Black Box Analog Design HG-2 [Review]

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In-depth review of the HG-2 · Tube mix bus enhancer · Harmonic overtones · Even and odd order harmonics · Tubes vs. transistors vs. plug-ins
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MUSIC
Used with kind permission from the respective copyright owners. Documentation can be obtained by contacting the email below.
Gear Grotto theme music © Turkman Souljah/Hideout
Background music 1 © Wafande/Pharfar/Musicall/Ultra Galla
Background music 2 © Diamond/FishCorp
Music example 1 © Borneland/Music For Dreams
Music example 2 © Kato/Big Fish/disco:wax
LEGAL
Gear Grotto has not received any monetary compensation, free or discounted hardware or software as direct or indirect payment from the companies whose products are mentioned in this video, neither is Gear Grotto affiliated with the companies or persons representing these companies. Gear Grotto is a subsidiary of Platinum Audio Group, Denmark.
CONTACT
Please contact Holger Lagerfeldt at holger@pag.dk with any enquiries.

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Опубликовано:

16 фев 2016

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Комментарии : 80

@bigbaby987 3 года назад

Only 3 videos??? We definitely need more. You're exactly what the doctor ordered.

@GearGrotto 7 лет назад

Thanks for your comments guys, I really appreciate it. Just wanted to let you know that I *am* working on the next video, but it's taking longer than expected due to some very thorough tests and especially boatloads of work in the studio, that I have to prioritize. /Holger

@jmula1963 4 года назад

Gear Grotto how does the rack unit compare to the PA plugin? Just got the plugin for $29 leap year sale

@niklassilen4313 7 лет назад

Holger, this is an excellent video. Have been considering the Black Box for quite a while now and came upon this video review of yours while searching for more information. Please make more videos, of any kind. You have an awesome calm voice and obviously know how to produce high quality content. Good work man!

@ArthurStone 6 лет назад

Excellent review and presentation; thank you. The music and HG2 effect were clear on S3V's. Great sound :D

@EricNUFO 3 года назад

I've always thought it as HG = Harmonics Generator :D

@GearGrotto 3 года назад

Haha, of course!

@chaddonal4331 2 года назад

@@GearGrotto That's where the "2" comes in: "Holy Grail" of "Harmonics Generators"

@gareth432 Год назад

I got the hg-2 ms plugin and all the pentode combination with the triode magic, what is does, and how the saturation sits in the signal chain is nowhere explained. so I watched every video I could found and none showed such a detail and easy and clear explanation like yours. thanks very much, that was helpful :-)

@jarcau_vegan 4 года назад

Keep pushing this amazing content!! Thank you 🙏🏻🍀

@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST 6 лет назад

This thing is the cure that a lot of us have been waiting for long years. For real. It makes a good mix sound boring in comparison when bypassed. God bless!

@3nemusic926 3 года назад

The explanation I've been searching for!🙏🏼

@thecalling667 4 года назад

Very informative and is helping me make my decision to buy it and apply it to my work! Thank you! :)

@troytempest5984 3 года назад

Enjoyed that..thank you holger...im giving serious consideration to buying this box

@LesVegasMusic 2 года назад

Excellent video Holger! Thanks so much!

@AvivC1 7 лет назад

Great video, really enjoyed your presentation!

@donkeyfacekilla1 6 лет назад

Thank you for a great video! I hope you make more :-)

@MustafaAlbazy 5 лет назад

Thanks for this professional review. I would love to see your view on Kazrog True Iron and Kush Omega series.

@nogoogleplus 8 лет назад

Excellent review, thanks!

@showpony321 5 лет назад

Awesome.. Well presented. Thank you!

@bikesnbeerz 6 лет назад

Fantastic vid and nice B&W's

@nicholasriley4729 7 лет назад

Brilliant demonstration!!!

@thomaswindfeld728 8 лет назад

Fed video Holger! :-)

@HenrikVindeby 8 лет назад

Super video. Glæder mig til de næste:)

@MARVINthesinger 5 лет назад

great video! thank U. I wait for new videos.

@hertzcules 8 лет назад

Great video, I trust your knowledge. Subbed.

@matrixate 6 лет назад

Absolutely great presentation. Well scripted and rehearsed.

@GearGrotto 6 лет назад

Thanks, glad you liked the video!

@gomesdiogo 4 года назад

Amazing, thank you.

@Rhuggins Месяц назад

Miss your content

@TheRussianGenius 8 лет назад

Would love to meet you in person, one of the best at mastering music!

@razzerraw1108 5 лет назад

What do you know about audio engineering card boy?

@nichttuntun3364 4 года назад

Hi, didn´t know you are into music...although you mentioned something about hip hop? Cool to see you here :)

@nichttuntun3364 4 года назад

@@razzerraw1108 Is that of importance?

@zeepster 5 лет назад

Holy moly that was loud @1:24. That high frequency.

@simplyepicaudioengineering001 7 лет назад

Very nice!

@First__Last__ 7 лет назад

awesome video. instant sub.

@makeacd 8 лет назад

Tak - Meget seriøst.

@marcelosuarez3027 5 лет назад

I love your channel, i think it's great advice, it's real, and it's spot on, as opposed to many other people giving just really bad advice or their own preference, and even wrong theory. But man, pleaaaaseee denoise your microphone.

@PaoloMilani 3 года назад

Excellent explanations, really useful video, thanks! apparently some genius downvoted this video... unbelievable

@GearGrotto 3 года назад

Thanks, mate! Somebody's finger slipped. Happens all the time ;-)

@ericbrody963 2 года назад

Love it, thank you! If you ever need anything from Vintage King, feel free to reach out! Always happy to hook it up with some discounts 👍

@rectape 6 лет назад

Hi Gear Grotto! Thanks for the awesome video. I'm interested by this unit but I'm a little scared of maintenance on this multiple tubes unit. How often do you send this puppie to the doctor??? Thanks

@GearGrotto 6 лет назад

Thanks! Two years and no doctor visits. One calibration to the output, took 20 seconds. Lowest maintance tube unit I've owned.

@warpacademy 3 года назад

Great video. What do you think of the plugin emulation?

@GearGrotto 3 года назад

I think it's pretty good. Some 70-80% of the way. One problem is the very top frequencies where the plug-in is quite a bit more sharp/digital. Another thing is the stereo image, where it's naturally less wide. Another thing are the dial settings, i.e. there's no correlation between the dials on the hardware and the software when it comes to the amount of effect. So if you know the hardware or want to reference hardware settings that's impossible without a lot of trial and error (and measurements).

@headbanger1428 3 года назад

I found you from a comment you made on LogicProHelp. I want to have a ristretto in your studio while sitting cross-legged in silence. What an amazing looking room! The video was very pro and a wonderful pace. I know RU-vid is difficult to manage, but I really enjoyed the video and coverage. One thing I don’t understand... How did you mic yourself? It sounded great, but I don’t think it was a lapel mic 🤔 Or how/what was it? Maybe someday you’ll pop back with another video. Who knows? 😊 I subbed anyway 👍

@GearGrotto 3 года назад

Thanks a lot! It's a Shure SM7B just out of visual range, which is why it's a bit noisy when I'm on camera, but less so when I'm not (close mic'ed).

@headbanger1428 3 года назад

@@GearGrotto Well I’m a novice with sound, so it sounded like a perfectly dreamy VO-didn’t hear anything noisy.

@Hypagen 2 года назад

Thank you for the video Holger. As usual it is exact and precise plus full of useful information. Using the hardware version of the HG-2 on a tonally balanced full range mix... how many dB RMS do you think can be gained to a mix before the saturation/distortion becomes obvious?

@holgerlagerfeldt 2 года назад

Hey, thanks for your comment! I understand where that question is coming from, i.e. the concept that you can gain some perceived loudness or inherent beneficial compression of sorts from the saturation process. While this is true to a certain extent, I would rather think of the gains as more related to the overall sound perception on a psychoacoustical level, i.e. a harmonic enhancement or enrichment that makes thing pop out a bit more. This is hard to put into a simple number of decibels.

@Hypagen 2 года назад

Thank you for your reply Holger!

@LilEddMusic 4 года назад

How's the noise floor? Right now I have a Looptrotter and although it sounds really amazing, it can get a bit noisy.

@GearGrotto 4 года назад

About the same level as most tube gear or a bit lower. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BXn4vJAvcPE.html I suppose it could depend on the specific tubes in the unit.

@melsimons5418 4 года назад

Hello nice video On the master, it goes first in the chain or last i have the plugin..

@GearGrotto 4 года назад

Thanks, Mel. Exactly where you'd like to insert the HG-2 depends on the situation. For example you might want to run a sub bassy mix through the HG-2 and get some saturation/overtones from the sub bass, then subequently reduce the sub before going into a compressor and the rest of the chain. This way you're making the bass more audible without actually having as much sub in the final mix/master. In other cases you might want to have it after EQ and compression, so it's saturating an already fairly shaped and controlled signal. In some cases you might want to drive the HG-2 a bit harder and shave off some transients, and this might influence your decision as to whether you'd want it before or after other dynamic processors in your chain. In other words: it's individual per track/mix/situation.

@MASS_Studios 6 лет назад

It would be really great if you could compare this to software because its almost impossible to find that kind of videos on internet in general. And we really cant know how they compare against each other.

@GearGrotto 6 лет назад

Thanks for the suggestion, Gabrijel. It is indeed tricky to find good software harmonic enhancers. Maybe I'll be able to expand on this in a future video.

@GearGrotto 6 лет назад

I've now tested the HG-2 plug-in to the hardware, and in short: it's pretty close. The plug-in is a bit less smooth in especially in the high end. This makes the plug-in sound a bit more harsh.

@waverunner7063 4 года назад

Wasn't this the guy behind 1998 Danish dance project SOAP?

@sunnivapedersen-reng4377 6 лет назад

es nais

@chacra6studios79 3 года назад

big harmonics

@adriatic123 4 года назад

I wonder how good is plug-in version compared to the hardware unit.

@GearGrotto 4 года назад

Quite close in some respects. The high end smoothnes is missing in the plug-in, the mix of even and odd harmonics are not quite the same, and stereo width is more narrow. The controls are the same, but the settings are quite different from the hardware unit, i.e. you can't translate how you'd set the knobs on the hardware to the software. I'd say 7/10 - not bad!

@brettlarson4702 3 года назад

Voice narration is crushingly loud compared to music. Great demo though! FWIW ! :)

@lauraovalle3802 2 года назад

hi . May I know if the unit can also operate at 220v, the voltage in the area of Europe where I live?

@holgerlagerfeldt 2 года назад

Yes, 220V as well as 230V

@lauraovalle3802 2 года назад

@@holgerlagerfeldt Buy the unit in Canada there the voltage is 110v and you live in Europe 220v... Now it is doubtful if the unit is multivoltage.

@lauraovalle3802 2 года назад

@@holgerlagerfeldt It does not matter that it is bought in Canada where the voltage is 110v? .Does the unit have a multi-voltage transformer?

@RobbieRosewoodTv Год назад

What’s those circle speakers

@holgerlagerfeldt Год назад

Hi Robbie, the main speakers (black with yellow cones) are B&W 802 Diamonds. The small white speakers in the background are Scandyna MiniPods.

@tanner-rh6oo 7 лет назад

I dont know, man, the BX saturator sounds pretty damn good

@GearGrotto 7 лет назад

Heh heh ;-) Nothing wrong with digital saturation per se. It all depends on what you're after.

@tanner-rh6oo 7 лет назад

Don't get me wrong, the analog black box is way better, but 95% of the public can't tell a song that was mixed on a neve console and a 24 track studer analog deck, from a song that was mixed on fruity loops 4, making the price tag of the black analog box "seem" ridiculous to most...

@GearGrotto 7 лет назад

It's true that the gear itself is a lot less important than the man behind the gear. That goes for digital as well as analog. That said, if you can justify the investment AND you have the experience, you might prefer having the hardware for that extra vibe and tactile interaction.

@housemachine509 4 года назад

This or CV?

@Tazmanian_Ninja 5 лет назад

Nice review, although it feels more like an infomercial, tbh. And the levels are not properly matched. Perceptually, the affected signal is still louder.

@Tazmanian_Ninja 5 лет назад

Some weeks later, and being more informed, I must correct my statement above and say that level-matching is of course difficult when testing/discussing a device whose purpose is also to raise RMS levels. So perhaps peak-matching would make more sense. My "infomercial" comment came out a bit harsh, sorry. That said, I do still think the feel of a video like this could be steered less in that direction;)