KVR Audio

Zaphod (giancarlo) · Post by **Zaphod (giancarlo)** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 9:35 am

AC222 wrote:NIce posts bmanic as usual. As a revered poster, I would love to hear your thoughts on the Magenta you mentioned. Thing is that I have alwauys been curious about the Massive Passive eqs but I can never quite find a place for it. When it comes to mastering, If I want to boost highs, I prefer something like a Millennia NSEQ-2 solid state (stock or Forsell mod) or Sontec. And for manipulating mids, I like GML and possibly an API 550 for something more aggressive For tracks, I really like boosting Neve eqs in the mids for guitar and Pultec for everything else in both the mids and lows.

So when I try the Massive Passive, I can't quite find a place for it. It's been described as a Pultec on steroids, which aside from being a passive design, I don't quite understand. The Massive Passive seems less pillowy to me and heavy than the Pultec. I don't think that they sound that similar really. But when I want that kind of weighty sound, I go for Pultec. But it seems less neutral than a Millennia or GML to me when I want that and if I want something more aggressive in the mids I prefer API. So I'm not quite sure what the major appeal is for this classic mastering eq since I don't fancy it as much as others for specific tasks. Methinks I am overlooking something here since there can't be that many users that love the eq without it being great.

you are absolutely correct. In our little world, eqp1 and magenta are VERY VERY VERY different. I like API on mids too. Massive Passive is very good for high shelf, especially for little amounts.

lacandon · Post by **lacandon** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:43 pm

Zaphod (giancarlo) wrote:well, it is inspired to a different hardware device. We are simply bringing different hardware models to the table. Magenta is a tube eq, amber is a discrete class A eq.
From what I can see, despite the big number of eq plugins, they are a based on VERY few models around. But a typical mastering or recording studio has many different ones, and each one is used for a different scope.

We are modeling also the preamp, so it is a strip channel. There is a very little harmonic distortion, but we didn't remove it. You could disable the preamp if you need just the eq effect.

Thats very nice but to begin with ur pre amp and eq stuff was always the real deal what most still feel stuck its the bus compression! Hopefully you have in the makings !

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:03 pm

Doug1978 wrote: Nothing too exciting - it was for a couple of tracks that never made the final cut - but hopefully good enough for your mangling purposes (or indeed anyone else who wants some free 'private' music!).

So these are all tracks from the same song/beat? I can work with this very well if that's the case. Not sure I have time tonight but tomorrow I can do some damage to them at home.

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:47 pm

Thanks, Giancarlo! I'll have to revisit this on the Massive Passive. You guys rock and are really breaking new ground. I can't wait to see what the rest of 2014/2015 brings to the table as far as Nebula goes.

Eqp1 is a cornerstone for me. The Nebula team and Michael Angel did a fantastic job with this release.

Doug1978 · Post by **Doug1978** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:45 pm

Certainly sounds like very exciting times for Acustica Audio

I haven't moved away from Nebula (Reverb etc) onto Acqua yet (as I'm delighted with the results from the older Nebula programs) but maybe these new releases will be too tempting!

@bmanic - sorry, the files were from three different songs (one song at 136BPM, one at 76BPM and one at 78BPM).
However, I'll now add some small bass and piano sounds for the 78BPM track, so at least you have hi-hat / kick and snare / bass / piano for that one 78BPM song now.

https://soundcloud.com/doug1978/track-8-bass/s-IxmBD
https://soundcloud.com/doug1978/track-8 ... ps/s-8mXRM

(And the 136BPM song is bass / lead guitar / chop guitar, but no drums).

Cheers

Liero · Post by **Liero** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 9:36 am

What's the operating system footprint like for these products?

I remember from testing Nebula 3 that it installed lots of stuff all over my hard drive and I wasn't very happy about that. I'd ideally like to have just one .DLL file that would have no file or registry dependencies, like Voxengo.

Demo versions would be nice.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:22 am

A lot of files are still installed. Aqua plugins are basically Nebula technology in a tighter package GUI and content wise but are still the same technology. These are not "one .DLL" wonders yet. There's a lot that can be tweaked under the hood through the .xml files and whatnot. They still rely on the vector files and such.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 11:43 am

@Doug1978:

Hmm.. I took a listen to the files when assembled in Reaper and to be perfectly frank, I'm not entirely sure what I can/should do with these. They don't sound all that good. Ok, so I can try to take some mud out of the bass and make it a bit clearer (if that's the intention) but it'll still be way out of tune. Also, everything is bone dry and there are some nasty resonances in the piano. On the 136 track there is some clipping and ear piercing frequencies at 2 to 3khz on the chop.

Also not sure about the relative levels of the various tracks. Am I allowed to change them?

I'll have to think about this how to best showcase the Amber EQ. You guys just listening to tracks with changes of my personal preference just isn't going to cut it. We need some different way of approaching this.

I really hope Acustica Audio can get a demo going because part of the charm of these modeled EQs is the immediacy and how easy it is to work with them. Anyhow.. I'll try to come up with some demonstrations.

sales@acusticaudio.net · Sun Nov 23, 2014 12:07 pm

23 & 24 November-2014: last two days to buy Amber in presale!

http://www.acustica-audio.com/index.php ... Itemid=189

Doug1978 · Post by **Doug1978** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 1:04 pm

No worries bmanic - in some ways, it's been good for me to get a second opinion (from a mastering engineer) on these draft tracks anyway

(And whilst they're not bad as demos, there was a reason why I didn't get round to using these myself in any finished songs :p)

I concur with bmanic's main point - it'd be good to get a few demonstration examples up here somehow, to showcase these new releases.

Cheers

Seaside Music · Post by **Seaside Music** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:01 pm

Looks cool but I'm not sure about the prehistoric bug. I know what they are going for, but bugs on my gear would creep me out.

prene · Post by **prene** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:16 pm

I want to purchase the plug at pre-sale price but I would also love to demo it. If possible.

cfanyc · Post by **cfanyc** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:31 pm

delete

blyt · Post by **blyt** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:39 pm

cfanyc wrote:
prene wrote:I want to purchase the plug at pre-sale price but I would also love to demo it. If possible.
If acustica needs your opinion it will give it to you.

Now take the cc out and buy it. Your insistance of knowing what
you are buying is annoying mister.

Ha ha yeah, it would be more funny if it wasn't so true!
I'm still waiting to demo Magenta.
It's a shame to miss out on all the pre-release discounts...

Plajia · Post by **Plajia** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:50 am

bmanic wrote:Don't underestimate the awesomeness of this Avalon modeled EQ.

It is just ridiculously good. Amber + Magenta EQ makes a seriously powerful combination. I could probably retire with just these two and a good compressor.

Acustica Audio have really stepped it up with their latest releases. You've never heard anything like this in software before.

Anybody want to post some high quality audio for me to mangle with it?

Hi there bmanic if the offer still on. I just finished a song using mostly all nebula eqs, comp, consoles, etc.. I want to buy Amber or Magenta soon to use on my masterbus and some busses on my next mixes (and revisit older ones). I plan more to get Magenta because its more colored. but more expansive. if you can eq this mix one with Amber and one with Magenta (if you have it) that would be very cool. The mix sounds already good by it self I think. I have nothing on the masterbus except Alexb Modern Flagship Console clean a bit driven. no comp or limiter. so it is a bit quiet will leave you good headroom. In my tastes I don't like too bright mixes. I like my music to be more warm and vintage (how original I know)

. I would prefer you have fun with it eq wise and tell me after what you did.

maybe boost some 100hertz narrow for some buddy and remove some mud around 400hertz and open some air lightly

you can download the short edited 32 bit wav file version here
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sm17uc0uodvn2 ... s.wav?dl=0

This is a soundcloud stream only version for quick listen
https://soundcloud.com/patrickpleausoun ... enta-tests

Acustica Audio – Amber (Presale)