PA knif soma is way better than Azure on the high mid, and PA bx_console 9099 is better than Amethyst especially the comp.

AA plugins I keep for now are: Ash, Blond, El Rey, Gold, Midnight, Taupe, Pink, and Ultramarine.

 

using on busses can give a transparent high end effect. they don't seem too cpu hungry there are worse. nice to have THANK YOU R2R! and Giancarlo!!!

 

"...a series of plugins inspired by the world of vintage sound but re-engineered with contemporary studio needs in mind, preserving that feeling of authenticity."
Is there a point where logic breaks down?

 

I've now encountered someone who has some AA stuff (legit, afaik) and I've heard it for myself. And I got to say I really do think that they may be on to something with their saturation and their eqs. I tried the Brown stuff and it seemed to impart something very nice. To me the compression is utterly useless if for no other reason than it's very hard to make good adjustments when you have to wait two to three seconds to hear what the heck you even just did. It could just be "new sound" syndrome, I wouldn't know until I've heard it at home and lived with it for a few days. At this point I don't think there's any reason I would consider buying any of it for myself but it does sound like it's pretty good. Even the little Pumpkin plug made guitar tracks nice.

 

Marketing-speak.

 

interesting video where he compares the curves of CL1B Compressor hardware, Softube's emulation and Acustica's emulation. Softube's is way off, Acustica's is extremely close.

I have used a hardware one for years, and picked up softubes a few years ago, i immediately thought something wasnt right. It was close, but it wasnt right. This doesnt mean its a shit plugin, but if you are after the CL1B sound you are familiar with, it aint it. Acustica's meanwhile has always felt right. Even though its a different model they sampled.

 

the closest is UADs paid one imo

:edit
thought were talking about eq, my bad

 

Last edited: Dec 1, 2023

I have a very well trained musical ear . But the engineering ear is not trained at all , yet . I did try 2 out of couriosity . I thought , the gold eq sounded much better than my stock eq . But I might have been mislead .I will have to do my own blind tests Checked some youtube . I am always wondering how much it was changed by its compression . On some blind tests on youtube I could spot a difference but I was always distracted by the music ( this or that musical aspect should be changed first ,which would be much more of a difference ) . i cannot listen to the example above because the autotune thing gets too much on my nerves . matter of taste. I am pretty sure , some of those can make a difference in the right hands .

 

Quick question: anybody tried PA SHMC vs Aquamarine ?

RE: A comment on the SS has piqued my interest (only just slightly).. any truth to this?

"acustica plugins .. sound awesome if you cant hear the difference you are deaf or amateur , just compare the aquamarine with plugin alliance shadow hills and you notice how it crush the pa shadow hill , if you work with analogs you notice how pure and clean acustica plugins sound compair to other plugins !"

 

nope

UAD doesnt make any emulation of TT CL1B. They just sell the Softube version inside their dsp market: it is 100% a Softube product

 

Last edited: Dec 1, 2023

a stock EQ cant be compared to the "Gold EQ" by AA or any other "analogue emulation plugin". An analog emulation adds distortion, harmonic content, non linearities and so on, instead a stock plugin is usually "transparent" ***

*** unless your stock plugin is emulating some kind of analogue hardware, like the Pultec emulation that comes stock inside Cubase 13

 

I honestly avoid those kind of "ABSOLUTE JUDGMENTS" comparing 2 emulations. It's impossible to have a definitive word on something that involves personal taste, program material your using and the moment you try it

try yourself and choose what fits better your music in that moment (you are lucky to have both...)

 

i have! I also spent years with the real thing. Used it almost daily. Plugin alliances is good, but acustica's is better. Feels more full? Idk how else to describe it. The envelopes / attack & release are pretty different between the two. Sonically very different plugins. Some people hate acustica's compression, but they do have some suites where it sounds great.

 

30-40% truth I guess ?

Ignoring all of the above, so you're a fan of PA Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor (which one ?, I assume the never Limited Edition Class A) and think it sounds good do the job for you, no problem whatsover, but somehow you hear someone said there's a similar plugin, that emulated the same hardware that supposedly do the job better, sounds better but cleaner (?), and somehow you become curious and want to try for yourself. Is that correct ? or...

it's just the "if you cant hear the difference you are deaf or amateur" triggered you for no reason ? haha

 

When they started releasing Aquas was hyped as lot of us and bought almost every plugin they made. Then sold everything but Nebula which they abandoned. Now even don't interesting in latests news on AZ cos think UAD is much better in performance and sound. Luckily they changed pricing policy.

 

The problem with Acustica plugins is they're sample based and not actual algorithms which make it bloated and high latency.

 

Many people believe that any development person or company should focus on making a couple of 'flagship' plugins that are really at the top of the plugin field, instead of many plugins. I agree with this. Having their plugin become a 'go-to' for most high-end studios should be a goal for any developer.

This stated, Giancarlo has created a batch of plugins that are good and some, very good. Some too CPU heavy, some glitchy and some belong back to the drawing board. So which plugin is the flagship? Nebula? That has been abandoned... It seems like a lot of variations on the same concept with several EQ, BUS and Compressor and saturation plugins. Is there ONE standout plugin? No? Well there you have it.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Dec 1, 2023

After those days my implementation with acustica became pretty simple:

I Avoid compression on most cases (tube compressors to this moment are the most solid ones and i may use em time by time). So the full strip is never an option, even because the plugins make more sense for me as individual building blocks.

Any algo saturation plugin that i had before on my busses i took it off and replaced by Acustica, except for clippers and tapes. All the remaining processing i can possibly do on busses is going to be 100% digital/DAWlike processing. This decision was made because Acustica plugins have (in most cases) auto gain compensation and a solid hardware-like sound. I want avoid dirt at bussing. I respect my busses the same as i respect their faders (unit). So i can get both the compression from the distortion to bring apparent loudness and attention without creating a mess with chains, plus the analog mojo at one plugin instance. Bingo.

For me, the preamps and EQ's are the secret sauce. The preamp for the reasons mentioned above (and if you choose the right ones you can create layers of depth and color on the mix). And the Eq's are something it just can't explain logically. I got pissed with a few ones(especially at beginning) but now i got my favorites and what they do is just add magic boosts and cuts with a very proeminent character. That's the thing i couldn't explain. How can some Eq's be so sweet and other just dirty bastards.


USE ACUSTICA AUDIO ON MASTERING! Your track and yourself will be found laughing at the end of the day.

 

clearly I don't agree about the "if you cant hear the difference you are deaf or amateur". I'm not a moron, and the whole comment sounds stupid in itself. Analog is cleaner than digital ? for real ? hahahahah.

I ask you before trying to give my answer according to it, the answer is different depending on your situation. I don't even have that kind of thought about people randomly like that when it comes to plugins unless you are doing BasedPirate for 2 weeks straight. cringe af. old enough to understand we all hear things differently and different taste at that. wtf.. haha. why you even triggered by something you haven't even do, trying the plugin. how the hell anyone would ever judge you for something you havent done. omg. If you can't hear 6db of changes is a whole different story tho.

real question : what is a sugartits ?

 

Last edited: Dec 1, 2023

Jog On, Sugartits...Sounds like a concept album.