Hardware MASSIVE PASSIVE EQ vs. UAD MASSIVE PASSIVE plugin

[@producermind9030]

The way the hardware handles the transients is amazing. Really doesn’t smooth them off or lose them. Everything is crisper. Especially the hats in the last song.

[@franknobel4715]

wow... I´ve ben using this software for years now. Always feeling pretty good about it but wow... The hardware sounds so good. The punch , the clarity, THAT LOW END and musicality is just amazing. If the plugin wouldnt look the the manley, except from how the eq curves behaves.. I don´t think anyone would even put them together as a similarity.. It´s like comparing the camera quality between an iphone 6 and an iphone 11

[@atta1798]

Well that is why when you are in the industry you learn first how all this was born....analog....from there you take your career...and make the best of both worlds....

[@alexzmixing]

Thanks so much for doing the comparison, the hardware definitely has the depth and clarity, the UAD version is not way off but sounds a bit dull, not sure if push a bit more db will make it sounds closer to the hardware.

[@ValenteVillanuevaMusic]

Amazing comparison! Great gain matching and indepth comparison! More of these please!🤙

[@thehighhnotes]

Man that vocal on the last example. Beautiful!

[@maxdishaw]

The hardware sounds “alive” it’s so much more exciting. It has depth. The vocal on the full mix sat inside the music so much more with the hardware.

[@chris_johnson_music]

Totally agree! Great comparison. Hardware is by far I think better and as usual has a bit more depth/punch, especially in the lows. Plugin still sounds good though. Please do more.

[@OverdriveMusic]

Excellent. Hardware puts the plugin to shame!

[@ashishmalaviya]

Thanks for making this video, I can hear that soft sub frequency and sweet hf on the hardware version.

[@smithj7163]

hardware sounds so good

[@JuanNungaray]

great test bro, I too own the hardware and plugin, the real thing just gives you this depth in the sound that the plugin can’t replicate, I absolutely love my MP too.

[@studioapollo9781]

Thanks Juan. 😉👍

[@JuanNungaray]

@@studioapollo9781 cheers man, hey bro are you running the MP un-balanced? I heard it gives a better sound when running it like that because it bypasses the output transformers which are located in the balanced output stage.

[@studioapollo9781]

In these days Balanced, but in the past UNB. I did not notice any significant difference. it's an opportunity to take new A/B test 😉 Will you do it? 😉

[@JuanNungaray]

@@studioapollo9781 Great idea bro, I’ve never done A/B but will give it a shot. 😃🙌💯

[@evidencebasedmusic]

THANK YOU for making a shootout video that doesn't include talking. Also I appreciate you trying to level match, it can be hard when the two pieces of gear behave slightly differently. The hardware does sound better but you can pause the video pretty much at any time and see that the hardwares output gain is noticeably higher on the meters most of the time so the perceived difference might be mostly that the hardware is louder.

[@fullalbums5675]

not gain matched = useless, on the mix buss there are way different settings, look how much more you boosted the low end on HW and not on plugin and you can hear it

[@MFASonic]

Use a software to match your levels the way you like to.

[@atta1798]

you still can hear the sound fatness regardless ..... n the gain almost match or so look at the meter...the only way to get near is to add a digital EQ

[@Bronwyn031]

@Noone Cares Your counter rant isn't really being productive either. I own a lot of plugins as well as their hardware counter parts. Software is catching up and, in some instances, have caught up to their physical counterparts. I do not like these so called "shootouts" because in almost every instance the creator stacks the hardware in a favorable light as if to somehow justify their purchase. Software and hardware BOTH have their places in the industry. If I'm mixing on the road, I can't lug around my studio gear so the software fills in that role beautifully. And listen to me when I tell you the listener and even the client can't tell the difference in what gear or plugin I used to mix their track. 🤷🏾‍♀️🙄

[@bigdoghat3827]

I noticed the shelving boost at 3.9K on the drums is two clicks higher on the hardware. Maybe an oversight by the person who made the video? They changed their mind about how high to boost and forgot to change the software's settings?

[@LogicKeyz]

It is level matched. look at the spectrum analyzer on the pro q 3. I have both the hardware and the software. My Manley is a newer version 2011. Plugin is very useful, but holds no candle to the hardware for sure. I've had to come to terms with that.

[@artysanmobile]

What are we actually hearing with the hardware? Specifically, what A/D converters?

[@MrTesla808]

Great comparison! I have UAD version and I thing you can tweak it by ear for much closer results because right now it sounds like totally different settings. I know it is the same visual but you know what I mean.👍🏻

[@studioapollo9781]

Hi Artem, thanx for watching. My aim was to show the differences in exactly the same setup, if there are differences. There are nuances usually audible until I compile the compared material into the A / B result

[@MrlegendOr]

" you can tweak it by ear for much closer results" You can do that with any plugins. better buy HW 🙃

[@jaroplichta]

I didn´t want to achieve the same result. I just compared the same settings. The only one thing i did in the beginning was (1 kHz) gain matching. 😉

[@charlesrocks]

The hardware sounds so much better. Wow

[@paule123ify]

in the drum and cajon version you can realy hear the round volume of the tubes! this could no plugin imitate!

[@artysanmobile]

“Round volume of the tubes”?? Tube behaviors can be simulated very accurately in software.

[@mrbeats7434]

Great test man well done

[@pablotheproducer3703]

Your settings in the hardware on the low end frequency are hotter than the plugin, kinda confusing... (6:18 and 6:20). Also it peaks hotter on the Hardware than the VST, meaning it's running hotter. Did you put the VST after AD conversion or pre? Best

[@BlobB-kn9ww]

Are they gain matched?

[@alexandersorbas1881]

Software just needs 0.5 or 1 db more at some frequencies then its the same

[@georginikolov1141]

Nope the had sounds very different ..Alex b for nebula is the best u can't tell them apart

[@MELOPSMUSIC]

If you change the settings on the plugin and adjust gain I think they will be very very close....

[@LogicKeyz]

Hardware has way more headroom. I have both the plug and the hardware. The plugin is very useful, but can't touch the hardware.

[@TWEAKER01]

The UAD software also doesn't emulate (or model) the optional transformerless unbalanced outputs of the hardware, known to sound cleaner, less "soggy". The permutations are basically incomprehensible.

[@LONDONHARRISMUSIC]

Best plug-in for mastering

[@eranddroory9987]

The low end on the Hardware is just a different realm than the plugin!

[@VCVRackIdeas]

hardware has pretty obvious different curves at the high and bottom end as well. The main difference is pretty obvious also on piano track where the hardware adds (or extracts from the recording) a bunch of nice but noise :-)

[@FerencHegedus]

Great “vs” video! What was the signal chain?

[@studioapollo9781]

Thanks for your interest Ferenc. There was very simply chain. The software track - in first insert slot UAD Massive, in second insert slot Fab Filter (no eq, no gain manipulation) and straight to the main out. In Hardware track - in first insert slot HW Manley (signal out from Apollo x16 interface to Manley and back to Apollo x16 and back to Cubase), in second insert slot FabFilter (manual gain compensation -1,6dB piano, drum bus, at another sources -1,7dB cajon) At the end of the video I used Gain Match plugin for the level match automation. In this case I didn´t use FabFilter. Nothing on Master fader, no EQ, no Compression, etc. Where you hear reverb, it was part of the source sound.

[@FerencHegedus]

@@studioapollo9781 Thanks a lot! I'm planning to buy a Passive Massive but I'm not totally satisfied with the Apollo x6 converter. I don't know, maybe x16 is a better animal :D

[@FerencHegedus]

@@studioapollo9781 Apollo is okay, my cable was wrong! 😅

[@danielkisel5661]

Rozdiel tam je no možno že sa netreba držať striktne rovnakých nastavení lebo napríklad pri bicích hardvér bol cca o 4dB hlasnejší ako plugin a keby boli zarovnané hlasitosti pluginu a hardvéru tak by tie rozdiely boli oveľa menšie. Vďaka za porovnanie!

[@studioapollo9781]

Ahoj Daniel, nesnazil som sa najst rovnaky zvuk, az natolko svojim usiam neverim. Snazil som sa v prvom rade sam pre seba porovnat dve “zariadenia” kde jedno (software)bolo emulovane na zaklade toho druheho (hardwarom) Kazdy kus hardwaru je iny, dopredu teda bolo jasne ze rozdiely tam budu. Navyse predlohou pri vyvoji softwaru nebol konkretne moj kus. Snazil som sa vyrovnat hlasitost podla 1kHz o -1,6dB no pri realnej piesni doslo aj tak na vyrazne rozdiely. Vysledok mna osobne teda neprekvapil a to aj po skusenostiach s inym HW. Napriklad tape emulator (a prevodnik) Crane song HEDD 192 ktory pridava do nahravok nieco magicke co som zatial nenasiel pri ziadnej softwarovej emulacii “tejpu”. A HEDD je tiez len emulacia realnej pasky. UAD robia fantasticke pluginy, niekedy sa mi zda ze moj hardwarovy LA2A je horsi ako plugin. Ked raz bude na to cas, mozem porovnat. V pripade Manley ale ten pocit nemam. Je to len moj nazor a mozem sa mylit 😉 Dakujem ze si si nasiel cas na pozretie videa. Jaro.

[@alainjulot3490]

I can hear the difference. The hardware sounds cleaner and has depth, while the soft sound is dry and flat.

[@RaunoPaananenAudio]

Next time measure lufs and match levels. Nice video!

[@kostyakonstantinoff]

There is a russian slang: "comparing an ass to a finger". It looks very similar.

[@Jonascantorofc]

Hardware is the best

[@danielpuky1026]

super ukazka

[@CARDObluesharp]

En el piano el hadware le agrego un ruido indeseado, cosa que en el plugin no sucedió. En este vs me quedo con el Plugin.

[@lukefictitious]

Thank You harware wins as almost aleays.

[@plachtos7428]

👍

[@Ashad2012]

You guys are making a lot of comments about a test you didn't perform yourself how logical is that really? This test simply proves that based on his understanding of the two he gets better results from the hardware nothing more. I would also wager that without the graphic representation and the notation of which device you are hearing most of you would hear things differently. This could have been done without the visual representations if you were trying to say they are extremely different. Your eyes are influencing far more than you realize in this scenario.

[@antonisatwork]

Lol

[@LogicKeyz]

I have both the hardware and the Plugin. The plugin doesn't even begin to compare. However, the plugin is a great tool. It does work well, but no replacement for the hardware.

[@ChrisBevrly]

Hardware definitely adds the warmth

[@lesobliteres]

Uad should de ashamed stating that they are emulating this hardware

[@pavelpavlov954]

The hardware is outstanding compared to the silly plugin.....

[@cryptononymos3163]

If you would only use the same settings...... ! Se the drums around 2.35 - not the same bandwith

[@Folk661]

Not level matched

[@MusicGearNuts]

Best comparison so far. Very nice work!

[@krzysztof.kessler]

Not fair comparison. Not level matched and you can even see, example on the drums that on the hardware you boost high shelf more than on the software. On the mix bus you boost more lows on the hardware than on software. So you don't actually match the settings.

[@studioapollo9781]

Hi Krzysztof, at the beginning of the video you can see that signal is compensated by FabFilter plugin about -1,6dB. Than Hardware and Software version were carefully adjusted to the same positions. No other plugin boost anything. It was a surprising result for me too. Thank for watching.

[@atta1798]

@@studioapollo9781 It is very simple....it is simply analog ....that is the actual effect.....

[@dingbatjack1234]

Not even close and it never will be!

[@rangfa44]

Nice hardware more headroom

[@lebibibeige4068]

again the software souds like it behind a glass wall

[@mattmerty8084]

I level matching- Hardware is way louder.

[@МаксимШарченко]

bypass win ...

[@whataniceday]

Night and day difference.

[@baboys8349]

No processing sounds the best.

[@conrow1157]

Useless!! Different settings 😂

[@guitarrapatodos82]

YOU FORGET THE GAIN ON THE PLUGIN... ITS NOT SIMILIAR TO HARDWARE