Here we have a 6k hardware vs 200$ plugin ( a lot less in sales) video.
Sure, hardware is more open, transients, highs more natural but i personally prefer the low end on the plugin in this video.
Though this is Ivory 4, the older version. Ivory 5 is even a better suite.
Audio comparison starts at 5:10.

 

Last edited: Apr 7, 2022

Had it for a few years (the plugin, that is). Usable stuff, but the preamps are weirdly smeary, probably the worst i've heard from AA, the multiband comp also sounds weird, usable, but weird. The single band comp sounds pretty deep, don't know what's going on there but i stopped using it because of that. Never used the dynamic EQ and by the time the limiter came out i just didn't care anymore.

I mostly used only the EQ with the pre off which is the way streaky uses it too (can't possibly imagine why), but in my head that kind of defeats the whole purpose, so i ended up selling it.

It's an acquired taste i guess.

 

DL the wav files for the YT video and compare on a high-end system - that's what i did here.
It's a difference like night/day. The hardware has clear defined bass, lively dimension and just open sounding. In 1:1 comparison the AA Ivory is just dull, flat,sterile and unemotional sounding.

Clear winner: the hardware!

 

Last edited: Apr 6, 2022

If you want clean and a tad warmish get Scarlet. Ivory is very clean, sterile if you will but can target frequencies with surgical precision.
If i could i would get hardware, but i would not sell the plugin.

 

Last edited: Apr 7, 2022

As @hackerz4life said earlier, the Ivory plugin is thought in a way like the MEA-2 with precision and targetting in mind, where other EQs like the Massive Passive or the Hendy Amps Michelangelo have topologies lying around a more "vibey" sound with no stepped knobs on gain and that emphasis around mid bands.

Some EQs like the Sontec MES-432 C or the Fairman TMEQ, you could just pass audio through them without touching any band and still get the widening and added "cohesion" into the final Master.
This is an actual trick a prolific french mastering engineer gave me when I was talking to him online about ITB/OTB/Hybrid processing:
On recent rap albums, just passing audio through his TMEQ or using the Upper-mid band just to soften the lyrics definitely adds what is needed on the track. It makes sense in a way on how tubes behave and add that famous glorious low-end or mid-frequency "grabbing" to the ear.

On Streaky's video, the difference is astonishing, the hw indeed sounds better which is no surprise to me but I give props to AA for how much they got close to it. The Pre in the AA version definitely adds smearing to the sound (to my ears) hence why it's always disabled on my processing chains.

If you are working ITB anyway you know about those digital "caveats" and try to work around them to get to that sonic sweetspot.

 

and then the blind test, 6k hardware vs 200$ plugin vs stock plugins

 

After trying for a while, Ivory from acustica I can simply say that the plugin suite is good especially if you buy it in promo.. But :

Individually there is one problem though, the multiband and classic eq are very strange, there is like an eraser that deletes some transient, even when the pre is disabled!
And the input trim generates a rumble in the low end of the spectrum which tends to be pleasant on some drumbus but it is rare... too rare.

The MS EQ is much better and more accurate to my ears, I also prefer the dynamic eq even if compared to the size it takes and the cpu work I greatly prefer Q3 or Weiss Q1

The compressor which is not an emulation of Maselec but a reproduction of the functioning of a band of the Multiband of Ivory, it gives a good discharge and has a good point of impact especially with the sidechain active, on the other hand I find it really not pleasant to use it has tendencies to slip some clik and jump of CPU especially at the time of a session of mixing with several instances in several track/group

Let's talk about the limiter. If you want to wake up the S and very high frequencies and totally crush the dynamics of any track it's the best plugin in the world if you want to crush and make your mix a toblerone without such transients it's the tool you need! A Limiter worthy of the loudness war

Acustica are marketing and communication geniuses (used and promoted by Streaky) but their plugins clearly have a lot of work to do before they reach the quality level of the physical units...

Already what is the point of calling a suite an emulation if there is no plugin in it that has a correct relationship in plugin doctor and our DAW.

I also have Magenta, Coral, Honey, Ultramarine of Acustica the first 3 are excellent but as regards ultramarine and Ivory it is very very bland!

Analog obsession make better emulations auditively and on the paper of the listening and the analysis in plugin doctor!

I would like that the designers worry a little more about the sounds and the physical mathematical report rather than the appearance and the marketing buisness

 

Listen to the pre of this plug-in and you'll see how bullshit the preamp emulation they're talking about. I suggest there is an underrated emulation called eq 432 from ik multimedia. The top of q is sharper and there is some oversampling. It's more accurate, sharper, and sounds much better.

 

Better is also a matter of personal perception. I like some of Ik plugins but Ivory is a killer suit of tools that can really take your production to the next level.