I'm an audio engineer and audio nerd. Welcome to my channel! Here we do plugin analysis and also do full videos of plugin demoing for you to listen to!
i love this type of analysis which is using objective approach (with the plug in doctor analysis) and the subjective (what sounds best for your ears). thanks for your hard work!
IMHO The alliasing come across because of the gain stagin at 0 Db, if you run your material -18 for mixing the alias have a -80 to -100db aprox like the tape noise
In the harmonic test if you change the gain to a -18Db, the alliasing is gone or to low for notice. Gain Staging the plugins to 0dvu is important without oversampling. I think plugin doctor is an important tool for detect scams but only for that.
Just saw a video with plugin doctor analizing the SSL 4000 E, the plugin itself adds a high shelf on the highs. So if they calibrated the high shelf taking that in consideration, it will not be inaccurate. If it is not the case, maybe the hardware they modeled was in the wrong. And if that wasnt the case, well... we only have our ears to trust. I don't trust mine to be honest hahahaha, but oh well I will just boost/cut until I think is enough
Thanks for this! You are the only one who caught this. I passed on this plugin and instead went with Pulsar's W495 Neuman emulation. It gets some beautiful sheen as well as overall depth or... weight? That I can't explain - and without the sneaky gain. I'd be love to see an analysis on that plugin too. Perhaps vs the Maag here?
You are most welcome! I do this for you guys! I can make a comparison video happen 😎. I haven't been doing much on the channel because to be honest, life has been crazy in both good and bad ways. Soon I will be making my return in full force though :)
The test was set up by measuring the db and copying values between the 2 compressors. So same attack, ratio, and threshold and they match in db level. I checked it multiple times. The test was not set up by ear because then it wouldn't be a 1 for 1 test.
@@moksoundstudiosMy guess is, Auto setting was used for Release on both compressors. And on the Townhouse, that results in a slower, darker compression, thus it feels like it's not as loud.
@@TransistorLSD Correct. This was modeled on the earlier B series. Townhouse auto release isn’t as fast. Warren Huart mentioned this in his review. If you want to approximate the G series, you need to set it. I personally love the Townhouse. It has a quality like no other compressor and… It has the side chain filter where you can allow the lower frequencies through. Can’t do that with the Waves. That alone is a huge advantage for a superior Mix IMHO.
@@Tyrell_Corp2019 Townhouse feels like a saturator to me, it's very colored, especially in lower frequencies. Sounds kinda like a Neve transformer, but slightly darker still. It's great for lo-fi & vintage sounding mixes, but i wouldn't mix Hi-Fi RnB or classical music with it... It just can't go clean.
@@TransistorLSD A fair assessment. Definitely has the character traits you cited. Which is why I personally like it. (I can't imagine Peter Gabriel's "Meltface" album without it. Among other great recordings😊) As for the G series, have you tried Cytomic's "The Glue" or Analog Obesssions "Buster"? Both are G's but feature sidechain filters. The WAVES version can really squash things terribly from latching onto the lower frequencies.
Some plugins do have a resale value. I've purchased used plugins before and had to pay $20 license transfer fee to activate it. Still saved money over buying it new.
Blind listening notes: mix a - thick drums more pronounced mids, slightly muddy/boomy bass mix b - organic drums, louder, fuller, more compressed but pleasant, punchy, easily the best sounding bass guitar mix c - plastic-y snare, big keys, slightly mid-scooped?, best sounding guitar mix d - nice bass thump, tight drums, similar to A above the bass frequencies but with less mid bump, best sounding keys mix e - tighter snare, slightly muddy upper-bass/low-mids on keys mix f - nice spit on the guitar, noticeable bass guitar, everything sounds bigger, best sounding snare, best sounding high-hats (the sticking sounds really nice), most articulate bass drum I listened to this as if I were going to master it, using the Neumann NDH-30. Overall the EQ on the snare doesn't sound right to me to begin with, but some of the plugins almost make up for it. I would be interested to hear this with the snare having more snap to it, and snare and bass drum feeling more in the mix, rather than behind it.
The only thing I feel strongly about is that I just don't prefer the sound of the SSL 4000-E plugin, and I confirmed that I still prefer the Neve sound despite 4000-G and 9000-J also sounding great (I liked them more than I expected). Aside from the 4000-E, the decision would be which flavor do I want for a given project.
The only VST's I avoid like the plague are EQ VSTs (or Channel Strips) that were modeled after ancient hardware that has it's own "SOUND". That "sound" is merely the component path of old ass hardware that has been degraded over time, repaired with unmatched components, and had their chains broken down. It was what they had at the time and has been capitalized on by the plugin industry for marketing. If you want accurate EQs, don't EVER buy SSL or any EQ modeled as such (unless you've used that hardware for years). Other gear is fine as it's giving you the sound profile you want and doesn't require being as accurate these days. However, if your ear is good enough to listen to the changes you make and find what you were looking for, so be it. I myself would rather have accurate newly built ground up EQs. One exception is the PULSAR MASSIVE, it's spot on, but so are the Manley's, I used to own one so that's why I got the plugin. I want the lindell 69 since it has the Helios 69 EQ built in and is accurate for the 500 series hardware I had. It's great and was used on Beatles tracks and at Electric Ladyland and has some neat tricks, though I'd never use it when needing an accurate EQ. Lol
I use the Maag plug in a lot on vocals - it's great. Very 'musical'. Again I guess it's how you use it and the wide EQ bands are no doubt big part of how it sounds in use.
Tube Tech were probably the first company to bring it to UAD in terms of matching hardware, them and Slate. BTW: The free alternative by Ignite amps is a great option. Doesn't alias, and more importantly that high band doesn't cramp like all the other attempts.
Depends on what you want, you can use this plugin in the mixing phase for individual tracks, you can use it on the mixbus. You can use it before or after tape saturation.
@@moksoundstudios sure , I think I will try it just after the compressor, that's where normally my saturation is, just bought it today and haven't try it yet
Dude, I just stumbled upon your channel and I think it's great! I've been mixing for 5 years now. I'm currently mixing a band and I was looking for a plugin to add more colour in the mix bus when I came across the "Molotok" by Tokyo Dawn Labs. This lead me to really start thinking about what my plugins are adding or not to my mixes and how that is changing the way I mix. The timming to stumble upon your channel could not be better. Keep it up!
Thx bro. Alwys informative what the Doctor says. This plugin was acclamied by MixBussTV, Mr SnakeOil, and Strobe Audio (swiss speaking amazing engineee). As well as Kclip3. I think this plugin deserve more love as well. You don't use Linear option by default btw? May i ask why?
The Linear phase has an offline and online option to save CPU, so I always keep the offline on to save CPU, which doesn't make sense because I built the computer that I currently use and its a powerhouse, but its an old habit from when I was using crap computers. Kazrog are great for their offline and online oversampling options.
