Warmy EP1A Tube EQ free Pultec equalizer plugin by Kiive Audio

Kiive Audio has released a free plugin that aims to bring the tube warmth of the classic equalizer to your DAW.

The Warmy EP1A Tube EQ features low and high frequency sections with cut and boost controls, and a bandwidth knob for shaping the Q of the high boost. A single knob tube emulation algorithm adds in tube drive found in the hardware units.

The Warmy EP1A Tube EQ is a 1 to 1 analog modelled plugin based off of a modern take on the classic pultec EQs.

The EP1A offers low boost, low cut, high boost, high cut, and an added tube emulation knob to dial in the amount of tube intensity you want.

Warmy EP1A Tube EQ is a free download for Windows and Mac in VST, AU and AAX plugin formats.

For a limited time only you also get a 25% discount on Kiive Audio’s commercial plugins FilkChannel channel strip, Tape Face tape saturation, and Lunchbox Amp Sim.

More information: Kiive Audio

 

It's free and I never turn down a Pultec sim. It asks for an email but I just hammer smashed the keyboard then @'d an @ and it let me download it on the next page.

 

Meh... I can hardly believe I'm actually saying this, but.... AO's is worlds better.

 

AO sounds nothing like a real pultec shouldn't be compared to anything.
this is way better

 

Doing my own hearing/listening tests separately on drum & mix busses (dry unprocessed) tracks. More upper mid/highs than most other emulations other than the AO Rare SE which has a very open sound with emphasis on tight lows & high mids/highs.

The OverTone PTC-2A is the blandest sonically so far. The Ignite Amps variant is nowhere close to what should be considered.

My 'usable' list for testing so far:
OverTone PTC-2A
AO Rare
AO Rare SE
TubeTech PE 1C

Purposely left off any plugin with a large install size and, ones that are CPU eaters.

Update: Added Black Rooster Audio VEQ-1P to test setup. Removed Warmy.

 

Last edited: Jun 16, 2021

What's wrong with the Ignite Amps one? Sounds good to me.

 

Measurement comparison Warmy EP1A vs. AO Rare v6.1

All measurements were performed at a sample rate of 96kHz without oversampling.


1KHz sine wave @ -3dBFS:




10kHz sine wave @ -3dbFS:








FFT plot measurement 1 (Flat):




FFT plot measurement 2 (+10 & -5 @ 20Hz, +10 @ 8kHz):





Additional Notes:

Rendering with Dirac for the EQ settings as in FFT plot measurement 2 have shown that Warmy EP1A has a offset of 5 samples. Rare has an offset of ~1 sample, which was to be expected.

And did I mention how bad Warmy's ringing performance is? That's just the tip of the iceberg!
You really don't want to see what Warmy's oversampling looks like.









Wanna see how Warmy handles oversampling? (Input: Dirac @ -3dBFS)

 

Last edited: Jun 15, 2021

Not in the same league...Level is lowered just inserting plugin. Oversampling not fully actualized. Seems to only kick in when Tube is on. all Tube modes add noticeable heavy saturation sag. EQ applied to audio signal is weak.

 

Tubetech is a bit much isn't it.
Have you tried apogee? very light, officially endorsed

 

Now do a listen test with each Pultec variant on a separate Aux/Bus and switch between them focusing on overall treat as well as, individual frequency sections for differences. The Aux or bus should be the redirected output for the source.

Next. Do a combined listen of the two plugins ignoring the added gain. Where is the signal emphasized/de-emphasized?
Doing this combine technique will give some interesting & usable results. Especially with other Pultec variants.
Will leave it to you to discover for yourself.

 

No my plugin code better!
Mine gets applied first as it straightens the curve and cleans the air!
NO, my code make eq curves silky and smoove!
NO MINE BETTER!
Oh really, plugin tool?!
REALLY!!!

 

What do you mean by "a bit much"?
Apogee is $199 US vs $99 US for the Softube Tube-Tech (0.02% cpu).

Official endorsement means very little until you can actually experience the endorsed product for yourself.
Everything else is just hype.

 

about tubetech It's hard to explain but I understand why you put it last

that's fair but it's a pultec and there are a lot of emulations, meaning they must have got something right. Apogee is lighter than all pultecs in this thread and zero latency. I own it was only suggesting you check it out

 

Was there. Have my favorites already. Warmy is definitely not one of them. It smears around too much. Both in the frequency spectrum and on the time axis.

When I need something warm and vibey, I go for Purple. If I need something tighter, I go with Rare. When I want hardware, I route to the Langevin.

 

Thank you for the info

 

I quite like this one, especially the "tube mix" knob to add some saturation. Also like the AO, RuleTec, Tube-Tech and everything. Why have the nombawan best of the best when you can have 10 and pick one then switch if it doesn't give you what you want ?

 

Will be giving Kive Audio a pass for now. Found A few major bugs in their freebie. Has anyone tried cutting/attenuating low end? How much were you able to cut?

 

Hmmm I don't know for this but when I push the input knob some strange compression occurs instead of saturation, I've a strange feeling with this plugin

 

For me, the only use of this plugin would be as a kind of ER on an AUX . But for that I have better options. As a saturator or EQ, Warmy sucks!

 

Last edited: Jun 15, 2021

Makes me mad to see that two plugins that are supposed to model the same hardware show completely divergent behaviors. Is it really too much to expect an accurate emulation from a plugin that claims to model the real thing?