KVR Audio

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 4:48 pm

Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote:Eddie, haven't listened yet, but can I assume you were in "compress" mode (versus limit)?

I'm going to see if I can get the time to run the dry track through the new and old UAD versions to see how those stack up.

Yes, compress mode. I'd welcome the tests with the UAD versions, but we may want to see if somebody can come up with a better test track before we do more work on this.

Also, thanks to Jens for the mention of the emulation in StripBus! I forgot about that one. I have it, and will be happy to include it in the next round.

I'll give you guys one last chance to comment on the first test before I post the reveal. Later today, maybe.

Cheers,
Eddie

ObsoleteAcc99 · Post by **ObsoleteAcc99** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:11 pm

[DELETED]

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 11:59 pm

Wow, quiet crowd. Well ... I'll go ahead and reveal what was behind the curtain:

LA-2A 1: Cakewalk PC2A

LA-2A 2: IK White 2A

LA-2A 3: Waves CLA-2A

LA-2A 4: NI VC2A

Thanks for playing!

Cheers,
Eddie

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:07 am

jens wrote:
Kingston wrote: I don't know why all of the emulations don't have this.
wrong - Stripbus has it.

I know some emulations have the side chain high pass knob. I was merely wondering why all of them don't have it since it's always in the signal chain. Especially if they claim "modeling".

mihai · Post by **mihai** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:56 am

for this sample i actually liked them in the order you placed them (1 = least favorite, 4 = most favorite) though i still have to say cla-2a would be my choice overall since the ni gives a bit too much color which is not necessary in all scenarios.

the cakewalk though... really?

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:49 am

Eddie TX wrote:Wow, quiet crowd. Well ... I'll go ahead and reveal what was behind the curtain:

LA-2A 1: Cakewalk PC2A

LA-2A 2: IK White 2A

LA-2A 3: Waves CLA-2A

LA-2A 4: NI VC2A

Thanks for playing!

Cheers,
Eddie

Sorry I got to the party late, but if I had to list them in the order I preferred, it would be the Waves, then IK, then Cakewalk, then NI.

Thanks again, Eddie!

enroe · Post by **enroe** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:51 am

Eddie TX wrote:Wow, quiet crowd. Well ... I'll go ahead and reveal what was behind the curtain:

LA-2A 1: Cakewalk PC2A

LA-2A 2: IK White 2A

LA-2A 3: Waves CLA-2A

LA-2A 4: NI VC2A

Thanks for playing!

Cheers,
Eddie

Well, did you ever reveal what was behind these:
------------------------------------------------

LA-2A 5: TLS-2095-LA

LA-2A 6: Antress Modern Lost Angel

LA-2A 7: VOS Thrillseeker

That would be spicey + piquant to evaluate in a comparison!
Greetings, enroe.

nIGhT-SoN · Post by **nIGhT-SoN** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:36 am

planetearth wrote:
Eddie TX wrote:Wow, quiet crowd. Well ... I'll go ahead and reveal what was behind the curtain:

LA-2A 1: Cakewalk PC2A

LA-2A 2: IK White 2A

LA-2A 3: Waves CLA-2A

LA-2A 4: NI VC2A

Thanks for playing!

Cheers,
Eddie
Sorry I got to the party late, but if I had to list them in the order I preferred, it would be the Waves, then IK, then Cakewalk, then NI.

Thanks again, Eddie!

Same hear, I just didn't posted on the forum, but I like the 2nd and 3rd. The first one seemed a little digital to me, same with the 4th one.

Plajia · Post by **Plajia** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:43 am

well my first go to 2A was the NI one mostly because I thought it sounded great and loved the WET DRY mode for easy parallel comp but after tried the Cakewalk one and the IK one I like it better for vocal. did not tried on bass. the IK one (the updated version) level the volume in a natural way you cant hardly hear the comp but it add this smooth dynamic and coloration. cakewalk kinda in between. but I will still love and use the NI VC 160 cause dbx native are rare and this one is pretty extreme which I like on drums. I dont want subtle on drums! rock n roll baby!

jens · Post by **jens** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:49 am

Kingston wrote:
jens wrote:
Kingston wrote: I don't know why all of the emulations don't have this.
wrong - Stripbus has it.
I know some emulations have the side chain high pass knob. I was merely wondering why all of them don't have it since it's always in the signal chain. Especially if they claim "modeling".

ah, I completely misunderstood your post - I thought with "all don't have it" you meant to say that "none of them has it", but instead you meant "not all of them have it".

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:58 pm

Hey guys,

I had some time to kill today, so I thought I'd revisit my LA2A shootout. Since last time, I've acquired a few more of these ... the new test has ten (count 'em!) contenders. All are supposed to emulate the classic LA2A sound. Which ones do it right? You be the judge.

For this test, I tried to improve on the source file by generating an acoustic guitar track with the AmpleSound AGM Lite plugin, enhanced with a bit of Nomad Factory Cosmos to bring out some brightness and clarity, the better to discern differences (the raw file was pretty flat-sounding). Again, not the greatest track in the world, but I hope it's better than what I used last time.

The Soundcloud set has each compressed file in random order. The contenders are:

UAD LA2
UAD LA2A Gray
UAD LA2A Silver
UAD LA2A Legacy (original model)
Native Instruments VC2A
IK Multimedia White 2A
Waves CLA-2A
Cakewalk PC2A
Antress Modern Lost Angel
SKnote Opto 2A

The ten compressors were set so that they were getting about 7dB max of gain reduction as per their meters. Then their gain was adjusted so that the outputs level-matched as closely as I could get, relying on an RMS meter. I chose a standard input level that was below 0dB VU on my meter, in an effort to avoid overdriving anything. Still, you'll probably notice some distortion in some of the files -- I left them like that since that would be one of the inherent characteristics of the plugins.

All compressors were set to Compress mode rather than Limit. The screws on the comps so equipped were set at 12 o'clock.

The SKnote emulation is included in StripBus. Settings for that one were adjusted as per their website to most closely emulate the hardware.

Each file is downloadable for more critical listening. The identities of each compressor will be revealed in due course. In the meantime, feel free to post comments. Have fun!

Cheers,
Eddie

https://soundcloud.com/eddie-tx/sets/ne ... 10-plugins

electro · Post by **electro** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 2:14 pm

Nice work Eddie TX.

bitman · Post by **bitman** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:03 pm

CA-2A

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:35 am

Thanks to GS member Zvukofor, I've posted another set of shootout tracks with solo bass guitar. Enjoy, and feel free to post your thoughts.

https://soundcloud.com/eddie-tx/sets/ne ... ass-guitar

Cheers,
Eddie

Mercado_Negro · Post by **Mercado_Negro** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:08 am

Waves' CLA-2A is the most accurate in my opinion. I've used like 4 different real LA-2A's (and still do from time to time), and Waves version gets really close to that sound. The release behavior is spot on, which is very important to me when using an LA-2A. IK's is far, very far from sounding like the real thing... again, in my opinion. Like others have said, Stripbus has one emulation and it's very good as well, it just lacks the character IIRC (it's been a long time since I used it).

Best LA-2A Emulation?