Purple audio is in a small mountain town near me. I use to build the sweet ten rack working as a circuit assembler self employed. They are awesome and the owner/engineer really cares about his product.
A buddy sold me a KT-76 for cheap a couple years ago and it's been super faithful. I use it every day, no complaints whatsoever, though I do recognize that other people have had build quality issues. With mine being solid, I have no temptations to replace it with a more expensive 76-style comp.
This is a cool comparison. I’m quite sure this shows your mixing skills to get all these signals to be affected the “same” and then combine to be so very close in the final result. So, thank you for that. Great representation
Warm is more distorted, Purple has slightly more attack/upper mid presence, Klark is missing some bottom but otherwise pretty similar to the Purple, the UA sounds a hair more rounder/glued overall.
I did this same experiment but with all budget 1176's on my own and really truly found out essentially the same exact things! The Lindell Audio unit was my 3rd unit of testing and the biggest draw back with it was it's IN/OUT ports sucked and it's power supply was terrible. Haha! I chose the cheapest KlarkTeknik unit and it's been doing great things for me!
IMHO - I personally feel that using plug ins on channels within your mix is totally fine and as good as using the hardware. I personally think that using the analog counterparts on the way in is what will make all the difference.
I had the same thought, but I think this might be due to which effects may sound better with analog circuits (preamps) vs which ones sound better digital (delays, reverb)
Original is original. Purple has a high-mid push. Warm is most saturated. Klark is cleanest. Plug-in is flat (there are better 76 plug-ins than the one used in this vid, though) Some content creators claim the Klark sounds like a plugin. It does not. It compresses in the analog style, meaning it controls all the frequencies better. It attacks analog style. It’s not as 2d as plugins. It’s just a cleaner 76, which is not a bad thing.
i think this tells the tale that the ears and skill of the mixer are still the most important. you see more and more prominent mixers going all in the box because its still them mixing. and thiers always going to be gear snobs but what can you do.....as always thanks for the content jordan. and happy holidays to you and your family
To me the UA sounds the cleanest and the Purple/WA sound warmer or duller. The KT seemed to lack a biiiit of clean highs and maybe a softer transient, but barely noticeable. I'd definitely go for the KT, truly unbeatable for that price. Nice comparison!
I so appreciate these comparison videos. These days, we're finding more and more that 'cheaper' doesn't necessarily mean 'worse'. I'm always happy to save a thousand dollars and still get quality sound! 🤑
I was going to buy an La 2 and a 76 warm audio" I guess im heading the klark Tek way" And thanks alot for this amazing vid, probablly one of the best ive seen.
mc77 has the best feature set imo: bypass button is useful without a patch bay and the sidechain option rules. another feature i liked was turning the attack setting anti clockwise until it clicks downward and turns the unit into a saturation/vibe box. great comparison vid
Love the additional distortion on the Warm especially on the bass. The CineMag transformers traditionally give body. Probably not great for vocals but bass is ace!
@@Starcore-Studio Yet considering it´s not sure you can even use the plug-in ten years from now I would go for the Klark. Almost as cheap as the plug in, but it will last longer and you get some money for it if you need to sell it. I have one, and it´s gone up in price since I bought it.
It's not that crazy, if you consider that developers are trying to get it right and they have the right the technology to capture all the meaningful details :)
@@cellarroom1580well the hardware uses extra electricity, and costs more and will definitely be broken in 10-15 years, plugin is definitely waaay cheaper
13:21 The face of deep concentration :D You know it's hard to tell the difference when Jordan is really critically listening to the material. Awesome video. Each time I watch these tests my GAS disappears even more :)
I've done this test with my 1176's. AudioScape, Hairball, Stam Blue, Lindell 17xs and Warm 76. Very similar as well but all beat my plugin 1176's. Distressors with the 1176 settings too. My Lindell has a very bright tone so there is no hiding that one. Nice video.
as an alternative to the cla76, I really like the arturia 1176 plugin. I also like their dbx plugin as an alternative to the ssl g comp on the drum parallel crush bus
Wow that bass is amazing. What a sound. Love that. By the way there is a company that mods these cheap units and they always say the klarks sound really good just way they are. Very interesting
Just, wow. We are living in a golden age of audio processing. Factoring in that the CLA76 was released almost 15 years ago and plugin technology has skyrocketed since then, the amount of quality that can be had for a tight budget is unparalelled.Thanks for a great review!
surprised and relieved that I can afford decent gears for cheaper prices, especially good to know that plugins work quite great. I believe that plugins are getting better and better in years.
Thanks for your comparison. I have the 76-KT which cost me £185 new. I've been using it for around 4 1/2 years for tracking and it has been great. I have many excellent vst compressors but this still sounds a little more 3D and adds something that I haven't been able to get with my software comps. I have had a look at all the various other 1176 clones and I have considered upgrading the KT but just can't justify the price difference. The only models I would consider changing to are the Wes Audio and Black Lion compressors due to their enhanced features. I really like the look of the WES NG76 as it is possible to control and recall it from within your DAW! It also has the side chain features with HPF+LPF's, Mix knob for parallel type compression and adjustable THD. However, it costs almost 6x the price of the KT! The BLA Seventeen is another candidate I'm considering which has virtually the same features as the WES NG76 but without the digital recall but still costs almost four times the price of the KT! In this shootout I wasn't a fan of the saturation on the Warm WA76. I can hear a small difference between the KT and the UA and Purple but there is no way I could possibly justify the price difference between the two!
Great comparison. I track through a Audioscaoe 1176 (Rev A) and that's where I think hardware will give you the most edge. plugins are so great these days that it's worth it for recall ability alone
11:40 UA: Purple: little less saturation in the middle, but just as wide as UA WA76:a little bit less saturation than purple , slightly less wide KT76: less saturation in the mids, less wide (less saturation while things are pan will give less perceived width) Definitely would recommend a rme ADI 2 Pro FS while listening to this Thank you for the video!!This is amazing stuff, most people wouldn't have the budget to review all of these 🙌🏾
Had a WA76 that went faulty on me twice before I sold it. I also had a Lindell 7X-500, which was pretty cool. Now I use the Pulsar 1178 to get that grabby 1176-style thing and haven't looked back. So happy to have gotten rid of my hardware and gone for an uncluttered setup where everything serves a genuine purpose.
I just picked up a Lindell 2 weeks ago and its pretty good and around the same price as the Klark. I own a 1178 and 4 1176s but the Klark and the Lindells are pretty much just as good. Also ART makes a stereo FET compressor called Transy and its the same price as the Klark/Lindell at $399 the ART is a stereo unit with a jensen transformer. So if you want it for stereo track the ART is very Nice. Best of luck in finding the right FET comp!! Cheers!
@@richardaling5278 The Lin76 is really good, I picked it up and the ART PWM Dual Limiter from Sweetwater and I was shocked at how good the ART Dual limiter is. I always wanted a Pie compressor but the cost is too high for 50 year old used units so the ART is the only reasonable PWM compressor on the market. If you have $200 to spend I recommend it and you won't be disappointed.
First, I really enjoy these kind of videos. I use an 1176LN and was surprised in the intro how "clean" (no color) yours sounded, but then relieved to see it was the KT, as I reach for the 1176 specifically for its color and saturation. So I did hear a difference in the full mixes that I think is the work of the transformer.
why is the klark sounding darker, not much, but you could hear the air going out somewhere when you test it out in 13:03? Is it probably there was an intentional mistake in matching the gain? I mean if im hearing it in youtube, you definitely heard it when you are making it. I was hoping it wont be noticable. well it may just be theres a bit difference somewhere in each mix.
I have to say the Purple seems like a good value given the build and sound quality. I only have the plugin version but the Purple 77 has been my go-to 1176 for a while now.
I like that you included the MC77, however that one is a bit different because I find that it is much more aggressive on the attack times. Great comparison though man!
I think the overall closest ones are the UA and the Klark. And it was impressive when you play the plugin version of the full mix, how close to the two units was.
the UA76 sounds the cleanest, I have the KT-76 and use it everyday so definitely I hear the difference with the UA76, it just sounds so smooth to the ears
Very much agree on the snare. The plugin is pulling out the bodies resonance while the hardware was not. The KT is an amazing value for hardware which I also prefer for other reasons, namely avoiding messing with stuff endlessly in software in post. Even if you use a send to retrack with hardware it will discourage endless minute changes to your mix as it requires a lot more effort/commitment.
the UAD is adding 2nd and 3rd order harmonics that the kt and plugins are lacking, what i realised in my testing is that a good compressor adds variable/dynamic saturation depending on how hard you hit them but the cheaper units/plugins dont do that as well.
Fantastic video! Short story and warning about buying expensive hardware. I bought a 2019 UA1176 for $1800. I was always very careful with it but about 2 years later the output knob began to fail and crackle. I had to ship it back to Universal Audio and get a new knob put in. It cost me $400! So then I had $2,200 in it. Another couple of years later I was moving and had to sell it to raise money. I'm only two and a half hours from Nashville and I put it on Craigslist and Reverb and I could barely find a buyer! It took about six weeks for a buyer and I only got $1,500 out of it on Reverb. Minus the taxes the fees and shipping I made $1,300. So the value went from 2,200 to $1300. I then swore I would never buy hardware ever again. It is going the way of the horse buggy.
Very useful analysis. Thanks. Waiting for the Klark Technic I already had on order to arrive. Now even happier with the potential of that choice I made.
That “tell me” part of the song had a lot of life! The UA1176 had a fuller more dynamic sound when compared side by side but I was surprised how similar they all sounded.
I had the warm 76, the seventeen (yes diff but similar) and i own the stam audio 76adf. Ive used a ua 76 and klark version from my experience: The klark and the warm are def better than plugins...but to me in the same league. Good hardware pieces that def get the job done. The black lion audio seventeen is less colored than all mentioned...but is more versatile than them all. The options on it are amazing... its that lack of color i didnt like. The ua and the stam (rev d) are almost identical. The stam having all 3 revisons is like 3 different compressors. They each have a sound all thier own yet they each compress faster than the ua. And the 2:1 ratio is cool too.
Yeah the UAD plugs are the closest to the original 1176. Closer than other clone hardware. I have an original rev h 1176 here and regularly combining it with the UAD plugs and they behave as expected. Really impressive.
The Warm Audio definitely got some mojo going on, but KT can take my money if I wanted a hardware unit..... That bass was sweet! However, as much as I loved hardware, plugins have consistently surprised me in recent years and justifying that amount of cash on one unit would sting a bit especially after this comparison. Great video!
Really great review! I think once you are at line level the differences will be minimal. I believe you will hear more difference on the way in during tracking. You need to get an isolated splinter and see how much difference each compressor makes then. I would do this for all equipment tests including mic prep and eq's. Thanks again!
WHAT A GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!!! I´M NOT TOO CRAZY ABOUT HARDWARE BUT WITH THIS COMPARISON I MIGHT THINK ABOUT GETTING THE CHEAP ONE TO START USING HARDWARE IN MY WORKFLOW!!!!! THANKS FOR SHARING BRO!!!!!!
Been looking for a video like this!!! Thanks so much for this bro!!! The klark and warm do sound slightly thinner but the warm i have owned and had problems with it not working a lot of the times. But the warm dose saturate and distort easier. Which might work on some sources. I think thats due to the cheaper build. I got rid of the warm and im going to purchase the purple 1176. Thanks again for the awesome video man!!!!
The UA version is definitely the cleanest, but I have to say that after listening to a couple of videos of the WA76, I kinda like its saturation. It feels very hi-fi and in the context of using outboard analog gear to color sound, that's actually quite a boon.
nice video!! more of that! I usually use my real 1176 for bass and snare and then I print it out it gives it a little something extra in the lows I think the biggest difference between the plugin and the real thing is when you saturate the output.. saturation is great always in analog it gives it that touch of grandeur and warmth
Great video. Last year I Shot out the warm, the Klark and the BLA bluey and went with the bluey, because of the mid forward grittiness a-la CLA. I tried the purple at a buddy’s studio but the PA Plug-in is so close it’s not even funny. Great video as always, Jordan!
Yeah, people need to realize we can't really hear what these sound like because of RUclips.. Im going through a Lavry Blue DA into Neumann speakers here in my studio and its still pretty much a non real life comparison..
I actually love the Warm Audio stuff for that saturation specifically. I used them back in Uni and I thought using them on the vocals sounded fantastic when tracking.
Very good video, and very useful to us who are looking at enhancing our setups with some hardware. Some audio downloads would be even better. Perhaps you could consider that next time, Oh, and the main difference for me between plugins in general and hardware, is the 3-DIMENSIONAL element! For the most part plugins have the eq down, but they cannot copy the spatial characteristic!
Yep the warm audio adds more distortion. and the UA had softer transients. the PA appears to grab the overall dynamics better as if its attack and release curves are better matching the attack and release time. Would be cool to hear the UA hardware compared with new the UA plugin version.
Aside from the sonic differences, one thing I think is worth noting is reliability and long-term use. -Plugins are the cheapest and most convenient option. However, if you've ever lost compatibility from OS or technical reasons, poof, can't use it anymore. Have to buy it again or buy another alternative. Hardware is software agnostic. -Cheaper hardware options may sound similar, but the cost difference is in there somewhere. Cheaper parts, faster production, lack of quality control, etc. They may work for a while, but they may or may not be lifetime units. They may just end up being unreliable, which was the case with my warm unit. -Top of the line expensive units are good, but expensive. Hopefully lifetime pieces. -My favorite sweet spot personally is DIY kits or the middle-tier options. Hairball, Black Lion, DIYRE, Purple audio are all reasonably priced middle tier units. Thanks for the video!
I have the Warm Audio 1176 and i can't believe how the original pulverizes it. I instantly recognized the distortion in the demo from my unit. I have to admit that I dont like it and never really have. Maybe its finally time to sell it. But great Video! The original sounds incredible! I hear big differences on the vocals. I had expected way more differences in the complete mix though.
@@Jazzguitar00 I messed up my original comment, i wrote lindell instead of hairball because hairball has the Lola preamp ("lola/lindell") brainfart sorry, never heard the lindell one so i watched some shootout and it sounds ok i guess but the hairball really has that sidechain highpass sound when pushed hard, you get that pumping low end and rly stable highs
I'd love to see a null test done on these. I know analogue will never fully null even against it's self ... but it can still show you if there's physically a huge difference or not in how it's processing the audio (even if you might not be able to hear a concerned difference by listening. Would just be interesting to see.
Its a feel thing more than a hearing difference. I definitely felt the excitement especially in the vocals with the UA hardware and the Purple. Could be a mind trick by seeing them on screen but it felt more exciting like those vintage rock vocals from the past. “That sound”
I thought the lower mids on the cheaper one were lacking - less body. When I went back to listen again, I couldn't hear what it was I heard the first time - confirming that I don't know what the heck I'm talking about. Is it too late to take up golf?
on my headphones the difference in saturation and drive is enourmous. when i'm not especially searching for such massive coloring in a compressor, the warm audio is too heavy for me, but doesn't sound too bad at all. I'm most a fan of the purple in some cases here, with the details and body especially in the Drums and Bass. But actually i came here to convince myself of the klarkteknik and i totally did so. I think i'll try some of their units thank you for this great comparison. also love the style of music to be used as reference here
On vocals and room/all buttons I noticed more high end sheen on the purple. The UA in general seemed to be smoother with more lows/low mid, the warm was the most distorted and seemed the least cohesive. Surprisingly, the KT was very good on most everything. I think I'd honestly and shockingly pick the KT over the warm. I liked the UA better than the purple. Amazing video and thank you for this so much!
nice video. You are smashing these tracks, a valid test, but maybe there is more of a difference between the units at lighter levels of compression (like only scraping off a few Db). I love my UA 2-1176, but had no idea how similar the Klark-Teknik was!
Heard another test in another video and the KT attack and release times and curves seemed to not match the other ones tested there. It was not as controlled. Not bad, just a bit boring and loose.
Great comparison! I own the KT 76, it's really good for a clean 1176 sound without much distortion & coloration. One could argue that it could be replaced with a plugin, but I would disagree...the plugin struggles to accurately model transformer gain and has inconsistences across a collection instruments when compared to the hardware, this is a common flaw with most impulse/response modeled plugins. The hardware could be used just for the purpose of driving the transformers...which adds weight to the signal hence helping things to sit better in the mix.
That's awesome. Any concerns about it breaking down or anything? I've always wanted to get a hardware compressor, it sounds fantastic and is totally affordable
I put my wife beside me without seeing the prices to see if I was biased or not, but it feels that the UA one has some added sparkle in the mid highs that make it feels more rounded on the top end. All the units are perfectly fine, but that extra sparkle on the UA is so damn pleasant to hear.
Man, super interesting. Agree, its a slight difference with the plugin. The hardware is often described in the same way. "Better low end, crisp, and so on". Perhaps there are also differences between the Wave and UAD plugins, which would be interesting. Thank you for the comparison. ✌🏼
the klark seems to affect more highs thant the other units, sounds a little like there is a little blanket on the sound. the warm saturation on vocal is really nice though. ! I have one here and I like it, but I never compress as much as you did, maybe i'm affraid to compress to much XD
This was one of the best reviews I’ve seen in ages. 6 different units would have been better. Love to see a Pultec shootout. And 1073’s.
I like the Klark 1176 and la2a, but their pultec has nothing in common with the design of an actual pultec. The warm clone is great though.
Purple audio is in a small mountain town near me. I use to build the sweet ten rack working as a circuit assembler self employed.
They are awesome and the owner/engineer really cares about his product.
I have the sweet ten. Its great!
Andrew is a great guy, and everything I have ever used from Purple has been amazing.
A buddy sold me a KT-76 for cheap a couple years ago and it's been super faithful. I use it every day, no complaints whatsoever, though I do recognize that other people have had build quality issues. With mine being solid, I have no temptations to replace it with a more expensive 76-style comp.
Also the Slate FG-116 seems to have the same release time as my KT-76.
This is a cool comparison. I’m quite sure this shows your mixing skills to get all these signals to be affected the “same” and then combine to be so very close in the final result. So, thank you for that. Great representation
Warm is more distorted, Purple has slightly more attack/upper mid presence, Klark is missing some bottom but otherwise pretty similar to the Purple, the UA sounds a hair more rounder/glued overall.
Yes the difference is way too small tho
Exactly. Most things sounded almost identical but on vocals and drums the UAD had a discernible difference
I'm seriously shopping for a hardware compressor and you helped enlighten me so much in these 15 minutes. Thank you so much for your tireless work! 🙏
AudioScape
The KT sounds the most like the real thing.....crazy!
I did this same experiment but with all budget 1176's on my own and really truly found out essentially the same exact things! The Lindell Audio unit was my 3rd unit of testing and the biggest draw back with it was it's IN/OUT ports sucked and it's power supply was terrible. Haha! I chose the cheapest KlarkTeknik unit and it's been doing great things for me!
The Klark Teknik is amazing.
IMHO - I personally feel that using plug ins on channels within your mix is totally fine and as good as using the hardware. I personally think that using the analog counterparts on the way in is what will make all the difference.
That's how I do it. Preamp>Compressor> EQ> Interface>Plugins.
I had the same thought, but I think this might be due to which effects may sound better with analog circuits (preamps) vs which ones sound better digital (delays, reverb)
Agreed. PLUS, with hardware on the way in, you don't get CPU-induced latency; you can hear the awesomeness in real time! 😎
It's good to get some compression in before your a/d conversion. Can't do that with a plug in.
@@darijorda953who cares! I just saved myself a hundred fifty bucks! 😂
Original is original.
Purple has a high-mid push.
Warm is most saturated.
Klark is cleanest.
Plug-in is flat (there are better 76 plug-ins than the one used in this vid, though)
Some content creators claim the Klark sounds like a plugin. It does not. It compresses in the analog style, meaning it controls all the frequencies better. It attacks analog style. It’s not as 2d as plugins. It’s just a cleaner 76, which is not a bad thing.
i think this tells the tale that the ears and skill of the mixer are still the most important. you see more and more prominent mixers going all in the box because its still them mixing. and thiers always going to be gear snobs but what can you do.....as always thanks for the content jordan. and happy holidays to you and your family
Your approach to this comparison is superb. Very revealing. Thank you for the effort you invested. 😎😊♥️
To me the UA sounds the cleanest and the Purple/WA sound warmer or duller. The KT seemed to lack a biiiit of clean highs and maybe a softer transient, but barely noticeable. I'd definitely go for the KT, truly unbeatable for that price. Nice comparison!
I so appreciate these comparison videos. These days, we're finding more and more that 'cheaper' doesn't necessarily mean 'worse'. I'm always happy to save a thousand dollars and still get quality sound! 🤑
I was going to buy an La 2 and a 76 warm audio" I guess im heading the klark Tek way"
And thanks alot for this amazing vid, probablly one of the best ive seen.
mc77 has the best feature set imo: bypass button is useful without a patch bay and the sidechain option rules. another feature i liked was turning the attack setting anti clockwise until it clicks downward and turns the unit into a saturation/vibe box. great comparison vid
This is bar none the absolute best comparison video which shows what I have told equipment snobs since the early 90s. Bravo
Very nice review. For plugin 1176 i would recommend the plugin alliance Purple Audio MC77. 😉
The warm audio is doing its own thing in a very pleasant way.
Love the additional distortion on the Warm especially on the bass. The CineMag transformers traditionally give body. Probably not great for vocals but bass is ace!
Crazy how good the plugins sound when compared side by side
Yes and the plug-ins are much cheaper.
@@Starcore-Studio Yet considering it´s not sure you can even use the plug-in ten years from now I would go for the Klark. Almost as cheap as the plug in, but it will last longer and you get some money for it if you need to sell it. I have one, and it´s gone up in price since I bought it.
It's not that crazy, if you consider that developers are trying to get it right and they have the right the technology to capture all the meaningful details :)
@@cellarroom1580well the hardware uses extra electricity, and costs more and will definitely be broken in 10-15 years, plugin is definitely waaay cheaper
@@cellarroom1580plug in currently going for $30….so if by nearly as cheap you mean 10x more expensive…..sure.
13:21 The face of deep concentration :D You know it's hard to tell the difference when Jordan is really critically listening to the material. Awesome video. Each time I watch these tests my GAS disappears even more :)
Would be great to see the comparison between the UAD plugin version and the hardware.!
This is one of the best shootouts ever!.. can you do one on Pullec's and SSL style buss compressors?
I've done this test with my 1176's. AudioScape, Hairball, Stam Blue, Lindell 17xs and Warm 76. Very similar as well but all beat my plugin 1176's. Distressors with the 1176 settings too. My Lindell has a very bright tone so there is no hiding that one. Nice video.
as an alternative to the cla76, I really like the arturia 1176 plugin. I also like their dbx plugin as an alternative to the ssl g comp on the drum parallel crush bus
Love DBX comps too and Dynamites are a laugh too. Checkout the chandler Zener compressor…it’s absolutely heaven on drums
Wow that bass is amazing. What a sound. Love that. By the way there is a company that mods these cheap units and they always say the klarks sound really good just way they are. Very interesting
Just, wow. We are living in a golden age of audio processing. Factoring in that the CLA76 was released almost 15 years ago and plugin technology has skyrocketed since then, the amount of quality that can be had for a tight budget is unparalelled.Thanks for a great review!
When you know the difference between the peak levels (Plugin vs HW) its a whole different Story
@@SexyLeaForYoumeaning?... do you have an example?
@@lo-dose Yeah...0,5 to 1 db digital lower peak level with HW!
@@lo-dose All Plugins are not able to shave of the peaks like hw ...also most of them are not fast enough even the uad attack times are to slow!
@@SexyLeaForYouwhich plug ins have you found to be faulty? Did you report this to UAD?
surprised and relieved that I can afford decent gears for cheaper prices, especially good to know that plugins work quite great. I believe that plugins are getting better and better in years.
For the snare and kick 👉revision AE limited edition plug-in has (slo attack) and also additional ratio 2:1 👊👊👊
Thanks for your comparison. I have the 76-KT which cost me £185 new. I've been using it for around 4 1/2 years for tracking and it has been great. I have many excellent vst compressors but this still sounds a little more 3D and adds something that I haven't been able to get with my software comps. I have had a look at all the various other 1176 clones and I have considered upgrading the KT but just can't justify the price difference. The only models I would consider changing to are the Wes Audio and Black Lion compressors due to their enhanced features. I really like the look of the WES NG76 as it is possible to control and recall it from within your DAW! It also has the side chain features with HPF+LPF's, Mix knob for parallel type compression and adjustable THD. However, it costs almost 6x the price of the KT! The BLA Seventeen is another candidate I'm considering which has virtually the same features as the WES NG76 but without the digital recall but still costs almost four times the price of the KT!
In this shootout I wasn't a fan of the saturation on the Warm WA76. I can hear a small difference between the KT and the UA and Purple but there is no way I could possibly justify the price difference between the two!
Great comparison. I track through a Audioscaoe 1176 (Rev A) and that's where I think hardware will give you the most edge. plugins are so great these days that it's worth it for recall ability alone
I use the Waves dbx compressor for Kick/Bass. Really snappy and aggressive.
11:40
UA:
Purple: little less saturation in the middle, but just as wide as UA
WA76:a little bit less saturation than purple , slightly less wide
KT76: less saturation in the mids, less wide (less saturation while things are pan will give less perceived width)
Definitely would recommend a rme ADI 2 Pro FS while listening to this
Thank you for the video!!This is amazing stuff, most people wouldn't have the budget to review all of these 🙌🏾
Had a WA76 that went faulty on me twice before I sold it. I also had a Lindell 7X-500, which was pretty cool. Now I use the Pulsar 1178 to get that grabby 1176-style thing and haven't looked back. So happy to have gotten rid of my hardware and gone for an uncluttered setup where everything serves a genuine purpose.
Pulsar 1178 pretty close
Great video! Really awesome to hear all of these versions next to each other. But here's my question... whats the band? Sounds fire!!!
Oh! I just bought a Klark Technic like 20 days ago, I'm sooooo happy for what I've seen in this video 💪
Great video thanks!!! Plug-in sounds great and I think it's a main thing to admit😅
Great review. I'd love to hear them compared to say the UA plugin rather than the old waves one too.
The UA is a little more open in the top end. The Warm... is Warm,,, that is how they sound... all very small differences though... nice vid, thanks
Perfectly timed video! I'm actually looking into getting myself a 1176 clone. Thanks Jordan!
I just picked up a Lindell 2 weeks ago and its pretty good and around the same price as the Klark. I own a 1178 and 4 1176s but the Klark and the Lindells are pretty much just as good. Also ART makes a stereo FET compressor called Transy and its the same price as the Klark/Lindell at $399 the ART is a stereo unit with a jensen transformer. So if you want it for stereo track the ART is very Nice. Best of luck in finding the right FET comp!! Cheers!
Let me know which one you have decided for. Im also looking to buy a 1176 clone
I bought a Lin76 too, best buy in my opinion!
@@richardaling5278 The Lin76 is really good, I picked it up and the ART PWM Dual Limiter from Sweetwater and I was shocked at how good the ART Dual limiter is. I always wanted a Pie compressor but the cost is too high for 50 year old used units so the ART is the only reasonable PWM compressor on the market. If you have $200 to spend I recommend it and you won't be disappointed.
First, I really enjoy these kind of videos.
I use an 1176LN and was surprised in the intro how "clean" (no color) yours sounded, but then relieved to see it was the KT, as I reach for the 1176 specifically for its color and saturation. So I did hear a difference in the full mixes that I think is the work of the transformer.
then did you like warm’s better that the LN? given that it seems to have more saturation. or are u going off confirmation bias too much to know lol.
why is the klark sounding darker, not much, but you could hear the air going out somewhere when you test it out in 13:03? Is it probably there was an intentional mistake in matching the gain? I mean if im hearing it in youtube, you definitely heard it when you are making it. I was hoping it wont be noticable. well it may just be theres a bit difference somewhere in each mix.
Thanks! Good to know how little difference there is between the most and least expensive one.
I have to say the Purple seems like a good value given the build and sound quality. I only have the plugin version but the Purple 77 has been my go-to 1176 for a while now.
I didn’t love the warm audio in solo but really enjoyed how much aggression it brought to the full mix. I can see why Will Putney still uses his
Thanks you so much for this comparison, it’s really fascinating! 12:21 you can actually hear the hi hats character opening up as you go up in price :)
I like that you included the MC77, however that one is a bit different because I find that it is much more aggressive on the attack times. Great comparison though man!
I could definitely hear that.
Great comparison and I love your honest shocked reactions. Well done! 💯
Great video I would love to see more videos like this!!! (I've always wondered the same about the LA2A and the CL1B!!!)
I think the overall closest ones are the UA and the Klark. And it was impressive when you play the plugin version of the full mix, how close to the two units was.
the UA76 sounds the cleanest, I have the KT-76 and use it everyday so definitely I hear the difference with the UA76, it just sounds so smooth to the ears
Very much agree on the snare. The plugin is pulling out the bodies resonance while the hardware was not. The KT is an amazing value for hardware which I also prefer for other reasons, namely avoiding messing with stuff endlessly in software in post. Even if you use a send to retrack with hardware it will discourage endless minute changes to your mix as it requires a lot more effort/commitment.
the UAD is adding 2nd and 3rd order harmonics that the kt and plugins are lacking, what i realised in my testing is that a good compressor adds variable/dynamic saturation depending on how hard you hit them but the cheaper units/plugins dont do that as well.
Love the UA and Purple the most.
Fantastic video! Short story and warning about buying expensive hardware. I bought a 2019 UA1176 for $1800. I was always very careful with it but about 2 years later the output knob began to fail and crackle. I had to ship it back to Universal Audio and get a new knob put in. It cost me $400! So then I had $2,200 in it. Another couple of years later I was moving and had to sell it to raise money. I'm only two and a half hours from Nashville and I put it on Craigslist and Reverb and I could barely find a buyer! It took about six weeks for a buyer and I only got $1,500 out of it on Reverb. Minus the taxes the fees and shipping I made $1,300. So the value went from 2,200 to $1300. I then swore I would never buy hardware ever again. It is going the way of the horse buggy.
Very useful analysis. Thanks. Waiting for the Klark Technic I already had on order to arrive. Now even happier with the potential of that choice I made.
Thanks
I have a UA 6176 but have been eyeing the Audioscape units.
That “tell me” part of the song had a lot of life! The UA1176 had a fuller more dynamic sound when compared side by side but I was surprised how similar they all sounded.
I had the warm 76, the seventeen (yes diff but similar) and i own the stam audio 76adf. Ive used a ua 76 and klark version from my experience:
The klark and the warm are def better than plugins...but to me in the same league. Good hardware pieces that def get the job done.
The black lion audio seventeen is less colored than all mentioned...but is more versatile than them all. The options on it are amazing... its that lack of color i didnt like. The ua and the stam (rev d) are almost identical. The stam having all 3 revisons is like 3 different compressors. They each have a sound all thier own yet they each compress faster than the ua. And the 2:1 ratio is cool too.
Would have been nice to hear the UA 1176 plugins.
Yeah the UAD plugs are the closest to the original 1176. Closer than other clone hardware. I have an original rev h 1176 here and regularly combining it with the UAD plugs and they behave as expected. Really impressive.
The Warm Audio definitely got some mojo going on, but KT can take my money if I wanted a hardware unit..... That bass was sweet! However, as much as I loved hardware, plugins have consistently surprised me in recent years and justifying that amount of cash on one unit would sting a bit especially after this comparison. Great video!
Man, what a GREAT video. Thank you for the effort. It was really meaningful!
This is a great comparison video mate. I’m thinking about buying the Klark Teknik and this has been very useful.
So glad I saw this review! I just ordered the KT , and am glad I did! Seems like it punches way above it’s weight for the price point
Great video could not believe there was not much difference
Really great review! I think once you are at line level the differences will be minimal. I believe you will hear more difference on the way in during tracking. You need to get an isolated splinter and see how much difference each compressor makes then. I would do this for all equipment tests including mic prep and eq's. Thanks again!
I go the Krak Technic LA-2A clone. I put in the Black Lion Mod and it is great.
The warm audio is special sounding. The punch of the analog ones is definitely better
They're all analog.
@@Fossiil-Records I’m aware. In general the analog ones just have a punch that the plugins smear a little.
Mandroid Echostar! Love that tune!
WHAT A GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!!! I´M NOT TOO CRAZY ABOUT HARDWARE BUT WITH THIS COMPARISON I MIGHT THINK ABOUT GETTING THE CHEAP ONE TO START USING HARDWARE IN MY WORKFLOW!!!!!
THANKS FOR SHARING BRO!!!!!!
Great video. I went ahead and got the 76-KT
Been looking for a video like this!!! Thanks so much for this bro!!! The klark and warm do sound slightly thinner but the warm i have owned and had problems with it not working a lot of the times. But the warm dose saturate and distort easier. Which might work on some sources. I think thats due to the cheaper build. I got rid of the warm and im going to purchase the purple 1176. Thanks again for the awesome video man!!!!
The UA version is definitely the cleanest, but I have to say that after listening to a couple of videos of the WA76, I kinda like its saturation. It feels very hi-fi and in the context of using outboard analog gear to color sound, that's actually quite a boon.
nice video!! more of that! I usually use my real 1176 for bass and snare and then I print it out it gives it a little something extra in the lows
I think the biggest difference between the plugin and the real thing is when you saturate the output.. saturation is great always in analog it gives it that touch of grandeur and warmth
This is the best 1176 comparison on RUclips. Thank you!
Great video. Last year I Shot out the warm, the Klark and the BLA bluey and went with the bluey, because of the mid forward grittiness a-la CLA. I tried the purple at a buddy’s studio but the PA Plug-in is so close it’s not even funny. Great video as always, Jordan!
With extra youtube compression and my cheap LG TV, the different is noticeable on the stack.. Great job, Keep Jammin, Bro💯
Yeah, people need to realize we can't really hear what these sound like because of RUclips.. Im going through a Lavry Blue DA into Neumann speakers here in my studio and its still pretty much a non real life comparison..
This was a great comparison. I’d go for whatever you can afford, gotta have at least 3 in the studio imo
I used to own a WA76, was pretty happy with the quality
I actually love the Warm Audio stuff for that saturation specifically. I used them back in Uni and I thought using them on the vocals sounded fantastic when tracking.
the purple definitly the best one!
Very good video, and very useful to us who are looking at enhancing our setups with some hardware. Some audio downloads would be even better. Perhaps you could consider that next time, Oh, and the main difference for me between plugins in general and hardware, is the 3-DIMENSIONAL element! For the most part plugins have the eq down, but they cannot copy the spatial characteristic!
Yep the warm audio adds more distortion. and the UA had softer transients. the PA appears to grab the overall dynamics better as if its attack and release curves are better matching the attack and release time. Would be cool to hear the UA hardware compared with new the UA plugin version.
Aside from the sonic differences, one thing I think is worth noting is reliability and long-term use.
-Plugins are the cheapest and most convenient option. However, if you've ever lost compatibility from OS or technical reasons, poof, can't use it anymore. Have to buy it again or buy another alternative. Hardware is software agnostic.
-Cheaper hardware options may sound similar, but the cost difference is in there somewhere. Cheaper parts, faster production, lack of quality control, etc. They may work for a while, but they may or may not be lifetime units. They may just end up being unreliable, which was the case with my warm unit.
-Top of the line expensive units are good, but expensive. Hopefully lifetime pieces.
-My favorite sweet spot personally is DIY kits or the middle-tier options. Hairball, Black Lion, DIYRE, Purple audio are all reasonably priced middle tier units.
Thanks for the video!
I have the Warm Audio 1176 and i can't believe how the original pulverizes it. I instantly recognized the distortion in the demo from my unit. I have to admit that I dont like it and never really have. Maybe its finally time to sell it. But great Video! The original sounds incredible! I hear big differences on the vocals. I had expected way more differences in the complete mix though.
I think it's the opposite, Warm has more mijo.
the hairball audio one is absolutely exquisite
I need to peep that.
@@Jazzguitar00 I messed up my original comment, i wrote lindell instead of hairball because hairball has the Lola preamp ("lola/lindell") brainfart sorry, never heard the lindell one so i watched some shootout and it sounds ok i guess but the hairball really has that sidechain highpass sound when pushed hard, you get that pumping low end and rly stable highs
I'd love to see a null test done on these. I know analogue will never fully null even against it's self ... but it can still show you if there's physically a huge difference or not in how it's processing the audio (even if you might not be able to hear a concerned difference by listening. Would just be interesting to see.
Its a feel thing more than a hearing difference. I definitely felt the excitement especially in the vocals with the UA hardware and the Purple. Could be a mind trick by seeing them on screen but it felt more exciting like those vintage rock vocals from the past. “That sound”
I got the same feeling, asked my wife to come here and do a blind test, she thinks the UA one soundes slightly more open as well.
Purple had the most depth/3D/analog mojo. Little bit of magic dust.
I thought the lower mids on the cheaper one were lacking - less body.
When I went back to listen again, I couldn't hear what it was I heard the first time - confirming that I don't know what the heck I'm talking about. Is it too late to take up golf?
Our brains are dinks
no ur right but im listening on iphone speakers 😂😂 im with you on golf we could also try tennis?
on my headphones the difference in saturation and drive is enourmous.
when i'm not especially searching for such massive coloring in a compressor, the warm audio is too heavy for me, but doesn't sound too bad at all.
I'm most a fan of the purple in some cases here, with the details and body especially in the Drums and Bass.
But actually i came here to convince myself of the klarkteknik and i totally did so. I think i'll try some of their units
thank you for this great comparison. also love the style of music to be used as reference here
On vocals and room/all buttons I noticed more high end sheen on the purple. The UA in general seemed to be smoother with more lows/low mid, the warm was the most distorted and seemed the least cohesive. Surprisingly, the KT was very good on most everything. I think I'd honestly and shockingly pick the KT over the warm. I liked the UA better than the purple. Amazing video and thank you for this so much!
That warm unit is really interesting to me. Great video!
nice video. You are smashing these tracks, a valid test, but maybe there is more of a difference between the units at lighter levels of compression (like only scraping off a few Db). I love my UA 2-1176, but had no idea how similar the Klark-Teknik was!
Heard another test in another video and the KT attack and release times and curves seemed to not match the other ones tested there. It was not as controlled. Not bad, just a bit boring and loose.
Great comparison! I own the KT 76, it's really good for a clean 1176 sound without much distortion & coloration. One could argue that it could be replaced with a plugin, but I would disagree...the plugin struggles to accurately model transformer gain and has inconsistences across a collection instruments when compared to the hardware, this is a common flaw with most impulse/response modeled plugins. The hardware could be used just for the purpose of driving the transformers...which adds weight to the signal hence helping things to sit better in the mix.
That's awesome. Any concerns about it breaking down or anything? I've always wanted to get a hardware compressor, it sounds fantastic and is totally affordable
@@BrofUJu No concerns so far, I've had it mounted in a rack for about a year now...I use it on a mix almost every other day.
This is a great video. I really wish we can hear the difference between them on the way in like smashing them on the way in.
I put my wife beside me without seeing the prices to see if I was biased or not, but it feels that the UA one has some added sparkle in the mid highs that make it feels more rounded on the top end. All the units are perfectly fine, but that extra sparkle on the UA is so damn pleasant to hear.
Man, super interesting. Agree, its a slight difference with the plugin. The hardware is often described in the same way. "Better low end, crisp, and so on". Perhaps there are also differences between the Wave and UAD plugins, which would be interesting. Thank you for the comparison. ✌🏼
Can you do this but with the LA2A? I know warm and klark teknik both have clones! All the best and great video!:)
the klark seems to affect more highs thant the other units, sounds a little like there is a little blanket on the sound. the warm saturation on vocal is really nice though. ! I have one here and I like it, but I never compress as much as you did, maybe i'm affraid to compress to much XD