TAL-Chorus-60 vs. UAD Dimension D

[Nug Wrangler]

Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions.
I tried ADT and although it's an interesting plugin, doubling is not the effect I'm looking for.
I also tried the Uhbik package but I couldn't achieve the wanted results. Maybe I need to get more familiar with it though.

And when I reached the point of desperation I did what I always do when I'm desperate. No no, there's no drinking involved. Not much anyway... Well, I checked the folder with the old mda plugins. I tried the Detune plugin and there was the solution! Transparent widening with no obvious chorusing effects.
Guys, these plugins are so useful and good sounding it's not even funny!!

Rather off topic but as I was looking through the mda plugins list I saw a few plugins I couldn't remember. For instance Transient. Excellent plugin. It doesn't get as extreme as Dominion but still very useful.

Have you tried Stereoizer pRO by Hbasm? It's really nice. I'ts described as a stereo widening plugin but it is more like a Chorus effect really.

https://vstwarehouse.com/d/stereoizer-pro/

[svyet]

Dimension should be understood as distinctly different from typical chorus effect. That Pedal Show did a Boss Dimension Effects video looking at both chorus and dimension. Starting at timestamp 8:50, they explained it this way:

Chorus splits the signal into two, modulates one signal with what we know as rate and depth, then merges it back with the original (or keeps them split as a stereo effect?). Dimension however takes a signal, breaks it into multiple streams, all are being modulated individually, and then the end result is the sort of phase relationship of those individual signals.

Anyway, in terms of Dimension, in listening tests posted over at GS under a thread called "Roland Dimension D Comparison," I found the Arturia and UAD most true to the hardware, with the edge going to the Arturia due to the useful added features, native availability, and the price. My post in GS is copy/pasted below. I wouldn't hesitate to use the UAD at all, but at the time of reviewing the GS thread, the UAD was not available natively. However now it is. So, I would say it depends on price, and whether or not you would benefit from the expanded features of the Arturia to get a little outside of the hardware-only parameters. In my case, I do often use them, so that gives the edge to Arturia. I think there is probably a place for both Dimension and Chorus effects. Dimension when used subtly is a great widener. When used not-so-subtly, it is a classic effect heard on tons of records (Kate Bush being a favorite of mine). Chorus might be more useful if you need to go beyond setting 4 of Dimension, and you simply want more distinct (or ridiculous) rate and depth. That's up to you.

Copy/paste of my post from that thread as some food for thought below.

Hope it helps!

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February 14, 2022

Firstly, a huge thank you to the OP and everyone who has contributed to this definitive thread. It helped me immensely to confirm the Arturia as my choice, especially now that it's on sale again for $49 (I missed the launch sale and waited a long time since - didn't have an immediate need until now). The inclusion of hardware comparisons here are really helpful too, going to show just how special the original unit was and is.

By the way, if I'm reading Arturia's February press release correctly, their sale is on everything site-wide until Feb. 25th. I've seen an earlier end date (Feb. 17th) with at least one other vendor participating in the sale, so if you're a part of any rewards programs, take advantage now.

- - -

Anyway, after listening (Sennheiser HD600's + Apogee Groove + SoundID Reference average calibration), here are some quick thoughts on the majority of what seem to be the thread favorites:

1. Arturia and UAD sound the most true, and the overall basic functionality and GUI's give a better intangible "experience" if you will - probably helped by their collaboration and licensing with Roland. However, as appealing as the UAD is, the requirement to invest into UAD hardware and their ecosystem is an automatic no go for me, even if it were on sale for the same price as the Arturia. If you're already invested and could get the UAD on sale though, then it makes perfect sense.

2. I really wanted to like the UberMod presets given the plugin's countless other uses, but as others have said, it's a bit hit or miss for the Dimension sound. The sinewave section of the test is very telling, though on instruments it does sound close enough. But something feels not quite there. The price for the UberMod ($50) is an excellent value in any case, but Valhalla's free Super Massive is already quite comprehensive for drenchy delays and reverbs. So, as long as a true Dimension sound is what you're after, and as long as the Arturia is on sale, UberMod would feel like too big of a compromise even with its other capabilities.

3. The Overloud GEM MOD also looked and sounded really appealing (thanks to YTM), especially for free during their past giveaways, but it looks like it's typically only available in the $100+ Modula bundle or the $1000+ Gems bundle, and it did sound a little flatter or closed off (lacking in width?) compared to the better emulations. That, and there are perhaps too many controls for my personal taste, especially since I'm not really interested in anything beyond the basic original Dimension modes and letting them do their thing. Maybe something could be improved with more parameter tweaking, but with the Arturia, I already know exactly what I'm getting - and again, at $49 the Arturia makes the most sense.

- - -

In all, it's really hard to beat the overall sound, simplicity and "experience" of the Arturia (or UAD if you're invested in their ecosystem) when trying to get as close to the real thing as possible in digital form, whether on sale or not. But the sale seals the deal for me. For anyone else on the fence about the Arturia, I'd say the $49 sale price is absolutely worth it.

P.S. - As for hardware, I've also heard very nice sounds from the Fromel Seraph pedals (Deluxe is based on the original Dimension-D and has rate/depth controls; non-deluxe Seraph was based on the DC-2 pedal, but I'm unsure of its availability). But considering the price difference and availability, and not wanting to get lost in extra controls, it really seems like you can't go wrong at all with the proven DC-2W.

Regards--

[vitocorleone123]

I think the Overloud Modula and XILS Chor'X DimD versions sound great and are the two that I've kept and use.

I tend to dislike Arturia products, despite trying and buying time and time again. This was no exception.

[svyet]

I think the Overloud Modula and XILS Chor'X DimD versions sound great and are the two that I've kept and use.

I tend to dislike Arturia products, despite trying and buying time and time again. This was no exception.

Modula makes sense as an all-in-one unit for chorus, ensemble, and dimension. However, for Dimension accuracy and speed/ease of use, I don't think the Arturia or UAD can be beat, especially at sale price. Sure, Arturia can be hit or miss...in truth, Dimension is the only Arturia product I currently own except for their JUN-6 Chorus that I'm trying out against the free TAL one. If I like it, I'll keep that too. Like with their Dimension, the extra controls give it a nice edge by being useful in tweaking key parameters without getting into XILS territory with endless knobs. I'm not into sound design enough to deal with that. Just my opinion and experience.

[vitocorleone123]

I think the Overloud Modula and XILS Chor'X DimD versions sound great and are the two that I've kept and use.

I tend to dislike Arturia products, despite trying and buying time and time again. This was no exception.

Modula makes sense as an all-in-one unit for chorus, ensemble, and dimension. However, for Dimension accuracy and speed/ease of use, I don't think the Arturia or UAD can be beat, especially at sale price. Sure, Arturia can be hit or miss...in truth, Dimension is the only Arturia product I currently own except for their JUN-6 Chorus that I'm trying out against the free TAL one. If I like it, I'll keep that too. Like with their Dimension, the extra controls give it a nice edge by being useful in tweaking key parameters without getting into XILS territory with endless knobs. I'm not into sound design enough to deal with that. Just my opinion and experience.

Both Overloud and especially XILS ChorX is about as easy as can be to use in basic form. I think they both sound better, but that's why it's good to have options!

For ChorX, just click to drop down the advanced stuff. The advanced stuff has one of the best features in a chorus that all choruses should have: transient detection.

I paid $23 for Modula and $27 for Chor'X. So, yes, to me, both Arturia and UAD can be beat.

[kidslow]

I would rate the HoRNet Juno chorus emulation first, then Arturia JUN-6, then TAL. There's also one by Schulz that I have not tried. The OSL Chorus claims also to be a Juno emulation, but it was worst across the board in my opinion. I think the TAL is very overrated, but it's free so anyone can form their own opinion.

To follow up on my previous question, installed and tested the Xfer plugin Dimension Expander. Found it to be incredibly subtle. Listening and looking at the sonograms, it's quite similar to the Acon Multiply preset "Dimensioner 2" ... I find Multiply to be best of the free chorus plugins, even though it's not strictly a chorus.

I like XILS Chor'X, though still no VST3. I reported a bug to Xavier with VST2 version ARM native in Reaper over a year ago. Just looked and there was an updated build earlier this year that has fixed the problem, although the version number 2.0.1 is exactly the same as the previous one. What's the point of using version numbers if you're not going to increment them when something changes Xavier?

Just to add that I have not compared any of these to hardware, neither the Junos nor the Dimensions, and doing that might lead to a different opinion. Since I have not the hardware, nor experience with it, nor plans to get any, seems to me like comparing them to each other will suffice for my needs.

[svyet]

I think the Overloud Modula and XILS Chor'X DimD versions sound great and are the two that I've kept and use.

I tend to dislike Arturia products, despite trying and buying time and time again. This was no exception.

Modula makes sense as an all-in-one unit for chorus, ensemble, and dimension. However, for Dimension accuracy and speed/ease of use, I don't think the Arturia or UAD can be beat, especially at sale price. Sure, Arturia can be hit or miss...in truth, Dimension is the only Arturia product I currently own except for their JUN-6 Chorus that I'm trying out against the free TAL one. If I like it, I'll keep that too. Like with their Dimension, the extra controls give it a nice edge by being useful in tweaking key parameters without getting into XILS territory with endless knobs. I'm not into sound design enough to deal with that. Just my opinion and experience.

Both Overloud and especially XILS ChorX is about as easy as can be to use in basic form. I think they both sound better, but that's why it's good to have options!

For ChorX, just click to drop down the advanced stuff. The advanced stuff has one of the best features in a chorus that all choruses should have: transient detection.

I paid $23 for Modula and $27 for Chor'X. So, yes, to me, both Arturia and UAD can be beat.

At those prices, then sure! To each his own

The transient feature of the Chor'X seems really great. Also, now that I look at the plugin, it's very clean. I must have looked at an older version or something entirely different...the GUI on the one I saw was overwhelming.

As a huge fan of the Dimension hardware's history, I was most concerned with having as direct a hardware emulation as possible, both in sound and the "experience" of having only a few buttons and a GUI that looks just like the hardware. Those were some intangibles that drew me toward the Arturia and UAD beyond the accuracy of the sound (for some that might seem silly, but if I'm going to spend any significant amount of time staring at the computer mixing, then it helps to like what I'm looking at to keep me connected with the process). Extra features of the Arturia were icing on the cake since they are actually useful and don't stray far away from the stock sound. I don't recall Chor'X hitting the mark for me in terms of nailing the stock sound, otherwise it would have made my short list.

If that's not a concern for someone else, then I would probably suggest the Chor'X (or Overloud) for good overall sound and convenience of having a few flavors and/or more parameters in one plugin.

Again, this is all my own opinion and preference

[diroxe7660]

I recently shot out every free Windows x64 chorus plugin I could find (about 18) and my favourite was Green Oak's Cesium by quite some margin.

[martinjuenke]

The UAD Dimension D is quite useful imo

[Nug Wrangler]

Plug & Mix Dimension 3D is nice

https://www.plugandmix.com/products/p872-Dimension-3D/

[Ah_Dziz]

I didn't think those two plugins were trying to sound like the same thing. Anyhow the Juno choruses are some of my favorite to use on synths and on vocals. The simple chorus module in the old Nord synths sounds very similar (minus the noise) and I slap it on damn near everything in my live set. I have been consistently let down by UAD stuff (dimension d included) it never really seemed to justify all the extra stuff involved on using their software for me and then it was expensive as well. I'm not super familiar with using the original Roland "hands on" so the UAD may be a great emulation, but if so, I don't really think that the sound is for me.

[svyet]

By the way, I am selling an extra unused serial for the Arturia JUN-6 Chorus for $15 if anyone is interested.

Post is here.