The Final & Ultimate LA2A Plugin - Poll!

[jamcat]

The IK one adds a lot of overtones. I highly doubt the original hardware adds even far more. I assume that's just make-believe.

Yes, this is correct.

Here’s what IK says on the White2A product page:

When driven harder it gets personality out of them, also thanks to the tube output stage and its harmonic enriching effect.

[…]

Bass looks like another good candidate for this module, where wide dynamics are gently kept under control with the subtle yet very pleasing harmonic saturation courtesy of the tube electronics.

They’re not going to be advertising it as such if they didn’t model the “harmonic saturation of the tube electronics.”

Plus, this is T-RackS, where the ‘T’ literally stands for “tube.” Modeling tube saturation is kind of their thing.

And finally, I took a look at it Plugin Doctor, and there is definitively a lot of harmonic activity as you increase the gain.

I figure the UAD saturation has to be really overhyped. It’s pretty common to see in plugins. Waves used to be very guilty of this as well. I think it’s because users are expecting the plugins to do a whole lot more than they ought to, because they think that makes them sound “analog” and “vintage.” But in reality, it makes them sound cartoonish.

[jamcat]

Having actually used the UAD LA-2A, I can attest that it is no better than the Waves or IK models, two others that I have also actually used. I did not vote for the UAD.

I'm sorry, that's just demonstrably false. At least for the White2A, which I own and have experience with. Here's a quick test...

The LA-2A is known for generating a sh*t ton of gain and for being able to be abused as a distortion box if you just pad the signal after. How good is your LA-2A model at doing this?

1. Load up some audio (electric bass or vocals are good for this one)
2. Add your favorite LA-2A effect
3. Add a gain control plugin after the LA-2A (I like TrackControl by DMGAudio), set the gain to like -30db to pad the signal for what we're about to do
4. Go back to your LA-2A plugin, crank up the gain to max
5. Play your audio through

Expected Result: listen to the fuzzy distortion!

IK White2A Result: there's a tiny bit of distortion but mostly clean signal. [Whomp whomp. Descending slide whistle noise.]

UAD LA-2A Silver or Gray: distortion!

You can't have a better model of an LA-2A if this isn't modeled, compared to a unit that did properly model the gain tube/transformer interactions. Quite a few LA-2A's get that right (UAD, Black Rooster, TrackComp) but others do not model that properly (IKMultimedia, the Cakewalk one, a few others).

I tried a little experiment with White2A and the UAD LA-2A models. I would expect that in reality, you need to drive a signal really hot into an LA-2A for it to be “abused as a distortion box.”

So I used a simple linear gain plugin (that adds no distortion) in front of the White2A and jacked the level going into White2A way up. The result was copious amounts of tube distortion, but with a much more natural and pleasing character than the UAD LA-2A, (and at a much louder volume.) The character sounded better than the UAD at max, all the way up to +36dB of gain added to the signal going into White2A. (Anything higher caused Studio One to shut off the White2A.)

Turning up the input on the UAD models didn’t really result in “generating a sh*t ton of gain.” Just a shit ton of artificial distortion that makes them sound like garbage. And this happens well within normal operating range for the UADs! Also, there’s no need to “pad the signal after” the UAD plugins, which stay at the same relatively low output volume level at all times, unlike White2A, which definitely needs to be turned down after running a loud signal in with little to no peak reduction.

This is something anyone can easily try themselves, and witness how much better the White2A sounds than UAD’s LA-2As, when driven into distortion. This experiment has actually changed my opinion of the UAD models for the worse.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

In a hardware LA-2A, the gain driven into distortion is on the output stage. Perhaps IK flipped it and added the distortion ot the input stage. I don't know what's happening in the model beyond what I can test. You can like the White2A better. No one's disputing that - your taste is your taste and in some sources I may even agree it works better. But it's not a "better model" of an LA-2A if they got that aspect of the model so off.

IK has put out some killer effects recently (Tape Collections, TONEX), I just don't particularly rate the accuracy of the earlier stuff like the White2A or the Black76. I say it all the time, but if you don't own TrackComp2, you're missing out on the single best plugin compressor ever made. Insanely great models of the LA-2A, 1176A, 1176D, DBX-160, SSL Bus Comp, SSL Chan Comp, Changer Zener, and a DMG Audio mode that's pretty clean. It's a little finicky at first withe gain staging and the various faders, but it's staggering in how many excellent models it includes at such a low cost.

[jamcat]

I don't think IK flipped anything around. Increasing the PEAK REDUCTION on White2A will back-off the distortion, same as the UAD models. I figure this behaviour is correct. So the distortion clearly comes from an excessive amount of gain going through the output stage, after reduction. I would imagine the LA-2A design was calibrated so it isn't generating that amount of gain on its own within its typical operating range. But that would also depend on how loud the signal is going into the unit.

The bottom line is, White2A will product an authentic heavy tube distortion. It just needs to be pushed a lot harder than the UAD models, with a signal outside of typical operating range. And when it does distort, it sounds much better and more natural than the UAD models. The UADs sound more like transistor distortion, whereas White2A sounds like tube. Go ahead and compare them.

As for the Black76, I don't think you could tell it apart from UAD's 1176LN in a blind test.

[JerGoertz]

Maybe we’ve lost the plot?

I nominate this for the new KVR motto

[Uncle E]

A garbage can? At least a special one? Hundreds of new questions. To be continued...

We all live in a yellow garbage can
Yellow garbage can
Yellow garbage can

We all live…

[whassup]

A garbage can? At least a special one? Hundreds of new questions. To be continued...

We all live in a yellow garbage can
Yellow garbage can
Yellow garbage can

We all live…

[kmonkey]

Tried all of them and UAD versions worked for me effortlessly and best of all of them. I hated that scenario because I needed to get into the whole Spark nonsense but in reality, most of their plugin is really fast to get the sound I am after. No, it's not a brand fanboy or something but UAD LA-2A (especially grey) I just load them and tweak them a bit and there you go somehow the is effortless.

[noiseboyuk]

Tried all of them and UAD versions worked for me effortlessly and best of all of them. I hated that scenario because I needed to get into the whole Spark nonsense but in reality, most of their plugin is really fast to get the sound I am after. No, it's not a brand fanboy or something but UAD LA-2A (especially grey) I just load them and tweak them a bit and there you go somehow the is effortless.

I tried the UAD first, it performed exactly as I wanted and I left it at that.

[jamcat]

Looking at the votes for u-he Presswerk, there are at least 17 people on KVR who don't know what an LA-2A is.

[El°HYM]

Looking at the votes for u-he Presswerk, there are at least 17 people on KVR who don't know what an LA-2A is.

Its more like a #preset recreating the LA2A - Behavior, not bad though.

What concerns me a bit more are the 15 people still praising the CLA-2A.

[BasariStudios]

All Votes are final!

This is maybe the first, yet surely the last #poll of its kind, as it is ultimate.

What is your most beloved LA2A - Leveling Amplifier #ITB - Emulation
(Program dependent optical compression, and tube amplifier)?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LA-2A_Leveling_Amplifier

Yeah. And what happens then? Another useless Topic.

[BasariStudios]

Looking at the votes for u-he Presswerk, there are at least 17 people on KVR who don't know what an LA-2A is.

MOST of the people on KVR don't know what an LA2A is.

[El°HYM]

All Votes are final!

This is maybe the first, yet surely the last #poll of its kind, as it is ultimate.

What is your most beloved LA2A - Leveling Amplifier #ITB - Emulation
(Program dependent optical compression, and tube amplifier)?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LA-2A_Leveling_Amplifier

Yeah. And what happens then? Another useless Topic.

And, another totally useless comment.

[Uncle E]

MOST of the people on KVR don't know what an LA2A is.

The Los Angeles chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous?