Plugin Alliance Knif Soma EQ

[jBam]

Yeah... bit of a shame. I find most PA stuff to be really good value for money once you see past the 399 reduced to 29.99 bs. Such a shame that consumers (including me) get attracted to "bargains" like that... and sadder it means that any supporting paying customer who paid over 29.99 (or less) for any product feels ripped off... strange days. Certainly means that unless I'm desperately in love with it, I'll just feel ripped off until I can get it bottom dollar... and I find the voucher for "loyalty" patronising when they regularly line up for sales that mean you pay more than the inevitable 29.99 (or less)....

Anyway: rant over... back to soma...

After a final demo today before I pop it on the back burner... nice, very subtle, slightly underwhelming. But that's just the nature of the unit/plug, and "obvious" isn't often good on the master or any bus... I generally end up loving using these types of plugs... love the amek 200 fake gml one... getting some hate here... but like it a lot.

Soma: if PA bottomed out sales at 50 bucks, I'd buy it today with my 75 voucher... as it stands... I'll wait the 6-12 months

[plexuss]

I have a feeling that there are a few tiers of customers for companies like PA. Another way to look at it is that PA is being proactive in making their products affordable and more accessible by offering low price sales. This creates different buying opportunities for different groups of customers. I am sure there are people paying full price, mid and low sale price. It may not be as nefarious as it seems. PA products aren't the most amazing things (although everyone has their short list of stand-outs) but they are generally nicely executed and with decent sound quality. I mean, compare PA to, say, DMG. You aren't going to get a DMG EQ for $29.99. On they other hand DMG products are in a higher tier in terms of over-all quality than PA. "You get what you pay for" but I think, to be fair, with PA we get quite a lot of our money in the low-sale price tier.

[martinjuenke]

Hi,
if someone wanna have another EQ,
here's a little sweetener:

Here is your $50 personal voucher for this month:
2022-02-50EYH2QFHP29

Thank me later

[martinjuenke]

Just in case you're not aware of this month's generic 25$ code:

Here is your $25 personal voucher for this month:
2022-02-25PL?973IZ62uGF

[Dip200]

Funny price.

But it's cheaper than the hardware. And it's a passive design, so it's not power hungry.

[simon.a.billington]

Okay, couldn't help myself. Grabbed this one on sale using my loyalty discount to make it more affordable. It's a different color and colors are good.

[escalona]

Okay, couldn't help myself. Grabbed this one on sale using my loyalty discount to make it more affordable. It's a different color and colors are good.

It can almost be fully nulled with FF ProQ3, or even with Studio One stock eq... so the coloration must be really minimal though... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[kPere]

Okay, couldn't help myself. Grabbed this one on sale using my loyalty discount to make it more affordable. It's a different color and colors are good.

It can almost be fully nulled with FF ProQ3, or even with Studio One stock eq... so the coloration must be really minimal though... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thats true. But nulling is just partially a good test. Sometimes the thing about a plug is how fast you can get certain settings. Not defending Soma or other "colorful" eqs, but sometimes the curves are nicer out of the pocket, without much tweaking, therefore effects are more efficent.
I wouldnt pay for another EQ without something special now though.

[bonch]

You can null Pro-Q3 with a stock DAW EQ, but people still use Pro-Q3.

[plexuss]

You can null Pro-Q3 with a stock DAW EQ, but people still use Pro-Q3.

Beautiful!

[Ploki]

You can null Pro-Q3 with a stock DAW EQ, but people still use Pro-Q3.

That's a good point.

People use Pro-Q3 for the workflow.

Soma (or any other "modeled" analog EQ) is also mostly a workflow thing. You can get a certain curve shape in two moves (Freq+Gain+linked Q) that would take you 5 moves in Pro-Q3 - 5 moves that you wouldn't EVER make if you weren't trying to match the Soma/whatever.

That said, i find the workflow of EQs that's a bunch of knobs in the digital world abysmal and cluttered. You could still make a FabFilter-like workflow with curves and Q-linkages that tonally matched the Soma/whatever - absolutely no reason for the photorealistic shit.
(actually BX could make a single super-emu EQ based on BX_Digital, but i guess that wouldn't sell as well as new fancy ass GUI every two weeks)

All about EQ models is the curves it makes with a single move.

And curves define the sound it makes.
You will EQ differently with a Voxengo Gliss EQ vs Pro-Q3 because Q values and defaults are voiced differently.

But i generally wouldn't call filter shapes "colours", although i guess they can be colours.

Frankly, I've nulled good HW EQs with ProQ3.

Still, i don't really have any affinity towards the soma whatsoever.

[Burillo]

looks like they took EQ knobs from SPL The Iron, must've had extra lying around

[AGIGA]

looks like they took EQ knobs from SPL The Iron, must've had extra lying around

They are different if you look closely

[Burillo]

looks like they took EQ knobs from SPL The Iron, must've had extra lying around

They are different if you look closely

please don't let facts get in the way of a good story!..

[Agreed]

I'm glad you brought that up Burillo. If I go to the Knif Soma product page for the hardware, they note that they use super fancy knobs with a soft-touch. Can anyone speak to the accuracy of the soft-touch knob modeling? Does the mouse seem to sink in ever so slightly and grip a bit better when you're clicking on it? I'm looking for the utmost in accuracy here, real stickler for detail