One of the best is free, softube saturator knob.

 

Yep, short delays or something like dimension expander to make sounds fuller and wider.

Also UAD? I think they have some great emulations that add warmth. I'm not a hardware user so I don't know if it's the same but I trust the word from experienced grammy winning engineers who say that they can't tell the difference in some cases. Although I understand that software is still not hardware. Nebula is another story of course.

 

Except you don't put dynamics processors in the sends and glue is no saturator.

 

Cut mids, hype lows and highs. Basically smiley face EQ

 

Acustica Audio Nebula or Acqua plugins : some are free.
And some are on Computer Music vault ;)

A single instance on master bus already do wonder.

 

Yeah, how could it forget the psp.....very nice indeed. Helped me out many times.

 

I don't like dim exps cuz they cause phase issues

What with uad? uad is the same processing usint as native vst, nothing more, I'm reading dsp books right now and when I read about nonlinearity I understand why they all using approximations implemented in diff equations to calculate all this shit but tbh nothing more than regular native dsp code in vst

So I'm begin an anolugue lover, just in one month of research

can you please explain why do you think so? it seems like they using convolutions instead of algorithms and equations, but personally for me alos is much better choice cuz convos taking too much hdd space

 

what the difference between compressor and distortion/saturator? same things, but diff amounts and comp have att/rel feature

 

only for fun

 

Hahahahahhhhaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

 

lol

 

Not necessarily. Most so-called "exciters" are actually using heavy compression then EQ to bring up the quiet parts of your sound and hype it up, then you just mix it in to taste

Actually, you sometimes do, for parallel compression. Andrew Scheps does that all the time with the 1176. However, the SSL bus compressor (or "glue", if you insist, I hate the buzzword) has a punchy sound by itself and is better off used slightly (2-4 dB of GR) on buses. It does color the sound a bit, however SSL consoles are pretty clean by themselves unless you do what the rock guys did - do EQ moves with like +20dB and put it through compression. The bus compressor itself is very much transparent, though

Back on topic, if you're looking for "warmth" (whatever that is), I'd start with one of these:

Full disclosure: I mostly work with Waves plugins because I'm used to them. As I'm writing this post I'm browsing through my plugins, so I'm fairly confident there will be a fair amount of Waves plugins here. Plenty of other options exist if you can't stand Waves.

RC-20 by XLN Audio ($79.95)
https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/effect/rc-20_retro_color

Retro sound right out of the box, some presets are a bit too much. Play with the Magnitude slider

Some presets to try out:

• Sampler 12-bit (Noisy)
• VHS
• Vinyl 1
• Cassette 1st Generation
• Cassette Generations later

Kramer HLS Channel by Waves ($249, on sale $29)
http://www.waves.com/plugins/kramer-hls-channel

The preamp is quite subtle, but try the bass EQ. The lowest knob does a cut of -3/6/9/12/15 dB at 50 Hz if you turn it down, but acts as a frequency knob if you turn it towards the upper numbers. Then it selects 60/120/250/400 Hz, and you use the + knob to boost. The thing is, it still somehow boosts in a very pleasant way, even if you just select 120 Hz without any boost. It's a great trick, try it out!



PuigTec EQP-1A by Waves ($299, on sale $49)
http://www.waves.com/plugins/puigtec-eqs

Yes, it's "just an EQ". But the Pultec has tubes on its input and output, and you can do some great tricks with it. Smoothing out the highs is your highest priority, so dial that Atten knob for the highs to 7 and switch the frequency to 10k. Boost 30/60 Hz to taste and cut out a dip. Switch between 30 and 60 Hz then pick the one you like better. If it gets muddy you can try to add a bit of 3/4 kHz as well



Analoger by Plug&Mix ($49)
http://www.plugandmix.com/products/p882-Analoger

Be careful not to overdo it, but at 30-40% it can make the mix just a little bit cooler. Experiment with the mix knob, too!



Radiator by Soundtoys ($129)
http://www.soundtoys.com/product/radiator

At times, it needs to be pushed a lot to hear the effect, but you can definitely get some round bottom out of it



Revival by Slate Digital (FREE)
http://slatedigital.com/Revival

This one is great! Turn up the shimmer a bit and listen how your mix comes alive!



Virtual Tape Machines by Slate Digital ($149)
http://slatedigital.com/virtual-tape-machines

Just switch it to 15ips and pin the needles on the right! Instant tape goodness

 

Inflator does incredible things. If you can't hear what it does you need surgery

 

All time, depends on design

I can't agree

No, when this thing compressing the signak it adds some even harmonics. This harmonics called SSL sound

 

that will cause something like phase distortion

this is a bunch of approximation equations in white papers, what is more abstract math functions, not the simulations, just fair amount of math and code

I will try, but it seems like just nice gradual filter slope with boost (resonance). But I suppose this plugin based on spice-model approximation.

I guess in the Pultec design (I haven't seen schematic though) there no op-amps and amping/boosting made by tubes. And this is the main reason why this eq sounds pleasant. But in plugin there no tubes, just equations.

I will try. Thanks!

I plan to dev something like that, but I'm still learning c++

yeah, this is a mix of even and odd harmonics

I have never used these plugins, maybe someday I will have time for them.

Yep, all this plugins color the sound, but everytime this is an approximations or just math function like tanh(x) (maybe this function used in Ableton Saturator, but I'm sure about foldback), not exact simulations of hw. I believe someday that's would be possible to simalate all physical processes in the code, but today it's quite difficult task. No one trying to simulate hw this way. For example match Minimoog simulation with real Minimoog and you will notice the difference (even between plugins).

 

I'm no Nebula expert but I've read so many times that it's the closest thing to hardware .. it must be true I guess. But I'm not interested, I'm satisfied with my UAD and other mixing tools.

Well, that's your opinion. So I'll skip surgery this time.

 

use what you like

 

Which does a pretty good job of making digital sound not so digital

Not really. Here are the settings:



And the actual data:

No idea as they won't tell you the technical details. I did find some information in the manual, though:

So... not quite as simple

Just like with any plugin. However, you can always measure what the tube does and derive an equation from it. Here's the schematic, reverse engineered by Gyraf (a legend in DIY audio, most 1176 clones use his schematics):



Source: http://www.gyraf.dk/gy_pd/pultec/pultec.htm

There also seems to be the actual manual of the original floating around here: http://www.thehistoryofrecording.com/Manuals/Pultec/Pultec_EQP-1A_Manual.pdf

Okay, so now let me tell you: it ain't that simple and you've got at least 3 years to go. Do you insist on making your own plugins? Well, then you've got to learn C++. Great, now learn how to use external libraries. And then you realize there's the whole "how it sounds" part of the thing, you start to read about DSP, and then you see the equation



Unless you've got the guts to become an actual engineer and get to study for a technical degree, plus you're okay with learning more than they'll already require, just forget the idea. If you really insist... well, see you in several years. "I'm still learning C++" isn't a good sign, though

Not only. It can be a boost in the low mids, it can be additional harmonics, it can be subharmonic generator, it can be just a compressor. The thing with audio buzzwords is "round bottom" is very subjective, just like "warmth" is (whatever the hell it means)

It depends. The "math function" you're talking about, where x is the input signal, affects the signal in the time domain, which allows you to do things like volume/pan/mute/M-S/delay/distortion. For things like EQ, convolution (so cabinet simulation as well) and filtering you need to be friends with the Fourier transform, which is the lovely equation above. Good luck grasping it without at least some knowledge from a technical university.

Also, the function is definitely not tanh(x). Most electronic parts (diodes, tubes, etc) react a bit similarly to increasing input signal, which is: at first there's no signal, then the signal slowly comes in, and at some point the part can't "keep up" with the increasing level, so it starts to freak out and spit out less than what came in. You can very much do it with an equation, but not quite as simply. Here's a graph of what I'm talking about

It's already happening since a few years. There's even open source software like LiveSPICE - http://www.livespice.org. It already emulates Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Marshall Blues Breaker, Ibanez and Fender Bassman preamp. On an Intel i5 5200 (Sandy Bridge) the simulations can run at 97.2kHz with 8x oversampling, or 2.2x realtime at 44.1kHz.

This stuff is obviously just to make simpler, "good enough" versions of equations because it brute-forces modelling of every single component. However, with some skill you can do it. See https://www.kvraudio.com/product/vhl-3c-by-black-rooster-audio

 

Agree, all this methods need to be implemented

This is noise or aliasing?

 

I meant Kramer plugin

Very strange behavior, I've never seen things like that.

No, I don't have that very expensive gear, so I would like to use open source schematic for simulation.

I'm reading books, but I don't have a lot of time for doing this quick (I'm just still studying at the university), so I'm in no hurry, because it's just interesting to me

I do this for fun and for self-development, because I still do not see the point of equaling with these cool guys. I'm just an ordinary guy from the province. I'm not so smart, educated and rich to do something great, but I'm trying and maybe God will give me the opportunity to learn something and then I can teach my children something. If I manage to do something, then I'll be happy about it.

Thank you for kind words! Do you have formal education?

Yeah, I remember this equation from university course and I want to use it in my music=) Maybe sometime...

It was a very interesting observation! Where can I read more about this and where can I find the equations that describe this phenomenon?

At the moment, I decided to postpone the question of simulations and just start writing simple plug-ins (even if they do not sound good) - just to start from the business and gain experience. But in future I would like to model a lot of cool things

Look, there also nice article for beginners
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=329696