Pulsar is giving away a software version of the 3-band equalizer that became a mastering legend and is still in use today

There’s an argument for saying that you shouldn’t download every free plugin that gets released - limiting your gear choices can certainly make you more productive - but when that plugin is what looks like a solid emulation of a classic EQ, it’s hard to pass it up.

Pulsar’s w495 reboots the much-loved Neumann EQ of the same - the one that Pulsar reckons was “used to master 90% of the vinyl records manufactured from the 1970s to the 1990s”. There was a reason for this, of course: it sounds lovely, even when pushed to extreme levels, and remains popular to this day.

The new plugin promises to recreate that sound, and can be applied both to individual tracks and an entire mix. Additional features that weren’t present in the hardware include visual curve editing and a spectrum analyser, though you can still just twist the knobs and 'mix with your ears' if you wish.

Pulsar claims to have gone right down to component level with its w495 modelling, taking into account its subtle band saturations, the unique sound of its output transformers and the distinct sonic characteristics in the low, mid and high frequencies. There are also mid/side routing options, presets, a resizable GUI and comprehensive metering options.

The Pulsar w495 will ultimately retail for $49, but it’s free until the end of October. It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, so should work for pretty much everyone.

Find out more and download it on the Pulsar website:
https://pulsar.audio/w495/

Original article:
https://www.musicradar.com/news/pulsar-neumann-w495-eq-free-plugin

 

Looks nice shame it's has that I lock BS.

 

Not sure what you're referring to with "high end video systems", works fine for me.
Edit: Think you're talking about the rendering engine Pulsar uses. I use OpenGL and it works fine, the default is dx11 or dx12 which doesn't work for me. They have a dedicated program to switch the rendering engine if the default doesn't work.

I love Pulsar for including the most crucial element in an EQ for me: Auto-gain.
To my knowledge, they're the only plugin devs forward-thinking enough to add this to analog emulations. Most companies are PETRIFIED of improving upon the original hardware, but Pulsar always does (Usually quite significantly)
Lookahead for pulsar mu & 1178, more bands for 8200, adjustable saturation with massive & 1178, different saturation modes for 1178, ect.

Shame that they use iLok though, I won't support them until they remove that useless horseshit.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 24, 2023

Luckily, our sister has a solution for this.

 

Yes it does. So many fixes there.

 

pulsar plugins have issues with video rendering. They supposedly have a separate "fix" for each of their apps (which in/of itself is pretty fuckin dumb) but that "fix" only patches the VSTi's and leaves the AAX's out in the cold. THEY choose to use some lame duck rendering engine that apparently writes directly to the GPU instead of using system video api's like everyone else. Then when their lame duck shit doesn't work they complain that the video card OEM's are at fault when issues arise with their plugins crashing themselves or the host daw's they are being used with. ridiculous...

TO pulsar...
Every other dev and their grandma's in the entire industry seems to be able to work within the confines of the specs laid out by the video hardware OEM's except you all... You all (a tiny little piddly audio plugin crapper) know better than the entire industry when your lame duck shit fails and you have the audacity to blame someone else.

 

Bad but...
Still better than Arturia bitmaps

 

What?? You DON'T like installing 20gb worth of UI elements??? That's crazy!!

 

I would not install this, It crashed mhy Fl Studio and corrupted my Nectar 3 plug.

 

It neither crashed PD nor Reaper, nor did it corrupt anything here.

 

So... is this another free thing that doesn't work without iLok?

I'm asking this because they don't mention it in "System Requirements". Is it possible that it works without the iLok dongle?

 

Sadly, , see https://pulsar.audio/faq/, but ...

 

Sounds like you have a system that's vulnerable to pulsar video rendering lameness. I have same issue. However, if you get the pulsar tool fix from their site for the plugin in question (how stupid is that, they had to make a SEPARATE tool for each fucking plugin, instead of FIXING the fuckin problems' root cause) run it and it will patch the VST's. Set it to render "legacy open-GL"... If you run protools you'll have to run the VST's via patchwork (vst wrapper) because pulsar's piece of shit "fix tool" doesn't bother patching the AAX. IN fact don't even bother installing the AAX at all. They're worthless..