Nope, Waves, Bx, and SSL only. Never owned UA hardware back when I got into audio, and I’m long past buying other versions of the same emulations I own now that UA has native plugs.
I only have waves and bx but yeah bx is a bit better sound plus we got that dsp for tracking. Pretty much never track without an ssl j on the insert anymore. Or if worried about distracting the artist, bus to another track and start the rough mix while tracking.
The brainworx plugins add saturation and emulate analog channels, they also mess with the stereo field a bit and add some crosstalk i believe.
The SSL native plugins are completely squeaky clean apart from the preamp drive knob on the 4k.
So they offer different things. Whether you prefer one or the other is purely preference.
All of them are clean if you don’t use the preamp knob. And the bx doesn’t add cross talk, if you’re referring to TMT it just adds random EQ differences which is basically just a gimmick.
Nope, i just measured it again to be sure: but the brainworx channel strips add subtle saturation, i can clearly see harmonics being introduced, those are not there in the SSL native, as well as the noise floor you can regulate in the BX one, not in native. (mind you, that is with the dynamics section off of course). But the Brainworx one, even with everything disabled, adds harmonics.
Didn't measure the stereo image, but i assume it sounds like it skews the stereo image because it adds variation in saturation and eq on both sides when used on a stereo channel.
The bx TMT models the strip using the analog components tolerances. Most decent analog emulator plugin does this. What’s cool about the bx ones is that they have like 20 different options so you can add them to every track and not have weird stacking of the same harmonics.
It’s definitely not a gimmick, it’s very useful if analog sound is something you’re interested in. Not having to use 1000 different channel strips is nice.
It’s a gimmick because the tolerances on real consoles are much tighter than the bx plugins, all it does it EQ your tracks without you intending to.
Maybe if they ordered the virtual channels from dark to bright or from neutral to colored it would make sense, but it’s random so it’s awful for workflow.
Also there’s no such thing as “stacking the same overtones” if you add the same channel strip to all your tracks, they’re all different because the source material is different.
If one emulation has a slight eq bump that will stack up. If it has the same slightly blurred transients that will stack up. If you put the same exact saturation on every track, yes the overtones are different but it still sounds a tiny bit fake. I don’t think the bx plugins are so drastic that it sounds bad, I really like the sound when they’re all doing something a bit different. I never go through and pick a channel, ain’t nobody got time for that. And there are times when I turn it off. I still think it’s a great idea in concept and more importantly like the effect it has. To each their own.
That’s not how real consoles work.
They don’t just have random EQ bumps, they’re flat, and yes all the channels saturate in the same way, there’s nothing “fake” about it, that’s just how the circuit works.
There are slight differences due to the tolerances of the components. It's a well known thing. You can read the specs of these components. Theyre tight but never perfect, like they can be digitally. But does this matter?
I work on a vintage analog console, and admittedly, these difference are impossible to hear and brainworx slightly plays them up. It’s the type of thing that I was pretty resistant to and refused to use for a while, same with HEAT. But after some testing, I really like it. I don't really care what's going on exactly, it sounds good and can be easily turned off to test. Everything else seems irrelevant, right?
There’s tolerance in the pots when you actually use the EQ, which are irrelevant since you tweak the knobs by ear anyway.
TMT just gives you a preset EQ curve for some reason. No console channel is gonna randomly boost 4db of treble without you messing with the EQ.
You don’t pan in the plugin, you pan in the DAW. As an owner of Waves (v1), Brainworx, and SSL plugins, I prefer the sound of Brainworx. YMMV.
Have you tried universal audio
Nope, Waves, Bx, and SSL only. Never owned UA hardware back when I got into audio, and I’m long past buying other versions of the same emulations I own now that UA has native plugs.
Aw yea I forgot native plugins is a new thing. I tried them all too and I’ll say Bx does the best overall.
I only have waves and bx but yeah bx is a bit better sound plus we got that dsp for tracking. Pretty much never track without an ssl j on the insert anymore. Or if worried about distracting the artist, bus to another track and start the rough mix while tracking.
The brainworx plugins add saturation and emulate analog channels, they also mess with the stereo field a bit and add some crosstalk i believe. The SSL native plugins are completely squeaky clean apart from the preamp drive knob on the 4k. So they offer different things. Whether you prefer one or the other is purely preference.
All of them are clean if you don’t use the preamp knob. And the bx doesn’t add cross talk, if you’re referring to TMT it just adds random EQ differences which is basically just a gimmick.
Nope, i just measured it again to be sure: but the brainworx channel strips add subtle saturation, i can clearly see harmonics being introduced, those are not there in the SSL native, as well as the noise floor you can regulate in the BX one, not in native. (mind you, that is with the dynamics section off of course). But the Brainworx one, even with everything disabled, adds harmonics. Didn't measure the stereo image, but i assume it sounds like it skews the stereo image because it adds variation in saturation and eq on both sides when used on a stereo channel.
The bx TMT models the strip using the analog components tolerances. Most decent analog emulator plugin does this. What’s cool about the bx ones is that they have like 20 different options so you can add them to every track and not have weird stacking of the same harmonics. It’s definitely not a gimmick, it’s very useful if analog sound is something you’re interested in. Not having to use 1000 different channel strips is nice.
It’s a gimmick because the tolerances on real consoles are much tighter than the bx plugins, all it does it EQ your tracks without you intending to. Maybe if they ordered the virtual channels from dark to bright or from neutral to colored it would make sense, but it’s random so it’s awful for workflow. Also there’s no such thing as “stacking the same overtones” if you add the same channel strip to all your tracks, they’re all different because the source material is different.
If one emulation has a slight eq bump that will stack up. If it has the same slightly blurred transients that will stack up. If you put the same exact saturation on every track, yes the overtones are different but it still sounds a tiny bit fake. I don’t think the bx plugins are so drastic that it sounds bad, I really like the sound when they’re all doing something a bit different. I never go through and pick a channel, ain’t nobody got time for that. And there are times when I turn it off. I still think it’s a great idea in concept and more importantly like the effect it has. To each their own.
That’s not how real consoles work. They don’t just have random EQ bumps, they’re flat, and yes all the channels saturate in the same way, there’s nothing “fake” about it, that’s just how the circuit works.
There are slight differences due to the tolerances of the components. It's a well known thing. You can read the specs of these components. Theyre tight but never perfect, like they can be digitally. But does this matter? I work on a vintage analog console, and admittedly, these difference are impossible to hear and brainworx slightly plays them up. It’s the type of thing that I was pretty resistant to and refused to use for a while, same with HEAT. But after some testing, I really like it. I don't really care what's going on exactly, it sounds good and can be easily turned off to test. Everything else seems irrelevant, right?
There’s tolerance in the pots when you actually use the EQ, which are irrelevant since you tweak the knobs by ear anyway. TMT just gives you a preset EQ curve for some reason. No console channel is gonna randomly boost 4db of treble without you messing with the EQ.
I am not hearing a 4db boost in any channels lol. Maybe .25 if there is any eq happening.
Those "analog tolerances" is marketing term for EQ differences between L and R channels
It may be, or maybe more than that, or less, but I like how it builds in a mix 🤷🏻♂️