Wytse, just a stupid question from my side: Wouldn't it be a lot easier and faster to get in contact with Thomann if you want to test equipment? You are running a business, I guess things would be a lot more relaxed if you did it this way.

Is it just me or is the Stam the cleanest out of all of them? Warmy being on the opposite spectrum.

i just got the analogue obsession version of this and I really like it. More than the UAD version..

ALwyz love the Wamey BUT listen Wytzee Now I can hear the Brittle Hi so whutz this? It is the Truth that every Emulation is only the best and almost analog UNTILL yu get the Hardware becuzz than it not sounding like the HW anymore, how can?

12:20 yes please!

The Hardware unit definitely has more vibe. The Acoustica's a close second followed by Warmy, then UAD then Slate

Maybe I'm just stupid but they all sound very similar, except for the Slate which seemed slightly duller. Here's what I heard: The Stam is a bit more tight, forward and lively. Acustica is the most gooey and lofi. UA has the best upper frequencies on the voice - 'polished' and 'finished' sound. Finally the Warmy nothing stands out in particular but holds its own very well. Won't hesitate to use it in any mix! Listening on the apple wired earbuds btw. Again I must say, it's just splitting hairs. All of them will achieve very similar end result, especially when compounded.

hardware sounded best of all, kiive is closest, but with extensive highs, rest of all meh. never was a hw guy, never had a hw

Stam definitely the king.

warmy

Sometimes I think I'd love to see mastering compressor comparisons, then remember they're 10k each. Their plugins being 30 bucks. Then I remember most are digital EQ's w/ maybe a box tone, and return to ReaEQ. Still some special ones out there tho

analog vs digital = all bogus by now.

Why are you screaming? Take it easy man. we can hear you Love your vids! The diff between these Pultec clones listening on YT are small. Pick whatever...I have the Waves and UA versions.

Expensive aside, any analog hardware can make your music sound greater than any plugin around...

AnalogEQs ITB that are underestimated: 1) Crysonic ANUNA 2) Kiive Audio Mastering EQ 3) Tone Projects-Hendyamps Michelangelo 4) Plugin Alliance-Tomo Audiolabs LISA 5) Plugin Alliance-Black Box Analog HG-Q (built before the hardware version!) 6) The EQ on Kiive Audio-Mixland 3348 7) The EQ on TEAC-6100 MK II Saturation plugins are BETTER than Analog EQs: 1) JMG Darkfire (United Plugins) 2) JAM/JAM 2 and Pumpkin PRO (Acustica Audio) 3) MIA Laboratories Pi & Phi vII & vIII 4) W.A Production RedClip

Great video! I always like comparisons like this between the actual hardware But you missed my fav one which should not be slept on! TimP Dual Tech V2 - this is a 3rd party lib for Acustica Nebula. Nebula is kind like its own thing and lives of 3rd party devs

Listen to the snare on the Stam analog unit versus the plugins and that tells most of the story. Surprising amount of difference between the plugins, agreed that it's not straightforward to just say one is better than another, although the Slate one sounded least good out of all of them to my ears.

Thanks for the heads up on the Warmy, it vibes nicely and gets the lows right. The highs aren’t quite as nice- more precise and slightly less yum-factor than the analog. The Acustica gets the highs and lows right but it doesn’t sound as alive as the analog. I use the Acustica one for individual tracks and i’m about to start using this Warmy.

the SD-PE1 is pretty good... the STAM is much better though and not that expensive for what it is

Such a big difference :) my old ears hunted white tinitus made out some(mostly how load or dirty) difference by the bass section, mid range was close (the tone from the Lady was more consistent), on the high i can't say much because of standard peep tone. But i learned how important my own PC soundcard setting, that made a huge difference to amplify part of the sound regions...if i can tell white my broken english what i mean. Swiching of the equaleser made more flat the tone what i thinked, would change sound.

Is it just me, or this is how I see it? Kiive and Stam sound the most natural while UA and Acoustica sound compressive and Slate sounding digital. Stam still sounding best.

The Stan was first and the UA audio. Was second. Everything else wasn’t making it.

Disappointed you didn't test the Noiseash Pultec, a lot of people consider that the best pultec. But ultimately, these all sound so close, does it even matter? The Slate one though, sounds a bit flat and dull to me.... Yes listening on monitors. What you're calling a big difference in sound is in reality a very small difference.

What's the deal with the nail color?

Omg you did it! Thank you!

1. Thanks for this comparative video, and yes - would like other such formatted videos please. 2. Another difference between analog and software is you can always resell the analog ouboard. 3. In fairness to software, as I and several other musicians who lost their studios in the L.A. fires know, software doesn't burn down. Lastly, to my ears the UAD Pultec sounded the best, but it could've been my Sennheiser earphones. Will check again with other cans.

Warmy for me sounds the closest..

Love Sandstorm by Darude! The hardware unit sounds a bit more silky in the mid highs, better vocal tone.

Stop painting your nails, Dude. What happened to men … fluoride and Hollyweird.

Analogue had more heft in the lows IMO. otherwise the plugins did pretty well. My fave being the UAD and Kiive.

High end gear 100% makes a difference when you're in a great room... The problem is we compress the audio quality and play back in undesirable ways. Therefore it generally doesn't matter.

Waves eq1a?!

Omg so glad to see you make a video on this! I saw when this product went live, and got excited to see them take the SSL12 and keep moving that idea onwards. Is nobody talking about the insanely casual TB mic drip??? No, we’re just gonna keep going…? Maximum aura tbh I think the main reason for having that external TB input is because they have the LMC built into the interface (Listen Mic Compressor). I think that’s a great of them to add since they released a plugin of it and the 500 series version is close to about $600. Wish it was stereo though (I’m assuming it’s mono currently, but I can’t confirm either way). I was the same level of disappointed as you were about the word clock since that keeps it at the tier of an 18i20 as opposed to an Apollo x8 Gen 2… The MIDI however drives me insane… 3.5mm TRS??? It’s not part of the USB-C port, from what I understand, and not a 5-pin… I get 5-Pin is a bit outdated; but I still find it highly preferable to this MIDI TRS, but I might just be biased bc the only MIDI I/O gear I have is through 5-pin or USB-B… I honestly didn’t even know 3.5mm MIDI was a thing until this thing got released lol The 67dB of preamp gain and Headphone Impedance options are great and appreciated, but nothing new. I wonder if they’ll do some kind of bundle with PureDrive Octo because that *does* have the word clock I/O and locking Neutrik CombiJacks for XLR and TRS… and even DB-25 I/O/R (for send and return) I’m honestly kind of disappointed in the Alpha 8 because the extra features it has feels like they could’ve just added it to the 18 for just a slightly higher price point and integrated it more heavily with Octo. Feels like that decision was more influenced by a desire to sell 3 products (instead of 2) than to make the best gear possible for consumers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I did the same with my Nightpro EQ3D and the UAD Maag EQ4. The only difference was that the knob values weren't exactly the same. Tweaking the values a little offset from each other everything zeroed out.

The hardware sounded best to my ears, definitely sounded more open and also wider than all the plugins. The Kiive really surprised me, from the plugins i liked it the most. Which is odd, since i have the Kiive and the UAD, but i only ever use the UAD hahaha. Will give the Kiive a chance next time for sure. Great comparison, thanks a lot. Would love to see/hear more comparisons like this. Maybe with Manley Massive Passive and SPL PQ as plugins, even though it would probably be quite difficult to match the settings on those.

They can have a vibe but then the effort to patch them in and out. Meh.

Feels like you kind of want a little of the dry mixed back in with a lot of those plugins. In parallel, it can be easier to lose that last little bit of plug-in veiling.

The hardware unit made the low end more cohesive, balanced. But I felt the voice just got back in the mix.

so first time you dont complain about the "analog" interface? You see they have also positive things. It helps a lot to navigate in a know way. 😁

What about the old/vintage/legacy Bomb Factory one that comes with PT? Still use it, still sounds great. As does the IK one.

The one thing a computer is not, is a real SSL console.

If you went to such lengths to compare the curves, it would be great if you've added just plain stock daw EQ plugin with close, as possible, curves. Or/and when there are tube emulations present - just also add daw tube/warmth stock plugin

I felt the Stam was tighter and clearer with less sibilance... definitely preferred the analog.... (damn).

Yes analog EQ sounds better

Hardware as always - sounds like it brings the elements alive and within a 3D realm. To create the perception of 3 dimensions in this circumstance, you would need the perception of movement within those dimensions, and distortion of certain frequencies and variances responding to the input helps to create that perception. And of course, great designers tune their gear to have some kind of final character, whether that be musical or rhythmic or lush or polished etc.

Funny that I come on youtube and see this video.. just lastnight I put the ignite pultec on a mix and used it subtlety and thought it sounded amazing.. clean up the low-mids just nicely.

i just love this song, where i can find it?

Don’t know…..but adjusting things on the way in to the DAW and committing has a grooviness all its own. It is one way to do things.

The one no one mentions, because no one makes a thin dime from it ‘cause it’s free, is from Ignite Amps