekker71 in cases I’m looking for that neve diode bridge compression I typically find myself reaching for the Lindell 254e, the Britpressor sounds mushy to me. But I like thr eq on the Brit channel and I love the BUSTERse just because of all the sidechain control!
@@EdwinDekker71 the varimu Fairchild emulation from AO lives on my vocal bus
Ok, ok I’ll buy it then!!!
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please for the love of god make more of these videos, and a part II of this one
I want more plugins
Here's another one - Elysia karacter
indistinguishable, check out white sea audios review of it
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I tested all plugins and I tested all analog gear processors so i believe that analog processors provide the best warmth and true analog sound.The key is not to confuse equalizer waves with analog waves that's why it's so difficult for many producers to achieve analog sound without disturbing the sound
You tested every plugin and every piece of analog known to man ... Who are you.. Bruce Wayne? 🤣
@@PaulThird It takes me 3 years yes😂
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Please can you make a video on how to install nebula libraries from scratch???
I’d really appreciate that..
But bro .... Analog always sounds better. That's why I bounce all my boxes to cassette tape during mastering for that old school analog warmth! 🤪😂
There's a lot of other great sounding plugins as well. Especially if your not getting to recreate a specific piece of hardware.
There's loads. I actually took 3 or 4 plugins out this edit cause it was too long haha
what is your opinion on Abbey Road plugins by Waves?
Mostly snake oil. Only plugin that is worth a look for me is the tg12345.
RS56 is pure and utter snake oil
@@PaulThird cool. I use mostly the compressor, this 145 i guess. Just for the MS in the master, but has to be careful . I find very easy to mess up the sound with them, at least for midi. The tg12345 i can’t say, i think i should learn how to use it well. For now i am good with Ozone 9 and only one plugin that change color. The names drive me crazy! The vynil and tape, the ADT, and the reverbs i can only understand as for wonderful FX, i can’t see some essential use for me. The mv2 is my most beloved one, but so much as the free OTT. Btw: i guess you could do a wonderful video on OTT? For me it is like magic, but dangerous magic…for orchestral music.
OTT has been done to death tbh but going back to Abbey Road I do use ADT a lot. Pretty awesome plugin tbf
You gotta try that new tan2 comp dood.
Or just that acustica has finally found out how to measure compression envelopes properly? haha hope it's genuinely good though as they've been needing to work on their compressors for the longest time
@@PaulThird I dig some of the compressors they make, but I threw it on a bunch of tracks last night and the sound was much different then what I have heard. free so no harm, but it might be making regret buying any comps over the years...
you should make a sequel to this
analog vs digital. it's like skiing vs snowboarding. do what you love.. even though everyone knows skiing sucks :)
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Best video yet haha
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Why doesn't anyone ever test the Apogee Pultec?
I did but it sounded like the other pultec emulations. They are all very similar tbh. Nothing more special about the apogee compared to any other
Make another one of these videos
I don't buy hardware that has a software clone and I only buy hardware that is the cream of the crop. It literally has to have a wow factor to it for me to keep it. This has kept me to only 3 outboard pieces in my hybrid setup.
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- READ ALL, THANK ME LATER -
Didn't try the nebula ones but magenta and all acustica compressors never impressed me despite being the heaviest CPU plugs on the market.
Actually, until about a month ago my favourite compressors were surprisingly kiives ones: the xtressor (which to me it sounds way much better and it's way more puncher and surgical than the softube mike-e - which I don't like at all -, arauser and every other distressor emu on the market - the only one I didn't test is the UAD) and the ADC1, which I ended to replace the xtressor, mainly for kicks and drums.
But guys...the last month I discovered what to me (and many others) revealed to be, literally, the HOLY GRAIL of all Digital compressors: the DMG AUDIO TRACKCOMP.
I heard of it a couple of times from some dudes on yt or on forums saying that it replaced all their previous ones, that its workflow was better and faster and when I saw it for the first time I was like: WTF is this piece of sh*t?!
I was so in the Rabbit hole of visually stunning GUI analog emu vsts and that thing...honestly just seemed like a fkng joke, like...wtf is this?just a black window with white words and blue bars... But guys...when I HEARD IT, IT FKNG KILLED EVERY OTHER COMPRESSOR PLUGIN.
David Gamble, the one-man-show behind DMG AUDIO (along with Krzysztof Oktalski who make the GUIs) has worked with major brands like Focusrite, Novation, Sonalksis, Neyrinck, and Brainworx and with Oktalski they "created DMG audio to build the products that we've always wanted; free from the constraints of a board of directors and instead driven by our users."
TRACKCOMP delivers 8 (EIGHT) different compressors emus: GBUS, 2K5, 2A, FET (2 revisions), 160, zener, e-channel PLUS DMG audio pure digital one, and guys, EVERYONE is freaking AWESOME.
For me, It literally replaced every other compressor.
The only thing it doesn't have is MS but if I want to make it MS, for example to put some nice MS G-BUS "GLUE" compression on the stereo mix bus, I just smash 2 instances on the free amazing waves stereo rack (waves best vst ever?)
The only other compressor I still use is BX SPL IRON as "vibe" compressor on the mix bus after the more "technical" MS G-BUS.
And it's not even all, DMG flagship EQ, EQUILIBRIUM, has just replaced every other EQ I was using too.
It just sounds AMAZING.
Nothing, and I say, NOTHING sounds that good.
Fabfilter it's a fkng JOKE in comparison.
Before DMG I used SSL X-EQ2 which to me sounded better than fabfilters especially on lo-pass cuts and low end boosts and also others color/vibes EQ like kiive's filkchannel one (really good) or SSL channel strip 2 one but, again, like TRACKCOMP for comps, equilibrium for me has replaced every EQ.
It's disgusting how you can push 12 dbs narrow bell on low frequencies and just always sounds good.
But at the same time you can clearly hear just 1-2 dbs cuts or boosts.
It's perfect for everything, from hard shaping a kick, to color vocals and mids, balance tracks, busses, cut ringing bells to mastering.
Literally one EQ to rule them all.
And it doesn't "just" have the BEST sound on the market... it has:
- ridiculously low CPU despite the amazing sound (it can have pretty high latency when using it in FIR mode and analogue phase response, which reproduce the hardware phase response - and trust me, u can HEAR it - but you can always set it to work on zero-latency mode and analogue phase response while working - which anyway sounds amazing too - and to analogue on render DSP mode aka for when you are exporting the track.
Actually you can set processing mode, phase mode, impulse length and impulse padding individually for tracking mode and rendering mode)
- most customizable options you can ask for
- every bell and curve analogue emulation you can ask for
The only thing it doesn't have it's dynamic eq, which honestly I rarely feel the need to but when I do, check also DMG MULTIPLICITY which to me is the best sounding, most precise dynamic eq/multiband comp/expander you can find, period.
This David Gamble dude is a freacking genius.
Check also limitless, the flagship limiter which honestly I don't use as limiter but as clipper because yes, it has the best clipper sound I heard too and basically replaced standardclip.
And TRACK DS, my new go-to de-esser (they have also ESSENCE, which should be the flagship, more surgical one, but personally I like more TRACK DS which is more immediate and let me focus more on the sound).
TRACKCOMP and EQUILIBRIUM are real MUSTS.
Do this test: pick some drums and EQ and comp them with trackcomp and equilibrium, than on another channel do the same with some of your favorites EQs and comps, than switch in real time from one channel to the other.
At that moment I bet you will be like "WHAT?!" (Cuz I was)
They have 30 days full demo, do you a favour, go try them and exit the plugins rabbit hole matrix once for all.
YOU ARE WELCOME
I did a track comp 2 drum bus shootout video and it won out on most occasions
@@PaulThird I frkn beleve it man. Have you tested equilibrium?
this guy has never tried Timp products, opto 32 clears trackcomp
I sadly didn't have nebula at that time when I trued trackcomp haha 😅
@@slattslatt7946 I woul like to test it out but I don't figure out how it works: do u have to spend 400 bucks for N4.5 for being able to run Tim plugins or is there a cheaper way like buying only 1 nebula plugin?
So, I know what the difference between analog and digital is technically. But my question is: what exactly is the "analog sound"? Further, as plugins evolve, we are getting to that point where hardwear is now becoming obsolete - not just comps, EQs or channel strips but also amp simulations, FX, etc. But it's one thing to say "can't hear the difference" but what exactly is that analog sound?
Honestly.. The "analog" sound that people idolise is basically noise & harmonics. That's really all you add to a digital eq to make it analog. If you want it even more analog then you'd add some very slight randomness into the signal like what UniChannel or gsat+ does.
That's about it really.
I think that I've watched too many episodes. I knew all of the plugins that you were going to name.
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Ahhhh.. Paul T... The most hated man within analog studios... NEVER STOP TELLIN YOUR TRUTH MY DUDE!! 🤘🤘
Haha I'm used to the hate now 🤣
In Hardware we trust :D
With a channel name like that I'd expect no less 🤓
@@PaulThird :D Yes I'm an Outboard-Bitch :D
Least your honest haha
Your accent is very similar to a Russian accent. Marvelous:)
You sound very close to your analog counterpart, Paul.
I'd like to think so haha
I love this accent lol “pruntud a mux”
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J37 is Amazing also
If it's waves then nothing like the real thing. If it's TimP then yeah he did that properly
You give credit where credit is due. And yeah, I'm a terrible [1kHz] =D
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Paul, I couldn't hear a word of what you were saying. The thunder was too loud. Perhaps Thor had just gone and purchased all the hardware.
And smashed it all with his big F*CK off hammer! haha
@@PaulThird 😆
I still never found an emulation that's sounds the same or better then the hardware. If I do find such a plugin I would sell the hardware immediately. So I will demo the Softube and compare it with my hardware Distressors. And I will let you know if I will sell my distressors. 😁
Try timP compressors, then you'll know whats actually possible
Sry a plugin is plugin digital o n ones, how it can be equal to tape
There is no such plug in that will sound better then the orginal hardware...nope
Done it on the channel many times...
Of course digital can sound as good (or even better) than hardware. There is just alot of myths (nostalgia) too hardware and an equal amount of myths to digital prosessing . Remember; there is no such thing as digital sound….
Paul I understand you , I’m Irish
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SoundDevice Digital Unichannel fairly new. Pretty good stuff.
If someones never used analog hardware before they will never get it. Them capacitors and Diodes, fets etc they do magic that you cannot encode.. We get damn close... but take the best 2A plugin and put it up against a Klark Teknik 2a and the KT will win every time. Not saying KT is bad.,. I love KT But as far as 2As go KT's is probably the cheapest available.. and sounds incredible on a 808
I dont think were are there yet but we are very close.. Kush Audio Silka is anoither fav color comp
Not from my tests. I've found plugin saturation to be just as good. TimP nails analog saturation to where you can actually take it a step further with his clippers
@@PaulThird to each their own.. Of course though every piece of analog gear could disapear tomorrrow and music would sound just as good. My wish is that these plugin companies would stop putting RnD into emulations. I dont need another 2A or another SSL Bus comp. For a long time now I've just been waiting for whats really next. Fabiliters q3 was a good step. Another company uses Psychoacoustic layered in mixes? I cannot remember the name of them for the life of me but wish I could. That was a cool plugin that added something.. couldnt tell you what but really made a difference.
I'm done with emulations. Been done for a long time. I've been experimenting with ceilings of sound.. THAT is something analog could never achieve