Just wondering. I have recently been pondering over purchasing a second hand UAD2 PCIe Solo or Duo to dip my feet in and try the UAD plugins. However, I'm just wondering whether there's any other plugins out there already that I've missed that do just as good a job in emulating analogue/classic hardware?

What are your favourite hardware emulation plugins that sound the best and most true-to-analogue?

PS - i mean outboard gear and effects rather than synths and so on!

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2016

Klanghelm has the best for the money in my opinion.. MUJC !!

 

I can null most of them down to about -70dB with a waveshaper for each stage of their non-linearity.i'd honestly say none.from what i can gather,these analogue models seem to be based on some kind of wavetable type approach to transfer functions.a few that are particularly good though:SDRR,The Glue (you can drive it into distortion if you so wish),Positive Grids stuff (most of it,apart from the FX which are pretty generic)and the cream of the crop is still Nebula,it's too subtle for most,but then again,that is the inherent problem with analogue modelling altogher.Nebula is too subtle and circuit modelling runs out of juice after a certain amount of input and starts sounding obviously waveshaped.pick your handicap

 

For anyone interested, I found this video. Changed my way of thinking about it and quite an interesting perspective!

 

Acqua plugins and nebula

 

Just finished mixing some stuff

With this...

This is fucken real and unexpensive

really a great tool...if you know how to use it...

You may never use a single VST plug


PeaceR


http://harrisonconsoles.com/site/mixbus32c.html

 

could you elaborate on how it compares to reason as it was based on an analogue system too.?.

 

Reason is a DAW but with a modular rack approach emulating real devices in a chain audio path system


HMB32C is a DAW that was made like it was an emulation of a whole Harrisson board circuitry

Go look it up and try it for yourself

You just can't compare things that are not the same

peaceR

 

Last edited: Jul 4, 2016

Did you try Waves and IK T-RackS stuff? From Waves: SSL, PuigTec, CLA-2A and CLA-76, J37, Reel ADT. From IK I'd say British Channel, Black 76 and Bus Comp, also excellent Lexicon-style reverbs.

 

so they are not both daws

 

Yes ! Good initiative... .

Of course, the price of each individual available Plugin could be a 'pain in the a... ' for some Users, but it really worth to invest in your needed/desired 'emulation(s)' if you want to get as close as possible that the real Hardware Unit(s).

Moreover, if you plan to get the real Hardware Units counterparts, you guess... either you'll not find so easily a 'second hand' Unit, not to mention their respective price(s) on the Market !

Apart 'UAD Plugins', and as you plan to buy a 'second hand' gear, you should also take a look at 'TC PowerCore' Plugins & Products (which you can perhaps also get as 'second hand').
Either 'UAD' or 'TC PowerCore' are really great pieces of gear (within the 'emulations' field).

Some Users may argue that they prefer either an emulation Plugin of 'UAD' or another, others will prefer an emulation Plugin of 'TC PowerCore' or another, but both brands are really of high qualities...

I'm own both and the Audio/Sound qualities are here !!!


As you certainly know most of the 'UAD' Products & Plugins, below you'll find some 'TC PowerCore' Products & Plugins :

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2016

They are both DAW

one is rather modular with devices that emulate real outboard gear

and the other is just a mixing board emulated

peaceR

 

SKnote Disto and C165a.

 

Mc DSP 6050

 

The Harrison mixbus c32 Sounds great! I use it as a mixing console linked to Reaper (thru ReRoute) for editing and running 32 bit plugins, if I need them.
I gotta say I use way fewer plugins than I used to and I love having 12 mixing busses all ready to go. Apply 1 reverb plug and everything else is already routed.

I also run the mixbus c32 on a touch screen monitor, and it has wonderful touch response on all functions. Reapers touch is kinda clunky and easier operated with a mouse..

Best of both worlds for me, Reaper has all my customization for creating and editing. Then I use mixbus c32 for mixing. The whole project is still live, all vsti and reaper plugins can still be adjusted.

My best plug in emulation: Harrison Mixbus 32C. Technically it is rerouted not plugged in, however it functions as a giant analogue mixing desk plugin with dynamics, EQ, and routing all accessible all the time.

 

Last edited: Aug 15, 2016

For how many years is the powercore out of production now? Five? I'd advise against buying something with no driver development and support for current and future operating systems.

Ok, so the analog domain and the digital domains use different reference values (dBVU vs dBFS). In the digital domain there is no such thing as +2dB. If you want harmonic distortion (what you relate to if you talk about +2dB analogue) you use a saturation plugin. Are your really trying to overdrive your daw like analogue gear?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel

 

Don't get into UAD if you are looking to save money.

In my opinion their emulations are much better than WAVES or any of the others. To answer the OP question I like the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor quite a bit. I really like having the discrete and the optical style processing. It is very useful and desirable to me for in the box mixing. It uses a lot of UAD power though. The SK thing doesn't compare at all to it.

The UAD DBX160, the Pultechs, the Fairchilds and the 1176 are all far superior in my opinion than the competing products from WAVES or Slate. They do the job without pinching the sound or leaving a glassy thin quality on what you process through them. Having them use the satellite or interface DSP and not the CPU power is a real productivity booster for me. I do like the Waves DBX160 mix knob though. It allows parallel processing on one channel instead of having to actually open another fader. But I still prefer the sound of the UAD version.

It is a big investment to get all of the plugins you need to do basic mixing. Also having only a single or dual chip UAD device is not going to go very far as far as having UAD plugins on more than a few elements. The plugins themselves can be kind of pricey too. Each one may cost more than the hardware you are considering and you will not get many instances out of that hardware. Might be better to save up for a Quad or Octo Satellite.

I also really like the Neve 88r channel strip, it has a lot of function and character and uses relatively little DSP power. The API channel also sounds really nice and is really worth having.

An often overlooked plugin from UAD is the Precision Limiter. It has some very nice features and actually sounds transparent when you near or cross the threshold. The other plugins I used to use like the L2 family and the FabFilter stuff left that phasey residue that the UAD stuff doesn't. That glassy, digital, thinner, boxier, aliasing color. Maybe sometimes that is what is called for but I prefer the UAD color. Once you get used to UAD it is really hard to listen to the WAVES/Slate versions. It is like a knife in your ear.


Also the 2 track Ampex tape emulation is really good. It has a wide range of coloration and effects you can do with it. The Studer one is not as useful to me, but also sounds good. It slays the Slate tape emulation as far as making things sound better, and adding depth and dimension to the material. I was really disappointed in the Slate product.

Good luck.

 

Last edited: Aug 15, 2016

u-he Satin is just killer. I love that thing. I have been trying to love Presswerk, but try as I may have yet to translate the sound in my head into a reasonable and realistic facsimile when I record.

 

Eventide harmonizers, they aren't digital though(including orig outboard), killerFX nontheless.
Acustica TAN compressor is very nice as well, esp on drumtracks, it leaves the bottom end mostly in tact.

 

Last edited: Aug 15, 2016

Ya agree with that .... It coast but nothing in native plugin have the same quality UAD for life