Pulsar Modular P450/P455 MDN Plugin Bundle

[pekbro]

I don't think they actually model anything or use convolution, seems to me like he just does whatever he wants to get the sound he's after, regardless of the technical accuracy. I've only paid a little attention but I've never seen mention of whether there is actual circuit, component modeling or something else going on. Only speculation omp of course.

*However they are made, the fact remains that there are some pretty respectable opinions
here (imo) saying its very good. I would tend to believe them at any rate.

[Kappa_Beta_Hi-Phi]

"However they are made, the fact remains that there are some pretty respectable opinions
here (imo) saying its very good. I would tend to believe them at any rate."

I agree with this btw. I'm not saying these are bad sounding or will ruin your mix or whatever, that is up to each individual and from what I have observed most people who have tried them enjoy them.

Also I'm not saying that people collaborating with the company are bad people, just that they are contributing to the mania.

I do reserve the right to be a critical voice though. I don't think I'm imagining what I'm seeing. It reminds me of what happened on reddit with the gamestop stock in a way. There's a closed shop embattled community feeling, us against the world.

I will stop beating this dead horse. If I've pissed in your cornflakes, apologies.

Go in peace you sinners.

[Erik_Lucas]

I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary with Pulsar Modular; this kvr reaction is strange to me. The plugin sounds great, and it seems that many in this thread are choosing to put that last when assessing Pulsar Modular.

Many in this thread fail to acknowledge that Ziad (PM's owner) considers himself an "audio equipment designer", and in this sense you must look at it like he's an artist rather than a business man. When there are companies like iZotope and Native Instruments (as an example), which are extremely corporate and not artistic, it is extremely refreshing to use a product that is designed differently. I think many are picking up on this sense of authenticity and really like it. That's why you're seeing so much praise for them.

[veloheinz]

let it happen, they are children.

[plexuss]

I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary with Pulsar Modular; this kvr reaction is strange to me. The plugin sounds great, and it seems that many in this thread are choosing to put that last when assessing Pulsar Modular.

There are better cheaper options.

The person who runs the company thought it would be a good idea to pay a bunch of people to post positive reviews of their products. Shill. Corruption. Probably illegal. Since then I don't look at the company, products or people with any amount of seriousness. Pulsar Modular is an untrustworthy farce.

[stillenacht]

I don't think they actually model anything or use convolution, seems to me like he just does whatever he wants to get the sound he's after, regardless of the technical accuracy. I've only paid a little attention but I've never seen mention of whether there is actual circuit, component modeling or something else going on. Only speculation omp of course.

*However they are made, the fact remains that there are some pretty respectable opinions
here (imo) saying its very good. I would tend to believe them at any rate.

The original dev was pretty open about what he used if sometimes he didn't say the exact thing, for saturation he said it was cascaded tube algos, so basically he was using gain staging and dc offset for emulation

viewtopic.php?p=6970656#p6970656

I think at the time he had a Chandler Mini Mixer, TG-1 and Aurora GTQ-2 so he was likely using those for reference. You can play around directly with gain staging yourself in stuff like Kelvin or even the venerable Trash 2.

[Kappa_Beta_Hi-Phi]

I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary with Pulsar Modular; this kvr reaction is strange to me. The plugin sounds great, and it seems that many in this thread are choosing to put that last when assessing Pulsar Modular.

There are better cheaper options.

The person who runs the company thought it would be a good idea to pay a bunch of people to post positive reviews of their products. Shill. Corruption. Probably illegal. Since then I don't look at the company, products or people with any amount of seriousness. Pulsar Modular is an untrustworthy farce.

I forgot about that. Didn't he pay people to post here because there was push back here? There's probably more I don't remember.

I forgot about the whole talking about your work as though it's "Art" with a capital A thing too until Erik Lucas mentioned it. I always thought that was spurious and pretensions but I guess it has worked?

The final 5%.

Anyway I said I'd stop. I'll stop now.

[idoru97214]

I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary with Pulsar Modular; this kvr reaction is strange to me. The plugin sounds great, and it seems that many in this thread are choosing to put that last when assessing Pulsar Modular.

There are better cheaper options.

The person who runs the company thought it would be a good idea to pay a bunch of people to post positive reviews of their products. Shill. Corruption. Probably illegal. Since then I don't look at the company, products or people with any amount of seriousness. Pulsar Modular is an untrustworthy farce.

You are wrong. And that's OK.

[Uncle E]

Original mix

Mix with P450 on all tracks (no EQ!!) and P455 on mixbus ('sounds like a record' preset)

When you lower the volume on the P450/P455 version, they sound nearly the same.

[The Main Event]

I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary with Pulsar Modular; this kvr reaction is strange to me. The plugin sounds great, and it seems that many in this thread are choosing to put that last when assessing Pulsar Modular.

There are better cheaper options.

The person who runs the company thought it would be a good idea to pay a bunch of people to post positive reviews of their products. Shill. Corruption. Probably illegal. Since then I don't look at the company, products or people with any amount of seriousness. Pulsar Modular is an untrustworthy farce.

Welcome in 2024, most companies are doing this kind of stuff. Or do you think the hundreds of producers for example on the waves homepage really tried out the new xy from waves and its a GAMECHANGER and the best they have ever heard? Or bands buying views on youtube, etc....

But since we make music and not painting, we should rely more on our ears (sound of the plugin) rather than our eyes (reviews). And Pulsar make great stuff, thats for sure, if you like the people or not, is on another page...

[bmanic]

Original mix

Mix with P450 on all tracks (no EQ!!) and P455 on mixbus ('sounds like a record' preset)

When you lower the volume on the P450/P455 version, they sound nearly the same.

Not sure what you are listening to but they are most definitely not the same. If you take the delta of the signals (it's really difficult to match the volume correctly over the whole clip though, so you are best off taking a simple section/short loop) you'll hear a lot of differences, especially in the stereo image and transients, most notable where the track gets more complex. Granted, some of these differences are due to a bit of EQ in the preset that was on the mixbus (the P455 plugin) and some tiny amounts of compression.. but even if I removed that one, the delta reveals a quite a few differences.

.. but yeah, on the whole, it doesn't change much in terms of "personality" which in my opinion is a great thing. It seems like we've finally left the old past behind where analogue emulations had to be very unrealistic and way too over done. This plugin actually reminds me a lot of the Silver Bullet plugin from LTL & PA in that the differences are subtle when not using the EQ or pushing too hard. It sort of messes with phase and transients in a way that makes things a bit looser and smeared in a strangely 3D sounding way and can help take the edge off various material.

Speaking of the Silver Bullet from LTL, that one is still my favorite of all the current "mojo" plugins released in the past few years. It's just so exceptionally useful and so very nicely done. And even the rather gimmicky serial number thing on the back panel can be super useful as it lets you quickly explore new nuances to the audio processing happening internally.

Anyhow, the audio example I posted was as always there to provide actual context to some of the haters in this thread who are obviously very quick to judge. In the end it's a plugin that can do a myriad of things. It has a basic API style EQ, a unique very gentle compressor and several different "mojo" stages (not unlike the Silver Bullet) that all interact subtly with one another. Subtle being the key word here, though you can push it into clear saturation as well.

[plexuss]

And Pulsar make great stuff, thats for sure, if you like the people or not, is on another page...

Pulsar Modulars products are nothing special and can be found cheaper with other better companies. It's distortion people. There are an infinite number of "flavours" - nothing Pulsar Modular does is special. But, if you think it is, great, spend your money. If you like Pulsar Modular's products and have actually bought them, you might be interested in this: www.audioflatulence.com lol

[The Main Event]

Suprise, they also put their pants on one leg at a time. Of course they didnt invent a miracle, no one did. Judging on the link you send, it seems like you are really pissed and hurt by this company... well, dont mind them then.

[Uncle E]

Not sure what you are listening to but they are most definitely not the same.

Yes, I believe that. The plugin version is much louder and just getting that extra level clean loudness is worth it. I'm just not hearing a significant impact otherwise.

.. but yeah, on the whole, it doesn't change much in terms of "personality" which in my opinion is a great thing. It seems like we've finally left the old past behind where analogue emulations had to be very unrealistic and way too over done.

Agreed. You're right.

Anyhow, the audio example I posted was as always there to provide actual context to some of the haters in this thread who are obviously very quick to judge. In the end it's a plugin that can do a myriad of things. It has a basic API style EQ, a unique very gentle compressor and several different "mojo" stages (not unlike the Silver Bullet) that all interact subtly with one another. Subtle being the key word here, though you can push it into clear saturation as well.

That's good to hear. We were a Pulsar Modular dealer under the original developer and I always thought it sounded great. The new owner seemed like a good guy when I talked to him.

[jens]

this kvr reaction is strange to me.

The only thing that's strange to me is that anyone is taking them serious enough to even demo their stuff.