Is Brainworx BX Console N the UAD Neve 88rs Replacement I've Been Looking For?

As I look at my options outside of UA Apollo, replacing the Neve 88rs in my chain is critical. Does the Brainworx BX Console N do the trick? Can you hear a difference?
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[@danepaulstewart8464]

The UAD Neve is great, but the Plugin-Alliance BX Console N is a monster! It still surprises me with how powerful it is, and I’ve had it for two years! 😎👍👍

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Right? How is it that the BX Console N isn’t more popular? It’s the answer to a lot of setups.

[@TheRecordist]

The N is definitely punchier, but it was also louder. Even still, I think it's better on your voice. I have all these BX consoles. Now I have to give them a go again. Thanks!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Punchier wins. I’m starting to see what others have been trying to tell me for years. There are better options for VO than UA.

[@liquidvelvetliterature]

To my ear: Definitely more clear than the Neve. More details, for sure. And definitely without the warmth and soul and smoothness of the Neve. I get the veiled part, because I had to adjust to that. I first thought I’d received a defected Twin X, no joke. But it’s a sheen, for sure. But I like the sound, personally, especially for longer listening. The pro VO aspects aside, which are crucial, I understand that, the enthusiasm, personality, and draw of the VO artist, to me, is what has the most value. You sound ridiculously good with any system, but I still prefer the Neve over this one, if I HAD to choose. Taking these two compared out of this video, I’d like either one of these sounds.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I’m happy that I can really swap out the UA Neve here. All that warmth is just saturation which I can roll back in if needed and truthfully, for what I do, punch beats warmth all day. I think what I often related to was the sounds that reminded me of the music I listened to, and often that sound is forgiving because of how it swallows up and smears transients, giving it a looser feel. Todays playback systems are so geared towards clarity in the presence area that detail is the difference maker. You can always use a mic that is more vintage-y sounding to get that looser feel, but when I’m going after a version of realism that has a touch of color and lots of punch, taking all that fizz out of the bottom end is key because all that fizz does is make it harder to cut through a bed.

[@Leo_Vulkan]

I use the console N since it was realeased. Very transparent compressor, extremely smooth hpf and an addictive high frequency self.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Leo, you’ve been holding out on me? LOL. I’m happy to join the club. Yeah, that compressor’s transparency really helps cement its place for VO.

[@EJohnDanton]

I bought this one in November. I thought it just sounded good on my voice, and it definitely sounds even better on yours. I also justified it because my acoustic was sounding great after tweaking, too. :) I've really been impressed with every Plugin Alliance purchase I've made.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks! Yeah, the PA stuff is pretty amazing. All 3 of their channel strips I have are top notch and all sound different. Lots of depth and soundstage and not all fizzy in the lows like some plugs.

[@johndavenport7073]

New to your channel and thanks to your suggestion here, I added this plug in to my stash! Works great with the 416 with the same settings you used here! Using these for radio spots all over the country now! Enjoy your videos !

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

John, thank you so much! That's what I really dig about this Neve sound. The punch, clarity and touch of that broadcast glue. I've been cutting commercials on it all week and couldn't be happier myself. Welcome aboard!

[@dannylightning-audio-reviews]

Thanks for the reply on the other comment, I downloaded the demo and you're right, this thing sounds amazing for spoken word. I decided to try and match the clarity and quality of the sound with some of the plugins I already had. I got out my fabfilter EQ and compressor, I started playing with different plug-ins for saturation, I tried a few and really wasn't quite getting that sound, once I pulled up the soft tube saturation knob along with those fabfilter plugins it's almost a dead on match, I have a set of monitor headphones that were made specifically for vocals, and you can barely tell a difference, if you're looking for a stand-alone plug-in for saturation that's free check out the soft tube saturation knob if you haven't already. And I saw on one of your other videos you were ditching your old background noise, waves clarity VX is the best thing I've ever found and it does not seem to degrade the audio quality, I can record with my window air conditioner running and you would never know that it was ever there.

[@glennbucc7107]

The Neve 88RS to me has a little more harder or solid sound. The Brainworx has a smoother sound. When you move the screw, it adds a little more forward sound.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Great way to describe it.

[@ABS_AD77]

Thanks for a great review.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Glad it was helpful!

[@anthonyman8008]

I just got bw focusrite console and trying the neve. Very very great!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

The Focusrite Console is pretty fantastic, too. BW makes some great stuff.

[@mycosys]

FWIW the SSL4000 version s $30 this week,was just eying it off. I got this in Komplete Ultimate and i did NOT expect to be so impressed - throwing it on a mass of channels and hitting that random really does have a sound like youre mixing through a tracking desk which i just didnt expect, and as you said its so smooth.

[@amazeus1980]

Nice comparison!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks!

[@henriquecanalle2630]

Is my go to plugin.. love this plugin so much...i ditched all the ssl plugins when I started using the N

[@PaulMDiaz]

Cool, glad you went after this one after my comment. I like them both. How did you Switch between them live, MainStage?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Yeah man, huge thanks for getting me back on board with this one. I have a midi control surface running with UA Midi control to mute and unmute channels in console. I'm getting it set up with Mainstage, but for this I manually muted and unmuted the BX console.

[@PaulMDiaz]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff Man would love to see you do a MainStage setup with other hardware that's not UA. I messed with it the other day but couldn't figure it out.I need to clear out some projects so I can focus on messing with it more.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Good idea. After the Neumann interface arrives I’ll have to reconfigure everything anyway.

[@PaulMDiaz]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff Awesome, hope to see it soon!

[@jarredcannon]

Listening in phone speakers, sounds like the UAD is veiled - ah you just said that, yup I agree I'm enjoying it too! It suits one of my mics really well If you get the chance, you should try the PA Lindell 80 series. It's creamy and smooth, I've been using it to help round out the sound of my 416

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Good call! Yeah the PA stuff is pretty great. I’m very pleased with this and the improvements it brings without radically altering my core sound.

[@bjmora9612]

Of the PA strips, the N is definitely the smoothest... some would say "dark" but in a good way. For VO, I'd definitely choose the N, though I will admit to using the SSLs and even the Lindells for post-production for VO (tending to the bright side for sure).

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

For sure! I do like the PA SSL 4K E series with the G series dynamics a lot. I was going to make that mg go-to but decided the N would be closer to my previous rig sound. Closer, but better.

[@marmaladecreammedia]

Very interesting that console seems to be adding some low mid thickness and maybe even saturation?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Definitely saturation. Listen to the difference when you use the same unison plug in Luna and notice what you don’t hear. They made Unison to sound more fake analog years and years ago and now they can’t change it. It’s nice for music, but not optimal for VO. People have been trying to tell me this for years and I just dismissed it.

[@dannylightning-audio-reviews]

This or the 9099, ??? I have their focus right SC but I'm kind of waiting for a sale on one of those two channel strips, we need to find a daw that also records your webcam , I normally record my videos on OBS studio what the audio quality is not quite that's good but yeah, I really like these brain works, I tried out their true peak limiter but it left like a metallic sound on my voice, and I didn't like that so much I did demo a few other channel strips and like I said I own the focus rite, I haven't tried this one though but my demo on the 9099 is over so I can't compare them now, but anyways which one do you like better ?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

This. 9099 too scooped for VO though it sounds amazing.

[@swavycrazekid]

ddo you use any outboard gear or just the uad interface

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I use the Neumann MT-48 with no plug ins for work. Ditched the Apollo for good. Not even close.

[@chriss2939]

I wud try the analog obsession pluggins which are free !!!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I love the AO Frank CS. I should do a video on it.

[@amazeus1980]

I’m still waiting for uad native...

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Right? Where is it?

[@amazeus1980]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff yeah....good question...I have uad pci and I have 88RS but in limited amounts 😂

[@amazeus1980]

Hi 😂 👍🏻

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Yo!

[@djb12DeepAcidHouseExperience]

Brainworx BX sounds better

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Totally agree.

[@jimmyoandrhondalee7431]

Absolutely honestly never would never spend the money on UA Very hyped and overpriced

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Couldn’t agree more now. Which is why I abandoned UA last year.

[@NikosXidisOfficial]

Your video doesn't help ! The N is definitely louder .....

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Listen for the clarity in the low end.

[@nicholasflores8100]

The UAD sounds a lot closer to analog.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Ok, but I'm not looking for "closer to analog". I'm looking for the best sound for what I do. To me, closer to analog means more saturation and smeared transients in order to mask and smooth flaws and inconsistencies. Clean and detailed, but not sterile is the target here, as well as finding a UA alternative that doesn't require changing my work tone too much.

[@nicholasflores8100]

Yes, exactly! I didn't want to write all of that and have you read a mountain of information. So I sumd it up. It sounds more analog. It isn't bad for people who want that sound. Now, for someone who does the phenomenal work that you do (Huge fan, by the way) it doesn't work you're looking for clarity. Clean. So BX is definitely the better option here. Love the channel. I've been rocking with you a while. Keep up the GREAT work !

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

@@nicholasflores8100 Thank you, Nicholas. I hope my reply didn't come off as defensive. I often find I have to reply to comments in a way that helps someone new to the channel understand in a shorthand way what I'm looking for is possibly not what is expected. And I often reply between sessions (like I'm doing now) so sometimes it's a bit rushed and sometimes brusque. You're absolutely right, it's good for people looking for that sound and it's one of the reasons I've begun to believe that Apollo, which was designed primarily for music, and then was adapted by Voice artists for our use, is possibly just better suited for music, especially as VO evolves away from the same old, same old vintage squish. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. I really appreciate it.

[@nicholasflores8100]

Not at all. In fact, one of my favorite things about this channel is that you call it down the middle. It's my go-to channel for honest, raw info. I love the joke style on this channel. It reminds me a lot of myself. So don't be afraid to give it to me real. I'm here for the long ride! I'm an assassin.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

@@nicholasflores8100 Thanks Nicholas. From one assassin to another, I'm glad to have you here. Or is it glad to have you hear? Either way, thank you and enjoy!

[@VersatyleMusicGroup]

The Vxs is the first predication of the 88r

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

It doesn’t suck

[@VersatyleMusicGroup]

@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff the vxs is my favorite console!!!! It's the console I learned on in school. It just has such an amazing an sweet sound. Kind of wish I could have one or have a 8 to 16 channel cart version. They are pretty rare to obtain.

[@beatprocess]

Good stuff brother

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks, man!!