ALA-101 Hybridization (copy protection updated!)

[pekbro]

yup win 11, it worked before, maybe I'll try again after some more updates.

[bmanic]

Yeah I think the developer might be coding this thing on a Mac.. not sure though. It's been very stable here.. though this beta version has some issues. It seems to create some weird artifacts at certain settings and low incoming audio levels.

Anyhow, I promised audio examples and here is one that I may have overcooked a bit but you hear the unique ability of this thing creating the illusion of an additional lower octave, something I've only managed to do with hardware in the past.

It's a tiny little idea I've been working on yeaterday. 3 tracks + 2 reverb returns, so 5 tracks in total + master. I inserted ALA-101 on every track and the master. I only used the tube and transformer part of the plugin. No EQ, no filters, no clipping. Listen to the first few bars, you'll hear the additional illusory lower octave on the FM8 EP preset. You can also sort of hear it on the kick drum later on in the clip. Overall the effect this had on these few tracks is a huge amount of thickening.. probably a bit too much actually, but it works well as a demonstration of what it can do. Overcooking it is mandatory during the honeymoon phase.

Melancholy - Original (24bit 48kHz .wav, Google Drive)

Melancholy - ALA-101 on every track + master (24bit 48kHz .wav, Google Drive)

These are full 24bit 48kHz .wav files. Identical processing on everything except for the AL-101 plugins.

[Uncle E]

Whatever. Your stuff always sounds good.

No, you’re right, that sounds great. It has a big impact, it’s not subtle at all. Do these mixes also have the Pulsar Modular stuff on them?

[VariKusBrainZ]

Sweet tune there

[Funky40]

without, the sound elements feel somehow disconnected to me. And from there "the music" slightly incoherent.
With, the sounds feel much more connected, glued, and i perceive the whole thing as musically Much better.
I perceive it as something quite different. Not just "better sounding" vs. the sound itself.
It`s much more what it changes to my feel.

Am i stupid or do others hear that the same ?
(disclaimer: i never do production works.....it`s not where i`m at. So my ears are not "producer" ears )


Soundwise, oh my, that`s exactly what i was looking for since longer.

Thanks for the Demo ! That was very informative for me.


Edit:
Demoed / bought /
....Great stuff. Feels more like my real HW tube pre setup than anything else i`ve seen in SW / tested only on Piano so far. Which is for me a good indicator for the high freq ringing and how it comes.

[bmanic]

No, you’re right, that sounds great. It has a big impact, it’s not subtle at all. Do these mixes also have the Pulsar Modular stuff on them?

Nope. It's actually super simple mix wise as it's just a short sketch. Pro-Q, Pro-C3 and Klevgrand Walls as the reverb. No other "mojo" stuff other than what Pro-C3 and ALA-101 gives.. oh and a single instance of PA Alpha compressor 2 on the master, with the transformer emulation engaged. That's it.

Part of the magic comes from the Rhodes thing from Omnisphere as it's recorded incredibly well and is super wide and has a really bright attack part that contrasts the muddy FM8 synthetic EP sound.. and the drums are just some random drum samples from my stupidly bloated sample collection that I found with the AI sample map thing in Atlas (hitting random until I got something I could use).

[bmanic]

without, the sound elements feel somehow disconnected to me. And from there "the music" slightly incoherent.
With, the sounds feel much more connected, glued, and i perceive the whole thing as musically Much better.

.. yeah, I have a feeling that the "glue" and "connection" is actually the extra octave that happens on the FM8 sound. Without it, it just doesn't work properly. It could basically be substituted with a subtle sinusoidal bass or something. I just thought it was really cool how you can abuse the plugin to get an extra sub-octave on things (using the 'Core Hysteresis' and 'Hysteresis Bloom' parameters).

[Funky40]

.. yeah, I have a feeling that the "glue" and "connection" is actually the extra octave that happens on the FM8 sound. Without it, it just doesn't work properly.

Glad i did not just write crap, haha. But i have a good "feel" for music

I just thought it was really cool how you can abuse the plugin to get an extra sub-octave on things (using the 'Core Hysteresis' and 'Hysteresis Bloom' parameters).

Could you please elaborate further what settings "exactly" it requires ? This is new to me.
I mean, with what type of sound/instrument would i start best to get into it ?


What i can say so far is: i`m totally in love with the sound ALA-101 adds to the table.

Awesome tipp @bmanic ! Your demo helped alots to finally give it some attention.

It`s the first plugin whoes sound feels like my HW tube based preAmp setup
I like it when plugins are that good.



P.S.
on synths (digital sounds / WT sounds) , check it out with Air4* or stoneFire* in place bevore of ALA101 (* airwindows). I take the lows completly out of ALA-101.
.......i wished it would allow for more brutal EQ settings vs. lows at least

[Uncle E]

Sounds great and has about 28% hit on my M2 Pro. OTOH, I can get a similar sound with UA Ampex, and that's about 4% on my CPU. I will say that ALA-101 is a lot more controllable and more logical in the way it's controlled.

[pekbro]

Still not really working for me, kind of losing interest, tho they are working hard to fix the problems some are having.

[bmanic]

I just thought it was really cool how you can abuse the plugin to get an extra sub-octave on things (using the 'Core Hysteresis' and 'Hysteresis Bloom' parameters).

Could you please elaborate further what settings "exactly" it requires ? This is new to me.
I mean, with what type of sound/instrument would i start best to get into it ?

Here is a screen capture of the exact settings I had on the FM8 sound.

Screenshot of ALA-101 on FM8

[Funky40]

Here is a screen capture of the exact settings I had on the FM8 sound.

That`s perfect. Thanks alots !

I`ve just read this again:

.. yeah, I have a feeling that the "glue" and "connection" is actually the extra octave that happens on the FM8 sound. Without it, it just doesn't work properly. It could basically be substituted with a subtle sinusoidal bass or something. I just thought it was really cool how you can abuse the plugin to get an extra sub-octave on things (using the 'Core Hysteresis' and 'Hysteresis Bloom' parameters).

Good infos !

i never dabbled much with the four control elements in lower left corner. I don`t feel anything. I don`t have any understanding. I`ll see. It`s a good starting point.
I`ll try with E-Piano.

I`ll start to look into the low end now from another pespective. So far i took it completly out, only dealing with the "high freq" ringing. Requires very percussive somehow pinchy sounds for that. Turn ugly pinch into much softer spikes with a golden sheen. I love that.

Different uses compared to the Ampex tape comparison

[billinder33]

I just thought it was really cool how you can abuse the plugin to get an extra sub-octave on things (using the 'Core Hysteresis' and 'Hysteresis Bloom' parameters).

Could you please elaborate further what settings "exactly" it requires ? This is new to me.
I mean, with what type of sound/instrument would i start best to get into it ?

Here is a screen capture of the exact settings I had on the FM8 sound.

Screenshot of ALA-101 on FM8

Interesting. Sounds very natural in your example.

I've not yet tried the ALA on a bass or anything where I wanted to generate a subharmonic. I have a track with sub that wasn't quite 'subby' enough, so I turned it a mid-bass with a HPF and added a second sub underneath. I may go back and try using the ALA instead. Thanks for posting the example.

[bmanic]

Keep in mind that abusing those controls will not be transparent at all!! It causes significant amounts of harmonic distortion.. but sometimes that's just the ticket!

[sonidomolino]

Still not really working for me, kind of losing interest, tho they are working hard to fix the problems some are having.

might give the latest build 275 a shot. now running as expected on a win 11 pro system.

gotta give the dev props for a -very- well designed layout and sounding rather special here on "organic acoustic based" tracks.